Barbaria, Round 2

Just got out of Oscar the barber's shop. Needed a beard trim, but this time I went armed with the knowledge of exactly how diligent this guy is in his search for extraneous hairs. I was preparing the phrases in my head in how to instruct him (Mariam leaves me on my own for these little adventures). I did a pretty good job explaining just what I wanted, but still, when he was doing the 'stache, he snuck that damn machina up the left nostril. And once he'd done one, I felt like I couldn't stop him. Plus, like Mariam says about waxing, the second time is much better. I almost liked it. So much so that when we went for the ears, I didn't even flinch. Still, I gotta get a bit more assertive here before that nice ear peach fuzz starts coming in all coarse and black.
Now I'm at the new internet cafe (new to us, that is), where we also had a salsa lesson yesterday. My motivation was to sign up for online Sox games, so I could watch Dice-K face Ichiro. It's $85/yr, but I figure I'll need the subscription in Kentucky anyway, so might as well get it now. However, when I went to watch it, it didn't quite come through. Two seconds of action, and then long, long pauses while it continued to "buffer." I don't know if it's the connection here, which isn't too bad, or just as good as it gets, so I might get out of the deal while the getting's good (5 day free trial). I already feel pretty bad about sitting in Guatemala, plop in the middle of culture and music and language and arts, and here I am watching TV. I mean, there's a fricking salsa lesson 8 feet away. Not a healthy addiction, I guess.
We were kinda kidnapped this past weekend. Actually, technically our own crappy understanding of spanish kidnapped us. Sandra, the mother of the family we're staying with, told us on Friday of a nice little spot that they like to go to on this day of Semana Santa. She mentioned something about bouganvillas, and a nice procession, and asked if we wanted to come. We said sure, sounds great (we weren't exactly sure what was cool in Xela for Semana Santa, so it was perfect to have local insight for Friday night). Half hour later, at about 6pm, we piled into the minivan to drive to what we thought was going to be a nearby village. After almost an hour of driving, I asked Javier, the youngest son, where we were going. "A la costa," he said, which means the house we went to with them 2 weekends before, the one with the pool and heat and no-see-ums and millions of aunties and cousins etc. We were going for the entire long weekend, and Mariam and I had only the clothes on our backs (jeans and sweaters, to watch the procession in). Tragedy, no, but it was a bit awkward. That night, after the inevitable soccer game, in my jeans, I chugged down the inevitable warm glass of microwaved water, then went for a swim in my underwear. A pair of those hybrid tighty-whitey/boxers that Mariam talked me into getting once. Technically, I already was swimming in my underwear, because after two soccer matches, 4 on 4, to fricking 20 (scores 20-19 and 18-20), in my jeans (and we weren't even skins), there was enough sweat on me to do the breaststroke in. However, the next day, we tagged along to the market, where we bought bathing suits for about $3 each, and sunscreen, for about $10 (by far the most expensive stuff at these markets, because guess who buys it all? Pale white dudes, and they know what kind of hagglers we are). And everything turned out great. The coast is definately more of a vacation for the family than it is for us, to be surrounded by spanish-speaking cousins, but we had a great time. And apparently we didn't miss much in Xela. So.
Tonight at 12am we're heading out to climb Santa Maria, a nearby volcano. It is supposed to be a great hike, although it's about 5 hours straight up. We'll have a cup of tea and sandwiches on top (we're going with a guides from Quetzaltrekkers, this great outfit whose proceeds all go to the Escuela de la Calle, and whom I would love to volunteer with but they want a 3 month committment and I don't think I can quite swing that without seriously cramping my style), and if we get up while it's still dark, we'll see the glowing lava of Santaguito, a smaller volcano on the slopes of Santa Maria. Santaguito is apparently one of the 10 most active (and probably dangerous) volcanos in the world, erupting every hour or so. Should be a great time. We're going to Don Pedro's for what Mariam's maestra, Chris, says are the best burgers in town, as soon as the Sox game is over (they're down 0-3, in the 8th, the bums). We've already had some pretty good burgers, but gotta check out Chris' credibility because she has also offered to help out with the itinerary for when the sisters come.
Also, Shane is coming for a few weeks in June- we're looking forward to meeting up with him and tramping or staying put. Dave has said he will come for a long weekend, but I'm doubtful. Lexi, if you're reading, hope you got back safe and sound. And Asya, congrats on all your acceptances to med school! I wish I was in your dilemma of having to choose between all good options.