Well we landed in Guatemala city around eleven in the morning and we arrived in Quetzaltenango, around eight at night after 37 hours of travel, 4 hours of waiting for lost luggage and an hour of waiting in the middle of the road while they fixed our bus that spewed gas from its engine before stopping all together in the middle of the road. But it was all part of the adventure and people were in a good mood so it helped us bond to sit in customs for almost three hours, talk and play card games. It was a shocking welcome to the realm of world traveling.
MY FAMILY
When we got to the school on Sunday night we pretty much meet our families and went home. We did not do much talking the first night, but pretty much said hi and went to bed. My host mom's name is Karla, and she has a son who is eleven named Juan. They have a house keeper named María. I only meet my host father briefly that first night not knowing that he works as a judge six hours away and leaves early monday morning and does not return until Friday night or Saturday morning, so I don't know much about him. Karla is super nice and patient with our spanish, but really my roommate and I have not been doing too bad in understanding her. Juan does not talk to us much, he is pretty shy. I also think that they have students living with them a lot. One of the last students to live with them was here for a year. So while I really like my family and they have been very kind to us so far, I understand that it is not quite as exciting for them as it is for me and my roommate.
THE SCHOOL
During the weekdays school starts at eight in the morning. We only live like two and a half blocks from the school. In pairs, we work with a professor from eight until ten thirty. My partner is Jessica and we are at a very similar spanish level so it has been working out well so far. Our professor is Rosio and she is very nice and patient also. This week we did a lot of reviewing of verbs and vocabulary and other fun things like that. Next week we are going to go to the market to buy food to make one of Rosio's favorite cakes as well as "papusas" which is kind of like a hand-made tortilla made from a sticky dough, and then cooked with cheese and veggies inside. At ten thirty we have a break to drink coffee and tea. There is also pan dulce, which are various types of sweet bread and that is my favorite part of the day. We then return to our classes for another two hours until 1. At 1 we have any quick announcements and then we go back home for lunch.
ACTIVITIES
Every day after class, at around 2 or 3 in the afternoon we have a activity of some sort. Monday we had a tour of the city. We did not go very far but we got to see the central park and some of the buildings that surround it. Tuesday we went to a shop called Trama Textiles. It is an organization of widows from the civil war who make and sell traditional weavings. By making and selling them at their store, they can make more money than if they had to sell them to a vender. We got an overview of how their organization started and what they hope to do going forward in the future. Wednesday we went to a small town close to Xela (another name for Queltzaltenango). We visited a church there that practices catholicism by it has also incorporated customs from the mayan religions. After that we walked to the top of the city to see a really incredible view of the city.
Thursday we had talked with a man named Henry, who is a catholic priest and was active during the civil war, fighing with the people. He talked about liberation theology, and what it really is verses misconceptions that many people have about it. Finally, Friday we talked with a group called Interchange, that works to help street kids, women and those in prison. Their goal is to help them make good decisions to change their lives and hope they will come to know God in the process. THE WEEKEND
There are two groups to our large group of students here in Guatemala. One group is just here for the month of January and will return to the United States in another three weeks. I think there are 19 students on the janterm trip. The other group is my group, CASP, and there are 14 of us. About half the time our activities are together and for the other half we separate. This weekend, the jan-term group left for the weekend for a trip that CASP will do next weekend. I could not tell you exactly what that is. Today the CASP group climbed a volcano called Santa María. We left at three in the morning and it took us four hours to climb it. I am so glad I decided to do it because we had the option to climb a smaller volcano and I almost did. It took us 8 hours all together to climb it, hang out for awhile and then climb back down. It is definitely one of the cooled things I have every done in my life and I am glad to say that I did it, and I was with the group of four GIRLs that make it to the top first! You have no idea how happy I am that I was not last.
SUMMARY
Well that is my first week in a very brief nutshell. I will keep you posted, probably about once a week and I thank you for read and checking up on my Central American adventure. God bless
Love Karli.
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