Mi Casa

This is a picture of the street I live on. My windows are the first 2 on the right hand side. The bigger window is my kitchen and the smaller window is where my bedroom is located. I live in the downtown area of my pueblo, so there are always loud motorcycles, trucks, and cars whizzing past my window at every hour of the day. I’ve never before in my life valued the idea that “silence is golden” more than I do now. I look forward to getting back to the states, if for no other reason, so that I will finally be able to work, read, and sleep without Guatemala disturbing me. I’ve made a list of things that have past my windows before 8 in the morning, many of which have woken me up

1. Cattle – Cows, goats, sheep
2. Motorcycles who have tampered with the muffler system so they sound 10x louder
3. Mother’s Day wishes at 5am from a bullhorn mounted on a pick-up truck
4. Bombas - Loud firework esk’ things that are set to explode normally between 12am and 6am. They are very loud and often shake my adobe made house.
5. Out of tune marching bands
6. Wild packs of dogs, sometimes up to 10 that fight, howl, growl, and annoy
7. The sound of meat being cut on Saturdays at the carniceria next door, normally start around 4 am and go to about 8 am – It’s a loud “thud” sound as they still cut meat on an old tree stump
8. Mayor propaganda - This is an election year. It is always in the form of a terrible banda song accompanied with some campaign slogans and ideas.
9. My name being yelled and my window being banged on by people who just want me to give them money simply because being from the USA in Central America is as good as having a $ sign on your forehead
10. Anyone asking for English help – I’m cool with giving help and I often do to many people in the community, but an unannounced banging on my window at 7 am on a Saturday is a little much