Hola a todos!
So for a more in depth overview of what’s going on down in Guate so far. I am in Xela, and it is about a 4 ½ hour bus ride from the capital, Guatemala City. I was actually expecting worse road conditions than what we saw. It was crazy to see corn planted on hills that were almost 45 degree angles on the side of the roads however.. I learned today that all of their crops are cultivated by hand, corn can be planted twice a year and pesticides are only used on coffee plantations in areas where the climate is warm all year long. One thing that really surprised me also was the number of cars driving around the main highway and also around Xela. Unfortunately this means a lot of air pollution as the cars are old and shoot out black smoke into the air. Also, gas is Q28.99. So a little higher than us as 1 US dollar is about 8 Q. It was sad to see large families walking along the sides of the roads as we were traveling through the night… I can only imagine how frightening that is.
We arrived in Xela on Saturday around 8:30 at night and my host mom was not able to come and pick me up. I actually ended up staying with another host family that is the mother of my mother where another girl from our trip is staying. So it was nice to not be alone, but it was not the ideal way to start the trip. Once I arrived at my house, I was really surprised at how nice it is! The car is parked literally inside the house with no separation between that and the dining room and then there is the kitchen, living room and my host parents’ room. There is a garden outside and then upstairs in the garden, is my room with my own bathroom. Very nice and very lucky.
The food has been pretty good so far. Lots of beans (at every meal) and I am trying all different types of fruits and vegetables that I usually can’t pronounce on my first attempt. My host parents are intrigued by my water bottle with a straw in it (Pajilla is the word for straw, learned that today as well) and I am starting to understand more of what they are saying… that or they are speaking slower on my account. I have also met a great deal of their family. Which is huge, by the way. 4 daughters of Maria Elena (my mom) and she has 4 other siblings of which I have met a few. The little kids are adorable though.
My first day of classes went well today. I just sat and talked to my professor for 4 ½ hours and we have a 30 minute break to eat some delicious bread. I am doing a bunch of reviewing, which is nice because I am a little rusty on the stuff we learned long ago in high school! Since the first day, classes have also been going well. I did more verbs but now I am learning about the Guatemalan conflict against the indigenous people so that was really interesting.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to go this natural sauna.. and the hike was 45 tough minutes with lots of incline and the first and fourth pictures show this. It was amazing, but really really hot inside. Tonight we are learning some basic salsa steps so I am really excited about that.
The second picture is of our language university, Celas Maya.. which has an outdoor area where we actually have lessons. It is pretty amazing. The third picture is a view from my room. It's a rough life but someone has to live it :) Just a weather update.. it gets up into 65 degrees with some intense sun every afternoon, however this morning I could see my breath. Rough!
More later! Abrazos!
Sarah
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