Quetzaltenango, Friday

1641 At Tiguila for filete de pescado. Incidentally the accidental implication of the two sentences in yesterday's entry that the retired rabbi was telling me about international drug culture was not intended; that was someone else.

School OK, seem to be getting on OK with teacher and with Spanish. Signed up for another week. Need to sort out accommodation for next week but been too lazy so far.

Plan is to go to that bar with live music (alone) tonight. Teacher said it's very good and also recommended some other bars. Oh, last night's quiz was at El Shamrock. Will go back to hotel first, not staying out from now til then.

American restaurant owner I spoke to last night confirmed that it is absolutely normal here for staff to completely ignore you when you've finished eating unless you call them. (She has to stop them doing this when they go to work in her fancy restaurant in the US.)

Somehow my phone has acquired a deep scratch across the top of the screen; it's tolerable but annoying when viewing at an angle as it refracts a slightly different part of the screen. I didn't drop it, I am not aware of having done anything special to it last night, maybe it was just an accident waiting to happen with the vaseline tin in that pocket (I have now moved it to the other pocket). Looking on the bright side this will make it marginally less annoying if I end up losing it and having to buy another one.

Wasn't exactly hungover this morning but did feel very tired and it was an effort to drag myself out of bed.

1730 Lingering over coffee. Been feeling freer to use mobile data allowance lately as I see how relatively little modest web browsing uses. Just been on booking.com and booked a 1 bedroom apartment for Q603 for 7 nights. No mention of taxes but even if there is 22% on top that's not bad. I hope it's not a shithole but seemed like a worthwhile gamble. It's a bit further out (500m from central park, and probably 600-700m from the school) but I think it will be OK. I can always try somewhere else if I don't like it, and if it's truly terrible I can just write the money off and book elsewhere. I did wonder briefly if it would be less lonely to book into a hostel but it would be nice to have some real space and a kitchen and a fridge. Feels good to have got this sorted; I need to check out of current hotel Sunday morning. I did maybe allow myself to be pressured slightly by booking.com's "almost never available!" and "2 similar apartments are sold out" shit, but I did a quick bit of Googling and found three reviews (score only) ranging from 3/5 to 5/5 before booking. I suppose if it's just one apartment it will get a lower turnover of guests than a hotel and so get fewer reviews. It *does* have free wifi - lack of that would be a deal breaker - and it says there is a terrace and garden, although I suspect these are communal to the block.

I am aware that as of today the titles of these blog entries are starting to repeat but it doesn't really matter.

2039 Heading out. Feel oddly nervous, but all I'm doing is going to a bar to listen to some music. I'm not going out of my way to strike up conversation with anyone, I'm not planning on drinking a lot or staying out late. Anyway, let's go.

2056 At Salon Tecun. Sat at bar near stage, think musicians on at 9 - it's on board outside, so I may be misremembering. Got litre bottle of Cabro for Q41 (free popcorn thrown in), Dorado Ice is only Q35 for a litre but maybe it's piss so won't try it now. May read on phone while waiting, not sure - no one else sitting at bar (two women were but they've gone) anyway, and all the inside tables are busy or reserved so couldn't sit anywhere else. Feel OK really.

Oh, I think my teacher told me this morning I didn't really need to tip at all. I will probably keep doing it anyway, given Odilia seemed to think it was approppp

2202 Well that was a bit random. Guy from school/pub quiz team last night came over and invited me to join him and his teacher who were out for a beer. They just left. We spoke Spanish, I felt a bit awkward but didn't do too badly (he is much more advanced than I am). Hard to talk over the music but we went upstairs for a bit. Am back at bar now. Music was OK if not astounding so no worry I couldn't just sit and listen to it. Band is off now but I suspect they may do a second half.

Nearly finished this litre - which is 5.2% as they told me. Might have a litre of Dorada and then go home. I am thinking I might do a mini solo pub crawl tomorrow night and see if I bump into anyone.

Interrupted sentence was going to end 'appropriate'.

Spanish teacher - whose name I alas forget - said it's the same band here every week, and that"s why the locals didn't really applaud after each song. Still feels a tiny bit rude to me but FWIW.

Got litre of Doarada Ice. Tastes OK if a bit flavourless, perhaps prejudice. Sign on wall says "si bebe para olvidar pague primero gracias". I understand it but the combination of tenses seems odd compared to my recollection of stuff we've been doing in class this week; I should try to see if it does in fact agree and ask teacher if it doesn't.

2308 Band been back on for maybe half hour. They did a cover of "voy a pasarmelo bien" which made me smile. For some inexplicable reason at some point in last half hourish I thought about the ZSL friendly spider programme - I sure as fuck haven't seen a spider here - and I am toying with signing up for it after a quick at-bar web search shows it still exists, isn"t overly expensive and the actual animal interaction is optional. (Maybe it would work so well I'd want to do that bit. But current feeling is I'd do the course once without it and then perhaps go a second time to maybe do the interaction.) It isn't on in 2019 til Aprilish but I can't book until I know when/if my post-Xmas trip will be. Feel strangely excited. Hope this isn't some psychic warning of impending encounter... No idea at all why I thought of this though.

2334 Band still on. Did a cover of "te quiero" earlier. Feeling surprisingly chipper. Half thinking that I'm not going to regret not seeing Coban or Tikal or whatever on my deathbed, I can return here in a year or so and maybe it would be cool to spend most of the remaining time here studying to really give my Spanish a boost. No need to decide now, of course, just burbling. Don't feel pissed but if going out tomorrow night maybe should be sensible. Went to bog - queue for gents! - leaving my beer which I think was tecnhically foolish but felt OK. Some git nicked my seat so standing now, but no big deal. Not totally surprising but doesn't quite fit with the super polite "theme" I have read is prevalent here.

For all the fact I may be a little edgy walking home and I am obviously a bit drunk, thinking about the horrific fears I had before I came about security, they feel ridiculous.

This "street" of bars is Pasaje Enriquez, FWIW.

2341 Another Brick In The Wall Part 2 Cover. :-) In Spanish.

0018 Band just finished. I understand all bars here (except presumably illegal after hours places, which I understand exist) shut at 1 by law. I got a (small, though no idea what actual size) Moza after finished that litre of Dorada Ice. I don't say I *couldn't* try to strike up a conversation - ooh, maybe another impromptu band on - but tho don't feel really drunk, I"ve had quite a bit and I now plan to be out tomorrow so won'lt force it. But if band of some impromptu guys is going to perform I may stay out til 1 and have another Moza - that probably works out at 6ish pints, which isn't ideal but isn't terrible.

So tonight my feeling is if anyone feels cosmopoltan and wants to strike up a conversation with the white tourist guy, cool - but I'm not seeking it directly.

No, what I thought was an impromptu band is dismantling the equipment. So I will leave shortly after finishing this beer.

0034 Back at hotel. As last night - I asked at reception before going out last night - had to ring bell to get in but no problem, and for all that my Spanish sucks, doing that kind of interaction in Spanish is so much better than just being the foreigner who only speaks English as I was in eg Thailand. Yes I am drunk - thought not excessively, I feel totally rational and can type - but the idea of extending my stay here, going 'deep' instead of going for breadth, working on my Spanish etc for almost all of my remaining time is tempting. But as I said earlier, I don't need to decide now - nothing wrong with mulling it over, but ultimately it's a week by week decision. Yes, I"d like to hike round Panajachel but - I am waiting while I acclimatise to altitude - there are lots of hikes round here which I could do at the weekend or even take a day off school. Yes, I am sure Coban and Tikal are cool - but I have seen such sites in other places, it"s highly likely I'll live long enough to visit them in future (after doing ZSL FSP :-) ) and I am not going to reget not visiting them on my deathbed if I instead stayed here and "went deep". Feh. Bed.