I’m about three quarters through a New York Times bestseller called The Geography of Bliss by former (US) National Public Radio correspondent Eric Weiner. It’s about the author’s travels to several countries to see if and why they are happy or unhappy. Some of the time he has enough experience in the country to have insight, and sometimes he is just an average bloke with a contact or two, and enough money to venture around for a couple of weeks picking up some of the culture. He did study up on the science of what makes people happy, and picked his destinations based on what he learned. His observations make a lot of sense. It got me to thinking why I feel differently about this place or that. In particular, it is making me think about why I decided to stay in Antigua for a while.
Some of the components of a happy life I have, sometimes in spades. Some things, particularly regarding this place, are lacking. Without going into it all, suffice it to say my psychology and situation with Myung makes it good to be here now. What is less than great about my experience of Antigua and Guatemala is made up for by my “having seen it all” and internalizing some of life’s lessons that make for happiness. Some people might not associate me with contentedness, but it’s there. There’s a close connection between happiness and contentedness. That’s why I’m good to go here. I’m really enjoying that book. The Bhutan and Thailand chapters resonated with me. I haven’t gotten to India yet, but I suspect it will also. That’s one place Eric Weiner and I have spent a lot of time.
For me now, being able to be happy means being able to kick back and not feel like I have to do anything. Being an American, aversion to emptiness is bred into me. It’s taken decades to be able embrace “things are fine, you don’t have to do anything”, to live in the present without being in such a hurry to get more whatever. Actually, the long term backpacking hasn’t been all restlessness, inquisitiveness or impatience. Quite the opposite, I think. There is a lot of detachment in wandering. With detachment comes perspective, and with perspective comes equanimity, a well known path to contentment and happiness. I am finding, so far, that this place and this situation let me settle into a comfortable mental space.
That’s not to say we’ll stay here permanently, whatever permanent is. A few components of happiness are missing so far. A sense of community, i.e. friends and connections, is still nearly absent. Some issues with Guatemalan culture, like the horrible crime rate, aren’t going away. I have to balance that with the truism that the grass is often not that much greener on the other side.
We’ve rented a room in the home of a British/Guatemalan couple, Felix and Annie.
There’s their dog, Biscuit. They live in the main part of the house with another renter, Norm. Norm’s a 78 year old American, about as retired as it gets. He seemed reluctant to have his picture taken, so maybe next time. We live around the corner of the house and behind, down there at the end.
From the spot that picture is taken, here is the view to the left, over the neighbor’s house.
Here’s the inside.
We all seem to be getting along fine. Myung and I like to cook. Annie cooks with Felix, who has spent much of his 14 years in Antigua and Guatemala City as a chef. Best about this is he has all this great cooking stuff. What a treat to have good pots, pans and tools of the trade! He’s also got commercial gas burners. The sink isn’t optimal, but this is Guatemala. That thing in the last picture is called a pila. You run cold water from the tank on the roof into the middle section and collect it there. At least Guatemalans do, because city water may get interrupted and the tank may go dry. Then you wash your dishes, clothes, dog, whatever on the left, scooping water from the center. If there’s water, you make a last clean rinse from the tap.
Oh, just now I went inside from where Biscuit and I are doing this blog entry….
… and there was Myung making pesto. The thing about the sink is if you are making something that requires frequent use of water, you can either go back and forth and back and forth, or do it in the pila.
One of the really good things about Guatemala is the fresh fruits and vegetables. The basil she’s using was probably picked this morning and brought to the market where we just bought it, a huge bouquet for about 40 US cents.
So, the place is good, the company is good, and the rent is very good. A half block behind us is a nice wooded hill. Up the road about 300 meters we found this ruin in the trees.
Our days here are pretty simple. They are as I described last time. We usually go to the market in the morning and for some kind of walk in the afternoon or evening. Yesterday was Sunday. That’s a good time to be out and about. Guatemala, like Mexico, is liveliest on Sundays after church. We walked to the next village, San Felipe, really only a couple of kilometers north of here and barely disconnected to Antigua. Sometimes we just blunder into things. Turns out that a famous resort is there, Filadelfia. We saw signs all over Antigua about it, but didn’t know where it was till we were walking around the outskirts of San Felipe, waiting for church to get out so we could get some lunch at the street stalls. And there it was. It’s a nice resorty place, with a faux high-end restaurant, horsey-back rides through the coffee plantation, tours, and so on. It’s mostly for upscale package tourists. We have a few pictures, but they aren’t worth uploading. What was nice, though, was taking ourselves through the plantation. Here, in the mountainous western part of Guatemala, coffee is the big industry. There are more coffee shops per capita in Antigua than in Seattle, by far. Ah, you can get very nice, high elevation shade grown coffee here, roasted today if you want.
So, then we went back to the central plaza and got some grub. She had pepian Guatemala’s answer to Mexico’s mole, chicken with sweet, peppery/chocolate sauce though served up more like a soup. I had clear veggie soup and chicken with a side of roasted squash.
Myung was across the table, of course. I like this picture of her over there.
That’s going to do it for now. There will be more from here, of course. I can tell when I think I’m going too stay, when I buy something I definitely wouldn’t carry in my pack, like a hair clipper so I can save money on barbers.
Be well, all of you, and I hope you Americans had a Happy Thanksgiving.