lindsayliveshere.org

A weird panic in slow time

I arrived in San Marcos yesterday. I keep feeling a weird panic here. Of forgetting something. Of everything moving in slow time. People walk slower than me. (I walk really slow.) The internet is slow. People talk about spirits and healing all casual, like it´s the weather and the news. I woke up to a rooster crowing at 5am and I thought it was someone´s alarm clock set to ¨Rooster¨. You can´t print anything. There´s no photocopier. No ATM. My watch is wrong but I don´t know how to set it. I´m using a watch because my cell phone gets no reception. You can´t get things. Like, I brought a salad spinner from the U.S. for the writing workshop´s cook. Special delivery! To get anywhere you need a boat across the lake and a bus through the mountains. We arrived yesterday (just yesterday?) in a storm, thunder, lightning, a downpour. Water in the bottom of the lancha sloshed over my flip flops. One woman on our trip was trying to get into the boat and fell right into the water. She gave a little half scream and two men pulled her out. This internet cafe is tracking my words, it´s been 12 minutes, I owe 5 Q, a little less than a buck. I need coffee but there´s no coffee shop open right now. So. Slow.