new chica

howdy to all...

at breakfast today, i got asked if liked "garlic bread," which incidentally had nothing to do with breakfast. or else Adolfo doesn't know what Americans consider garlic bread, which is more likely the case. anyways, i took the opportunity to say, "yes, but i don't like mustard." so now he knows. :-)

class went well today. Hugo is very encouraging. i so need that. and i learned stuff today, which is a plus. so overall, very good class day.

rushed home at lunch ... the rain was coming. it ended up starting during lunch and was a short one. right when i walked out to sit down at the table, Adolfo came in with a new student! :-) a girl from my school named Susan (or Suzanne) from Switzerland. seems nice enough. quiet. knows a lot more Spanish than me, but that seems to be everyone around here. i think, in all the school, i'm the one that knows the least. seriously. it's sad, but you gotta start somewhere.

so we ate our chicken with green chili sauce and brown rice and tortillas and got to know one another in spanish and broken english. then Adolfo came and sat down and talked it up with her while i was left in the dust of words. ugh. then she hurried off back to school for afternoon classes.

i wrote out postcards to mail today. made my bed with clean sheets (i didn't have to wash them), and walked to school to see if Alexia wanted to walk with me to the post office. she's said a couple of times she needed to go too. i walked past my new fellow housemate studying with my teacher Hugo. :-)

anyways, the picture link works now, for real. so go below to the previous post and click on it to see all 110 pictures of that album. lots of doors to see. :-)

pictures, for real

ok. click here. after the Pacaya pictures are the newest ones. it starts with "door 15" and goes through to the end.

NOTE: the "park near house 2" picture looks like there's a lake there, but there really is no lake there. it's a house. when i took the picture, something must have happened during the snapping of it that blurred it a little or something. but it really and truly is a house, not a lake. :-)

NOTE 2: if you haven't already figured it out, you can double click on the thumbnails to make the pictures bigger. then in the upper righthand corner are arrows to advance to the next and previous pics.

NOTE 3: don't click the refresh button, i think all the pics disappear. ugh.

again with the canons!

turns out they are not canons. they sound like canons. but they are, instead, firecrackers. really loud firecrackers kids set off in the streets for celebrations of stuff like people dying, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

so, no more worries. there really isn't war happening. :-)

tengo un neuvo maestro

his name is Hugo. that's pronounced "u-hu" or something like that. he's very nice, very encouraging, and has yet to speak one word of English. i'm not sure if that's good or bad... *L* it's good, because i really have to think hard to follow, understand, and converse. but it's a little bad because explanations are hard to understand.

we first did our "get to know eachother" conversation, all in Spanish. he's 30, lived his whole life in Antigua, has 5 brothers and 2 sisters, and is Catholic (as is everyone it seems). then we went over the verbs Ser, Estar, Saber, and Conocer. those were the ones i'd learned already with Lesbia. but then he started teaching me Tener and Haber. oh my goodness! i feel a bit overwhelmed and don't really understand some of it, but will ask Adolfo & Anna about it this afternoon and hopefully get some clarity. It makes sense, but i need more sense. :-)

anyways, i think Hugo will be good for me. he's very encouraging. after i say something right he says, "Perfecto!" makes me feel like i'm doing SOMEthing right. very nice.

i must walk home for lunch now. today's breakfast was two fried eggs with slices of ham on top. they were a bit salty, but still better than vegetables. :-)

P.S. my ankle is much better. nearly back to normal.

new pics

click here for lots of new pics. i think they should show up as the first ones. there's a lot. and a lot of doors.

i have a new teacher today. so far so good. :-) his name is Hugo and is very encouraging. i'll post more later.

second sunday ... yes, it's long

I’ve slept in (7 something), listened to the noises of Anna putting dishes away, sweeping, and eating. It’s very quiet outside on Sundays. At least in the morning. I’m happy for that. And now I need to start my day. It’s nearly 10 and I need to eat something. Yesterday I passed by an Italian place with a menu in English and Spanish. I think I will eat there today for dinner. But first, I need to investigate a new street


The thing you need to ask yourself before coming here is, “Do I want to walk?” If the answer is yes, no problem, come on down! But if the answer is no, and you don’t want to spend money on taxis or money and energy trying to figure out the bus system, or money and potential emotional breakdowns renting and driving a car, then you needn’t come here. I have walked and walked and walked a good 60 blocks today alone. 60 blocks, in my mathematical configurations, equals to at least 3 miles. That might not seem like a lot to the regular 10 or 20Ker, or the marathon runners of our world, but to the average Jane like me, it’s a LOT.

I walked down to La Merced, picking up a donut along the way in a store on the corner. It wasn’t the best donut, but it was one nonetheless and cost a little over Q3. I took pictures of doors along the way, then of La Merced, and then more doors as I made my way down a new street … 7 avenida norte/sur. It’s just a street, not much on it. I was looking for the English-speaking church Adolfo told me about. But I didn’t find it.

I went to McDonald’s, because it was right there, and I needed to think. So I went outside to sit near the fountain. I had to survey my map and plan my next route. It wasn’t even noon yet. I want to find a particular hotel that my mom and/or friend might stay at next month, but it’s in a part of town I’ve never been yet. So I get it figured out and leave.

I walk two more blocks south to 7 calle poniente. I need 9 calle poniente. There’s two ways to get to it and I don’t know where on the street the hotel will be, so I decide to walk west, then south, and then walk east on 9 calle until I find it. but when I got to 7 calle and 8 avenida, the road splits into a semi-highway and it doesn’t look like it would be safe to walk on … there was no sidewalk. So, I walk back to where I started and decide to walk the two blocks south to 9 calle, then walk east. Well, walking east was nice, but I didn’t find anything called Villa Antigua. I did find some other very nice hotel, but not that one. But since I hadn’t walked the other direction yet, I didn’t bother to ask anyone if they knew of it. I’m just stubborn that way.

So, I walk back the several blocks I just walked and start looking intently again. I walked all the way to 2 avenida sur and found no Villa Antigua. By this time my feet and legs were very tired and I didn’t have it in me to ask anyone or go back to see if the one hotel I saw maybe was it but had changed their name. So I saw Iglesia de San Francisco from another side and made my way north to Papazitos for lunch.

A little place, but booming with business. I sat down at a table, grabbed a little magazine, and waited. I ordered a soda and the meatball panini and pretended to read the little magazine while waiting for my food to arrive. The soda was in a can and cost Q12. Hello? You might want to read that again. A regular can of Pepsi cost Q12. that would be about $1.60. at the café across from school, I can buy a 20 oz. bottle of soda for Q5. in the States you can buy a can out of a vending machine for .50. and in a restaurant in the States you’d pay $1.50 or $2 for soda, but you get refills. So, maybe that puts it into perspective for you. Any restaurant you order a soda in, you pay at least Q10. that’s just the way it is. Sad though.

The panini came with some lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and sliced onions as a salad. I had a little bit of the lettuce. I guess I just figured it was safe. It had a little bit of dressing on it, which I didn’t like, so I didn’t eat but a couple of bites. The whole mean, with tip, cost Q55. overall, it was ok. The bread was a little crispy for my liking, but that’s what a panini is all about. Toasting the bread. But the bread was already crunchy on the outside, so now some of it tasted like crutons. But the meatballs, cheese, and sauce were really good. I would eat it again if I had to, definitely.

Ok, now what? It’s not even 3 p.m. I decide to walk to parque central and people watch. And along the way I look for the pupusa place I’d passed one day. I didn’t find it. instead I found a bunch of other stores and I browsed a bit, asking how much stuff was, trying to get an idea how much I should be paying for stuff. I bought a stack of postcards of Antigua for Q75. there are 27 of them, so I figured I paid $10. in the States, you can sometimes get 3 for a dollar, but other times you pay $1.50. so I guess it was fair. (later I went to the big market I’d forgotten about on the arch street and found the same thing for Q63 or Q68. oh well.)

In the park I was asked by many people to buy necklaces. I watched a kid with his new puppy. I took a few pictures. And saw another boy shining shoes, though this kid was only about 5. :-(

I wanted some dessert and wanted to try a new restaurant … oh, look, there’s Café Condessa. It’s supposed to be really good, so I head there. When you walk in, you walk into a book store. So I browse looking for a Guatemala guide book, map, and/or the exercise book Adolfo wrote down for me. I’ve been doing this periodically throughout the day, but hadn’t bought anything yet. They took Visa, so I bought a map and a workbook of Spanish verbs. After the bookstore is a little string of shops. And then the café. When you walk in, a girl hands you a menu. There’s an inside section of tables, then a patio, and then two other inside sections. In the patio there’s a fountain and there happened to be a table with one chair at it available, so I promptly sat down. A lady came by with a napkin, fork, and spoon. I ordered hot chocolate and asked for a minute to decide on food. She returned with my beverage and I ordered apple pie.

The hot chocolate was way too strong for my liking. There was a flavor about it that my tongue didn’t particularly like, so I only had about 5 sips. The pie was good, but could have been better. It was about 2 inches thick and would have been great heated up with ice cream on top. :-) I ate it all though. They served it with a dollop of cream on the side.

Then I opened my verb book and began to learn. It made sense, so I did a few exercises. I started getting chilly, so decided to leave.

While walking home, I went in a couple of markets to browse. I’m kind of window shopping for Christmas gifts and things for myself. The one market is a “rent your own space and sell your stuff” kind of place. So every space I passed by I had someone trying to get my attention and sell me stuff. I looked and inquired, but didn’t buy anything. By this time I only had about Q6 left, so I told people I’d be back later. The other market is like a Guatemalan Wal-Mart or something. Everything is cheaper there. Everything looks like the stuff you buy on the street. But it’s in this store where no one bothers you.

I finally decide I’ve had enough, I need to get home, it’s dark and chilly and time to end my day. It’s only about 6:15 p.m. I hear music and see a crowd gathered at this one intersection. All of a sudden, there’s something moving in the air in front of all these people. Looks like a float or something. I take a picture. I get closer and realize men are underneath it, holding it up. They’re wearing suits. There’s music in front of them and firecrackers going off behind them. As they move, other people follow or walk alongside. On the back of this float thing read “rest in peace” in Spanish (I think). I’m thinking it was a funeral, but I don’t know for sure.

I pass through the crowd, moving quickly toward home. Finally I reach the park around the corner from the school and find tons of firecrackers going off and people sitting in the park like they’re waiting for something. Here comes the float thing! what the heck? And up the street is a man with a waterhose, hosing a section of the street in front of his store. A little ways up are two women laying down grass in the middle of the street. And at the top of this street sits people, waiting, and another person watering the middle of the street. Tons of firecrackers are going off, non stop, and some of them go into the sky and make very loud boom noises, kind of like a canon going off. Hm. I’m thinking the canons of last week were never canons at all. They were firecrackers for some kind of celebration. Very interesting.

At breakfast in the morning, I will be inquiring of Adolfo about this funeral/celebration thing. I want to know the scoop. I want to know whether I should be finding a spot to sit and wait for these things to pass me by. And how did all these people know about it??? these are things I just need answers to. Moreso than, “why are there 38 different words for the same verb?”

Week’s total costs: good question. Pacaya trip = $15 (Q115). food for pacaya trip = Q14. Sunday (food, book, postcards, map) = Q398. Paseo de Santo Domingo = Q30-ish. TOTAL = Q562 = $75.

Spending so far = $55 first week, $75 second week = $130.

second saturday - another novel...

The day started out with leftover French toast and pancakes. I walked to school and used the internet for several hours and contemplate my day. Went home for lunch … churrizos and the carrot, pea, and potato mixture that’s hot, but sweet, tortillas, and lemonade. I’ve decided I’m not a big fan of the churrizo. It tasted good and all, but there was a lot of unedible things inside that I had to spit out. I don’t think all churrizo is small like these were, but they were cute in size. Probably 1.5 inches long and about an inch round. Two were black and two were more brown and normal looking.

The family was coming over and happened to show up right when I was finishing, so I hurried into my room to give them privacy. I decided to walk, slowly, down one street, from my neighborhood to the opposite end, looking at everything, taking pictures, totally familiarizing myself with it. This street would be 1 avenida norte/sur.

And so I headed out with my camera, water, and rain jacket. But when I got outside the house, I was reminded that I hadn’t been up our street, past our house, yet. And so I walked in a new direction. The street curves to the left a little ways up and goes up a hill, all with houses and cars lined on either side. And at the top of the hill is a little playground with a fountain. There are lots of fountains in this city, but not a lot that have water running in them. This one was no exception. But there was a little slide and a swing set for kids to play on. And for me, it was a pleasant surprise. Nestled in amongst tons of houses, it wouldn’t be the most peaceful place to hang out, but I was glad to see some kind of nature nearby.

I also decided to walk up another street in my neighborhood a little ways to see what was beyond where I always turn. Found a couple more tiny stores to buy junk food from, more houses, more dogs eating plastic, a cat (the one and only thus far), and some more ruins hidden behind lots of trees. The road curves to the right to take you to more houses, but I thought it best not to venture too far away from “civilization”.

I’m still trying to figure out what this one place is supposed to be. It’s so large, fenced off, concrete in the middle, a beautiful entry way, guards, and men working in holes and jackhammering in the concrete, all day, every day. Yet there is no sign to say what it is. I can’t ask anyone because I won’t understand what they tell me, so I just keep eyeing it, hoping God will just tell me one day.

And thus, my venture of street one begins. Overall, I took about 50 pictures of this one street. Most of them were of doors, but still. I looked more intently inside doors. And at the end of this street is Iglesia de San Francisco. Inside this church is the tomb of Hermano Pedro. I don’t know who he is, but apparently he is pretty important.

But this church, not only is it the site of Pedro, but it’s also an actual church with services and mass and confessions. All things Catholic. And you can go in to just look around. And so I did. And sat down to listen. Watch. Consume. It’s a very large church. And very beautiful. The pews had the kneeling bars. There were candles you could light for your loved ones. There was lots of gold. And lots of paintings of Jesus, Mary, etc. Lots of statues. The front of the church was rather intimidating with such a large chair for the priest and other chairs for elders or someone. Off to the right was another section for prayer. In front of the little fence was a book that said, “Antes Jesus’Sanctification.” I don’t really know what that means as far as Catholicism goes, but it seemed important. And to the left was Pedro’s tomb. You can see it from inside the church, or you can go around the side of the church to actually go inside the room. Viewing it from inside the church on the other side of the wall was just fine for me.

Many people came in to just pray. They would enter the back of the church, kneel and do the hand movement across their chest, then go sit down in a pew. This act was done really fast, almost as if they didn’t want anyone to notice but knew it was necessary. I’m sure it’s just because they’ve been doing it at least once a week for their entire lives and have it down pat, but still. Their prayers weren’t very long. They’d sit in the pew, kneel down onto the bar, pray for a couple of minutes, and then get up. Some of them would leave. Some would go over to the candles and light one. And others would go to the other praying section and do the same thing. and then some would go over and see Pedro before they left.

All of this ritual was interesting to me. I guess because I know nothing about Catholicism and don’t participate in anything similar.

I was quiet, didn’t take pictures, tried to be respectful of the praying people, and took my time looking at everything. But others would come in and talk amongst themselves. Monks were cleaning columns. Other men were going in and out of doors. I don’t know, but if I were there trying to pray, I would be highly distracted by all this, and maybe even irritated at tourists for coming to my church to gawk.

There was another section you can enter or leave the church, another wing, sort of. This area had very little traffic, so I stood near the door and took a couple of pictures, just so show you a little taste of the grandeur of this building.

Outside are vendors selling anything from keychains to purses to food. Lots of activity in this place. I found a place to sit down and watch. This little boy with his shoe shine box goes over to a lady that works there selling stuff and talks to her for a minute. Then she hands him her shoes and he promptly goes to work. This kid couldn’t have been more than 8 years old. But already, he knew what it mean to work hard. A minute later an older boy came over to him, sat down on his shoe shine box, and the smaller boy began to talk. Don’t know if they were brothers, but I imagine so. The younger boy talked the entire time he shined those shoes. And the other old one never said a word, he just put his hand in each shoe on top of the box so the boy could shine them easier and faster. This kid had such a sweet smile and from time to time would look over at me to see if I was still watching him. And every time he would smile really big.

and then, out of the church comes the whitest, most American family. For a while I was thinking I was the whitest person on this block, but no, actually, there are at least 4 more whiter and more American and more touristy than me. They had on their shorts, tennis shoes, rain jackets, and sunscreen. They carried their cameras with pride. They were here to visit and so they did.

When the kid had finished shining the ladies shoes, he gave them back to her with pride. They discussed the price and finally agreed on what looked to be about Q3. This kid was thrilled. Almost like that was the biggest sale of the day. His “brother” tried to drum up some business from passersby, but had no success. The boys walked out of sight. After a few more minutes, I decided it was time for me to leave. As I was walking out, I passed the little one sitting on the sidewalk counting his money. He had two little fistfuls of coins. It probably only amounted to 8 or 10 Quetzales, at the most. But I imagine that will help his family out quite a bit. And besides, the day wasn’t over yet.

And so my journey on the opposite side of the street began. I made a couple of side trips up one or two other streets, just because I saw some interesting things or doors from afar and wanted a closer look. I also went inside the Dominos to investigate the menu more thoroughly. Turns out a medium cheese pizza costs Q75, Hawaiian costs Q95. So the sign in their doorway that advertises a pizza for Q110 is for a super large. Much more normal and accepting.

I made my way up to the park around the corner from my school and sat down. The clouds were amazing and moved very fast. I tried to get a video of it, but you couldn’t see it through the camera. It was strange. But there, again, was a colorful cloud, one with greens and pinks and blues mixed into a little hole of white. Just like the one we’d seen on our way to Pacaya the other day. It was getting darker, so I continued walking home. But when I got to the section of that road where I turn right, I looked back and noticed the sky was orange. I just love sunsets. I watched long enough that the colors disappeared and then went home.

I uploaded all my pictures to my computer, resized them, and got them ready to post online. Then it was time for dinner. Leftover pieces of pork with the white/brown bean gravy and leftover pasta with little pieces of ham and chopped celery and onions (but not as many as the other day). And little slices of white bread. Probably ¾ of the size of a normal slice. Very cute. I ate with Adolfo and we talked.

volcan video

there's no sound since my camera is just a regular still camera with this little video feature. but as the lava falls off the edge, imagine the sound of glass breaking. :-)

P.S.

it was kindly pointed out that i didn't say what happened to marlene at the volcano, after she went back down and i left her. well, we were all at the top looking at the lava and all of a sudden i hear her voice. so i go towards this person who said my name and it's Marlene! she went back down to the bottom, got on a horse taxi, and rode up to the top! along the way we had passed several horses with men trying to "sell" the ride up, but we all passed them up (i kept thinking i should get on one and forget killing myself just for pride, but didn't). it never occurred to me that Marlene would ride a horse up. but was so glad she did for her benefit. she got to see the lava in person and i took her picture for her. :-) we walked down together, holding up the rear of the line.

i also meant to say that in America we would have had to sign waivers saying the tour group/guide is not responsible if we should die on this adventure. no way would any guide in the States traverse you over lava rocks that could seriously injure or kill you, in the dark, with only a little flashlight (but only if you brought one yourself), while it's raining. and these people, the Guatemalans, didn't seem to be concerned at all! absolutely amazing.

P.S. Marlene's name is really Merlene. oops. :-)

volcan pics

Volcan de Pacaya pictures

all that work to get up there and most of my pictures didn't even turn out. just as i had anticipated, but still disappointing. my camera has a nice little feature to take video as well, so i managed to capture lava falling in motion. but, i don't know how to post the video, nor upload the video, to this site.

i have to go to lunch now (slowly, but surely), but maybe this afternoon or sometime on the weekend i can take time to figure it out. if any of you know, please email me.

Volcan, part 2

so, there it was, lava. red. orange. beautiful. it moved slowly down the hill, but then collapsed over the side. when it broke, it sounded like glass breaking. it never occurred to me that there would be noise. but it was amazing. and up at the top of either the same volcano or another one, you could see lava spewing up in the canal or cone or whatever you call it.

what was bad was that about the time we reached a place to start taking pictures, it started raining. it always rains, so this was expected. we walked a little farther, to get closer, and the rain lessoned. and then we climbed over lava rocks to get a little closer, which, in my opinion, was totally unnecessary and very dangerous. i have battle wounds to prove it. my hand has at least 6 cuts on it from bracing myself as i traversed the rocks. nothing to hold on to, so better my hand to be cut than my entire body from falling over. seriously, you could REALLY hurt yourself.

and then it was time to go down. slippery. difficult. slow. i stepped wrong and twisted my ankle. fell down on the side of my leg in the dirt. only hurt my ankle though.

finally, the bottom. finally, a chance to sit down. needless to say, i earned a soda and snickers bar. :-)

the drive home was fast, the regular amount of time, 1.5 hours. i got into bed at midnight exactly. a very long evening.

all night, it was hard to get comfortable because of my ankle. you don't realize how much your ankles bend until you can't bend one of them. ouch! this morning i woke up not as tired as i'd expected. i also am not sore at all. i am really surprised. the only thing that hurts is my ankle. but i can walk on it, so it'll be better very soon.

this morning i ate french toast for breakfast. yum! i gathered my laundry and began my walk. i walked about a block and a half and there was a tuk-tuk (taxi), so i took it to the laundromat and to school. for the first time i didn't walk all the way to school. it felt weird. and very bumpy. tuk-tuks are not the most comfortable or shock-absorbant vehicles. they're basically a motorcycle with a box on the back of it for two passengers. it's weird, but it gets you there. cost me Q10.

class thus far today has been ok. i basically said, "no, i'm only doing two sentences" and "no, i didn't do my homework and i don't care." i stuck to my guns and therefore didn't feel stupid, small, and frustrated.

after class is over (because my break is now over), i will post the pictures from last night. not much to see. it's seriously just black with red blobs. but i'll post them anyway. :-)

Volcan de Pacaya

well, it proved itself more difficult than anticipated. everyone said it was easy. they lied. they don't know what easy is.

first the time changes from 5 to 3:30. we pack in a van like sardines, 13 or 14 of us. we drive for a little while, and then we hit a traffic jam. it takes an hour to move one mile. not kidding. it was a mess. we finally get out of that and turn onto a road that, in America, would have been closed because of it's condition. we blaze it like it was an interstate. there were horses in the road. there were dogs in the road. then, out of nowhere, there's a village. people, children, houses, stores selling Pepsi and Snickers. finally, we arrive to our destination, the part where the walking starts.

the people we were with were mostly early 20s. even in MY 20s i would have struggled. these people acted like marathon runners, all 12 of them. the first part where i struggled was ... um ... straight up. no kidding. straight up. after about 10 steps i knew i was in trouble. my lungs started freaking out. for normal lungs, sure, out of breath, but for MY asthmatic lungs, forget about it. how the heck am i gonna get up this mountain? i still have 2.99 kilometers to go!

when we reached the top of this semi-paved area that was straight up, we stopped for a minute. well, i did. to catch my breath, contemplate the situation, and wait for Marlene and our driver. it was at this point Marlene decided to go back. i asked several times, but finally decided to leave w/o her. i felt bad, but i wanted to try. we hadn't walked far, so for her to go down on her own was safe. i carried the rear of our group, for sure, but i made it. our group was led by a Guatemalan guide ... old man ... very fit. they stopped periodically to rest. i caught up just in time to watch them leave. finally, we were there.

oh, by the way, our entire walk was in the dark. it shouldn't have been, but because of the traffic jam, we had no choice.

so there it was ... lava.

more at breaktime...

today & pics

click here for new pictures from my tour of Paseo de Santo Domingo yesterday.

today has been ... overwhelming, again. class involved frustration, crying, and a little bit of laughing, in that order. the director came around and inquired of classes and homestay situations and i requested to change teachers. i have mixed feelings about it, but don't really know what do otherwise.

lunch was pasta, alfredo (kind of), with onions, celery, and some kind of finely chopped green lettuce like stuff. i ate with Anna only. we sorta talked.

i'm now posting blogs and pictures and waiting for 3:15 to come. at that time, marlene and i will walk down to the school where the tour of Volcan de Pacaya will begin. hopefully it will be fun. if nothing else, i'll see live lava, if i don't collapse from the hike up the volcano before hand.

i bought a little loaf of bread (almost the perfect size for living in the States, which doesn't exist in the States, of course), a snack bag of Cheetos (puffs), and a package of about 10 oreo cookies for Q14, in preparation for eating on the bus since i won't get dinner otherwise. Q14 is only about $2 ... that's amazing.

ugh!!!

Oh my gosh, I’m so ready for the weekend. I’m not having fun at all. This is so much harder than I thought it would be. And today is a very hard day. I’ve started crying several times, of course inopportunely. Is that even a word? Ugh!

I woke up this morning very tired. Breakfast sucked. I had to learn a new verb in class which confused the heck out of me. Even though I was prepared from previous studying that verbs were hard, attempting to use it today in class proved very difficult. Doing exercises right there with my teacher waiting on me gets me very nervous and freezes up my brain even more than it already is. Then she wants me to do this very difficult exercise where I complete sentences, but they are long sentences and use words I don’t know! I was so confused. And of course got some of them wrong. We discussed them and I understand why it is the way it is, but … ugh!

Lunch semi-sucked. By this time I’m ready to cry at any moment. I’m basically on the edge. I’m never gonna learn this stuff. I’m never gonna be able to understand people. I’m never gonna be able to communicate. What the heck am I doing here? These were the thoughts going through my head. I prayed on the way home. But I was still very much emotional and tired and frustrated.

Lunch wasn’t ready yet, so I went to the table and sat down with my homework to try to make sense of it. Adoflo asked me how I was and instead of giving the canned “Bien, gracias, y tu?” answer that everyone gives, I was honest. “I’m frustrated.” So he attempts to encourage me. Anna comes in and does the same thing. by this time, tears are coming and I can barely stop them. Thankfully, Anna read the prayer and didn’t ask me to do it. we ate homemade Chinese … fried rice, bits of meat, onions, peppers, and celery. I picked and tried not to cry and tried to talk. I did the best I could, but was so upset.

Adolfo was kind enough to write down the name of a book I might find helpful for studying. I guess when I pass by bookstores I’ll inquire of it. maybe $15 or $20 might be worth it. He and Anna both were also kind enough to offer their help. They could tell I was upset and could see the tears in my eyes even though I didn’t let them fall. And Adolfo was very sweet, at the end of lunch when were getting up from the table … he said, “Jesus loves you, that’s what’s important.” I could only whisper, “Yes, He does.” Then as I passed him in the kitchen he put his hand on my shoulder and said if I needed help this afternoon to please ask.

I went to my room and cried. I only had 10 minutes before I needed to leave, so I could cry a lot, but I tried.

I walked back to school for the activity at 2 p.m. Five students and four teachers walked down to the museum at the Santo Domingo hotel. One of the teachers was our tour guide. Things were going ok for a while. I was actually understanding some of what he was saying about the stuff we were looking at. Only a little. But then we get to this one place and I didn’t catch any of it. he could tell I didn’t understand and came over to me after everyone had dispersed and said a few key words to me in English. I said thank you, turned away, and the tears started coming. I felt so stupid. He was being nice and helpful, but I felt so stupid. Why is this so hard?! I hid my tears from everyone, got myself gathered together, and moved on with the group.

We were at this museum for almost two hours. It shows art, old stuff from kitchens and pharmacies, skeletons, and a lot of Catholic stuff … statues, paintings, etc. It was interesting, the art was cool, and the setting was beautiful. Overall, it was worth the $5.50 I spent.

On my walk home, for the first time, a local talked to me as we walked in the same direction. What? I’m not invisible? Wow! He asked me questions and I understood a good bit of it and was able to respond in Spanish. Mostly the canned questions like, “Where are you from? Are you here to study? How long are you here for?” he was a bit older and had a lisp, so I had trouble sometimes getting words, but at least we talked! I didn’t really know what to say, but I tried to answer the best I could and he understood.

It is 6:15 p.m. and I’m waiting on dinner. I need to do my homework and study, but am afraid of getting frustrated because of not understanding.

This has been a hard day and I don’t expect there to not be anymore. I appreciate your prayers. Not only am I frustrated with the language learning and barriers, I am very much sensitive to everything around me right now … the constant noise, so much walking, and the guys who whistle and make kissy noises at me when I walk by every single day, at least once a day, are all getting to me.

Dinner was leftover Chinese food. They were sweet and picked out the peppers. I wish they had picked out the onions and celery as well. Also on the plate was a lovely portion of potato salad made with my favorite … mustard! Potatoes, carrots, and green beans mixed with mustard and maybe a tiny bit of mayo. Maybe. *sigh* I ate most of it, but some of the bites were really hard to get down. Thank God for bread and lemonade!

Adolfo joined me and we talked. Sort of. He does most of the talking, I say “si” and “wow” a lot. :-) at the end he encouraged me with words from God. God knew what He was doing. I’ll be ok.

mustard, ugh!

Adolfo made those sandwiches again for breakfast. mustard, mayo, turkey ham, and cheese. thankfully the other stuff drowns out most of the mustard, but i can still taste it. i don't have the heart to tell him i don't like it.

i've learned "estar" today. it's another "to be" verb, but temporary. (Jeff, thanks!) talk about a confusing language. my teacher keeps telling me not to think in English, but i don't know how NOT to think in English. it's all i know!!! if you have advice, please share. i'm lost.

today we go on a tour of the museum in the Santo Domingo hotel. i think i'll go.

it was cold this morning, so i put on long sleeves. but now it's hot. i never know what the weather is going to be from day to day, hour to hour. it's always changing on me. i've been dressing in short sleeves and carrying a jacket, but today i wanted to be minimal and thought i'd be ok. but alas, i am hot. *sigh* oh well.

*sigh*

another day of walking all over the place. i'm tired. school was ... well, somewhere in the middle. Lesbia taught me the first verb ... "ser" = to be. Yo soy, Tu eres, El es, Nosotros somos. basically, "i am, you are, he/she is, we are, they are." and then we played a little game to go over the words i'm learning. you might know it as Twenty Questions. but with this game, instead of just thinking of the word, you write it on a piece of take and stick to the other person's forhead. therefore, she becomes the object. then she asks, "am i a person?" and we continue like this. when the word is finally guessed, you get another word. we basically got one word each and then it was time to leave. we weren't very good at it. :-)

at noon Marlene and i walked down to the other school to sign up for their tour of Volcan de Pacaya on thursday. it cost $15. no food included, so i'll have to buy myself a roll at the panaderia and make me a peanut butter sandwich to take with. lucky i have peanut butter. :-)

then i walked home for lunch. we had a fillet of chicken and some scalloped potatoes that had been baked. it was yummy. Anna can cook very well.

then i layed on my bed for a while, thinking about walking to the post office. it's a hike, so i had to psych myself up for it. finally i got all my stuff together and started walking. i ended up walking two blocks past where i needed to go, but thankfully i have a map to refer to at all times.

now i'm at Cafe 2000, the place i've passed several times. it's dark and loud with music. rather cozy little cafe with a movie screen. they play movies, for free, and have free wireless internet. i thought i'd try connecting to my work PC again, but it didn't work. i've ordered a brownie with ice cream, though i don't know why. i guess i feel guilty for using their internet and not ordering anything, which i know is their intent. so, i shall fatten myself up again with dessert, and before dinner no less!

flashcards

Overall, a good day. :-) Lunch was with Adolfo. We had soup … chicken, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes. My lunch also included a “tamal”, this one was different than the one I had the other night for dinner. It still tasted good, except there was a chile in the middle of it and even after taking it out, the spice of the chile was throughout the middle section of the tamal. Needless to say, my mouth was feeling it by the end. :-)

After lunch I went back to the school to check my e-mail (was waiting on a response from someone at work) and give chocolate and lifesavers to Marlene and her teacher Juan Carlos. My plan was to check my email and leave, walk to the post office, go to Café 2000 to test their internet to see if I could get through to my computer at work to help with prayer cards, and come home. However, I ended up staying at school until 5-ish, walking my boss through the steps to formatting a prayer card via instant messaging. In the process of that, I responded to a couple of emails and made friends with a new student Marlene met earlier.

Her name is Alexis (or Alexia, I honestly can’t remember right now) and she is from Australia. Her boyfriend wants to travel around Cuba and for her to join him, so she thought she’d take a break from work (in between jobs) and brush up on her Spanish beforehand. She’s here for three weeks and lives with a family who, incidentally, is not mine. Oh well.

She went to the salsa class with Marlene and afterwards she and I continued to talk and walk in the same direction towards our houses. We might walk to the post office together some time this week.

Tomorrow Marlene and I are going to walk down to the other school she found on Saturday and sign up to join their tour of Volcan de Pacaya on Thursday evening. I’m very excited about that. Turns out Alexis went on a tour of Pacaya Sunday evening. She said it’s a bit of a hike, but Adolfo says it shouldn’t be a problem for me. We’ll see. Hopefully I’ll get to see real flowing lava up close and personal. That will be way cool.

So after my wet walk home, I hung up my rain jacket and jeans to dry and began studying. I’ve learned well over 150 words/phrases this week, but couldn’t figure out the best way for me to study and retain them. I finally decided to make my own flash cards. In order to do so, I needed to borrow some scissors. I form the sentence with my trusty dictionary, practice it, and go out to the kitchen to ask … “Me dejas unas tijeras?” and Adolfo says, “Oh, prestas, si.” Turns out my verb, borrow, was the wrong one. I had a 50/50 chance, according to my “trusty” dictionary, and I, of course, chose the wrong one. Oh well. I learned.

I started on my project, but then it was time for dinner. Some tasty pasta and the green vegetable I can never remember the name of. Squash? Or zucchini? I think squash is yellow and zucchini is green? Ugh, I can’t remember. But it was green. And it tasted good, surprisingly enough. I think it was zucchini. Because I think that’s what Melissa and I eat at Musashis and I usually like it there just fine. This coming from a girl who wouldn’t touch a vegetable other than corn with a ten foot pole. :-)

This time, instead of Adolfo reading the prayer from the “bread box”, he asked me to do it. EEK! I was a little nervous, simply because it would be the first time I’d read anything real out loud. I guess I did ok. I didn’t understand any of the words, but I got to the end and we all said Amen.

I am talking more over meals with Adolfo and Anna. I try, anyway. Thankfully Adolfo speaks much more English than he gave himself credit for on the first day. Anna, on the other hand, really only speaks a tiny bit. He usually translates for both of us. :-) They both are really sweet people.

Flashcards are complete. Hopefully they’ll help me. I get so frustrated in class because Lesbia will ask me a question, of which I understand and know the answer, but I don’t know how to form the answer properly. Either that or my mind goes blank or my tongue gets tied and I just freeze up. I guess I don’t want to be wrong, so I get scared and would rather not say anything. I end up just sitting there looking like I’m thinking, which I am, but what she doesn’t know is that the answer is in my head. “En la casa!” But that’s not the “complete” answer. She wants me to say, “El libro esta en la casa” or something to that effect. The whole Esta, Es, and Son thing gets me really confused. UGH! So maybe this will help. I don’t know. I just know I’ve learned a lot of words that don’t’ really seem to help me communicate with people around here. Like who ever uses RABBIT???

Alexis asked me how long I was here for. When I told her she was surprised. I was too. Why the heck did I choose 10 weeks in such a foreign land learning a language that frustrates me every day????? She expected me to answer different to her question of traveling, as well, but nope, just here to learn and then will go home. It all made sense before I came here…

attn: females

walking really does work. my skinny pants, that i brought for the "in case", fit again! :-) i decided yesterday to try them on and was thrilled when the legs didn't stick to my thighs. yay!

mas escuela, lluvia, y comida!

lunes brings mas escuela, aprendiendo, lluvia, y comida. :-) monday brings more school, learning, rain, and food!

everyone is cold today cuz it's cloudy and rainy. class today was ok. better than i had anticipated. i was worried about my homework and being repremanded over doing it wrong. but it all turned out ok. i did better than i thought. we played "memory" again and i learned the other half of the words in the game. it's raining again. and breakfast today was a piece of "cake" (sweet bread, dry), and two fried eggs.

there's a new student, a girl from Australia, so maybe she'll live with us, i don't know. i'll find out later i guess. Marlene talked to her on our break. she talks to everyone. thankfully for me. :-)

yesterday turned out to be a little bit harder than i'd expected to get food. i mean, there are TONS of choices. but the unexpected part was me choosing a place and not being afraid to order stuff. even though some of the food is either American or Italian, the menus are still mostly in Spanish and therefore i don't always know what i'm ordering. which fears me. and then i hesitate. so i'm glad today is monday and i don't have to think about food for a few days. :-)

Sunday's scoop

Slept in, sort of. Walked to the Viejo Café where I ate breakfast and use their free wireless. Breakfast was a warm croissant with butter and marmalade and fresh fruit. It included coffee as well, but I don’t like it so I bought a bottle of water instead. Total cost for my breakfast with tip was Q25 (approx. $3.50).

When I walked in and chose a table I saw Jeanette and Brian. They live a couple of blocks away, so wasn’t too surprised to see them, but at the same time, of all the places we each could go, we end up in the same place. Small world.

After my computer battery reached 20 minutes or so left, I packed it all up and walked down to the McDonald’s. Lots of people. A man went into the ladies bathroom and used the stall I had just come out of. He didn’t seem to care he was in the wrong bathroom, but all of us females kinda laughed about it. I ordered some fries and a coke (Q16.50) and found a table outside by the fountain. But it was rainy and cold and so therefore wasn’t as pleasant as I had hoped for today. I ate my fries and did my homework until I got frustrated with the whole thing and decided I needed to try to find a quieter place to study.

I left and started walking towards the movie theater. I knew I would pass a few places that might be warmer and/or quieter to sit in. and they would have been, had there not been a football game on every television in the city with 100 people around each one.

There are some comfy chairs outside a bar-like place between the movie theater and the Mono Loco, so I sat down and started studying. About 10 minutes later the game was over and everyone left, so they played good music inside the bar place. But then teenagers decided to come sit around me and talk, laugh, and smoke for about half an hour. Ugh! By the time they left it was time for me to go to the bathroom and buy my movie ticket.

Before I sat down to study I decided to look the movie situation over a little more and discovered a parking garage where I thought the actual theater was. Come to find out, there is only one screen/theater through a door to the left of the concession stand. So now that it’s almost time for the movie to start, I went over to the concession stand and inquired about a ticket. I buy it there. Ok. Q15 ($2). Behind me stood a white woman who s poke pretty good Spanish. She bought a ticket as well. Turns out we were the only two people in the theater. No need to be early! :-)

The seats were short and VERY close together as far as up and down goes. If I had to sit with seats in front of me I would have been VERY uncomfortable. Thankfully there was at least one row half way up that had open leg room. The other patron chose a seat in the same place, but on the opposite side. I have a feeling these seats go first, if there ever is a busy time/movie. :-) the movie was in English with Spanish subtitles. It was raining, really hard, which drowned out the sound quite a bit. During those times I’d wished the languages had been switched so I could actually know what they were saying. The sound wasn’t the best to begin with, so having a non-sound-proof roof didn’t help at all. There were no previews, by the way.

After the movie I walked up to the BBQ place across from La Merced to eat dinner. Since my host family always serves dinner between 7 and 7:30, I can only assume I was early and that was the reason I was the only patron, it being only 6 en punto. the place is called K & Ribs and has maybe a total of maybe 10 tables, half of them being outside in a patio-like area with a little garden. It being chilly and damp, I chose inside. So far, from what I can tell, any regular place you can eat in you don’t have to wait to be seated, you just go in and help yourself to any table you want. That’s just the way it is, no signs to tell you so.

Anyways, I perused the menu and decided on the pulled pork sandwich. I also got a soda which was served as a glass bottle with a glass of ice. I decided to risk it, but prayed over it first. hopefully the Lord will sustain my health just this once. When the Stiffs took me to the Mono Loco the waiter brought us all glasses of ice. I waited to see if they would pour their drinks into the ice and they did. So I assume some places are ok and therefore took a risk today.

The sandwich was wonderful. Big. Soft bread. Pulled pork in BBQ sauce with cheese sauce over top, lettuce, and tomato. Accompanied by fries and coleslaw. The slaw was ok, but not good enough for me to eat. overall though, it was a very good dinner. When I was done eating it occurred to me that I didn’t have enough Quetzales to pay for my meal. Oh dear. After a few minutes pondering discreetly in my head about what to do, I called the waiter over and asked, “Puedo pagar con Visa?” he seemed hesitant. So I added, “o dollars?” and he seemed good with that. Phew! I gave him a $20 and he went off to convert and change it. my total bill there was Q48 + Q2 for a tip. So, about $6.65. I am way full too.

Then I walked home. In the dark. And wasn’t completely comfortable about it. I prayed and the Lord protected me. I know, I wasn’t being safe. I know I took too many risks today. I know. There’s no need to lecture me. Please. And thank you. :-)

Today’s costs … croissant, fruit, bottled water, fries, large soda, movie ticket, dinner, soda, two tips: Q106.50 = $14.20. What a deal man. In the States you’d pay $14 for just the dinner. Amazing!

Costs for the week: on Tuesday I converted $50 and tonight I converted $20. That would be approx. Q525. I bought two cell phone cards (200 minutes), a fruity drink, an ice cream cone, two meals, two 20 oz. bottles of Coke, one wafer cookie thing, an electrical adaptor, one movie ticket, three hours of internet usage, one museum school activity, and a bar of soap. I have Q108 and some change leftover. So in one week, I spent about $55.

NOTE: I used to convert stuff using a 7 to 1 conversion rate. Now I use 7.5 to 1.

Sunday morning

i slept in. sorta. it was nice to not have to get up to be somewhere at a specific time, like breakfast at 7 or school at 8.

i walked down 6th avenida and found the little cafe Marlene and i passed yesterday that has food and free wireless. it's like a little french place. i had a croissant with butter, marmalade, and fruit. the music has been anywhere from Christmas to Enya to Chicago to Spanish.

in a little bit i'm going to walk to McDonald's and study in the garden area over french fries and a soda. :-)

and then at 4 i'm going to see about watching the Lake House at the theater. i'm very excited. :-)

one thing i've not mentioned yet about life here is how people answer the telephone. they answer in English, "Hello?" and then begin talking in Spanish. weird.

door handles are not knobs. they are little sideways locks that you pull out or push down or up. on the outside of the doors there is only the keyhole to use to open the door with. weird again.

the full Saturday scoop

I think I have a correction to make to my earlier calculations. Ok, maybe two corrections… 1) I really have no idea how many blocks it is from school to my host house, but I do know that it takes me 10 minutes to walk it. I correctly timed myself today, so that I DO know. Given that calculation and knowing I can walk a mile in 19 minutes (mas o menos), that means it’s approximately ½ a mile from school to the house. 2) eight blocks is supposed to be “almost a kilometer,” which I think means to be somewhere between ½ and ¾ of a mile. If I can walk ½ a mile in 10 minutes, then that means ½ a mile should be somewhere between eight and twelve blocks. Therefore … on the day that I walked about 50 blocks, that would equal about 3 miles. I was thinking more like 4 or more.

Today I walked about 60 blocks, so I’m going to say that’s 3.75 miles. Wow. No wonder I’m tired! I’m not used to such walking every day. The way I figure it, I’ve walked at least 2 miles every day thus far. Just imagine how I’ll feel in 4 weeks. And then in 9 weeks … sitting at a computer really might not be fulfilling after all this!

Anyways, I walked to the school to use the internet to try to log on to my computer at work to help with a project, but the remote part didn’t work. I also wanted to use the internet to call my dad for his birthday, which did work. :-) then I listened to music and browsed for a while, answered a question of a fellow student about Skype, and then Marlene came back from her morning ventures. We talked for a while about things and decided to walk together this afternoon to run errands and see the city. So I walked home, ate lunch, and met her back at the school at 2 p.m.

We walked down the street to find the place where she might catch a shuttle bus to the City (Guatemala City) where her friends are. She’s going to meet up with them and go to church. So someone from the school told her where to go to catch a shuttle van and we followed the map exactly. But when we got to where it was supposed to be, it wasn’t. so we asked someone in a restaurant. She said to walk two more blocks south. So we did. Still no place. So we ask someone else. She says it’s four blocks back the way we came. So, we walk back up the street four blocks, looking more closely. We found it, one block north from where we were told it was.

Then we walked two blocks east to the commercial street in order to walk two blocks south to the supermarket and post office. Walking east I hear, “Hola, Jenny!” I look up and there’s Jeanette and Brian, the couple who ate dinner with me and the Stiffs on Sunday. This is the second time I’ve seen them in the city since Sunday. They were also at the museum my school went to on Tuesday. We talked and found out they live just around the corner from where we were. I’m so happy to know now.

Walking south we passed by a store selling cables, switches, and other electronic-type stuff, so I decided to go in and ask for an electric adaptor. She actually understood what I asked for and had one! Yay! Q5 for an adaptor. Sold Guatemalan! :-) I’m so happy to have this adaptor – I can use my computer at home now to journal, listen to music, and watch the two movies I brought from home when I get bored. :-)

There was a lot of activity happening on this street. There was music, dancing, and a couple of people dressed in some kind of old man costume doing some kind of line dance with two teenagers. Lots and lots of things to buy.

And finally the post office, which was closed. :-) but at least I know where it is for Monday. Basically next door to the post office is the supermarket. We went in and looked around at all the stuff to buy. It’s small, packed full of stuff, and very busy. It’s basically a super Wal-Mart extremely downsized, but all the same stuff. Some things were really cheap, but other things were either about the same or more expensive than in the States. For example: a larger sized snack bag of chips cost about a dollar. In the States you’d pay somewhere between 2.5 and 3 dollars. One Palmolive bar of bath soap cost about 50 cents. In the States you can buy one bar of soap in the travel section of Wal-Mart, but it’s ¼ of the size and cost about the same or a little more. (NOTE: there WERE single bars of soap (Dove) that cost about $1.60 each.) Then there’s deodorant, which seemed to cost about the same, maybe just a little less. The one thing I found that was more expensive was feminine products. A pack of eight tampons (name brand) cost about $3. well, in the States you can get a pack of 40 of the same brand for about $10. so, finally, something less in the States! :-)

After we browsed and bought a couple of things, we continued walking east on that street to go back toward the center of town. I’m looking around and trying not to get run over by cars when Marlene says, “Oh, a McDonalds.” YAY!!! I was so excited to find it. not that I LIKE McDonald’s necessarily, but because Marcie had told me about it and I wanted to know where it was. And sure enough, it’s just like she said. In the back of it is a really nice open patio area with trees and a fountain. It is really super nice there. A regular order of fries costs about 75 cents. And if you buy a meal (I think), you get 30 minutes of Internet usage for free. They have McInternet and McCoffee inside. Oh, and there’s a TV in the corner so you can keep up with the latest football game. That’s soccer for us Americans. :-)

The best part about the garden area of the McDonald’s was the view of the fabulous volcano. It’s really awesome. Ronald was sitting on benches throughout, so Marlene went and sat by him and I took a picture of her with Ronald, the fountain, and the volcano in the background. Unfortunately, right when she was sitting down, a woman and her kid decided to sit on the fountain. So you get a nice view of them as well.


Further down the street we found Burger King. They also had trees with tables, but not really an outside area. There was an upstairs, but I didn’t go in to figure out what the upstairs was about. I will later though.

We eventually arrived back to the north/south street our school is on, but four or five blocks south of the school. Marlene wanted to show me a few things she saw yesterday and this morning, so we walked south. Along the way she showed me the language school she found this morning. She talked to the director of the school and picked up a brochure. Apparently that school is going on a trip to Volcan de Pacaya to see the lava at night and invited Marlene to come with. And she invited me. So I think we may be doing that on Thursday. It costs about $15. I’m not sure all the details, but it could be really fun, so I hope we do it. Patrick went and showed me a few pictures on his digital camera while walking to school the other day and talked about how cool it was. He said you can get really close to the lava, it moves pretty slow, and the best time to see it is at night. I think that school is leaving here at 5 and gets back about 9 or 10. since it gets dark at 6 it should be easy to accomplish viewing the lava.

A few doors down from the school is a spa she looked at this morning as well. She picked up a brochure for both of us. I guess an American lady runs the spa. You can get an hour long full-body massage for about $23. hello? I’d say that’s a bargain! (you can’t even get ½ an hour massage for that in the States. Half an hour here is about $13.)

At the end of that street is Iglesia de San Francisco, a very old church/museum. There are also vendors inside the grounds selling their stuff. I peeked inside the church – it is really pretty. I’ll go back and explore it to find out what it’s all about.

So then we walked north to Hotel de Santa Domingo. Oh my goodness! You so would not expect to find this five-star hotel on this street. Wow! (Apparently Bill Clinton stayed here.) we walked in and around the inside of this hotel and what a huge and pleasant surprise! It’s absolutely beautiful there. There’s a fancy restaurant, jewelry store, museum, fountains, trees, and parrots (big ones!). it’s truly beautiful and definitely a touristy place to stay. Just walking down the street you could tell something important was down there because of all the white people carrying cameras going towards it. :-)

After all of that, it was only about 5 en punto. We’d only been walking for 3 hours, but it seemed like all day long. Amazing. We parted ways, she to eat dinner and me to start my walk home.

I decided to stop at the park and sit down for a bit, the park that’s around the corner from the school. As I was walking into the park and contemplating which bench to sit on, I see a familiar face. “Hola, Anna!” my hosts and their grandson were there playing. :-) I sat on the bench for a while and counted the blocks I’d walked so far and tried to figure out the full distance. Then I decided to buy a soda at the internet café across the street from the school and use the internet for a few minutes to blog about my day. But, the blogsite wasn’t responding, so I checked my e-mail and left after 30 minutes of usage.

I walked outside and it was dark! Wow, that was fast. I walked home in the dark, but it was fine. It was only 6 en punto so all the street lights were still on. No worries, Mom!

Dinner tonight was something called a “tamal”. Adolfo says it’s a typical Guatemalan tamale. It looks nothing like a tamale you might find in America and as far as I’m concerned it tastes a whole lot better. :-) it looked and tasted like a really super soft potato in a rectangle shape with a little bit of tomato sauce on top. It sat on a plantain leaf and was accompanied by green beans and rolls.

I’ve forgotten to share that I’ve seen two different men on two different occasions peeing on the side of the road, just right there out in the open, not caring much that people were watching them.

Total expenditures today for one adaptor, one bar of brand name bath soap (that smells really good by the way!), one bottle of Coke, and 30 minutes of Internet use: Q18 = $2.40. In the States all that could cost at least 3.5 times as much. At least. I know I mention the price differences a lot, but it’s just that it amazes me. And it helps me really put a perspective on things.

We passed a TON of restaurants, internet cafes, ice cream shops, panaderias (bakeries), and retail shops today. There is a place called Café 2000 that has a movie screen inside with comfy-looking chairs. They have food, drinks, movies, and free wireless. I didn’t realize how popular internet cafes were. But the smallest of places will have three or more computers set up and call itself a café and charge from Q7 per hour.

The bottled soda I’ve bought at La Alameda tastes a lot sweeter than soda from the liters we had with our pizza the other day and from bottles in the States. I wonder why.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Dominos pizza. That’s on the street we walked east on toward “our” street, before we turned to go to San Francisco. They have delivery motorcycles. If I read the sign properly, the cost for one pizza (don’t know what size) costs about $15. what the heck? Everything else is cheap, but pizza costs more than in the States? I don’t get it. maybe it’s a really big pizza? (The pizza we had the other night was homemade.)

I’ve read there’s a Dunkin’ Donuts, but haven’t see it yet.

ok, i'm finally done. i'm sure you're glad. :-)

pictures

here are some pictures. i'll try to add captions. i'm putting them in this way to kinda break up the monotony of text. :-)


this is the back patio where i use my laptop and where activities are after class.


this is the yard i can see when i'm sitting on the patio.


this was one street i walked down yesterday. i liked the woman carrying stuff on her head.


the school yard where i study


this is a "park" around the corner from the school

TGISaturday

ah, a day of rest. i have homework to do. i have walking to do. and i have food to eat. :-) i'm so glad it's saturday. i got to sleep in an extra hour. and i don't have to sit with Lesbia and get frustrated about pronunciations.

dinner last night was white rice, green peas, rolls, and pieces of pork in some kind of yellowish/brown beans and gravy. it was good. and filling. :-) breakfast today was cereal, banana, and water. they (Anna & Adolfo) don't buy milk, though it is possible to do, so to make milk you use water and powder. i think i might have gotten the right amount of powder this time, but the water isn't super cold, so it's like drinking tepid milk. oh well. at least it's food.

this morning while i was trying to wake up, i counted nine different bird noises, including the rooster. have i mentioned the honking yet? very annoying. it's cloudy today and a little cooler than it has been. in fact, last night Anna and Adolfo were cold. they both had jackets on. :-) it really wasn't cold, especially by CO standards, but to them...

Friday P.M.

I used the internet café that is across the street from the school today after lunch for a couple of hours. i was trying to log on to my work computer to help with a work project, but it didn't work out. this cafe charges Q7 for one hour, which is basically a dollar per hour, actually a little less than a dollar. So I spent about two dollars to use the internet and chat to people. :-) then when I paid, the guy gave me a stamp card for multiuse benefits. So if I use the café for five more hours I get a free hamburger or a free hour of usage. Pretty cool.

After that my butt hurt so bad from sitting so long that I decided to walk. I wanted to just walk around casually and see the city. I also wanted to try to find the movie theater advertised at my school. I hope to go see Lake House on Sunday afternoon, just for the fun of it. Hopefully it’ll be in English, but it’s ok otherwise. It’ll be a learning opportunity … just like everything else!

On my walk I passed a couple of internet cafes and inquired about prices and using my own computer. I found the café the school recommends. Looks like a fun little place, very trendy. It costs Q8 per hour. I can use my own computer there, but it’s not WiFi, so I guess I have to use their network cable to plug in. then there’s a place down central that advertises WiFi, but I don’t know how much it was. I tried to ask, but I didn’t understand the lady. She talked to fast and there was nothing written anywhere.

Next to the movie theater is the Mono Loco. That’s the place Kyle and Nell took me to on Sunday. I was surprised to find it there. I had no idea where we were that day. *L* As I was walking up the street I passed by the little ice cream/coffee shop that we went to later that evening as well. So I went in and bought an ice cream cone. The ice cream looked pretty good, so I thought “why not?” I got a single cone of chocolate and vanilla mixed for Q5. not bad since in America we’d pay a couple of dollars for one scoop of ice cream.

I passed a lot of restaurants as well. Almost all the actual restaurants look so pretty inside. There’s usually a garden area of some sort … that whole “half a roof” thing. I found one place with Italian food I think I’d like to try. The prices are comparable to American restaurants … Q70, which amounts to about $10 for a plate of spaghetti or something.

I pass by this little “tienda” every day and outside their door is a sign advertising “alo” cell phone cards. So I decided to stop in and ask if they have “tigo” cards. And they do! This means if I need minutes and don’t want to walk all the way to central, I can just go that far and get one. Yay!

All in all today I walked about 40 blocks. I sure hope this pays off in the long run, otherwise I am going to be mighty upset.

When I got home from my ventures there was talking in the dining room. So as I’m walking towards my room I say “Hola!” and when I got to the window and looked in there were a bunch of people sitting around the table and one woman was praying. Oh my! I was a little embarrassed. One woman looked up at me and I motioned that I was sorry. it would be nice to know when people are coming over.

after i ate my dinner Adolfo and Anna left to take another woman home so i took the opportunity to watch some TV in the living room. i found CSI playing in English with Spanish subtitles, so i watched while eating some chocolate (THANKS LINDSAY/MARCIE/TAMMY!). a little bit later their daughter comes home. and a little bit after that they return with their other daughter, son-in-law, and grandson. they all come in, sit down in the living room, and proceed to talk, loudly. hello? privacy? i guess not. i mean, i wouldn't expect them to not have people over. i wouldn't expect them to not use the living room. but there i was watching TV and now i can't hear anything. after about 10 minutes they went to the dining room. and after about 10 more minutes, i turned the TV off and went to my room. the company stayed pretty late, so i fell asleep listening to my music to try to drown out the noise. when i got up this morning the grandson was still there. i guess he spent the night. and apparently Annie, the youngest daughter, is now living in the room across from mine. when i asked her if she lived here she acted like she's always lived here, but that room was being occupied by the female student who left the day after i got here. so i'm confused, but i guess it doesn't matter.

anyways, it's interesting trying to figure out the lives of people you don't know and can barely communicate with. and even more interesting that i never get formally introduced to anyone. oh well.

is that a potato?

lunch today was a bit questionable. thankfully i was alone so i could investigate it without stares. at first i thought it was frozen fish that hadn't been cooked all the way. but i finally figured it out it was a potato patty. there were three of them, all round, with breading on the outside and tomato sauce spread on top. green beans accompanied these strange patties, as did something in a side dish that was orange, round, small, and sweet, but had a horrible texture in my mouth and i didn't like it. i think it might have been candied something .. ??? oh, and cherry koolaid. overall, it was good. and filling.

right now i'm in an internet cafe across the street from my school. today is some kind of holiday that not everyone recognizes, apparently, but studying at shcool was optional because of it. some of us studied this morning, but then they locked the door at lunchtime. so i'm across the street using a special keyboard with characters in weird places. like where the single quotation mark should be is a { symbol. and the question mark is at the top of the keyboard, as is the double & single quotation marks. it makes typing interesting.

i have a correction to make for the money situation. i think i wrote about it... they have more coins than i thought originally. they have 1.00, .50, .25, .10, .05, and .01 coins. the bills are 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. they also have bills for 1 and .50, but apparently those are older and not as common. so whereas the other day i thought i had it figured out, i did not. such is life.

childsplay

remember the game "memory"? you have matching cards turned upside down, flip over one at a time and try to make matches. we played that today. i learned elephant, clown, peanuts, mouse, fire, cloud, etc. my teacher laughed at me when i couldn't remember the name of it. at which point i told her not to laugh at me. my feelings were starting to get hurt. but overall playing the game was fun. i had to name the things on the card before we could flip them back over. so i guess i learned some stuff. though i can't remember some of them right now...

anyways...

Around 5 p.m. yesterday I walked from school down to the central park area and bought a phone card for 100 minutes (Q100 = approx $14 = 14 cents/minute). I sat in the park for a few minutes. It’s really busy all around there. It’s the main place to be. There is a big fountain in the middle of the park. It’s very pretty. And there is some really big building on the east side of the park. Don’t know what it is, but it’s very pretty and looks very important. After a few minutes I walked home. By the time I got home it was nearly dark. It was only about 6:15 p.m.

During the walk I looked for really cool doors to take pictures of. This weekend I plan to walk a lot throughout the city to check out what I haven’t seen yet and try to figure out my way around and maybe find a good restaurant to eat at on Sunday. On Sundays the family does not serve any food. I guess it’s considered a day of rest. :-) makes sense to me, but it means I have to venture out and try to scrounge up something for myself. there are a lot of places to eat, so I shouldn’t have too much trouble. I hope.

Dinner last night was black bean soup, white rice, lima beans, and rolls (semi-soft). we mixed the write rice with the soup and therefore made it taste better. :-) Patrick and Adolfo talked a lot to each other. Anna ate with us for the first time (for dinner, that is) and chimed in periodically. But I sat there listening the whole time. just listening. Trying to pick up what few words I know. I got a few every now and then, but not enough to completely understand and certainly not enough to participate in commenting or laughing. I was only able to determine three things during that 45 minutes – the subject of money in different countries, Patrick found out what to do with the house key in the morning when he leaves, and there are two reservations for students coming in November. Other than that, I have no idea. Oh, there was mention of Alaska, but I don’t know why.

today's breakfast was fruit ... pineapple and canteloupe. it was frozen, so Adolfo nuked it all in the microwave. the canteloupe was still a little frozen in the center, but on the outside it was rather soggy. the pineapple was warm and extremely sour. i ate most of it and then snuck a roll from dinner from the breadbox.

well, it's nearly time to walk home for lunch. hope i like it. i posted a few more pictures to the same album, so if you want you can sift through them. hasta luego! :-)

safe?

it's interesting that banks and soda trucks are accompanied by guards with machine guns and yet Antigua is the safest city in Guatemala ... ??? when you go to the bank a guard lets you in and another one lets you out. and one of them holds a machine gun. and why would a guard accompany a soda truck?

canon

marcie warned me ... there are canons going off, but i don't know why. i've been sitting here at school for the last hour and it's gone off about 10 times. it's quite loud.

yum!

yesterday's lunch was white rice and stir-fry meat, onions, and peppers. i actually ate the onions. :-) daddy: i didn't die from them! *L* the meal, overall, was good. there were two pieces of wheat bread as well. and lemonade.

then dinner last night was the pizza.

breakfast today were those weird sandwhiches and chocolate cake.

lunch today was .... SPAGHETTI!!! :-) cherry koolaid, chocolate cake, no bread. but it was all very good and filling.

dinner will probably be some kind of soup. seems like breakfast is pretty simple and made of the previous night's leftovers (i.e. tomato sauce from pizza), lunch is heavier, and dinner is usually lite made of previous lunch's leftovers (i.e. chicken broth from earlier cooked chicken). but yes, Mom, lunch is the biggest meal of the day. which is fine by me, as long as i can eat it.

there were also kids at lunch today. we don't get formally introduced to people, so i don't really know who they were. but two kids. and even the youngest one i couldn't understand! ugh ... i don't know how i'm going to ever get this.

the girls here at school who are unfriendly are actually American. but young. Marlene talked to a girl today who lives in Crested Butte. she's just quiet, not clickish/snobby. but she leaves soon. and i think the snobby girls leave soon.

i got really frustrated with my teacher today. and yesterday. the stuff i learned before coming here is kind of coming back to haunt me. it turns out it's not exactly right and so it gets me confused, even more than i already am! ugh! some woman in charge came around today (as she does every Thursday apparently) and asked how i liked my teacher, family, and lessons. i basically just answered positively because i don't want to jump the gun on being negative about things it only being my fourth day. but, if next week i still feel the same way about Lesbia and her style, i'll ask to change teachers.

well, i found a power strip just now under the desk of the public computers, so i think i'll plug my laptop in and tackle more pictures for ya. stay tuned!

life in Antigua

i don't remember exactly what i've said thus far, so i'll do short sentences to sum up what i've learned about life in Antigua.

noise is prevalent. there are no yards, so everyone hangs out in the street. there is no insulation in the houses, so closing a window does not help. music is important. meals are small. birthdays and holidays are major important. hot water is only in the shower. talking is very difficult. houses are right next to each other like apartments or townhouses, but much smaller, older, dirtier, and with flat & tin roofs.

streets are narrow, very narrow, and all of them are cobblestone. walking is tricky. riding in a car is very bumpy and loud and jarring. it's very humid here for being 5,000 feet. when the sun is shining brightly it's hot. but when the clouds are around it's pleasant and/or cool. when it rains, the streets get muddy and water flows like a stream down them. many puddles.

there are bars on all the windows. all of them. the doors are beautiful! i love doors, so these doors are way cool and some are very tall. made of very strong wood or metal. there is no carpet, only tile inside. a lot of houses, restaurants, etc. look horrible on the outside, but when you open the door there is a beautiful garden or fountain on the inside. it's like a whole other world in there!

money here is paper and coins. they have coins for one queztal and for 1/2 a queztal. the bills are in fives, tens, twenties, fifties, and hundreds. the bills are colorful and the coins are gold.

garages are inside the house. like a room. Adolfo's garage has parque flooring, plants, what should be a fountain, and the staircase to go upstairs. there is also a doorway going to the living room from the garage. it fits one car. one small car. there is also only a partial roof in that area, so yesterday when it rained the floor got really wet. very strange.

there are lots and lots of trees. everything is green.

when you finish the meal and everyone is done, you say "muchas gracias" and they say "buen provecho." that's like saying "bon appetite" but it's at the end of the meal.

patrick is leaving tomorrow. i haven't lost any weight yet. my muscles are very sore from all the walking. and just for the record, i didn't walk 35 blocks that one day, i walked more like 50. yesterday, however, i walked about 30. whew!

oh, roosters crow at 5:30 and wake me up every day. there are lots of different kinds of birds that chirp in the morning as well, and after the rooster wakes me up, he walks away and wakes other people up too, so between 5:30 and 6:30 i can still here him. ugh!

dogs walk the streets. lots of dogs.

ok. i have to go. it's lunchtime.

pictures, finally...

ok, click here to view the Antigua photo album... PICTURES

thank God for chocolate cake!

today for breakfast was two sandwiches made with ham, mustard, tomato sauce, and mayo (maybe). well, i don't like mustard, and too much tomato sauce makes my mouth freak out from the taste. SO ... i only ate almost one of them. it's amazing what you actually eat when you don't have a choice. thankfully, we had leftover chocolate cake from the birthday party last night, so we had a piece of cake for breakfast as well. take that, moms across the world! :-)

the family's daughter's 21st birthday was yesterday, so the family had a little party with pizza, soda, and cake. the pizza was homemade with cheese, tomatoes, and jalapenos on top. no meat. very saucy. but the cake is delicious! very moist with a caramel-like icing and sprinkles. yum!

class today is frustrating!

i journaled a lot yesterday, so i'll post more later. with pictures. yesterday it rained for several hours. and the power was out after class for a couple of hours. so i didn't get to use the computer/Internet all afternoon like i had originally planned. but tdoay, hopefully.

to all: my dad is doing WELL! :-) the surgery went well and he's alert, eating, walking, etc. all seems to be good. thank you to all who prayed. me and my family are VERY thankful of your care.

oy vey!

well, day three is progressing semi-well. but man, i get really overwhelmed with the words and not understanding the purpose of certain words in sentences. i just don't get why there needs to be a "que" in the middle of a sentence!

dinner last night was something like tomato soup, but tasted better since i don't like tomatoes. it had the red peppers in it again. i picked around most of them. and hard bread. that was it. earlier i bought a 20 oz bottle of coke and a vanilla wafer thing for 6 queztales. that's less than 1 u.s. dollar. pretty cool how cheap stuff is.

dinner with the chicos was more talkative. i decided to try not to feel guilty about speaking in english and just ask questions anyway. so we talked. it was nice. the brit, Mike, is gone now. Adolfo spoke to the chicos outside my window and asked them to move so i could sleep. made it a lot easier.

breakfast today was cereal with milk that i had to mix up myself from powder. and an apple. mansana. Patrick (swiss) and i walked together to school and he dropped off his laundry and explained it all to me. Marcie, it's just like you said! his 5.5 pounds will cost him about 27 queztales. that's about 4 dollars. and they wash, dry, and fold it all for you and it's done by lunchtime. wow!

today Lesbia and i went over the question words we defined yesterday via conversation. we were actually talking to each other, but a lot was in english. i learned about Christmas here. and that she doesn't cook, but doesn't eat in restaurants either. weird! :-)

yesterday's walking caused a blister on my ankle. i walked about 35 blocks yesterday. if 8 blocks is nearly 1 mile, i walked about 4 miles!!! wow. yes, that was me processing "outloud". i'm glad you got to join me. :-)

break is nearly over, so i better go. i will post more this afternoon with pictures! hasta luego! :-)

day two

i won't be able to be online this afternoon because i'm going on an actividad at 2 en punto. right after class is over, i have to walk to the bank and convert my money to queztales. then i have to walk home for lunch. and then come back to the school for the tour. hopefully i'll make it.

dinner last night was chicken broth, black beans, tortillas, and bread. i ate with Adolfo only. i think he's a Christian. he said he would pray for my dad today. that was nice of him. before we started eating he pulled out a "pan de la palabra" which was a coaster with a Bible verse and prayer on it in Spanish. he read the prayer and then we ate. :-)

breakfast was scrambled eggs with red peppers. i ate around the peppers. the girl is gone, so it was just me and the two guys. we sorta talked. but after breakfast was over, i grabbed my stuff and left for school. i didn't know how long they would be and didn't want to be late.

class thus far today is confusing. i'm learning more about the question words, like Que, Cuanto, Cual, etc. learning the definitions and examples of each. i had to write it all down. the Quien word is for Who, but there's like 4 versions of it. A Quien, De Quien, Para Quien, Quien, Con Quien, oh, i guess that's 5. nonetheless, it's confusing.

anyways, the activity today is a bus tour of cultural stuff. and it costs 35 queztales. and apparently the school doesn't convert money. i thought they did.

so on our break today we had a little birthday party for the students and teachers whose birthdays are in october. we had little piece of cake and some chips in a bag. it's cute how they are portioned out. :-)

thank you, to EVERYONE, for your support yesterday (and today, and tomorrow). i needed comfort and found it. i cried and feel better, but still lonely. trying to lean on my Savior for strength though.

life

class ended, i stood around, someone official introduced me to Adolfo Villamar, the man of the house. we put my stuff in his little Kia and went to the house. he took me to my room, introduced me to Anna, his wife, and told me when lunch was. there was music playing in the living room and things looked clean and comfy.

when you go in through the garage, it's sort of like a breezeway. there are plants and what should be a fountain. there's also a double staircase that goes up to other students' rooms and i guess the family's room.

my room has a bed, closet, table, chair, and window. amazingly enough, i have my own bathroom! and at the house you can flush the paper. so i organized my stuff and waiting for lunch. Anna dished up my plate and left. Adolfo eventually came in and we talked a little. the other students don't come to lunch until 1:30. so tomorrow i'll wait for them. i just couldn't wait today since Adolfo had to pick me up and take me home. lunch was a piece of chicken with some kind of yellow sauce over top, cubed potatoes, corn, tortillas, and some kind of lemonade.

the three students are European. the two guys came in and introduced themselves (Mark from England and Patrick from Swizterland), but the girl (from New Zealand) could have cared less and was quite unfriendly. she was the first to sit down at the table with me, but she got a newspaper out and started reading while Anna dished up her plate. anyways, we all ate, i waited for everyone to finish since i didn't know what to do, and then followed suit. and then they left the house together.

i went to my room, repacked my backpack, and then walked back up here to the school where i am now, in the back, sitting outside in where i am cool and listening to life. many teachers have walked by and say hello to me each time. a couple of white girls have walked by, but ignore me. they're young and smoke and i guess only like eachother. i don't know.

anyways, we have some kind of activity schedule at 4 today, so i still have 40 minutes to wait and see what happens. hopefully it'll be something kind of fun. i'll let you know. :-)

i have arrived

well, the first day was weird and crazy. the Stiffs picked me up, took me to Antigua. met another American couple friend of theirs, had dinner with them, went to the house where i'll be living and no one was there. walked around and went back later, no one was there. went back to the Stiffs house and spent the night. Kyle brought me to the school this morning. i just finished the first half of my first lesson. we're on a break now. i just tried to talk to a guy, but didn't really catch his name. he's from germany. i talked to him in spanish. it was hard. i'm sitting here wanting to cry. tears are coming and i don't know why. i appreciate your prayers. just overwhelmed i guess.

the city is pretty, but old. and there are people everywhere. and dogs. and it's busy. the streets are all cobblestone, so VERY bumpy. and narrow. and the driivng is crazy crazy. push and shove is the only way to get anywhere.

my teacher's name is Lesbia. she's 24 and from here. seems ok.

at noon my host family is going to come pick me and my luggage up and take me home. don't know what i'll do then. maybe have some lunch. i don't know. this is all so weird and scary and different.

the toilet paper in the trash can is really the way. speaking of which, i should try to find the "bano".

keep praying for me. i need it.

the final days

things seem to be in order. all the loose ends are being tied. but i'm totally freaked out. i'm scared and am happy today is still only monday. i want to give a few shout-outs now, cuz in a few days i'll be overwhelmed with too much to focus...

ABBE & NATALIE: thank you SO much for taking care of the house, physically and financially. i really hope you both will enjoy the space.

KRIS: thanks for dinners, peeps, and truth. i look forward to Spanish tough love.

JANET: i seriously hope you get to see London. and i look forward to hearing all about South Africa. thanks for all your support and being excited with me.

CAM: thanks, dude, for your excitement. be happy ... seriously. thanks for the e-mail chats.

DAVID & HAROLD: thank you both for your support of my adventure. i really appreciate your flexibility and willingness.

SUZANNE: even though long distance you stay close to my heart. thanks, chicklett.

GAE: thanks for the support of squeezable peanut butter, packing, lugging a backpack at 30, and helping me with all the little things that have gotten me all crazed. and so much more.

BERYL: i know you and Ozzy and Tinkerbell are going to have a great time together. thank you for volunteering. that really means more to me than you'll ever know. i can't wait to see their pictures! thank you, also, for understanding my fears and validating them while encouraging me at the same time.

CHRISTINE: you're an awesome chick. i believe in you. thank you for taking over a lot of my job ... please don't hesitate to ask me for help if you get stuck, feel overwhelmed, just want to say hi, whatever. i hope you won't close the door just yet.

MARCIE, TAMMY, JEFF, & DEANNE: thank you for keeping me excited through your OWN excitement. and for the overwhelming tips, in Spanish no less!

the FAM: all of you have been wonderfully supportive. thank you for being positive, helping me look at all the angles, and being afraid with me. i look forward to Christmas.

there's always more to say, but i'll end here for now. it's been amazing to get so much support. thank you, EVERYONE, for believing in me, praying for me, and looking forward to my return.

dip vs west

tonight i experienced my first Spanish blunder. went out to to eat with a friend to our favorite mexican restaurant. well, me learning Spanish, i decided to communicate solely in Spanish. so before leaving work to pick her up, i translated, "we would like a small cheese dip" to Spanish.

after studying, picking her up, and ordering our drinks, i said (with the blunder, mind you), "nos gustaria una pequena poniente de queso." blank stare from the waitress. i say it again. blank stare. finally i said, "ok, how do you say it, cheese dip?" and she says, "appetizer?" no. so, i resorted, "well, ok, we'd like a small queso, please" and off she goes.

at the end of the evening i consulted my cheat sheet and found the words for "cheese dip" were "pendiente de queso". instead of pendiente, i said poniente. what i had actually said was, "we would like a small WEST of cheese."

lesson: poniente = west; pendiente = dip

you can laugh now if you want. :-)