life @ 13

today i find myself in antigua guatemala, the former capital and a very plesant colonial town, chock full of gringos, most of them here for good gringo company and/or the 100 or so language schools here.
yesterday i broke down and took a bus from poptun to guatemala city with someone i met in finca ixobel, the previously mentioned ex-hippie work/sleep/etc. farm just south of poptun. the farm was more like a chill-out/hang-out spot where the locals work on the farm and the tourists stay in comfortable beds and eat expensive ($6) buffet dinners. nothing special, but it was a good place to relax and meet some fellow travellers, nurse a sore achilles, and play some excellent ping-pong.
my primary reason for taking a bus was to avoid the commercial traffic from guatemala's sliver of atlantic coast to the capital, and judging from what i saw out the window, this turned out to be a good idea.
guatemala city is known as one of the dirtiest, seediest, smoggiest, and chaotic cities on the world, and i was not dissapointed.
(disclaimer: family may wish to skip the following paragraph)
jeff, who i was travelling with, suggested we check out the red light district, hoping to check out the guatemalan mamacitas. all we could find were a rather large cluster of brothels which were, save for the bathrooms, surprisingly clean and friendly. our interaction with the guatemalan prostitutes was limited to sharing a beer and some conversation; this was a surprisingly worthwhile and interesting experience.
(resume)
i was planning on spending today looking for a good bike shop in guatemala city, but it being sunday none were open. although i had a vague desire to wallow in the disgusting but interesting city, my weak american lungs preferred to head for the clean air of antigua.
on the bus to antigua i was hounded by the owner of a language school (of course he was, um, dropping off his daughter to, um, visit her grandmother, um, yeah, whatever) who dragged the typically agreeable me to his school when the bus stopped. i'll take this oppertunity to mention that this was my first ride on the so-called guatemalan "chicken bus," the bus system that the locals use to get around. the name is rooted in a history of humans and chickens sharing seats on the busses, which are all old american school busses, dispelled from our rule-obsessed nation.
upon arrival at the school, i was offered 1-on-1 lessons 5 hours a day, five days a week, and 6 days stay with a family, room and board inclusive, for $125/week. which, when you work it out, is about 6.3 minutes of lecture at the UW. upon refusing this offer, i was immediatly kicked out of the building, and told not to come back without being given the chance to explain that i haven't decided to study spanish or stay in antigua. i'm thinking this over as i type. although i haven't done too good a job so far, one of my supposed goals for this trip was to get away from the tourist trail, and antigua is the base camp for said trail. i'm gonna hang out for a day or two, read some tolstoy, and see what happens. i'm anxious to get back on the bicycle, the roads around here look excellent and the scenery is spectacular.
besides all that, back to watching the superbowl. i'll get back to your emails and maybe put up another post tomorrow.