Guatemalan Reunions Day 2

I'd been looking forward to my walk to the shelter today because to get there I have to walk down a long road next to the market where the chicken buses line up. Once you reach the buses it's chaos with the ayudantes (bus guys) yelling out the names of their routes trying to get passengers. I love hearing "GUATE, GUATE, GUATE, GUATE!!!" The area just has so much character.

Even though I walked the same route 3 days a week for 5 months never once accepting an offer to get on a bus, it never failed, the ayudantes would still try and lure me on as if I was their most important customer. My favourite ayudante, Vicente, would even go as far as to try and tug at my arm to come. That was only when he had been drinking though. Wouldn't we all love a job where we could get drunk and still get paid...

There was no Vicente today unfortunately, but the usual chicken bus chaos and the auctioneer type yelling did not disappoint. I was the first "employee" to arrive at the shelter (a tad eager perhaps), so had to wait patiently. Alex arrived first and it was awesome to see him again. He is just the nicest guy you'll ever meet. So inside we went and well, it was like I had been there only yesterday. Nothing had changed and if felt like home. 

Alex and I caught up for a bit until the clanking of the gate started, meaning that people were there waiting. I grabbed "my keys" and skipped off, excited to see who was there. Thelma arrived next and after that the flow of people never stopped..

There were many new people today that I didn't know, including two boys Juan Carlos (12) and Luis Miguel (10). They are little guys though and sure look a lot younger than that. The story is that they came from Huehuetenango, very far away, to work as shoe shiners. I cannot believe that their families let them come on their own. I have to think that they must be in desperate times. The thought of these little boys sleeping on the street when the shelter isn't open scares me. 

Probably the best reunion of the night was with my not so secret admirer, Demetrio. I gave him the gears for not sending a limo to the airport as he had promised the last time I was here. Always a good sport he went along with it telling me that he would have if he had known when I was arriving :) You see, apparently I am the Queen of Canada (La Reina de Canada) and so naturally I deserve a limo, which he being the big shot that he is, was going to send for me. Yah, well, poor ol' Demetrio is still riding his jalopy of a  bike so I pretty much have to give up on that pipe dream. But, then again a Queen can always dream...

Mi limosina :)

On a more somber note, I found out that Demetrio has been drinking a lot in recent months and is now living on the street. Not one to ever minimize his drinking, when I asked him about it he matter of factly confirmed that he had been drinking 7-8 litres of beer a night. Yes, litres, and still riding that bicycle afterwards..sheesh. He denied that he was sleeping on the street though, which I suspect wasn't the truth, but I can imagine that this would be hard to admit if in fact it's true. 

He went on to tell me that he had quit 7 days earlier, and that he had been in withdrawal for a tough 3 days. I can only imagine how that was after drinking so much on a daily basis. But he was looking and feeling good and was determined to keep trying. This isn't his first attempt at sobriety, and the mother of his son has lost faith in him as a result. He decided not to tell her this time he said. He thinks it's better that he does it for himself this time rather that telling her anything and having her get her hopes up again.

The interesting thing about Demetrio is that despite how hard core of a drinker he is, he is a super hard worker. Every day he works long hours gardening, doing yard work, painting etc. He has 30 plus clients in the  towns around Antigua, and rides his bike to each and every one of his jobs, which in itself is a workout! I don't know how he does it, but he loves it and clearly takes pride in his abilities and work ethic. 

I sure hope that me leaving in 15 days doesn't send him back to the bottle (and I'm being serious). The big joke already is that my last departure was what sent him back to the cantina! Apparently he has counting the days until my arrival. Cute...well what is clear, is that while I am here, I can bet that he will be making an extra effort to stay sober just so he can get through those shelter gates :)

Demetrio and his Queen :)