El pasado

Everyday I spend here makes me appreciate time and love a little more. I suppose one way to look at this adventure is a way to examine what I desire to accomplish, who I want to become, and how I can be transformed. Thankfully, there is no demand to figure out what anything means right now, unless it is what the waiter is trying to tell me or my teacher is attempting to get through my already confused and twisted brain...
For example, today was a history lesson. Yesterday was a walk in the past.
Ayer, (yesterday) we wandered amoung the old cemetery in the western part of town. I find cemeteries rather bizzare. No matter what country I explore. I become pretty morbid and try to find the oldest and the youngest person (memorial or tomb) there. I hate to admit, I saw 2 months. ¡Que horrible! In Xela, in the ´old cemetery´ the graves have been built above ground, not unlike the cemetaries in New Orleans. It is as though the massive tombs are a way for the wealthy to immortalize themselves even in death. The cemetery has broken statues, unkept graves, and built in rows and rows so it looks as though it is a ghost town (pueblo fantasma if you will). A mix of the continual fight against being forgotten. I am fasinated. I thought about all the people who buried loved ones. Who spent time in the cemetery, not as a tourist, but as a widow, a mourning mother, or missing a friend. There was an Italian family here, some German plots there, and a sprinkling of French. Even the live flowers seem to clash with the dried flowers...
This afternoon I walked with mi maestra around Central Park. Downtown Xela is a mix of Spanish stucco and believe it or not, Italian arcitecture. (of course, not all of the buildings have that much character throughout town. I am reminded of that the farther away from Parque Centrale I walk). In the early 1900s, Manuel Estrada Cabrera, was the president and he originated from Xela. He was fascinated with the arts and culture of Europe and tried to transfrom Guatemala. He intivited artisans from all over to design buildings, paint, and sculpt during this era. The municipal building and the theater in town are in the Greco-Roman style. Some of the houses built then take up entire blocks of the city. They have all been turned into government offices, cultural centers, and banks.
I loved it. Futhermore, I got to teach mi maestra about our history. There was actually an exhibit on Lincoln in the municipal building, so we chatted about the civil war. Then she asked about the rest of American history, and I attempted to tell her about Jamestown, the Revolutionary War, and whatever else I could come up with. Attempting to remember my own country´s history in English, translating it into Spanish, and then remembering that English does not translate directly word for word into Spanish was rather...difficult. It could not have been more fun. As it is, I think she understood my attempt at the preterite and imperfect tenses and a mumble of the vocabulary I attempted to use.
I love this. I am not good at Spanish. I look forward to a day when I am. But I am enjoying the process to get there. In a place where the past and the present clash pretty beautifully. A place that is allowing me to learn a little more about me each day.

Tranquila

For me, there something almost magical about Xela. It is not by any means a Venizia or the country side of Ireland, but it is welcoming and comfortable. Through all of the stress and nerves of learning a new language, I have found myself some places to decompress and relax. Por tranquila. My favorite local outing with the school thus far was Fuentas Georginas, a natural spa with pools of water so warm and relaxing, just thinking about it puts me back in my relaxed place. The scenary surrounding the spa was just as rich as the water itself. It felt otherworldly. Mom and Sarah, a place not unlike what Ann McCaffery could imagine for Pern. It was, as my teacher would say, un lugar que es muy rica! My second home away from home, is a quaint coffee bar-wine bar that is a little whole in the wall. El Cuartito. The decor is random. There are chairs on the wall. I can barely walk around becuasue at any time of day it is full of people...well the 15 people who would be able to fit in there at any given time. I treated my self to a mango mojito for my birthday. (One day late becuase my stomach was fighting with me at the time).
In the time I have been here (suprisingly only about 2 weeks) I feel like I know pieces of Xela well. I feel like I have a home. My host family is such an integral part of my experience in language school. I have been taken care of as more than a guest, and almost family. The mamá of my house, Marta, is such a wonderful guide (guía) and has such a generous heart! She took care of me when I got ill this past weekend. I attended my first primera communión of the hija de mi casa, Virginia. She looked like a princess. In her mind, I think she was trying to look like Snow White on her wedding day, and in my opinion she was a success. I hope to maybe have a dress that pretty for my wedding...but probably not!!! Her family had a huge party that afternoon, and it was fun (rather exhausting as well) to be surrounded by family that were celebrating such an important day.
We chose to come to Xela during their rainy season. Every morning the skies are clear and the sun is shining. By afternoon it gets dark, and rain pours down. Some days I am a little grumpy with the rain, but all I have to do is look up and I see the mountains surrounding Xela that look greener every time it rains and find an amazing reason to smile. We are so high up, but there are mountains even higher surrounding us! I did find an umbrella in the mercado for Q10! (10 quetzales...a little more than a dollar...not to shabby no?)
Some days I hope that the time flies by so I can make it to the Hogar, but there are other days, like today, when I realize, taking time to soak up the culture of Xela, is an experience unlike many I have had. A first in what I hope to be many adventures to come! Tomorrow will bring 5 more hours of spanish, more rice and eggs than I care to admit, and rain, but without a doubt, I will find... tranquila.

Huevos, arroz, y chocolate puro...

Pues, yo completo mi primero semana! So, I have finished my first week!! It has been quite an experience. So far, my diet has pretty much consisted of eggs (huevos) arroz (arroz) and of course beans and tortillas...its been pretty awsome. NOt much has changed in the respect that my day revolves around food! I don´t really miss much of American food yet, but maybe after week 2? I´ll let you know.

My spanish is tolerable. I can get my point across in a loopy insane sort of way. It only makes sense in my head, and eventually my listener understands. However, i am pretty sure i am getting a lot of smiles and nods which hopefully means that I can actually communicate, but its hard to tell. My grammer is awful. I can not do it in English, let alone Spanish!!! I am having a good time. Learning a language is not easy. Anyone who says differently can meet me somewhere and explain. Everyday I want to trade my brain in for a new one. One that is able to understand all languages all over the world. But for now, I will take the hard way and just keep doing my home work (mi Tarea).

I have now met a teacher from Cali (Nick), a couple from seattle (Katie and Jeff), a couple from Ohio (Margot and Will), a guy who is a gringo but teaching in Mexico (Lewis). It has been awesome. It still shocks me to walk down the street and see other gringos! I love it. Jeff, Katie, Nick, and Lewis are all students with us in Sakribal...(amazing school...i´ll get into that later), and after our dinner in the school last night, we all went to La Luna, a cafe that has chocolate drinks. I still hold that chocolate puro is the best....Pure liquid dark chocolate...It makes me think about Chocolat with Jonny Depp! It was perfect!

I have seen the oldest church in Central America, drank some alcohol not sold in stores, and have made multiple trips to visit a friend needing some IVF and antibiotics after getting Montezumas revenge pretty badly!!! All is okay now!!

So I have had some pretty awesome interactive classes that were unexpected and unplanned, but is that not the way things go?

Overall, I have loved my time here. My favorite thing to do is wander (in daylight) and figure out where all the unique spots are! Of course, i found a used bookstore that you can exchange books for more books. For the next 5 weeks i am anticipating visiting that store pretty often! Where else would you find me!?

I don´t know what this weekend holds for me, but I can´t wait to find out!

Bienvenidos Gringos!!

Getting up at 4am does not allow one to say a proper good bye to the family at the airport. I could barely hug them without thinking...'Please don't leave me here!' Tearfully, we said good-bye and I started the first leg of a very stressful, exhausting, but rather wonderful adventure.

Making it to Guatemala city by 12 pm Guate time was easy. (it was about 230 in VA). Meeting up with Tom and Kate was a piece of cake in an airport that I barely remember from 5 years ago. Meeting a security guard who abandoned his post to talk to me in broken English and I to him in horrendous Spanish was fabulous.

Making it to Quetzaltenango (Xela) was nauseating/hilly/noisy and everything in between. We were even awesome about getting a cab from the airport to the bus station...The Alamo...For our comminication abilities I thought this feat was pretty profound. The bus ride was about 4 hours, and the three of us were ready to be there, in fresh air, and walking. I had the name and address of a Pension Andina, where according to our language school was super close to Sakribal. I took their word for it. However, having a cabbie who knows his way around this city would have been more comforting. I think we stopped about 6 time for him to ask about the location, and I began to believe it didn't exist. It does. We slept there last night.

Now, who would have thought making a phone call would have turned out to be the most difficult and frustrating part of a day. A day in which we travelled mucho miles to a city we have never been, in a country whose language I can sort of get by, after getting up before the roosters!? NOT ME!!!

After wandering Xela (pronounced Shae-laa) and eating a great dinner, we could not find a tienda (store) open to purchase a movie star card, the ones from the U.S. of course did not work, and ended up begging for help from the Pension worker. He was our guardian angel. He ended up running out around 9 pm to buy us a card, putting it to use on our phone, and THEN dialing for us. Here's the kicker. Our brains were not working well at all to be able to actually dial. We forgot about country codes...so after dialing about 5 or 6 times...We finally remembered to ask the right question...que es el code (thats English) del pias los Estados Unidos? (its 001 if you need to know). Finally got us on a phone line out of Guatemala. It was rather hilarious. Our night cap was each of us talking to the parentals and laying in bed unable to function. I kinda liked it.

I could not think of a better welcome than this. I am so happy to be here. I will have to update more about my host mama, Marta, her beautiful daughters, and the great Dia 2 Kate, Tom, and I have had in Xela.

Nos Vemos!