“¿Que prefieres – Guatemala o Las Estados Unidos?” my Antigua-based Spanish teacher asked me yesterday over Skype. “Well in Antigua, the people are very nice but they are not quick” I replied. Realizing that I had just described all Antigueños as slow-witted, not slow-moving as I intended, I quickly added: “In the US the people aren’t nice, but they walk very fast. In Antigua the people walk very slow and I don’t have patience.”
“Ooohhh ja ja ja! Sí que es verdad, pero no es un gran problema, ja ja ja!”
Whew, my bad joke was understood. But it reminded me of all the other times I’ve been asked the same question in both English and Spanish, and how my replies were never quite convincing. I finally arrived at a decent canned answer: “When I’m in the US, I like the US. When I’m in Guatemala, I like Guatemala.” It’s probably more accurate to say that when I’m in the US, I complain more about the US and when I’m in Guatemala, I complain more about Guatemala. The grass is always greener on the other side of the border I guess.
Of course there’s way more green on this side, which is part of the reason we’re back up here. I’ve been working as a contract web designer for the in-house design department of a well-known educational toy brand – making that plata baby – gracias a Díos. Kara is hard at work on her Habla project, making entrepreneurial moves and getting some big players on board. Anyway my point is the green is indeed within reach for many of us in North America. Do I like the US? Hell yeah I like the US because there’s more fat here than in the chorizo and eggs I ate for breakfast this morning.
But are the people in Guatemala really nicer? Yes, the people in Antigua at least are very formal, use proper manners and are indeed very friendly to strangers. It’s like a time warp back to how we North Americans used to conduct ourselves. Or the way many Midwesterners like myself still conduct ourselves: opening doors for others, standing up and shaking hands when meeting someone for the first time, giving up seats for senior citizens on the bus and other mind-blowing acts of civility. Guatemalans do walk really slow though – I think it’s all the babies and goofy kids running around gumming up the works.
The funny thing about that time warp is Guatemala is now wormholing it’s way out of 1961 and into 2011. They’re cruising past all the lame shit we had to sludge through like landlines, web 1.0 and the Atkins Diet but I’m afraid they might also skip important stuff like having a civil rights movement, inventing their own punk rock and discovering a cure for Moco De Gorila.
Anyway, I look forward to being back on the other side to see what happens next.