June 3. Alter egos.


I leave Antigua early with a shuttle bus directly to Semuc Champey. It’s a very long ride. Dirt roads that seem endless but are only ten kilometers long from Coban to Lanquin and from Lanquin to Semuc Champey. It’s still light when we arrive and check in the ecohostel “El Portal” where they offer dorm rooms in thatched cabins. I find myself in yet another little paradise, have dinner and spend a relaxing evening in the hammock. The toads are enormous here.

Mentioning a short story I’m working on in Dutch:
Two friends see each other again after twelve years. They went to college together and got their degree in the same year. One of them is working for a medium-sized company trying to make ends meet, the other is traveling around the world with no company but his backpack and many lose ends. They are not alone. Their alter egos make themselves comfortable at the table right next to them and they look at each other grimly. The two friends tell about their lives, each trying to impress the other. The atmosphere is awkward. Their alter egos say the words they dare only to think. It’s a sad afternoon. This story is about the justification of our way of life. It wants you to become aware of the struggle between the alter egos.

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