Did My Momma Raise a Fool?

Dear Diary,

What would you do if you got a call about a six-week shoot in Guatemala, starting in three weeks, and your passport is expired?

The backstory:

• Oct. 2005: I pack up a small suitcase and put my belongings in storage (in Seattle) to work in New York for a month.
• Nov. 2005: I arrive in LA and couch surf for two weeks until my stuff arrives.
• Dec. 2005: I move into an apartment with my bitter ex-boyfriend, because we can't figure out where else to live. Live in tense squalor for four months because neither of us wants to finish unpacking or even clean up.
  
• Apr. 2006: I pack a small suitcase and go back to New York to work for two months; my stuff is in storage again because I'm going to move into a new apartment when I get back.
• June 2006: I come back to my new apartment, and have three days to sort my stuff out before starting on another feature. A short one with a so-so rate.
  

So then I get a message about a feature being produced out of New York. They need a scripty on a show with a Spanish-speaking crew that will be shooting in Antigua, Guatemala. (I'm not sure if I'm being offered the job straight up, or if I'm a finalist for it.) Sounds like a beautiful city, but I'm sick of living out of a suitcase. It's a slightly higher rate than I usually get offered, but my Spanish is rusty. I don't need the money right now this very instant, but I feel paranoid about turning down any money, especially a few thousand dollars (more than a couple, less than several).

It feels really scary to turn down what may be sure work and be possibly faced with nothing. But to rush around to renew my passport, pack for the tropics (something I've never done), and brush up on my Spanish seems too much to do right now. I want a home to be centered around. But then you're only young once.... I guess the things that are making me hesitate are:

1. The fact that I'm shy and my Spanish is rusty (will Guatemala be a macho place? Will my short hair, feminist beliefs and slow, foreign speech cause embarrassing moments? I'm easily embarrassed), and
2. That I've recently made some friends here, for the first time in years really, and want to maximize hanging out time with new exciting people. And they can get me into ComiCon for free.
   

I guess the biggest thing to remember is that not taking this job doesn't imply no work for the rest of the summer -- something else might come up. And I can hope that this won't be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, because if I stay in this industry I may eventually be offered another job in some exotic country. And possibly for more pay and a better hotel room.

Argh. Whatever I choose, I hope I don't regret it.