Flash forward to three hours into our trip and my parents,
our luggage, and myself are hurling across a very choppy lake in the middle of
a thunderstorm. My mother asks nervously if it’s normal for all the Guatemalans
to be clutching lifejackets. “Yes,” I reply although I have never actually seen
this before. My eyes wander the insides of the boat and I silently note that
all of the life jackets appear to be in use. This boat ride would prove to be
just one of many transportation glitches. It turns out that things that I
consider to be fun and/or a luxury, such as riding in the back of pickup trucks or taking tuk-tuks, my
parents consider to be terrifying and uncomfortable…woops.
Transportation aside, one area of the trip that I managed to
succeed in was the food. My dad likes to joke that trips are often planned from
meal to meal. For example, at breakfast you would be planning what you are
going to do for lunch and dinner. To me this is not a joke and it’s exactly
what I do. Large amounts of my day would be consumed (pun intended)
brainstorming our breakfast, lunch and dinner options. With my parents here, a
slew of fancier restaurants that I had never experienced were now available
to us. The trick was to fit them all into a week’s time and therefore much
planning was required.
My father also speaks French, but he decided to utilize his
knowledge of the language in a different way. He rationalized that since French
and Spanish are closer than English and Spanish he would simply speak French to
anyone and everyone for the week. While his theory was sound, it did not work
very well in practice. Many Guatemalans, especially people working in the
tourist industry, have some basic knowledge of the English language. This is
not the case for French. However, my father would hear none of this talk and
continued his French as though it were the most natural thing in the world. I
do have to give him some credit, though, because he managed to get around a bit
by himself. How he managed to
negotiate a cab ride alone remains a mystery to me.
Overall it was a great week with my parents. Did everything
go according to plan? No. Did I remain cool and collected when it didn’t?
Again, no. Cam has this impression that he does of the girls in the house when
we are freaking out over something relatively unimportant. It involves him
speaking in a Muppet voice and overreacting a lot. It is alarmingly accurate.
Panicking aside, we still managed to have a great time. My parents were
good-humored and able to roll with the punches even if I was not. It was
rewarding to share just a few of my experiences in Guatemala with my parents
and I believe they left reassured that I am safe and happy here.
Emily
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