Another Interesting Day in Antigua!

Yesterday, we witnessed a strange and very funny event in Antigua. It was the fifth annual Meta race. This race consisted of waiters and waitresses from various restaurants in Antigua and surrounding cities. Each person was dressed in their serving attire and carried a tray with four bottles -- water, beer, soda, and Gatorade. The object was to be the first person to complete the 2 km course through the rocky city streets without any of the bottles falling over. The winner received approximately $300, so the participants took the race very seriously.

The Gallo beer company handed out flags to the bystanders, a Guatemalan flag and a Gallo beer flag. My teacher, Pedro, is pictured left with his flags in his pocket. I enjoyed joining in the others as we waved our flags and cheered on the participants. I especially thought the man pictured on the right needed a lot of encouragement. The uniforms were unfair because some waiters wore jeans, t-shirts and tennis shoes. This man, however, was from a Chinese restaurant in Antigua. He was wearing a wool jacket, hat and clog-like sandals! It was a hot day and those shoes were not very good on rocky streets. He came in last place.

Two separate races were held. First the women competed. Most of them were only speed-walking, so, it was funny but not too exciting. Next, the men lined up for their race (pictured left). They were very serious and ran from the start. One guy was extremely disappointed as he withdrew himself from the race after his Gatorade bottle fell over. I admired his honesty, since I witnessed several others quickly stand back up a bottle that had fallen over on their tray.