Things I notice on the way to school

Christ is coming. It says so (Christo Viene) in large block letters on the church, perched high above us on a cliff, where I see it as I walk down my street.

Everyone is in a hurry here in the morning. I live accross from a school, and there's all these kids and parents getting themselves in and out of micros and cars, trying to make the bell. And then there's always kids running for the school after the bell finally goes off. Everyone driving is speeding like a madman, presumably expected to be on time for work even though nobody is. 'Country Time' is a concept that seems to exist everywhere - in Thailand, for example, 'Thai Time' means showing up between 15 minutes early and 30 minutes late, and that is expected and normal. 'Guatemalan Time' means showing up between 30 and 90 minutes late. It's just expected.

Kids are cute.

City roads are almost all paved with small stones, shaped like a fat cross, and about the size of a soccer ball. The stones are usually finished and set by hand as the road is paved. This is perfectly logical in a place where machines and capital is relatively expensive, and labor is relatively cheap. It's also probably a good make-work program for the government to run.

In some places in the street, metal half-spheres a little bigger than a softball have been bolted down, to stop people from speeding. But it looks like someone came out and smashed a bunch down with a sledge hammer one night, so people can speed unimpeded.

There are a lot of gun shops here, which seems strange in a country which has a real problem with violent crime. Maybe they did something fucking retarded, like include a right to bear arms in their constitution, and then made the constitution real hard to change. Do tourists in the US have that impression, that we're a violent tribe with lots of guns n ammo? Probably. Thanks a lot, Michael Moore (my blog will now increase its hits exponentially, thanks to my mention of Michael Moore. I hope. I'm a shameful self-publicist).

The sidewalks here are as strangely irregular, just as they are in South America. They vary in width from 6 to 36 inches, and in heidth from 4 to 24 inches. Sometimes they dissapear altogether, either into a sandy path or into a wall. And things like electric poles are placed in the sidewalks, so even a wide one will become narrow every few feet. Negotiating the sidewalks can become an intricate dance when the get even a few people trying to pass at the same time.

There aren't a lot of taxis in Xela, but there are a lot of bikes, which is rad of course. This is in sharp contrast to Arequipa, Peru, where I once sat at an intersection cafe in the center of town and counted something like 85 taxis in 20 minutes. You've probably gathered that I don't care much for taxis, but I do love my bike, and I love living in Portland, America's bike capitol. The bikes are about as prevalent here; buses, cars, and micros are more common, but there's probably someone on a bike for every 4 or 5 vehicles that pass.

One of my neighbors is a Pats fan. He has the bumper sticker on his truck.