Saturday, January 15, 2005
A normally abnormal week in Guatemala...
Life here is always fun, ...talk about circling wagons! Last week we had two demonstrations in the city; the interamerican highway (leading to Mexico) was blocked by campesinos rampaging against a piece of mining equipment being towed along the road; the air traffic controllers went on strike and the airport was closed for 24 hours approx (a few hours less) until they hauled the leaders off to jail (they had turned off the airport runway lights and walked out just as a transport plane was landing!) and finally the gov brought in scabs from Mexico and El Salvador to open the airport. Yesterday downtown wa.s blocked because the president was giving his state of the union speech in congress...and supposedly the airport was also going to be blocked, as well as the main roads in and out of the city...actually, that never happened. Probably because a weekend was in sight and who wants to ruin one's weekend by protesting?
This morning the newspaper Prensa Libre ran a story on honey...I was interviewed yesterday as I was balancing on a ramp leading into my new honey warehouse..bodega..where the tanks are located. In actual fact, as I like to say but that Richie considers redundant, the ramp led to thin air...the bodega is being constructed as we speak. I got to a safer platform and gave my considered opinion to the reporter while a rather cold wind whipped around me... my new bodega is in the highlands, no longer on the broiling coast. Good for the honey, for the workers, for me. Also closer to the city... The story turned out to be quite accurate, surprisingly enough.
I'm sitting in the sun listening to opera and writing this...almost time for a Sat afternoon nap.. although I should go visit Baysis, haven't done that for a few weeks. It's nice being alone, the phone almost not ringing, the kids ignoring me, and Henneke off at the airport seeing to flowers flown in from Holland that should be delivered tomorrow to the cruise ship Europa. We'll go to the port tomorrow to have lunch on the ship and to be sure the flowers and a rifer container of food are properly delivered. Of course all this arrived without the proper papers and Henneke is spending hours getting flowers and frozen food through in transit to the ship...
Well, Barb2 complained that putting the burnthegringo bit on this blog is not proper for a blog, so I hope this is more PC. I"m sure I'll hear....
Went to the Permuths' photo exhibit at the IGA Thurs evening..Jaime set me straight..the quote that I thought so great and presumably was his, turned out to be from Miguel Angel Asturias, THE great Nobel prize winner in Guatemala...not Rigoberta, mind you.
En la ciudad de las iglesias uno se siente la necesidad de pecar!
Siesta time!
This morning the newspaper Prensa Libre ran a story on honey...I was interviewed yesterday as I was balancing on a ramp leading into my new honey warehouse..bodega..where the tanks are located. In actual fact, as I like to say but that Richie considers redundant, the ramp led to thin air...the bodega is being constructed as we speak. I got to a safer platform and gave my considered opinion to the reporter while a rather cold wind whipped around me... my new bodega is in the highlands, no longer on the broiling coast. Good for the honey, for the workers, for me. Also closer to the city... The story turned out to be quite accurate, surprisingly enough.
I'm sitting in the sun listening to opera and writing this...almost time for a Sat afternoon nap.. although I should go visit Baysis, haven't done that for a few weeks. It's nice being alone, the phone almost not ringing, the kids ignoring me, and Henneke off at the airport seeing to flowers flown in from Holland that should be delivered tomorrow to the cruise ship Europa. We'll go to the port tomorrow to have lunch on the ship and to be sure the flowers and a rifer container of food are properly delivered. Of course all this arrived without the proper papers and Henneke is spending hours getting flowers and frozen food through in transit to the ship...
Well, Barb2 complained that putting the burnthegringo bit on this blog is not proper for a blog, so I hope this is more PC. I"m sure I'll hear....
Went to the Permuths' photo exhibit at the IGA Thurs evening..Jaime set me straight..the quote that I thought so great and presumably was his, turned out to be from Miguel Angel Asturias, THE great Nobel prize winner in Guatemala...not Rigoberta, mind you.
En la ciudad de las iglesias uno se siente la necesidad de pecar!
Siesta time!
