Sunday, November 04, 2007
I went to church this morning, but since then have been hanging around in my apartment, doing very little. And that feels great. I have my things with me now even if most of them are still in boxes, and right now Matt is out in Glenside visiting a friend. So I have the apartment all to myself. At long last. It feels good to be alone in my place.
The trip to Guatemala went quite well, so now I have my files, photo albums, books and CDs and stuff with me again. Glitches came up, but got handled rather easily. Traveling with Bob to use his baggage allotment worked quite well.
We stayed at a BnB where I've stayed many times before, and they found a pickup for me to move my stuff from Mi Bodega, my Self Storage Unit, to the airport even though it was the first day of the All Saint's Day/Day of the Dead Holiday. It was a rattletrap pickup, but it did the job and they only wanted Q75 for the job. That works out to $10!
I'd forgotten what was in the box I wanted to call Carry-On. At security x-ray it clearly contained a complete set of kitchen carving knives, cleavers, meat forks and similar contraband. That rang ALL the security bells. So did the roll of packing tape I had in case customs in Miami wanted to open my boxes, and the twine I'd used to hold the box together and make a handle. They let me go back to put all that stuff in checked baggage and American Airlines allowed it, even though I'd already used up our entire excess baggage allotment.
In Miami, the customs guys in their sinister black uniforms were rather dumbfounded by our ten heavy boxes plus carry-ons plus backpacks. But they accepted my explanation of returning with household stuff after working with the Peace Corps in Guatemala and the fact that I had a super-detailed list of everything in the boxes. They didn't even look at any of the boxes, just waved us through to the x-ray scanner where they confiscated the rest of my packing tape and wished us well.
The flight from Miami to Phila was an hour and a half late in leaving, so we didn't get to Phila until 1:30am. Still, with Bob's car and an SUV I'd rented for the occasion from PhilaCarShare, we got it all moved to 412 Spruce Street where it is now about 1/3 unpacked. My Art Deco lamp, Puerto Rico mask, China figurines,the family clock and some African items are already on display, and it is good to see them again. The furnishings in this apartment will certainly be eclectic!
Bob was a great companion for the trip. A good conversationalist, opinionated on whatever topic comes up, glad for the opportunity to see Guatemala, and OK with staying in inexpensive - read: cheap - facilities. We shared a lot about our experiences in Tanzania, and it was fun to remember all that and compare our two sites and experiences there.
So here were these two old guys traveling around and staying together. Could have looked a little odd, depending on how you looked at it, I guess. On the morning we left Antigua we were in the market together, dickering with vendors over some bead necklaces and souvenirs, and the vendor suggested I buy some additional things for my wife. The way he said it, it wasn't clear if he was referring to my hypothetical wife in the States, or to Bob. Bob picked up on it too, and seemed a little shaken by the comment.
I was a little surprised to find that the groups I most enjoyed being around were the indigenous people who were traveling in the chicken buses with us or at the local market in Solola. Hard to get my hands around why, but these people wearing their traditional dress are just so down to earth and their children are so beautiful....
Guatemala has its Presidential Election this coming week. Looks like Molina has the upper hand, with his promise of creating a Strong Hand administration. That scares me a bit. Despite my trepidation, I wish Guatemala well.
The trip to Guatemala went quite well, so now I have my files, photo albums, books and CDs and stuff with me again. Glitches came up, but got handled rather easily. Traveling with Bob to use his baggage allotment worked quite well.
We stayed at a BnB where I've stayed many times before, and they found a pickup for me to move my stuff from Mi Bodega, my Self Storage Unit, to the airport even though it was the first day of the All Saint's Day/Day of the Dead Holiday. It was a rattletrap pickup, but it did the job and they only wanted Q75 for the job. That works out to $10!
I'd forgotten what was in the box I wanted to call Carry-On. At security x-ray it clearly contained a complete set of kitchen carving knives, cleavers, meat forks and similar contraband. That rang ALL the security bells. So did the roll of packing tape I had in case customs in Miami wanted to open my boxes, and the twine I'd used to hold the box together and make a handle. They let me go back to put all that stuff in checked baggage and American Airlines allowed it, even though I'd already used up our entire excess baggage allotment.
In Miami, the customs guys in their sinister black uniforms were rather dumbfounded by our ten heavy boxes plus carry-ons plus backpacks. But they accepted my explanation of returning with household stuff after working with the Peace Corps in Guatemala and the fact that I had a super-detailed list of everything in the boxes. They didn't even look at any of the boxes, just waved us through to the x-ray scanner where they confiscated the rest of my packing tape and wished us well.
The flight from Miami to Phila was an hour and a half late in leaving, so we didn't get to Phila until 1:30am. Still, with Bob's car and an SUV I'd rented for the occasion from PhilaCarShare, we got it all moved to 412 Spruce Street where it is now about 1/3 unpacked. My Art Deco lamp, Puerto Rico mask, China figurines,the family clock and some African items are already on display, and it is good to see them again. The furnishings in this apartment will certainly be eclectic!
Bob was a great companion for the trip. A good conversationalist, opinionated on whatever topic comes up, glad for the opportunity to see Guatemala, and OK with staying in inexpensive - read: cheap - facilities. We shared a lot about our experiences in Tanzania, and it was fun to remember all that and compare our two sites and experiences there.
So here were these two old guys traveling around and staying together. Could have looked a little odd, depending on how you looked at it, I guess. On the morning we left Antigua we were in the market together, dickering with vendors over some bead necklaces and souvenirs, and the vendor suggested I buy some additional things for my wife. The way he said it, it wasn't clear if he was referring to my hypothetical wife in the States, or to Bob. Bob picked up on it too, and seemed a little shaken by the comment.
I was a little surprised to find that the groups I most enjoyed being around were the indigenous people who were traveling in the chicken buses with us or at the local market in Solola. Hard to get my hands around why, but these people wearing their traditional dress are just so down to earth and their children are so beautiful....
Guatemala has its Presidential Election this coming week. Looks like Molina has the upper hand, with his promise of creating a Strong Hand administration. That scares me a bit. Despite my trepidation, I wish Guatemala well.
