move | eat | learn

Excerpt from my personal statement for my residency application:

My travels have taken me all over the world from Bolivia to Iceland to East Africa. There are essentially two ways I explore a new city for the first time: by sweeping and by stepping. Sweeping comes first. I hop on a bus tour or hire a guide in order to get an overall sense of its history and culture. Stepping takes more time and effort, but this is how I truly get to know a city. It’s important to walk among the locals: eat where they eat, do what they do, step where they step. 

And man oh man, these 3 videos truly capture the beauty of travel: simple and true.

Move.

Eat.

Learn.

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

ps. Sincerest thanks to my numerous editors and sounding-boards- couldn't have done it without yall!

family reunion

in two very short days:

My mother and sister land at La Aurora International in Guate City.

I will be reunited with two of my favorite ladies. No boys allowed!

We will commence a 4-day spree of eating, drinking and shopping.

Can you feel my excitement through the pixelated screen?!

PNKD family reunion | lakeview, MI | june 2011
i wish all of these ladies could have joined us.

julie do, you will be missed! (pictured in center)

and just because. me with cousin aspen.

-----
On repeat today: John Denver's "Country Roads," which is one of our family anthems. Because for whatever reason, it is my father's favorite American song: a man born in Nha Trang, Vietnam - who has only lived in Minnesota, Michigan and Texas in the US - who hates camping and has never been to West Virginia. 

open letter

To the random Guatemalan men from this morning:

I did notice the catcalls, the kissy faces and the whistles.

I was not asking for the attention.

But your brazen behavior did make me chuckle. 

So thanks for that on this beautiful Friday morning.

Regards,

Antoinette

ps. My sister says this is only because I look like a "tall-ish" Guatemalteca.
pps. An expat friend who lives in Guate says this is only because I look "gringa-ish" and/or "female-ish."

-----

Currently playing: Holst's "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity" from The Planets Suite. Do yourself a favor and listen to the theme that starts at 3:05. goosebumps and chills. It brings back memories of when my senior year high school orchestra played this piece at Carnegie Hall. Has it really been 10 years?

sharing is caring

After reading about Warren Buffet's call for "shared sacrifice" from the super-rich in a recent opinion article in the NY Times, this quote struck a chord.

I think it’s important for us to live in an inclusive world. Excluding people for this reason or that is, in most cases, grossly unfair. I also think that the myth of the self-made man is exactly that, a myth. All of us are born under many conditions over which we had no control or no vote, i.e. where and when we were born, whether we were male or female, the color of our skin, our ethnicity, and our religion.  

-Thomas J. White, co-founder of Partners in Health

And this Aloe Blacc song never fails to strike a chord deep within. That voice. That plaintive plea. It worms its way into my soul. Every. Single. Time.

MOMENTS WITH ALOE BLACC, MIKI AND JAYBO: "I NEED A DOLLAR"

Happy Friday y'all!  Besos y abrazos de Guate! 

new beginnings

This weekend, I found myself climbing an active volcano.

volcan pacaya

This weekend, I found myself actively appreciating the little pleasures in life.

la casa del mundo | el jaibalito

This weekend, I found myself slowly peeling away old layers of complacency and comfort. 

el sábado

After two days of field visits at our site in Quetzaltenango - widely known as Xela, the abbreviation of its original K'iche' name - I was left to my own devices and flying solo in the Western Highlands for the weekend.

Xela and Antigua are the Guatemalan meccas of Spanish-language schools and foreigners flock here to learn from the Guatemalans, who apparently speak the Midwestern equivalent of Spanish: slow, clear and with a neutral accent. But instead of partying with the hordes of 20-something gringos on Friday night, I opted for a quiet evening with my Kindle and The Professor and the Housekeeper. As my newly-engaged and thereby automatically wiser friend Jinna put it, on some nights, I'm not just getting too old for partying; I've been too old.

The agenda for Saturday was:
- a visit to a glassblowing cooperative in the nearby pueblo of Cantel
- an afternoon dip in the hot springs at Fuentes Georginas

cantel, guatemala | august 2011

fuentes georginas | august 2011

All day, I couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. Not when I was the only gringa squeezed into a gutted passenger van with 25 other people. Not when I was noticeably the tallest person on a "chicken" bus with over 100 indigenous Guatemalans sitting 4 (or 6) deep on each bench. (I love feeling not-height-challenged here!) Not even when the cooperativo wasn't running tours due to an electricity outage.

Instead, I found myself focusing on my senses. The bright colors and designs of the indigenous textiles. The smell of the noxious fumes and emissions from ancient vehicles. The cries of the chubby-faced babies. The lyricism of Spanish interspersed with local indigenous languages. The pleasant mountain breeze against my bare cheek.

At this altitude (2,400 m/8,000 ft), the sky appeared blindingly bright blue, punctuated by giant wispy clouds, and there was a refreshing crispness in the air. I can confidently report that I am not missing the suffocating heat and humidity of an ATL summer.

zunil, guatemala | august 2011 

xela, guatemala | august 2011

Twas a great Saturday.

The end.

ps. Sunday was not so great. Motion sickness + bad food = projectile vomit x 2. Let's just say it was a lovely 5-hour bus ride back to Guatemala City.

it's a choice.

Some days, I feel like this:

But today, I'm trying to internalize this:

print by Mary Kate McDevitt

nerd alert!

It began over a decade ago.

In the late 90s, I was introduced to Harry Potter when my librarian uncle lent me a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I flew through the British editions of the first two books and during each subsequent year, I impatiently waited to fly through the American editions of #3 to #7.

It's not my favorite book series. It's not even my favorite film series. But that boy-wizard and his friends have been around longer in my life than some real-life in-the-flesh folks. (There will always be a small hobbit-sized space in my heart for escapist lit).

midnight viewing of HP and the goblet of fire | nov 2005

platform 9¾, london | april 2008

And tonight, it ended.

guatemala city | august 2011