Week One: Guatemalan Highlands, School, and Class Trips

¡Hola de Guatemala!

Life here has been pretty good so far. My school, and especially my spanish teacher, excede all expectations. As crazy as it sounds (for those who ever knew me while studying a language other than English) I´m actually enjoying my studies here in Guate. Class is basically an ongoing conversation about my teacher and my´s cultures and families and experiences in life. Little by little my gramar improves with each passing comment on life. It´s quite therapeutic even...

This past weekend my school took a trip to El Lago Atitlan (ah-teet-LAHN), a big freshwater lake in the Guate Highlands. I had the great suprise of meeting up with my friend from BC, Olivia Amadon...the girl I lead a faith group with. She´s traveling around central america seeing the place with her friend Tony (also of BC) after they completed a semester in el salvador. It was the second time I´ve travelled like that with a friend....the other being my two weeks with Jess in India.

It was nice to be able to see a new...and beauteous!...place with someone I know. The lake was a cross between the entry scene with the helicopter in Jurasic park, filmed in hawaii, and lake cumberland in KY. There were lush forests and volcanic mountains, mountains a local mayan girl told me are sacred. "people bring offerings of chickens and vegetables..." Sweet! There is also a bit of gatlinburg (sp) in the place b/c all the little towns around the lake--and there are many--cater to tourists.

There are so SO many venders in the town of Santiago. With about 10,000 people--the majority of which speak an indigenous dialect that sounds much of "shsh"ing and gutteral stops--Santiago hosts a big craft market every thursday and Sunday. There are shops for wood carvings and handmade woven goods, jewelry and other goods. Every vender will tell you "my mother made this..." "I spend all week working on these..." But I´m pretty near certain that these are only the final stop on a road of middlemen from artisans. I wish I could buy directly so that I could ensure the producers actually received fair compensatino for their work. But I don´t see a way around this at present.

I spent two nights at the lake, one in Panajachel (pahn-nuh-HAH-chel) (pop. 15,000) and another in San Marcos (pop. 3000). Half the latter town was nothing but coffee groves and avocado trees with hotels thrown in the mix. Muddy paths predominated between the town center and the docks where boat-taxis dropped you off. Though there were roads between the cities, it was faster to take a boat across the lake. And I couldn´t have been happier--cool air and water vapor spashing your face while you watch lush mountains and small villages enter and pass out of view is a welcome change of pace.

I didn´t do much but sit quietly or talk with my friends through the afternoons and evenings. I did some fun reading and chatted with locals. The latter was interesting because it was always two people speaking in their 2nd languages...both making mistakes, both helping each other to understand. I think I enjoy that particular process.

So, besides passing a weekend in a touristy hotspot that is actually peaceful as can be, I´ve been hanging out in Xela (pronounced shay-luh) where I have spanish school. I live three blocks from school, in a neighborhood about four blocks from the city center. The roads are all cobblestone and the buildings colored in a rainbow of stuccoed hues. My own house is pale blue with a courtyard beyond the front door. The school has a courtyard too, with a garden in the center. Roses and canas are in bloom now. The patio around the courtyard has tables every few feet, at which sit teachers and students during the day. The kitchen in the school always has coffee, tea and hot water at the ready for sluggish students (and teachers!). Coffee break is at 10:30 am, after 2.5 hours of class. We get sweet bread and cookies along with caffein while we chat for thirty minutes or so. And after class...with time to race home for lunch....we have a daily activity--one day visiting natural volcanic saunas, hiking to hot springs in the forest, listening to a lecture by a women´s cooperative....basically, it´s all super well organized and as peaceful as could be hoped for in a place far from home.

The people of Guatemala, so far, have been the warmest of hosts. I´m grateful for their hospitality... a recurring theme of my international travels. With their respectful demeanor and quiet, kind words I am glad I chose to study hear.

Missing you all! ¡Con Abrazos!