¿Y si cae el avion???

I was sitting in front of two rather nervous Chapines on the creaky old A300 Airbus that took me from Miami to Guatemala City.

The plane was generally empty of passengers, and to some extent of crew too. Those there were had arrived late on a flight from Montego Bay and held us up. Then a passenger who was "unfit to fly" had to be forcibly disembarked while we were still at the gate and a further delay ensued as his hold baggage was located and removed.

"Que peludo eso," groaned one of the pair behind me as we clonked down onto runway, coming in unusually from the north with the barranco in front of us.

I had broken my oath not to fly AA again and paid the consequences, but it was kind of worth it for the quality of service and conditions on the Virgin Atlantic flight. I watched three movies. First Beowulf, intentionally stunning and unintentionally hilarious ("Oiv come to kill youar monstah!"). Then Stardust, a delightful kidadult fantasy with great turns from Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert de Niro and others, and cleverly co-scripted by Jonathan Woss´s wife. The way the different groups of characters and narrative strands were woven together was a large part of the viewing pleasure. And lastly Cloverfield, which may be easier to follow on a big screen, or at least a TV with a better brightness control. I can see why Kermode said you can´t wait for the giant lizards to get to work on these particular young New Yorkers.

I rode home with V and Jeannette in the Peugeot that V had hired that morning. They were both recovering from excesses the night before at the monthly gathering at the Panzon Verde. It had all ended in a ´despelote total´with the exhibiting artist Russell stripping naked and jumping into the pool in the middle of the restaurant.

The rise in grain prices is clearly being felt here already. A piece of local bread (Frances) now costs Q0.50 at our local shop, compared to Q0.15 just a year ago. I remain gobsmacked however that you can still buy ten great avocados for the equivalent of around one pound Sterling.