Flight & Antigua Scavenger Hunt
"If you see fire, DON'T open the door."
Those were the instructions the Delta flight attendant gave the Italians seated in the emergency exit row after one of my row-mates complained that it was unsafe to have non-English speakers in that row. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Regardless of what language you're speaking, if I'm bailing out of a plane in an emergency, I'm likely not listening.
What was a big deal was the fact that Delta Airlines flight 233 from Atlanta to Guatemala City had already been delayed over 3 hours due to a leak in the cockpit, grounding it for the night. We were told that we couldn't use just any plane because, due to Guatemala's terrain, it needed to have special avionics equipment.
I finally landed in Guatemala at midnight after 22 hours of travel and I was exhausted! I wondered if the school representative would still be there to pick me up or if I'd have to hail a cab to a hotel, but thankfully they arrived and took me to my new apartment.
I could have stayed in a hotel, provided by the school, but I didn't want to have to carry my bags - on
ce again - to the apartment, so knowing I had no bed to sleep in, I made due, sleeping on four dining room chairs pushed together and in layers of clothes and a scarf to keep warm! It wasn't the best night's sleep, but I've had worse.
I took a cold shower because apparently the water heater had not been turned on. I realized 3 days later that there's a switch above it that says, "ON," clearly stated in ENGLISH. Hello!
The bus picked me up on Thursday at 7am sharp! I was in a bit of a daze, but looking forward to meeting the other newbies. We stopped at the hotel that most of them are staying in and began the introductions. Everybody seemed very nice and excited about living and teaching in Guatemala.
The two days of orientation were very busy, but very useful and organized. So far, this school is far more put together than my former schools in Saipan, Thailand and Mexico. Our classrooms are big with a ton of equipment and resources and the administration seems very supportive and knowledgeable, a combination I haven't had overseas thus far.
Saturday was spent in the colonial town of Antigua where we were put into five groups of five people each to complete a scavenger hunt. Each team was given a digital camera, although most of us brought our own as well, to find and take photos of items on a list. Every group received a different list of items and set out on an Amazing Race of sorts to try to win the grand prize for finding all the items.
My group consisted of:
Jim, a married guy with 2 kids from Idaho who will teach Special Ed,
Julian, a Middle School Science teacher from Colombia,
Judy, a 3rd grade teacher from the States,
Jessie, a 2nd grade teacher from New York State,
and me!
Everybody was hilarious! Judy wasn't quite as crazy as the rest of us, but she put up with us well. After Jessie sat in a wooden chair with a Jesus head on top of it, though, Judy told us that she was going to church and asked if I would come and get her. She was totally serious and she went, but returned quickly because there was
a funeral for a child and it was too depressing.
Our group fed off of one another and we ended up with three cameras full of hilarious pictures - well, hilarious to us! - and we literally spent the entire time laughing to tears! We had to do the following things:
1. Take a picture of your group with a tuk-tuk or taxi at the starting point (walking time to the central market is 20 minutes).
2. Purchase or photograph a guisquil at the local market located on Calle Santa Lucia. I learned this was a vegetable and recognized it as chayote in Mexico.
3. Purchase or photograph a jocote at the local market. This ended up being a fruit that is out of season for another two months, so we took a video of a vendor explaining that as proof that we "found" it.
4. Purchase or photograph a perulero at the local market. This turned out to be a mini guisquil.
5. Photograph a pair of caites (leather sandals) at the local market.
6. Photograph or purchase a "Quita Pena" doll at the local market. These are also called Worry Dolls and you use them to take away your worries.
7. Photograph or purchase a "capirucho" wooden toy at the local market.
8. Photograph a plantain at the local market.
9. Visit a travey agency and get a brochure for Chichicastenango.
10. Purchase mail stamps at 4 Calle Poniente y Calzada Santa Lucia Esquina. Ask for Rosemarie Sanchez and say you are from Colegio Americano. It turns out Rosemarie is no longer an employee, but we got this on video, as well.
11. Photograph some unique flowers at the local market.
Somehow our group managed to include pictures of Jim "getting arrested," defacing property by posting an office staffer's phone number under the title "for a good time," and taking a CNN-like video of Judy in the middle of a demonstration donning a Sponge Bob hat and holding a PAN, a major political party, flag standing next to a clown! I think all parties should use clowns to promote their agendas...oh, that's right, the
US has one as president!
I couldn't believe we got the locals to do some of the things we asked for...we did get the military kid a tongue lashing by a random passerby for pretending to arrest Jim, but it was so worth the laughs! Apparently, the guy thought pictures like that could be damaging if they got into the hands of the international press. I'm not entirely sure of how that picture could be damaging, but the guy was pretty intense.
It was hysterical, but it may be one of those "you had to be there" situations. We'll see on Monday when we present, to the entire staff including returning teachers that we'll meet for the first time, our PowerPoint demonstration
with all of the pictures, videos and captions that we're all meeting to work on tomorrow at a coffee shop just up the street from my apartment.
We laughed so hard we were exhausted and ready to go when the two vans departed and hauled us back to our homes and hotels. What a day!
Those were the instructions the Delta flight attendant gave the Italians seated in the emergency exit row after one of my row-mates complained that it was unsafe to have non-English speakers in that row. I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Regardless of what language you're speaking, if I'm bailing out of a plane in an emergency, I'm likely not listening.
What was a big deal was the fact that Delta Airlines flight 233 from Atlanta to Guatemala City had already been delayed over 3 hours due to a leak in the cockpit, grounding it for the night. We were told that we couldn't use just any plane because, due to Guatemala's terrain, it needed to have special avionics equipment.
I finally landed in Guatemala at midnight after 22 hours of travel and I was exhausted! I wondered if the school representative would still be there to pick me up or if I'd have to hail a cab to a hotel, but thankfully they arrived and took me to my new apartment.
I could have stayed in a hotel, provided by the school, but I didn't want to have to carry my bags - on
ce again - to the apartment, so knowing I had no bed to sleep in, I made due, sleeping on four dining room chairs pushed together and in layers of clothes and a scarf to keep warm! It wasn't the best night's sleep, but I've had worse.I took a cold shower because apparently the water heater had not been turned on. I realized 3 days later that there's a switch above it that says, "ON," clearly stated in ENGLISH. Hello!
The bus picked me up on Thursday at 7am sharp! I was in a bit of a daze, but looking forward to meeting the other newbies. We stopped at the hotel that most of them are staying in and began the introductions. Everybody seemed very nice and excited about living and teaching in Guatemala.
The two days of orientation were very busy, but very useful and organized. So far, this school is far more put together than my former schools in Saipan, Thailand and Mexico. Our classrooms are big with a ton of equipment and resources and the administration seems very supportive and knowledgeable, a combination I haven't had overseas thus far.
Saturday was spent in the colonial town of Antigua where we were put into five groups of five people each to complete a scavenger hunt. Each team was given a digital camera, although most of us brought our own as well, to find and take photos of items on a list. Every group received a different list of items and set out on an Amazing Race of sorts to try to win the grand prize for finding all the items.
My group consisted of:Jim, a married guy with 2 kids from Idaho who will teach Special Ed,
Julian, a Middle School Science teacher from Colombia,
Judy, a 3rd grade teacher from the States,
Jessie, a 2nd grade teacher from New York State,
and me!
Everybody was hilarious! Judy wasn't quite as crazy as the rest of us, but she put up with us well. After Jessie sat in a wooden chair with a Jesus head on top of it, though, Judy told us that she was going to church and asked if I would come and get her. She was totally serious and she went, but returned quickly because there was
a funeral for a child and it was too depressing.Our group fed off of one another and we ended up with three cameras full of hilarious pictures - well, hilarious to us! - and we literally spent the entire time laughing to tears! We had to do the following things:
1. Take a picture of your group with a tuk-tuk or taxi at the starting point (walking time to the central market is 20 minutes).
2. Purchase or photograph a guisquil at the local market located on Calle Santa Lucia. I learned this was a vegetable and recognized it as chayote in Mexico.
3. Purchase or photograph a jocote at the local market. This ended up being a fruit that is out of season for another two months, so we took a video of a vendor explaining that as proof that we "found" it.
4. Purchase or photograph a perulero at the local market. This turned out to be a mini guisquil.
5. Photograph a pair of caites (leather sandals) at the local market.
6. Photograph or purchase a "Quita Pena" doll at the local market. These are also called Worry Dolls and you use them to take away your worries.
7. Photograph or purchase a "capirucho" wooden toy at the local market.
8. Photograph a plantain at the local market.9. Visit a travey agency and get a brochure for Chichicastenango.
10. Purchase mail stamps at 4 Calle Poniente y Calzada Santa Lucia Esquina. Ask for Rosemarie Sanchez and say you are from Colegio Americano. It turns out Rosemarie is no longer an employee, but we got this on video, as well.
11. Photograph some unique flowers at the local market.
Somehow our group managed to include pictures of Jim "getting arrested," defacing property by posting an office staffer's phone number under the title "for a good time," and taking a CNN-like video of Judy in the middle of a demonstration donning a Sponge Bob hat and holding a PAN, a major political party, flag standing next to a clown! I think all parties should use clowns to promote their agendas...oh, that's right, the
US has one as president!I couldn't believe we got the locals to do some of the things we asked for...we did get the military kid a tongue lashing by a random passerby for pretending to arrest Jim, but it was so worth the laughs! Apparently, the guy thought pictures like that could be damaging if they got into the hands of the international press. I'm not entirely sure of how that picture could be damaging, but the guy was pretty intense.
It was hysterical, but it may be one of those "you had to be there" situations. We'll see on Monday when we present, to the entire staff including returning teachers that we'll meet for the first time, our PowerPoint demonstration
with all of the pictures, videos and captions that we're all meeting to work on tomorrow at a coffee shop just up the street from my apartment.We laughed so hard we were exhausted and ready to go when the two vans departed and hauled us back to our homes and hotels. What a day!