Adios, Antigua

It's hard to believe that I left for Guatemala September 1 and today is October 1. 


Really, where is time going??

Today was my last day of language school. My first last day so far.

80 hours completed, and I have a diploma to prove it!

I have enjoyed my time here in Antigua. It has been a great buffer time for getting acclimated to the culture and working on the language. I've met great people and I've had the kind of experiences that are awful and sanctifying at the same time....the kind I'll look back on someday and smile about. 

Honestly though, I'm ready to move on. This chapter has closed in good timing.

Yesterday, I was walking back to the house in the rain, umbrella in hand and jeans haphazardly rolled up. As I stood and waited for an opening in tuk-tuk and car traffic so I could dart across the uneven cobblestone street, I realized how natural life here is starting to feel. The cultural rarities that stood out like a sore thumb to me a month ago are starting to blend in with everything else I consider to be normal in my life. It's no big deal now for me to see a woman walking down the street with a bouquet of six dozen flowers balanced perfectly on her head. It doesn't even bother me that women take no precaution in covering themselves while breast-feeding. I've learned to smile and say "gracias" to all the people who shove flyers into my hands as I walk by (really, the people who hand out flyers on campus could learn a thing or two from these Guatemalans). I don't even know if people are whistling at me and making odd comments as I walk by less or if I'm just used to it and have learned to ignore it, but I really feel like I'm starting to fit in more here. 

All these thoughts led me to asking a question....

How long do you have to sleep and eat somewhere before you can say you live there? 

Will I look back on this period of my life as "the time I lived in Guatemala?" 

At what point am I no longer just a visitor? 

I feel like saying I lived somewhere is somehow taking ownership of that place...have I earned that? 

Anyway, as I've thought about these things today, I've made a mental list.

You know you've lived in Guatemala for a month when....

1. You were never really a coffee drinker before, but now you drink at least 4 cups a day
2. After turning your nose up at it since you were five, you actually like McDonald's now
3. You've officially been infected by amoebas...and had to give "samples" in a lab to find out 
4. You've learned to only shower every other day because it's just too much work...and you use the same towel for a week
5. Febreze has become crucial in prolonging the life of your "clean" clothes
6. It's second nature to put toilet paper in the trash can, not the toilet 
7. Eating cold black bean paste and cheese for breakfast doesn't make you want to gag anymore
8. You don't go outside without your umbrella even if the sun is shining, and you really want to learn a rendition of "Rain Rain, Go Away" in Spanish
9. You start daydreaming about your kids speaking Spanish before they speak English
10. While packing, you wonder why all your luggage smells like some form of rotten chocolate. After spraying Febreze all over it (which doesn't work), you give up. Then, in search of something else, you open the outside pocket on your suitcase and find sopping wet, muddy socks from last week when you had to walk through a high water crossing on the edge of a landslide that was so high it filled up your rain boots...no big deal.

So I've decided that when I'm old and grey and sitting in my wooden rocking chair telling my Spanish-speaking grandchildren stories about my life (Lord-willing), I'm going to take the liberty in referring to this as "the time I lived in Guatemala."