Ferrous Doom

My girlfriend has saved my life.

Yesterday, Stephanie and I went to the fair. It is “Dia de Santiago” here in Antigua. Yet another excuse to play loud music, sell unhealthy food and blow each other up with fireworks.

We went with 2 goals in mind. Eat as much carnie food as possible and ride the Ferrous Wheel. Now, I have an obsession for Ferrous Wheels, notice I how capitalize the two words? Yeah, that important! From carnivals in Northern Michigan to Chicago’s Navy Pier, I have always loved Ferrous Wheels.

Upon our arrival at the market in Antigua, a lovely open air joint where a 6’3” bald dude is an easy mark for a tripled price, we were pounced upon by H2O. The down pour lasted for all of about 30 minutes. We waited it out in a carnie restaurant. This restaurant had 7 TVs and a HUGE sound system, for real, this thing was just off the Aerosmith stage! The TVs were hooked up to this sound system and they were all blasting Vincente Fernandez music videos. If you do not know this man, the dude is a Mexican…..romance?……singer. He wears HUGE hats, amazing gaudy outfits and has the corniest music videos EVER. Every song that he sings sounds like suicide is imminent and every song that he sings sounds exactly like the other 42 you just heard. He was in concert here not too long ago, it was a lovely show.

Once the rain ended, we ventured forth into the sea of bodies and mud. We began to take notice of the stellar safety precautions that we were surrounded by. Everywhere we look, taped, live wires ran through ankle deep puddles, fast moving machinery whirred just inches from kid’s faces and the Ferrous Wheel helper looked to be about a nose’s length from being bashed in the face by rapidly moving Ferrous Wheel seats.

I have been on many a Ferrous Wheel ride. I have never seen Satan in a Ferrous Wheel, but damn if the Red One wasn’t present in this wood and metal monster! The thing looked to be 1,000 years old. It had Christmas lights strung through it and the operator sat at what appeared to be a pick-up truck engine shifting through the gears, applying the clutch and brake as needed and laying on the gas a bit too much. The thing was a blur when it spun! I have never heard such screaming nor seen such terror from a Ferrous Wheel!

Steph and I stepped up, but we were informed that the tickets we bought were only good for a ride that was not working. Of course. This, I am ashamed to say, caused me to sigh in relief. The relief was short lived as Steph dug into her pocket for the necessary Q15 to ride. We loaded up. The helper put our lap bar in place, then stuck a rusty nail into the lock. That’s right, the only thing between me and the ground was a wobbling, rusty nail. Steph announced that the chair that we were in had no seat belt, upon further inspection, I noticed that she was correct. As the engine heaved us up to wait at the top of the Wheel, we cringed as the belts whined and popped during our ascent. They loaded and we slowly came back around. I took a little video and said some “hail Mary’s” as I was quite certain that we were going to either fall off or be struck by the ever present lightening which appeared to be hitting about 200 yards away.

It is at this point that Steph saved my life and my dignity. Steph took control then, she turned to me and said “We’re getting off.” She turned and gave the order to the operator and we were off.

I must admit, this was a huge relief for me as I had never been so terrified of a Ferrous Wheel in my life. We wandered around the carnival a bit more and stopped to watch as the ride began. It starts out slow, but then the moron on the controls cranks it up. The thing is literally a blur when he gets it going. I am so glad that we did not ride that thing! I would have been scarred by that Wheel forever as would it have been scarred by me, for I am certain that I would have wet myself on the journey!

I awoke today remaining very happy that we did not ride and die. I also awoke today with some choices to make.

At 10:30 this morning I had a meeting with Amanda from Casa Sito, an organization here in Antigua. I am to volunteer at their Music Festival this weekend. She wished to speak to me about PR, something that I am all too familiar with lately. Her enthusiasm was amazing, Casa Sito is a great project and I am thoroughly looking forward to helping them continue and expand their role here in Guatemala. That choice was easy.

My biggest choice comes in the form of "what am I going to do come October 14?" On October 14 the owners of the home that I currently live in will be returning to Guatemala. This means that I will need to decide what I will be doing with life. I recently discovered that my hometown newspaper has an opening for a reporter. I have readied my resume and such, but have hesitated. What if I get it? What if I get that job? That means that I have to go home! I do not think that I am ready to return to Northern Michigan. I think that life is outside of that place for me now. I just found a perfect job with a paper in New York City. Now all I have to do is find an apartment that I can afford there! What in the world?? There is an apartment on Craihslist that is described like this: “BEAUTIFUL studio in great location!” This “BEAUTIFUL” thing was literally a long closet with a tiny window that looked out onto a brick wall. They want $1300!!!!!!! PER MONTH!!!!!!!!!! Maybe per year, you idiots! WHAT IN THE WORLD?????

Anyway, Chicago is my home, but I have yet to find that perfect job there. I know that I will not be completely happy with a Michigan existence, yet I have been losing myself in fantasies of an Michigan existence lately. I found a 3BR house with a great deck and yard and 150 feet of sandy beach frontage for $1,000 per month (HEAR THAT NYC BASTARDS???? A BEACH FRONT HOUSE FOR A G!!). I began to allow myself to wonder what life would be like in a place like that. I enjoyed those fantasies, but something always felt wrong about it. Life has set up certain circumstances to allow for my return to “home.” But, life has given me a choice, go to the easy or stick with the unknown. That choice, my friends, is also quite simple. Unknown, here I come!

Random notes from my day:

I will not buy bread ever again from where I once lived in a homestay. I watched the lady bring the bread out, drop it on the floor, accidentally kick it under the oven, fish it out of there, pick it up and put it on the rack for sale. Nice.

What is the deal with the mullet down here?

The carnies were all better dressed than the normal folk.

“Stranger Than Fiction” is a great flick!

I love this adventure called life.

That is one huge bag of pink shirts, yo.