Casey's Visit

This last week we had a family friend of Brittany's Aunt Steph come to visit us here in Quiché as he is currently studying Spanish at a school in Antigua, Guatemala. With only a few directions of how to get here on a chicken bus, Casey met us at the town bus terminal, a good place to get your first and dirtiest taste of Quiché. Having not met Casey prior to this, one would not have known we weren't all friends, as we were instantly comfortable with one another. Some how like minded people usually just click...

After a quick tour of the office we headed to "Cafe Blintz" for Coffee, Crepes, and Cards with our Spanish friend and fellow volunteer Raquel. Always excited to have a fourth person for hearts, the night was loaded with plenty of hearts as well as some other card games. We even learned a few new ones like "Pounce" from Casey and "Qen" from Raquel. At 9:00 when Blintz closed, we took our game to the local bar "Casa Vieja" for more cards, only this time with cerveza. After a round of Coronas and cards, a few drunk Guatemalans came over and introduced themselves, obviously drawn to our presence by our American accents and of course the presence of the girls, the only 2 in the bar out of about 30 guys. It wasn't long before they offered to buy us free beers. Toby was nicknamed the "Bullshit Boy" by Raquel after having to bullshit the drunk men about why they should buy the girls Coronas rather than the much harsher Gallo which they bought for the boys. This all came along with having an intense conversation (in Spanish nonetheless) about what beers are the best, etc. while we drank our free beers. Perhaps the funniest part of the evening was when one of the Guatemalans, a Gallo Beer distributor, offered Toby a Gallo keepsake in the form of a bottle opener keychain. He was however quickly humbled when Toby pointed out that the keychain was for a rival beer, rather than Gallo and suggested the gentleman keep his bottle opener. Six FREE beers and some more BS later, the Guatemalans left for the night and we finished our drinks and headed home as well.

The next day we went with Casey and Raquel to the local ruinas for some lunch (gracias a Raquel), peace and quiet (as we all had been woken up by firecrackers at 3 AM the night before), and some cave exploration. This time we found a second more narrowcave below the main one we usually visit, but also used by the current Mayans for ceremonies and worship.

Attempting to return Casey to Antigua, we went to the terminal to drop him off, only to find that the buses stopped at 5 PM. (Since when do the chicken buses stop!?!¿!? We had no idea). We didn't mind, since this allowed us to play more cards and visit with Casey. Finally, Casey was able to leave the next morning at about 4 AM, hopefully taking some good memories of "real" Guatemala with him.