Antigua, Guatemala / Pistolry
I am in Antigua, Guatemala now. I was in Tikal a few days ago but I have been here for two days and will be here two more before heading to the airport early Sunday morning to fly home.
Antigua is very touristy, chock full of Spanish schools, international cuisine (or attempts at it), and more "tourist agencies" than I've ever seen in one city. There must be two to three in every block, often sharing space with a bakery, salon, or clothing shop.
I've been doing Spanish lessons in the mornings for four hours every day. It's been going well but I feel like I'm just priming the pump for future learning. In the afternoons, I've mostly just wandered around checking out the markets, sitting in cafes and reading, etc.
Yesterday, I went to a shooting range off the road between here and Guatemala City. Hopped a public bus, walked about 1.5 klicks off the main road. There was a shooting range, sure enough, but they didn't rent guns as I'd been told. They only rented eye/ear protection (USD$3) and range time (USD$4), as well as selling ammo (USD$14 for a box of 50 9mm cartridges made by Wolf). All told, the afternoon cost the same price as it would have in the US. Shooting is a "rich kid" hobby here too.
I got lucky and ended up borrowing two pistols from some guys who were shooting on one of the ranges. I shot an Israeli military pistol, the Jericho 941, and a Chinese-made knock-off of a Sig Sauer P226. Both were chambered in 9mm. The Jericho was by far the nicer pistol, but I found the Sig Sauer clone easier to shoot despite an awkwardly thick grip and a sloppy trigger.
The "range" as it were, was an open 20 foot by 40 foot grassy area with wood fencing on both sides and a rope strung across the dirt embankment in the back. Between the tables and the dirt were a few sand bags, a few wooden pallets, four "yellow pages" phone books taped together, a bit of large pipe to shoot through, etc.
Nobody on any of the ranges was using hearing protection for any calibre less than .45. When shooting .45, the shooter still wouldn't wear ear protection, but his partner on the range would cover both ears with his hands. Ridiculous. 9mm is plenty loud enough to cause hearing damage.
The afternoon was extremely challenging in terms of language. I didn't have any relevant vocabulary. I had to learn how to say "weapon," "firearm," "pistol" and "rifle" are both cognates, "shooting range," "targets," "bullets," "gunpowder," etc. None of those things were in my phrase book. At the end of my time there, they gave me a form noting my full name, when I was there, etc, and told me that if I was stopped by the police and they smelled gunpowder on my body/clothes, I would have to show the slip of paper to avoid "problems." Hah.
Antigua is very touristy, chock full of Spanish schools, international cuisine (or attempts at it), and more "tourist agencies" than I've ever seen in one city. There must be two to three in every block, often sharing space with a bakery, salon, or clothing shop.
I've been doing Spanish lessons in the mornings for four hours every day. It's been going well but I feel like I'm just priming the pump for future learning. In the afternoons, I've mostly just wandered around checking out the markets, sitting in cafes and reading, etc.
Yesterday, I went to a shooting range off the road between here and Guatemala City. Hopped a public bus, walked about 1.5 klicks off the main road. There was a shooting range, sure enough, but they didn't rent guns as I'd been told. They only rented eye/ear protection (USD$3) and range time (USD$4), as well as selling ammo (USD$14 for a box of 50 9mm cartridges made by Wolf). All told, the afternoon cost the same price as it would have in the US. Shooting is a "rich kid" hobby here too.
I got lucky and ended up borrowing two pistols from some guys who were shooting on one of the ranges. I shot an Israeli military pistol, the Jericho 941, and a Chinese-made knock-off of a Sig Sauer P226. Both were chambered in 9mm. The Jericho was by far the nicer pistol, but I found the Sig Sauer clone easier to shoot despite an awkwardly thick grip and a sloppy trigger.
The "range" as it were, was an open 20 foot by 40 foot grassy area with wood fencing on both sides and a rope strung across the dirt embankment in the back. Between the tables and the dirt were a few sand bags, a few wooden pallets, four "yellow pages" phone books taped together, a bit of large pipe to shoot through, etc.
Nobody on any of the ranges was using hearing protection for any calibre less than .45. When shooting .45, the shooter still wouldn't wear ear protection, but his partner on the range would cover both ears with his hands. Ridiculous. 9mm is plenty loud enough to cause hearing damage.
The afternoon was extremely challenging in terms of language. I didn't have any relevant vocabulary. I had to learn how to say "weapon," "firearm," "pistol" and "rifle" are both cognates, "shooting range," "targets," "bullets," "gunpowder," etc. None of those things were in my phrase book. At the end of my time there, they gave me a form noting my full name, when I was there, etc, and told me that if I was stopped by the police and they smelled gunpowder on my body/clothes, I would have to show the slip of paper to avoid "problems." Hah.
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