Don Benjamin

Don Benjamin
"That's a good question." It's our first conversation with Don Benjamin, our neighbor and landlord and, we hope, new friend. He has stopped us on the street to chat. He wants us to know how wonderful his town is. He wants us to ask him anytime that we have questions about Antigua. He has lived here his entire life, he says, and he's now 83. It's our first day in Guatemala and when I ask him what kind of work he did before retiring, he tells me "That's a good question." Expecting to learn that he was something exotic like a freedom fighter, I am unprepared for the obvious. He worked for the city of Antigua - in the tourist office. It seems we have found our own private encyclopedia of all knowlege about this incredible city! And someone to practice our Spanish with, too, although he dances back and forth between Spanish and English at a dizzying rate.
On Saturday, our new mentor tells us, we must walk to La Iglesia de San Felipe de Jesús. The alfombra (carpet) that the faithful prepare there is one of the most incredible, he says, and the vigil held there is a wonderful experience. But the most important thing, he says, is "la gente," the people. We definitely agree. The people here are incredible.