My Week in Titletown, USA

For those that are still confused about where I am in the world, I will now make it clear. On the 21st of March, a Friday night, my plane landed in the Orlando airport where my little brother was gracious enough to pick me up and take me to Titletown, USA aka Gainesville, Florida. Now he didn’t bring me a cookie cake like I asked him to but I forgave the little guy and recognized that he did drive almost two hours to come get me. Immediately upon arrival into Gville, I met up with some friends and was off to drink beer. I can honestly say the whole scene was weird, seeing drunk people everywhere, hot girls everywhere (haven’t though too much about females for the last few months except the hot Jewish Guatemalan bitch that never returned my calls), and just knowing that this scene would never take place in Guatemala. Still, there was no sticker shock on the price of beer or food as Gville has to be one the cheapest places in the States to get drunk and eat late night snacks. So….from Friday night until this past Saturday, I was in Gainesville, hanging out with good friends, going back to my roots and sleeping in the dorm (in my brother’s dorm room as he had an extra bed…his roommate moved out because of my brother’s terrible odor), eating at my favorite places, playing basketball everyday, and abusing substances. It was amazing to be able to spend some real quality time with Louis (lil bro) and enjoyed my time immensely. Oh and I got to see Bob Saget perform and was surrounded by ten, live alligators while kayaking at Lake Waulberg. I shit you not.

On Saturday, my parents came down to Gville and the family minus my sister ate at Satchel’s Pizza, which makes one of the best pizzas in the world (remember I have been to Italy so trust me on this), and then I rode with the rents back to Jacksonville, which is where I currently am and will be for most of the next five weeks.

I hope that clears everything up.

Guatemalavi Becomes Nicaraguavi

Adjustment to life in the States has been hard. I keep on forgetting to throw my toilet paper into the toilet and not the wastebasket. I have to search for bottled water before I brush my teeth only to remember that the tap water is just fine. My stomach and digestive organs are wondering what this vacation of clean, sanitary food is all about and keep on hassling me with questions. The air conditioning is playing tricks on my mind. And to top it off, I haven’t been eating bananas with my cereal because they cost like ten times the price. Damn this country! So I have decided that I really just cannot handle the clean food, sanitary conditions, smooth roads, and nice facilities, and am going back to Central America.

On or around May 7, I will be heading to Nicaragua to serve 27 months (really it is like 26 and a half) teaching business education to high school students and helping small businesses with the US Peace Corps. Everything was finalized today (Monday) and barring any unforeseen illnesses or injuries, I will only have to live in this luxurious land that is the States for another six weeks. I truly am nervous about working and living in Nicaragua, but more so with the committment than the actual work and conditions. 27 months! Do you know that the longest I have ever lived in one location (after my house in Jacksonville) is one year? I was in Gainesville for four years but switched apartments every year and then lived in DC for one year and then Guatemala for four and a half months, so committing to live in one location for two years is a big deal. Yeah, it is also a big deal to be teaching a class in Spanish (I have never taught before) and to be living in the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere (I have lived in the richest) but the two years abroad is what concerns me. I am going to miss two full football seasons…it is a travesty!

Honestly, I am truly am excited about this opportunity to help the people of Nicaragua while learning a great deal about the country, culture, plight of the third world, poverty, development, and most importantly, myself. I know that I could lots of other things during the next two years of my life, lots of cool things, make money, travel around, be in the States. But I honestly cannot think of anything that will be more helpful to the world and to my own personal life and future career than the Peace Corps. As cliche as it is, I know that I will not leave the Peace Corps and Nicaragua the same way I entered. Meaning that I will probably weigh ten pounds less and have a great tan.

Stay tuned.

Greetings from the Guatemala Airport

Fresh off of one hour of sleep, I am sitting in Guatemala’s Aurora Airport, incredibly exhausted, semi-sad, excited, and staring at my newly purchased Subway sandwich and Tobleron chocolate (all courtesy of leftover quetzales). Avi’s Guatemalan experience is officially over. Guatemala, I bid you farewell by eating this simple piece of capitalism, something that I have not done even one time while in Guatemala. Goodbye chicken buses, quetzales, fresh fruit and vegetables, amoebas, nature, indigenous clothing, eggs and beans, and hello cars. Dollar bills, Florida orange juice, overpriced stores, proper hygiene, a/c, and sushi. But, I must say, Guatemala did not let me go that easily. She tried hard to keep me here and left me wanting more.

I was fortunate to spend the last two days in Antigua witnessing one of the most bizarre, interesting, and entertaining Semana Santa festivals in the world. The streets of Antigua were absolutely jammed with tourists and Guatemalans alike, all there to take in the sights, smells, and beauty of Antigua. Various processions filled the streets all day, as Guatemalans paraded with handcrafted and handcarried floats, purple robes, Roman costumes, incense candles, and music. The week of celebration is punctuated during from the evening of Good Friday until the next night. Although I was unable to witness the processions of Good Friday, I was there for the best part as 5am in Antigua, Guatemala felt like 9pm in Times Square. Nobody went to sleep last night, not kids, not adults, not 80 year old Mayan women. Well some people may have limped off to their hotels and houses but if they did, they missed an incredible spectacle. All night bars, restaurants, and tiendas stayed open as thousands of Guatemalans and some extranajeros worked diligently making alfombras (basically really elaborate, colorful rugs made from flowers, colored sawdust, salt, pine needles, and whatever other materials were around. The alfombras line the streets before every single procession only to be stepped on by the paraders and then swept off to the garbage. Because Good Friday is the culmination of the grandest processions, people stay up all night making these amazingly beautiful street rugs, trying to strut their stuff for all to see. All along the parks, squares, and streets, people lay down to rest, eat street food, spend time with family, and walk around admiring the work going on around them. Of course I was among the people, beer in hand, freezing in flip flops, and exhaustedly walking around until 5am when I finally needed to go home and pack. Antigua during Semana Santa is amazing and something that should be seen once in your lifetime.

I have so many more thoughts, stories, observations, insights, and photos from Guatemala that I will be posting and sharing with you in the upcoming weeks so continue to check back. I also will let you know whether I will be in Nicaragua doing the Peace Corps for two years on Monday! Get excited people, the best is yet to come.

And now for some sleep.

HUGE News again

Due to a bizarre and twisted series of events inside my head, I will now be returning home (yes home home) on THIS Friday March 21! Ok, really I just decided that I was ready to come home, the airfare was cheap, and that I was more excited about the prospect of spending time with family and friends than staying here an extra ten days. This probably deserves more length than I am going to give it right now so check back tomorrow for more thoughts and details.

Can’t wait to see everyone soon!!!  Abrazos y Besos!

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