Today is the end of a loong week. We switched teachers this week, and my new teacher really likes homework. I´m thinking she should maybe check out St. Ben´s, maybe take classes in another language, and see how well SHE does then!!
But that´s probably just friday frustration talking :)
Our director told us yesterday at dinner (amazingly good Indian food, here in Xela) (I discovered that my favorite food, chicken curry, is Indian) anyways, he told us that we are on the hardest study abroad program St. Ben´s offers. THE hardest. It was reassuring to hear that, because we are all doing relatively well, despite the total complete immersion and stress of spanish.
Today, after our daily 1:00 lunch with our families (we have school from 8-1) I went to el parque central (central park) to relax in the sun. I was approached by an old Mayan woman in traditional dress, and feet that didn´t...grow...the right way. She looked up at me (she was about 4 feet) and asked me if I could spare a quetzal. (Their equivalent of a dollar) I gave her all the spare quetzales I had in the bottom of my purse. Only about the equivalent of one American dollar, but 8 quetzales buys a few meals here. (A piece of bread at the nearest bakery, Xelapan, is about .30 Q.) The quetzales that I gave the lady seemed to make her day. She said ¨god bless you¨about 3 times before leaving.
I was also approached by a young Guatemalan, (qué guapo) asking for my number. We chatted for awhile, though I declined him my number, explaining that I have a novio in the states :)
I am so tired from the week. I am about to go take a nap. Still not feeling homesick, which is great! Apparently it starts to set in around now. Of course I miss everybody in the states tonnss :) But I have not felt homesick as of yet. I got my camara charger yesterday (YAY!!) thanks mom and dad!!! So now I can begin to take some pictures of my house, school, and town, and post them on here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
First weekend of travel
Last weekend, our group traveled to Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua is a beautiful old city with lots of cathedrals, old convents, and museums. We explored some of the most beautiful buildings I have ever been in, and it was even more interesting to read about the history of the ruins. One of the convent's we visited was the ruins of Las Capuchinas, an old women's convent. The girls were not allowed to have contact with the outside world, and they received their meals through a revolving door. It was very interesting to actually be standing in the same places that things like this took place in. And the cool thing about Guatemalan ruins is that you can explore them. If these ruins were in the United States, there would definitely be retaining walls and roped off areas...not in these ruins. You can climb anywhere, go in any old room. It is amazingly beautiful.
On another(not so happy) note, I was sick for the first time this weekend. I think the first two weeks finally hit us, because there were quite a few people who were feeling sick. I have a relatively strong stomach, so it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle, but Sunday night I was gave up my homework for sleep. Back home with my mom's good cooking and herbal tea and "yerba buena" (good herb) that she puts in everything, I was better in no time. I found out the other day that my mom actually studied herbs for three years, which is quite interesting and helpful!! There's a Guatemalan remedy for everything. Except canker sores. Which I seem to constantly have, because I eat lime juice with EVERYthing. (And, family, you know how prone my mouth is to canker sores.) Que terible! I do not enjoy it. But oh well! Such is life. I am glad to be back to full health (minus the canker sores) haha.
That's all I have time for for now, love you all!
On another(not so happy) note, I was sick for the first time this weekend. I think the first two weeks finally hit us, because there were quite a few people who were feeling sick. I have a relatively strong stomach, so it wasn't anything that I couldn't handle, but Sunday night I was gave up my homework for sleep. Back home with my mom's good cooking and herbal tea and "yerba buena" (good herb) that she puts in everything, I was better in no time. I found out the other day that my mom actually studied herbs for three years, which is quite interesting and helpful!! There's a Guatemalan remedy for everything. Except canker sores. Which I seem to constantly have, because I eat lime juice with EVERYthing. (And, family, you know how prone my mouth is to canker sores.) Que terible! I do not enjoy it. But oh well! Such is life. I am glad to be back to full health (minus the canker sores) haha.
That's all I have time for for now, love you all!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Primer fin de semana
Last night my family took me for my first car ride in Guatemala. It was quite the experience. People drive absolutely crazily here. There are no speed limits, no stop signs, and no laws whatsoever. (About seatbelts, number of people in cars, number of people in backs of trucks, etc.) No laws. I was the only person in the entire town wearing a seatbelt, I felt like. My brother is a very good driver, but I was still being the most nervous backseat driver. El dice "Brianna, estas una chica muy nerviosa, no?" and I said "no! only when i am in a car in guatemala!" It was interesting.
Another interesting occurance of Saturday was my cousin Manuel asking me out for coffee (rather insistently) The third time he called, my host mom told him that I have a boyfriend (luckily) but I told him I'd go out with him as friends. I love exploring the city with my friends, but its quite different when you can go with natives. It's the best way to learn!
The first weekend here was quite interesting, needless to say. Friday night, we danced la salsa for 3 hours! My calves have been quite sore. Good excercise! If you guys haven't figured out by now, I have fallen in love with Salsa dancing and the reggaeton-salsa music down here. And yes Karsten i will GLADLY teach you when I get home! It's all partner dancing, and if you can dance with a Guatemalan who really knows how to dance, you're in for the experience of a lifetime. I thought I knew what dancing was before, but after only one week here I discovered I had absolutely no idea! People actually DANCE down here. I wish everyone in the United States could have the experience of dancing la salsa with a Latino. Me encanta bailar!
Another interesting occurance of Saturday was my cousin Manuel asking me out for coffee (rather insistently) The third time he called, my host mom told him that I have a boyfriend (luckily) but I told him I'd go out with him as friends. I love exploring the city with my friends, but its quite different when you can go with natives. It's the best way to learn!
The first weekend here was quite interesting, needless to say. Friday night, we danced la salsa for 3 hours! My calves have been quite sore. Good excercise! If you guys haven't figured out by now, I have fallen in love with Salsa dancing and the reggaeton-salsa music down here. And yes Karsten i will GLADLY teach you when I get home! It's all partner dancing, and if you can dance with a Guatemalan who really knows how to dance, you're in for the experience of a lifetime. I thought I knew what dancing was before, but after only one week here I discovered I had absolutely no idea! People actually DANCE down here. I wish everyone in the United States could have the experience of dancing la salsa with a Latino. Me encanta bailar!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Mi familia
I have a WONDERFUL host family. My host mother is actually a grandma, with 4 grown children (youngest is 28) and she is just great. She treats me like a grandchild, always preparing the most delicious Guatemalan food. Everything is fresh here. I eat fruit at every meal and large quantities of salads and vegetables. I also eat beans, (though not as much as I thought,) tortillas, fish, soy ¨meat¨ (cause real meat is expensive, I learned) salsa, guacamole, lots of pan tostada (toasted bread) and no desserts. Guatemalans eat fruit for desert, which is fine by me! The fruit is so fresh and my mom buys food everyday from the market. I have yet to feel the slightest bit sick, I guess i have to thank mom for an iron stomach! :)
I also consume mass amounts of food. My host mom is up every morning at 6:30, preparing my breakfast, which is at 7:30. I have eggs or broccoli and cheese wrapped with ham, and fruit with granola, and bread and tea every morning. I have learned to ask for small portions, because wasting food in Guatemala is a huge insult to the cook. I absolutely love the food and everything about it. It is a good thing for Salsa dancing, that is all I can say, or I would be a balloon already! We danced 3 nights this week, and are going back for another lesson tonight. The teacher, Alex, 20, a Guatemalteco/Californian, gives us a good workout. So far, we have yet to pay for a lesson. Alex loves salsa and he loves teaching it to the Gringos (us pale-skinned people) so he has yet to charge us. But more about Salsa later.
I have two host sisters with children, two 12 year olds, Abi and Valeria, and a 2 year old boy named Josue who calls me ¨amma¨ and is the most precious thing I have ever seen!
I have my own room, with my own bathroom (which is really nice!!) and running water!! I even have a hot shower, if I put it on a trickle! More pressure means less hot water, but by February i won´t need hot showers because it will be gorgeous out. Now is very chilly at nights and mornings, probably about 40 or 50, but it gets up to 70 during the day, and we always end up wearing tank tops. By the end of February, it will be nice all the time. The house has no insluation, and the roof is patched together with sheet metal, so whatever temperature it is outside, that is the temperature inside. I have learned to accept dirt on the floor as part of Guatemalan life. It is never clean. But it doesn´t bother me anymore. The whole living situation down here is very dependent on the climate and the outdoors, and doesn´t bother me. I have heard a couple of cats on our roof, but they just chill out up there and never bother anyone!
I just realized this is a relatively loooong post. I will write more later! Nicole and I are going to Parque Central to soak up some rays for the afternoon. Love to all!
I also consume mass amounts of food. My host mom is up every morning at 6:30, preparing my breakfast, which is at 7:30. I have eggs or broccoli and cheese wrapped with ham, and fruit with granola, and bread and tea every morning. I have learned to ask for small portions, because wasting food in Guatemala is a huge insult to the cook. I absolutely love the food and everything about it. It is a good thing for Salsa dancing, that is all I can say, or I would be a balloon already! We danced 3 nights this week, and are going back for another lesson tonight. The teacher, Alex, 20, a Guatemalteco/Californian, gives us a good workout. So far, we have yet to pay for a lesson. Alex loves salsa and he loves teaching it to the Gringos (us pale-skinned people) so he has yet to charge us. But more about Salsa later.
I have two host sisters with children, two 12 year olds, Abi and Valeria, and a 2 year old boy named Josue who calls me ¨amma¨ and is the most precious thing I have ever seen!
I have my own room, with my own bathroom (which is really nice!!) and running water!! I even have a hot shower, if I put it on a trickle! More pressure means less hot water, but by February i won´t need hot showers because it will be gorgeous out. Now is very chilly at nights and mornings, probably about 40 or 50, but it gets up to 70 during the day, and we always end up wearing tank tops. By the end of February, it will be nice all the time. The house has no insluation, and the roof is patched together with sheet metal, so whatever temperature it is outside, that is the temperature inside. I have learned to accept dirt on the floor as part of Guatemalan life. It is never clean. But it doesn´t bother me anymore. The whole living situation down here is very dependent on the climate and the outdoors, and doesn´t bother me. I have heard a couple of cats on our roof, but they just chill out up there and never bother anyone!
I just realized this is a relatively loooong post. I will write more later! Nicole and I are going to Parque Central to soak up some rays for the afternoon. Love to all!
¡Bienvenidos a Xela!
Welcome to Xela! (Pronounced ¨shay-la¨ and short for Quetzaltenango, Guatemala).
I have been living it Guatemala for 5 days now, and have already adapted wonderfully to the people, the food, the town, and the climate!! The Spanish? That is coming. Already within 5 days of being here, my Spanish has improved leaps and bounds. I can now carry on conversations with my teacher, host family, (which is the hardest, because they don´t understand the phrase ¨Uh....what?¨)
I also know how to successfully bargain while purchasing phones, food, and clothing in Xela. I bought a cell phone for 200 Quetzales, which is about 21 U.S. Dollars with the exchange rate of 7.90 to one. ¡Me encanta!
To sum up my Guatemalan experience thus far, it has been full of 3 things. Español, Guatemalan food, and dancing.
I have been living it Guatemala for 5 days now, and have already adapted wonderfully to the people, the food, the town, and the climate!! The Spanish? That is coming. Already within 5 days of being here, my Spanish has improved leaps and bounds. I can now carry on conversations with my teacher, host family, (which is the hardest, because they don´t understand the phrase ¨Uh....what?¨)
I also know how to successfully bargain while purchasing phones, food, and clothing in Xela. I bought a cell phone for 200 Quetzales, which is about 21 U.S. Dollars with the exchange rate of 7.90 to one. ¡Me encanta!
To sum up my Guatemalan experience thus far, it has been full of 3 things. Español, Guatemalan food, and dancing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
