Life in Antigua: Part VI

This is where it gets fun... Tomorrow is the last installment!

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Hi family and friends!

I can't believe it's been so long since the last "Life in Antigua" episode. I feel that a lot has happened since then. There's no way I'll be able to write about everything! Maybe some of it will have to wait until the next episode. :)

Last time I left off with my adventures in Tikal. That very Thursday I went salsa dancing with the friends I met there, David and Justin (the soon-to-be doctors from Yale) and Tom and Eleanor (the couple from Baltimore). Little did we know it was gay night at La Casbah, and we were the first ones there - the weird folks who showed up at 9 p.m. I think there was an office party there too... a lot of middle aged people in business casual, so we didn't realize it until Justin's Spanish teacher told him the next day. We chatted and danced for a while, and then called it a night.

I went home feeling strange. I went to bed feeling even more strange. "I'm going to be sick," I thought. "Please God, can it wait just a few more hours? I don't want anyone to hear me puking my guts out." Thankfully, everyone was asleep when I dashed off to the bathroom and fought the most valiant bout of food poisoning I've ever fought. I'll spare you the details, but I'll tell you this: in the midst of it all, I was mentally writing an e-mail telling you all to start a prayer chain for your poor friend on her deathbed in Guatemala. No joke.

I felt much better by Saturday, and that night I headed back to La Casbah with José (the oldest son in my family) and his friends, Donaldo and Pedro. Even though we could have walked to the club, (it's right up the street), it was such a process to get there. We had to drive to a neighboring town to pick up Pedro, Donaldo called some girls who were at a cafe' back in Antigua, we drove by to see if they wanted to come with us, they said they'd meet us there later, we drove around some looking for a parking spot, ay... it was probably an hour and a half before we finally arrived.

Anyway, when we got there, Donaldo and I danced for a bit. Jose' Roberto sat there with his beer and his usual "I'm mad at the world" face, and Pedro stood beside him looking around at nothing. After a while, the music changed from salsa and merengue to the unh-sst unh-sst stuff that Ang loves so much (love you Ang!), so we joined the boys. About an hour passed... nothing exciting. Then, I looked at Jose' Roberto and his mad face and asked, "Tienes sueno?" (Are you tired?)

"No." he said without looking at me. "Otra cosa." (No, something else.)

"Un dolor de cabeza?" (A headache?)

"No, otra pena." (No, another pain.)

"Un dolor de corazon?" (A heartache?)

"Si'." (Yes.)

"A causa de quie'n?" I asked. (Because of who?) I thought about those girls at the cafe who never showed up and that he might be disappointed that one of them didn't come.

"A causa de ti'," he said. (Because of you.)

"Ah, si' pues." (Yeah right!)

"No me crees?" he asked, finally making eye contact with me. (You don't believe me?)

I gave him a look that said, "No way."

Then he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Como alguien no podri'as enamorarse con alguien tan linda como tu'?" (How would one not fall in love with someone as lovely as you?)

I thought maybe the music was a little too loud, the second-hand smoke a little too strong, and the time a little too late to have heard him correctly, so I asked him to repeat himself. Sure enough... I heard what I thought I heard, and my mind raced with a million random thoughts. "What in the world? I barely know this guy? He still has the mad face on. Is he really serious? Is he just trying to get a reaction out of me? What if he IS serious? Will I have to move out? This is going to be bad. I can't believe this is happening to me. I want to laugh and cry at the same time."

I managed to give him a "I'm not sure if you're serious or not, but thanks for the compliment" look and a "Gracias" (Thanks) and turned around and faced the dancing crowd. Then I started composing this e-mail in my head! 

But wait... it gets better.

After another awkward half an hour, we decided to leave. Jose' was going to spend the night with one of his friends, so we all walked home to drop me off first. Jose' Roberto came inside with me to get some of his stuff. In the hallway he stopped me and said, "Disculpe Nicole." (Forgive me Nicole.) I turned and looked at him. He actually looked like he was going to cry - the first (and probably the last) change in emotion I've seen in him since I've been here. 

"No quise a enamorarme de ti', pero no pude evitarlo." (I didn't want to fall in love with you, but I couldn't avoid it.)

With that one, I almost fell over. I was completely dumbfounded. Almost all of my Spanish flew out the window! I gave him a little side hug and said, "Esta' bien" (It's okay) a few times and "Buenas noches!" (Good night!) Then, I found my way to my room and flopped on the bed thinking, "My life! Could it get any more interesting/complex/weird?" My answer came the next day...

The next brother, Juan, who is 17, woke me up the next morning and said he wanted me to teach him how to scramble an egg. No one else was home, I was already awake, and I was hungry, so I trudged into the kitchen, still thinking of the previous night's drama. Now, by this point in time, I was pretty convinced that Juan had a crush on me, but he had never come right out and said it. He was (and still is) much more indirect in communicating his affections, but he is much more consistent. He liked to tell me I have something in my eye (when I really don't) so he can stare into it and wipe away the mystery eyelash. After successfully pulling that trick a couple times, I now wipe away my own mystery eyelashes. He also liked to touch my hair... not run his fingers through it, mind you, just touch it. I didn't let that go for too long either. 

Anyway, that Sunday when we scrambled eggs together was kind of a "that is IT" day with Juan. The things he said and did were so numerous I don't have time to explain them all through e-mail, and citing one or two examples wouldn't be a strong enough argument to convince you of his crush on me, so I'll just tell ya when I see ya if you think to ask me about it.

After reading the last paragraph, it just occurred to me that some of you might be thinking "Are you stupid Nicole? Get out of that testosterone-filled house before something terrible happens!" I've thought about it. There are a few reasons to go, but even more reasons to stay. The important thing for you to know is that I don't feel unsafe. It's just a little uncomfortable sometimes.

SO! After two confessions of love, one with words and the other with deeds, from the same family (in whose house I happened to live) in the same weekend, I was ready to call it quits and come home. Luckily, I had only three days until my mom came. YAY!

My mom came the Wednesday before Palm Sunday. Our first night, we stayed up until two in the morning talking. I still had school the whole time she was there, but I went my myself from 8 until 10 and then went home to get her. From 10 until 12 we walked around with my teacher and did lots of shopping. We also went to vigils at the different churches around Antigua. The vigils were beautiful! The people from the church make intricate carpets made out of sawdust and flowers and other natural things (called alfombras [Editor's note: see pictures at the bottom of this post]) and in the background there is a huge painting or a setup from a certain Bible passage from the life of Christ. It's kind of hard to explain, but my mom took lots of pictures. No worries.

In the afternoons we usually ate out and watched the Holy Week processions. We got to see Rodrigo, the youngest son - age 11, carry in the all-kids procession, called "la procesio'n de disorden" (the procession of disorder). He was so cute! We took pictures of that too. The procession was indeed disorderly. Rodrigo was supposed to carry only one block, but his replacements didn't show up for the next six blocks! Poor thing...

On Saturday, we went to Panajachel and took a little boat out on Lake Atitla'n to visit some of the indigenous villages. See "Life in Antigua - Part II" for more details about that place.

My mom got to come with me to the hospital three times, which was great. I was glad she got to meet the people there and love on the babies with me. Her first time we brought all of the Desitin donated by my lovely Aunt Connie and the folks in my parents' Bible study. THANK YOU! It was much needed. On my next visit, I plan on making sure that it is all still there. :)

Well, my fingers are going to fall off soon, and this e-mail is getting expensive... I will write more next week about the rest of the Holy Week activities and such. I love and miss you all! Have the most blessed of Easters!

Love,

Nicole