[Above: Nancy Olson joins a candlelight procession on Thanksgiving night in Antigua, Gutamela.]

Journal by Nancy Olson

I learned a new phrase today: “Me faltan dos de mis pantalones.”

This morning, I awoke at 0700 to the sound of rambling buses and conversing roommates in a four-bed, summer-camp-style room on the third floor of “La Casa San Lucia” in Antigua, Guatemala.

Apparently, I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I was going to go back to sleep in order to try for the other side of the bed an hour or so later, but suddenly a harrowing thought occurred to me: “I don’t think the laundry gave me back all of my pants!”

I couldn’t lie there and sleep with such awful thoughts resounding in my brain, so I sprung into action and had a peek inside my duffel. Oh, fercryingoutloud! My two favorite pairs of pants were, indeed, MISSING! Now I would have to figure out how to ask the ladies at the laundry if they still have them.

You see, a few of us dropped our laundry off to be cleaned at a lavenderia yesterday morning, and we were told we could retrieve our things at 5:30 that night. When it came time to pick up our clothes, I was busy doing something else, and Todd said he’d grab them for me. Well, the bag seemed light when he handed it to me, but I didn’t really give it much thought until this morning. That’s when I felt an emptiness where my blue and my red pants used to be…

My fellow explorers were eager to help. Rolf pulled out his Lonely Planet Phrasebook and found something for “I am missing one of my _____.” (Me falta uno de me ______.) “OK, that’ll work,” I thought. “I’ll just fill in “two” and “pantalones.”

I got all worked up and ran down the block to la lavenderia with Todd, certain that some lucky customer had arrived home with MY awesome pants. I needn’t have worried. You see, on this Thanksgiving Day in Guatemala, I had even more to be thankful for than I was aware. My pants had, indeed, been placed in another customer’s bag, but that customer had not yet returned to pick up his or her clothing. I had stared Defeat in the eye, and I had won! Halleluiah, I had my pants back.

We returned from the laundry adventure at about 0900, and Todd and Rolf left to go visit a farm with the film crew. I had big plans to catch up on my writing, but something emanating from my computer, perhaps it was the soft glow of the screen or the low, monotone hum of the hard drive, put me right to sleep. When I woke up again, it was 4 p.m. Luckily, this time, I had gotten up on the right side of the bed!

We had placed Thanksgiving dinner reservations for 7 p.m. at a local restaurant, so I had a little bit of time to kill. The film crew wanted to film Rolf getting his hair cut, and I decided it’d be great fun to go along. I was psyched because he was going to get it buzzed super-short. The Marine in me has been pining for the company of some of my peeps, so having a “short-hair” around, I thought, would make me feel more at home. Rolf has very angular features, and I was convinced the “Rolf Lundgren” look would suit him.

We walked a few blocks to a local indoor/outdoor market to look for some prize items and do a little filming before inquiring about a barber. This was where I found a cool Gallo (the local brew) t-shirt (camiseta) for $3 and a nice oriental-style blouse for less than $6 just yesterday.

This market was Amazing with a capital A!!! On the outside, it was rows and rows of little booths. You could get shoes, shirts, belts, hammocks, bootleg CDs and DVDs, toilet paper, sunglasses, fruits and veggies, and whatever else your little heart desires. Rolf and I shared purchases of fruit and sweets, and we headed out to ask about a barber. A local gentleman indicated we could find one just on the other side of the buses and up the street on the right. (The buses are old American school buses painted up like a box of Crayolas. A select few are au naturale with the original school and county names still visible.)

We found the barber, an authentic place full of locals and good vibes. Rolf and I hypothesized that a lot of town gossip probably transfers hands within its walls. The little place was humming, and it wasn’t just the sound of the Number 2 clippers I’d requested for Rolf’s head. A television was on in the corner, men were laughing and swapping stories, and barbers and patrons were commenting on the latest headlines. We, on the other hand, were giggling at the point-and-choose posters displaying drawings of the different hairstyles available. Apparently, ‘80s styles are still in fashion in Guatemala, and we wished Rolf’s hair were long enough for the Musico (a curly sort of mullet), the Serpentina (brushed back with wings), or even the Normal (a classic Beatles-looking bowl cut). Rolf got his buzz, I got my faux-Marine fix, and the film crew got some rich footage.

From there, we went downtown to see the women washing clothes in the square, and we also caught a glimpse of a church service that involved blue and white streamers and intermissions during which one of the guys would run outside into the street, launch a few mortars (giant fireworks), and run back in. We never did figure out what the occasion was, but the explosions could be heard throughout the duration of our stay in Guatemala.

At 7 pm, we all met at a restaurant called “Las Palmas” for their “Famous Thanksgiving Dinner.” (You can walk everywhere in Antigua, so that’s how we got around.). We toasted Nick and Chanda for the hard work they do to make this expedition possible, and we gave thanks for our new friends from Australia joining us at the table (Skye and Ben — two super-cool travelers we met two days ago in Santiago de Atitlan) and for each other.

The dinner was OK, but it wasn’t Mom’s. The good thing is, there were no fourths, thirds, or even seconds, and the pumpkin pie wasn’t good enough to eat, so I don’t think I gained any weight this Thanksgiving! It wasn’t the best dinner I’d ever had, but the turkey wasn’t dry, so we were happy. It was odd having that all-American family meal so many miles away from our families.

It didn’t take us long to wolf through the dinner, so we had a lot of time for conversation and staring at candles. Whenever there are candles at the table, Adam and I tend to play with the wax, and this was no exception. I decided to make one of my own out of a napkin and melted wax, and, by the time we left, I had a pretty good one.

Remarkably, we walked only two blocks away from the restaurant before happening upon a procession of local worshippers carrying CANDLES!!! We had heard fireworks going off, and had run excitedly toward the explosions and what we thought must be a wedding. All giggles, we screeched to a halt when we saw the somber faces illuminated by the flickering flames they carried. A little boy lit mine for me, and we stood there wondering what the occasion marked. (Do any of you Catholics know what is special about Nov. 27?) Fireworks exploded over the heads of onlookers and worshippers until the procession made it through the cathedral doors and out of sight. Minutes later, we, too, were out of sight down a dark side street.

We bid farewell to Skye and Ben at their hotel and walked the block back to our rooms at the San Lucia. Tomorrow would be an early morning departure and a border crossing into El Salvador! With a little luck, well spend tomorrow on a sun-soaked beach!

That about sums up our Thanksgiving. We’re most thankful for you blog readers; we’re glad you’re out there. And I am personally thankful for my friends and family (hi Mom, Dad, Eric, and Stace). I won’t name names, but here’s a shout out to my best friends in D.C., SoCal, Maryland, Texas, Mass., the Republic of Georgia, the Pentagon, and the Big Sandbox. You know who you are. Boy, I sure do miss you all. See you in eight months…

Logbook for November 27th
Start: Antigua, Guatemala
Finish: Antigua, Guatemala
Mileage: Rest day

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.