Juan - Nuestro Amigo
12 April 2014 | Antigua, Guatemala
Beth / sunny days and cool nights
On our walk to town this morning, we wondered if Juan, the ceviche man, would be on his corner. Sure enough, we spotted his stand, and for once, it was before he spotted us!
As I walked over and called out, “Buenos Dias, Juan!” he looked up from his work, his face lit up and with his trademark enthusiasm, he gave me a big hug and greeted Jim with a high five. This lovely man stands less than 5 feet tall and is packed with warmth and goodness from the tips of his toes to the top of his head. He has five children, two boys still at home, was once a teacher but it was hard to find work and he has been operating this ceviche stand for 12 years. His “place of business” is a stand at the corner of the Camino de San Juan del Obispo just outside El Calvario church, and when we were here in November, I walked past him every day on my way home from yoga. We got into the habit of chatting regularly and he always said Jim and I were his amigos. I think perhaps he has many many amigos because he waves to every second car that passes, and people call out, “Hola, Juan” again and again.
Today, we took it a step farther and after sitting on the stools chatting for a bit, we decided to order a bowl of ceviche. It is always a somewhat risky thing to eat raw food on the street – I will usually opt for something cooked – but Juan’s stand looked clean and he is savvy enough to know he doesn’t want his amigos to get sick. I can’t tell you how excited he was to be sharing his food with us. He diced tomatoes on his board and added chopped onion, camarones, caracol, a spoonful of green stuff – maybe culantro? a squirt of red stuff, a squeeze of lime and a dash of hot sauce, poured it all into a bowl, added a couple of packs of crackers and handed it over with a flourish. We sat on our stools and ate in the shade and it was good.
Jim took our picture – we exchanged addresses so we can send him a copy – and we went happily on our way to see the Semana Santa festivities, while he started chopping again for his next two customers. It was one more reminder to me that no matter how exotic or beautiful the surroundings are, no matter how adventurous the journey is, those little moments shared with the people we meet transcend all boundaries and fill us with joy. As we sat on his stools by the side of the road, we were true amigos – nothing more and nothing less, and it was enough.