Guatemalan tales!

I was born the first day of the first month of the year of 1995. I was born in the capital of the most beautiful country, my Guatemala. My mom, a high school dropout, was 18-years-old when she had me. She had met my father only two years before and had married him a year before having me. She had my little brother (who is not so little anymore) two years after I was born. My mom, brother and I lived with my dad's father, who we always called " viejo." My dad lived here in the US and visited us whenever he had the chance. I never really saw him but the few times I did were unforgettable! I was never close to my dad's family, especially since I always believed they were hypocrits. But now, let me tell you about the tales of my childhood:

I was always surrounded by boys, not because I were beautiful but because I was never that girly. But that story will come later on. The only person from my dad's family, besides my grandpa, that I ever felt close to was my cousin Susana. I always saw her as the big sister I never had (corny, I know). She was my dad's big brother's youngest daughter. She was the daughter of a well-known doctor, of course, giving her the status of the "rich" one of the bunch. She would come to my house every Friday and stay over the weekend. Every Friday was better than the last. We would go out with our friends and play around enjoying the freedom the weekends gave us! She was a great part of my childhood, not because she was my best friend but because she taught me how mean and hypocrite somebody could be. She was the only person I trusted back then but ended up being the biggest back-stabber I have ever met. Within the years, she began to be interested in boys and that innocent little girl I thought she was, slowly began to dissapear.

Susana and I had three friends who we always spent time with. The eldest was Jenny, she was in fact the oldest of the five of us. Then, it was Barbie, the second oldest of the group. And the youngest one being Yanira, who was a couple months younger than myself. Just as Susana did, the girls became to put their eyes on the boys, which honestly disgusted me by the time. At the age of thirteen, Susana had her first boyfriend, Carlos. He was, as Susana, the "leader" of the group of people he hanged out with. Soon, they "fell in love." I never really believed Susana when she spoke of love, she always saw everything as a game, a stupid game she had to win. And that's when the problems started. 

Susana began to treat me badly. She called me names. She insulted me. She started rumors about me. Rumors that were so heartbreaking that I began to hate her. I began to hate her for hating me for no reason. She was a saint to my parents and grandpa but they never really knew the real Susana. She was a distasteful human being. She disliked everybody, even her own family. She hated me, and I never knew why! She played evil pranks on me. And she is the big reason why it is now hard to trust even my own family. She infected everyone with her poison. So, I decided to find my own way.

I, began to hang out with the people she disliked the most, not because I wanted to take revenge but because they were my friends way before the endless sleep overs with Susana. It was Luis, Fredy, Amanda, Kimberly and me. The moments I spent with this people were the awesomest (I know that's not a real word!). They brought my childhood back. The childhood taken by Susana. I got it back! I learned to play around like a little kid and share the stuff my dad sent from the US. We played hide-and-go-seek, bikes, rollerskates and sometimes we would just chase each other for the heck of it! 

"Tengo entradas gratis para ir a ver una pelicula!", shouted my mom one day. We all ran to my house, excited for the good news. As you can see, we never really had much money but whenever my mom could, she would take me, my brother and all of our friends out! This time, my mom was looking through the Guatemalan yellow pages, as she rushed through the pages she found a stack of free tickets to the movie theater! There was around thirty tickets! All of my friends could come along! "Nos vamos a las 3:00pm", my mom said! We all shouted with such excitement! At 3:00pm sharp, we were all ready with our one Quetzal to pay for our bus. Since we didn't have much money to pay for food and drinks at the movie theatre, we all decided to hide food under our big coats! A huge adventure was about to begin! We all began to walk toward the bus stop, that was around seven blocks away from my casa. "Tantos hijos tiene?!", with a shocked face asked the bus driver making all of us laugh the hardest! As we approached the movie theater we all began to decide what movie we wanted to watch! "Freddie Cruger Vs. Jason!", someone suggested! I began to freak out when I heard that everyone agreed to watch that movie. "A la parada!!", Tatiana shouted. "Sala numero 2" the guy from the movie theater directed us. As we all sat down, the movie began. I cannot really tell you what the movie was about because once I found out it was a scary movie, my eyes were completely covered. Finally, the movie ended and we all headed to the exit. "HELADOOOOSS!" we all shouted! It was the best thursday ever, so we decided to make it happen every thursday we could, our goal? watch all the free movies we could! 

My days couldn't be more amazing! I had the best of friends and the best mother and the best grandpa ever. But of course, as society points, there was somebody missing in the picture. My dad. I often talked to him on the phone but it never lasted more than 2min. He was almost never there. He missed many birthdays and important dates. However, I never really felt like he was missing since I had my lovely grandpa with me. El viejo, taught me many things, how to play poker, how to play soccer but most important of all, how to give back to the community that raised me and made me the person I am today. He was a role model, not only to me but to the whole colonia and people that lived there. My Viejo.