A little smoker story 

The second to last cigarette in my pack, at 10 o'clock in the morning! Already breathless at the thought alone. A nice short walk is announced. Smoking does move some.

So I scraped together my last Quetzalitos, since I'm not so liquid at the moment for complex reasons, and Vivi, mi Cajera de Amor, is not with me. 25 Quetzales! Thank God, enough to procure at least one box of Rubios Rojos - for 21Q. "Solo para Ganadores", For winners only! Fits. Amazingly, they burn longer than ours prefab, almost as long as my roll-my-own.

So I put on my mask, not wanting to upset my rather strict housewife in chief Doña Carmen, or others, and also quite rationally and wisely, reinsured, protect myself at the same time! And left the protection of the secured home, in order to set out on my way to the gas station. One of the usual, modern and quite ugly infrastructures, which I had already called "Gasolinera de Amor" some time before, probably simply for the very nice people attending, always the same, and for modestly offering products even for the poor addicted sinners; like me, one of the hopefully never completely extinct, although soon rare, Especia Rara.

The store was crowded, and everyone was trying to keep the necessary distance. So I picked my way through the crowd, and walked the long way around some racks to carefully place myself at the end of the line of safe patience. Even a walk to the gas station becomes an adventure this way. And it moved faster than expected. But then the store door opened, the new guy took a quick look at me, and in a flash, he cunningly pushed himself in front of me, knowing he was in the right, so close to the finish line, and I thought that he must be thinking I was a gringo to be disregarded. And I grumbled, a little bit, old habits! But quietly, composedly, accepting my fate, and without thinking further about it. No point!

Already, the man who had pushed his way in was at the counter, pleased to get his turn so quickly and easily. But there the store employee waved to me, over the head of this other one, in order to make clear that already before him one had stood there in the line. He was very attentive! Like many here, make no mistake! Besides he had recognized me immediately again joyfully, because we had met quite often in the last year, and had often joked together. Also because he had called my desired, certified unhealthy, cigarettes as "vitaminas", and therefore had made them immediately also substantially healthier. So it is. What a pleasure. And also no reason to put down the hustler right away. I smiled kindly at him, and thanked him, almost a little ashamed of my privilege, that he had made room for me without hesitation, if a little surprised, no fuss.

We chatted a little in familiar memory and I spontaneously pulled down my mask briefly to show him the whole face, even if he had already recognized it. We both laughed. He gave me my vitaminas, and I paid the 21 quetzalitos - just under three dollars - and said goodbye warmly, to the beloved vendor, and also to the already appreciated tailgater. And they, in turn, did the same. What a miracle, what a simple story, and so full of surprises.

Yes, in Guatemala I have always learned many things, discovered and discovering anew! Yes, many things that I maybe could have discovered and learned in Switzerland, or elsewhere, too, but sometimes we have to go to foreign countries to recognize ourselves, and to appreciate the others, and our origins more. And sometimes we also need to discover new ways. And maybe Guatemala also helps some people back home to get to know me in a new way.

I can only recommend, I mean a trip of course. But please only come a little prepared, and also with the will to get to know a the local life and customs, and not just let you being lead by comfortably familiar prejudices. And to take some time so that carbon dioxide does not only become a poison and a burden, but also transforms into new values. This is the only form of added value I really know :-)

Jorgito (Jürg), Casa de Doña Carmen, Xela, Guatemala, only two corners away from my Gasolinera.

PS: Song. I love it! Seems to fit nicely: "The Great Pretender", beautifully performed and sung by The Platters in the Fifties.

The story of my choice: we were enjoying a very happy "almuerzo" together, with tacos, beer, and wine, with a lot of joy, fun and laughter, here in the patio of "my" house in Xela. While the "girls" Maripaz and Mariángeles prepared wisely guided by mother Doña Carmen - as usual - this delicious lunch, Don Gustavo played the Best 25 Songs of the Sixties, quite loud, yes! Pure joy, romantic and sentimental. Remembering the Good Old Times. Including the one of America, how we used to call this beautiful country, before we started to call it The United States, more appropriately because it's one many - even if a "great" one - of the continent we call the "Las Americas". And I would like to dedicate this song we had stumbled across as well to great country, and I guess we all wish you, America, a Happy New 2021, with full of wonderful surprises, together in a big wide World, that warmly welcomes you again!

Don Gustavo, Doña Carmen, grandchild Andrés, mother Maripaz, her sister Maria de los Ángeles. Only the doggies missing.