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September 27, 2004
Some Main Differences
I'm ready for the first wave of observations.
- Guatemalans speak excellent spanish, clear and slang free. It's a great place to learn. Overal people are extremely friendly.
- A 512 Kbps (Frac T1 on fiber, 1/3 of a DSL connection) dedicated connection to the internet costs the school USD $1000 per month.
- Using my laptop to connect to the internet (about 300 Kbps) at an internet cafe cost Q8/hour (about USD $1/hour).
- A few months ago in Chicago, I saw that my roommate's girlfriend Maria bought some hand woven placemats at Pottery Barn in Chicago. She must've paid about $10 per. The tag said they were made in Guatemala. We found the same ones at the central market - high quality, beautiful... $1 each.
- Except in very modern buildings, every bathroom has a little waste bin right next to the toilet. This is for your used toilet paper because it will clog the plumbing otherwise. Most toilet paper is scented so the smell is not so bad. Yes, our apartment complex is a 'very modern building'.
Posted by Jeff at September 27, 2004 01:37 PM
Comments
Ah yes, I had forgotten about the waste bin next to the toilet. That's prevalent throughout Peru and Bolivia as well. Reminds me of one of my fondest South American experiences:
Posted by: Alex Chiang at October 1, 2004 06:17 PM
Dude, Clearly Rebecca has the better fashion sence modeling with the car in complementary shades. That blue shirt, well ... let's just say I can't tell if the car does the shirt a disservice or the other way around.
Posted by: Rosemary at October 4, 2004 11:25 AM