Back in Guatemala

Back in Guatemala City after one month in Chicago and China. Chicago, during the waning weeks of September, is paradise. It lulls you into thinking that you should move there. Then winter comes. The Hawk, as it's known to Chicagoans, is the wind that blows off of Lake Michigan. It's the wind that blows down the back of your neck and makes you say prayers for the homeless people coping to live on the streets. I went to see the Bears lose to Dallas at Soldier Field. The new and the old architecture blend in a way that is not displeasing. The stadium looks like a space ship landed on the Roman Collesium. Not much of a Fall this year, or at least a late Fall in terms of colors. Chicago will always be my home.

Guatemala City is all about reality. The smells, the sounds, the sites are stark and remind me that I live in the most populated city in the poorest country of Central America. Not that it isn't beautiful, or at moments sublime, but the needs of this many people are difficult to meet. I love the architecure and the traditions. Access to cheap food and rent are among my main incentives for being here, plus I was bored in the USA. Christmas is coming here and that means a lot of things. Burning the devil on the 7th of December is how they folks purify themselves for the coming of the boy king. Then on Christmas eve the fireworks begin. Last year I was in bed trying to sleep at 11:59 p.m. when at the stroke of midnight I sat bolt-upright in bed thinking I was somehow transported to Baghdad. The city literally exploded with firecrackers, mortars, and rockets....it lasted for about a half hour! The traditions here are thick and enduring and make Guate an onion worth peeling.