Overall, I think that Día de San Valentín in Guatemala is pretty much the same holiday as is celebrated by most of the world.
In addition to saying "Felíz día de San Valentín!" (Happy Saint Valentine's Day) it is also popular to wish someone "Felíz día del Amor!" (Happy day of love/romance) or "Felíz día de amistad!" (Happy day of friendship) or "Felíz día de los enamorados!" or "Felíz día de corazón!" (Happy heart day).
Along with the usual flowers, chocolate, and wine displays at the grocery stores, I discovered that in Guatemala, heart-shaped red and pink balloons are extremely popular.
I think that perhaps the reason for this, is that flowers are remarkably common and generally inexpensive. I'll have to take a picture of Pablo the flower guy who lives across the street from us.
I didn't think of taking pictures of the real balloons soon enough, so I'll just try to give you a basic idea of what they look like.
A quick search for "día de San Valentín globos" (balloons) will show you this:
Most of them say things like "Happy Valentine's Day," "I love you," and "I want you"--which is probably not as naughty-sounding in Spanish as it would be in English.
Also very popular are the teddy-bears holding hearts that say "I love you" and "te amo." (Yes, the teddy-bears are bilingual.)
Much like anywhere else in the world, the shopping centers were totally packed with last-minute gentlemen scrambling for a gift. I know this, because I went to Oakland mall with my friends and students Karen and Anabell. We practiced our English and Spanish (respectively) by talking about school, work, boys, romance, breakups and sexism in the world.
We went to a restaurant called Nais, it had a giant aquarium inside, and I learned that "los pescados" is a term reserved for edibles, and that "los peces" is the appropriate term for fishes that are still swimming.
The servers probably thought that I intended to eat the aquarium citizens.
We also got these fabulous photos from a fabulous photo-booth.
It was a really fun night.
After our girl's night, I went home. I tried Skyping Austin, but the internet at the house was down--so instead I moped at the screen for the remainder of the night before going to bed.
Overall I had a great Valentine's Day: I got to go to the Museum of Modern Art (Museo de Arte Moderna), get a fancy juice-drink from an aquarium restaurant, and spend some time with some awesome people.
The only thing that could have made it better would be spending it with my honey.
Or being able to Skype him.
(I may or may not still be a little bitter about the internet failing me in my time of need.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
In addition to saying "Felíz día de San Valentín!" (Happy Saint Valentine's Day) it is also popular to wish someone "Felíz día del Amor!" (Happy day of love/romance) or "Felíz día de amistad!" (Happy day of friendship) or "Felíz día de los enamorados!" or "Felíz día de corazón!" (Happy heart day).
Along with the usual flowers, chocolate, and wine displays at the grocery stores, I discovered that in Guatemala, heart-shaped red and pink balloons are extremely popular.
I think that perhaps the reason for this, is that flowers are remarkably common and generally inexpensive. I'll have to take a picture of Pablo the flower guy who lives across the street from us.
I didn't think of taking pictures of the real balloons soon enough, so I'll just try to give you a basic idea of what they look like.
A quick search for "día de San Valentín globos" (balloons) will show you this:
Most of them say things like "Happy Valentine's Day," "I love you," and "I want you"--which is probably not as naughty-sounding in Spanish as it would be in English.
Also very popular are the teddy-bears holding hearts that say "I love you" and "te amo." (Yes, the teddy-bears are bilingual.)
Much like anywhere else in the world, the shopping centers were totally packed with last-minute gentlemen scrambling for a gift. I know this, because I went to Oakland mall with my friends and students Karen and Anabell. We practiced our English and Spanish (respectively) by talking about school, work, boys, romance, breakups and sexism in the world.
We went to a restaurant called Nais, it had a giant aquarium inside, and I learned that "los pescados" is a term reserved for edibles, and that "los peces" is the appropriate term for fishes that are still swimming.
The servers probably thought that I intended to eat the aquarium citizens.
We also got these fabulous photos from a fabulous photo-booth.
 |
| Karen is wearing black, I am wearing white, and Anabell is wearing the black and pink sweatshirt. I obviously didn't clearly understand where to look. |
After our girl's night, I went home. I tried Skyping Austin, but the internet at the house was down--so instead I moped at the screen for the remainder of the night before going to bed.
Overall I had a great Valentine's Day: I got to go to the Museum of Modern Art (Museo de Arte Moderna), get a fancy juice-drink from an aquarium restaurant, and spend some time with some awesome people.
The only thing that could have made it better would be spending it with my honey.
Or being able to Skype him.
(I may or may not still be a little bitter about the internet failing me in my time of need.)
Happy Valentine's Day!
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