Guatemala #2

What a day. I was woken up at midnight by what sounded like fireworks. Again and again. I finally went outside but was disappointed to not see anything. Then I went back to bed and 6am more Kaboom! Luckily I was getting up anyway to start school this morning. My instructor definitely does not speak much english. However, I think she will do a good job. We covered a lot in 3 and a half hours. Many of the other students here are much younger. They seem to be very adventurous people and will be fun to talk with. There are a lot of students. The area we study in has a beautiful garden in the middle and at our break we have yummy traditional food. Eventually I will know what it is called, the food that is,  for now I can say that is mini tortillas with meat inside. Then they fry it and cover it with guacamole and some sort of cabbage like mixture. It's good.

 After class I finally met with my host family. I think it will work out very well. The "mom" is a year younger than me and is very patient when we talk. She has a son and a daughter. The daughter is on vacation from school so is away visiting family. The husband works in a sugar factory far out of town. I believe I will meet him on Saturday. I have a nice little bedroom upstairs with my own bathroom. Very private. The roof is right beside my room and has a great view of the mountains. Hopefully all the clouds will leave eventually so I can actually see the view.The locals are saying it is unusually rainy for this time of year.

After meeting with my family I went back to the school. They have an activity each day for the students. Today we went to a macadamia farm. Very beautiful. All natural process. A long time ago someone invented a very rudimentary machine that would shell the nuts. They have brought this to many indigenous people so they can have better nutrition and a way to make money. Since they usually have no electricity it uses a small gas motor. I wish I could post pictures to better explain. It was a neat little tour. The owner, Lorenzo, a retired fire fighter from New York moved to Antigua in the 70's and started the farm. He was quite the character.

So far I have met one couple from PA. We went to dinner on Sun night. Mon I met this great Aussie lady. She's a riot. I think we will see more of each other. It is nice to be in school where I know it will be easier to meet people.

On Friday, which is there day of the dead. The school buses us to one of the villages where there is a large kite festival. I'm excited to be able to see that and sample many traditional dishes.

I have now had several conversations with my hostess suheidy. We talked about the culture and the differences from our two countries and we even spoke about religion.  I have also been able to talk to my instructor about several interesting topics, divorce, culture and I have tried to help her not have as much pain after she irons for 2 hours. Trying to explain what Taylor does for a living is somewhat difficult but it is fun to try. All this in just 2 days. I'm having a great time!

Nos vemos, mis amigos! mas pronto.

Guatemala #1

I'm finally going to use this again. It's been forever. It's a fun way to share my adventures. My trip began with a long afternoon and overnight trip to Guatemala City. Luckily, I was wisked away by my taxi driver Larry.  Being that it was 5:45 in the morning we were able to leave the city very quickly. I was able to talk to Larry a little even though he spoke no english. I was happy to make some small talk. He was very patient. Guatemala City was cleaner than I would have imagined. Although, I did not see a whole bunch of it. It is so green here. Lots of happy foliage. Large mountains of green all around it. Nice roads.

 I arrived at my B & B at 6:30. Fortunately one of the guests was able to let me in. I was not very excited about cruising around with a backpack that early in the morning. Especially on only an hour of sleep in a 26 hour period. But it all worked out. The little spot I will spend the first two nights is lovely. Beautiful spacious room and free wifi!

I was able to explore a little today. It is a very friendly walk around kind of town. Lots of Buenos dias as I walked to the bank. It was a very small bank that had two security guards. One even had a shotgun. Somehow they seemed friendly even with bullet proof vests and guns.

The streets here are made it seems from river rock. They are very bumpy. I believe it is cobblestones though. Being that it was founded in 1543 they are holding up very well. There are about 35,000 people here. I have only seen a small portion but it does not seem that crowded.

For a first day in a foreign city I'm feeling very relaxed. I had a great lunch and there I was reminded how happy I am to be here learning more spanish. The waitress got a few blank stares as did the super market clerk. I'm making along well enough though. Thank goodness for my spanish teacher the last 3 months. I would be a deer in headlights when talking with people if not for her.

Until next time...