Holaaaaa

Hola, amigos! I am safely in Xela, Guatemala. The last couple days have been great. I left Newark airport (aeropuerta) at 9am on Saturday. Mom packed me a WaWa hoagie, with hot peppers, pickles, and tomatoes in a plastic baggy, which ended up leaking onto my little pillow and bear. I realized that in the airplane (el avion), and so I took both back to the bathroom to clean it off. When I got back to my seat, a woman wanted to have her mom sit with her, so I switched seats. I ended up being in between two ladies: a girl named Julie from Philly, a senior at University of Richmond, who is volunteering in Xela! She is also a Christian and knows people at Messiah... talk about a small world. On my other side was an older lady, Maria, from Guatemala City, just visiting a couple friends in NYC for the past couple weeks. I started talking to her because she was reading a book about the Amish schoolhouse killings a while back. The flight was 5 hours long, and the three of us talked almost the whole way. Quite wonderful after only having to change my seat because of spilled hot pepper juice. Julie is staying with a family also and learning Spanish, and is staying the whole summer. Anyway, when I arrived in Guatemala City, Patricia and Alberto (two people from my school here) picked me up and dropped me off at the bus station. I just had to wait a couple hours. My bus left at 3pm, and was supposed to arrive at 7:30 but got there 45 minutes early. It was pouring (which rarely happens, although it rains quite a bit here), and I wasn´t sure what to do since Zach was coming to get me. I knew the bus driver spoke English and he said I could wait on the corner with 2 policemen. In retrospect, I am so glad they were there because I would have had no idea what to do. Zach arrived 15 minutes later with some of my other housemates. There is Nisha who is from England, volunteering here. She´s 18. There are three Guatemalan boys: Lucas, 21, studying business. Alex is 16. Cusco is15 and plays junior soccer. I live in Sandra´s house. She is so sweet and takes care of us all (she´s in her mid 50s). Her daughter is Shirley, who has a 5 year old daughter named Aby... so cute. So I arrived, and Saturday night was the National Championship of soccer, so Zach and I watched the game at home with the other boys. Xela vs. Guatemala City... GC won 4-0. Sunday I went to church with Zach, and then met his Maestra (teacher), Thelma, and her 2 daughters and son. We ate Pollo Campero, a sit down fast food restaurant type. It was enjoyable, although I only caught a few things, but I´m getting used to just listening here. Speaking comes later. Not too much in the evening, except some Uno card playing. This morning, I had breakfast and then walked to school with Zach for my first day! The school is great... with a garden (jardin) in the center with a walkway around it with tables set up. Each student has a private tutor, it´s just great. Today I just reviewed a lot. Learned when to use ´ser´ and when to put to correct articles (el/la, los/las), colors... just conversation most of the time. I talked about my family, friends, study abroad experience, etc. I showed her some pictures also. Went home for lunch, then came back to school and called Eric. Today is our 2 1/2 years, so it was nice to chat for a bit. :) I am looking forward to next week when I will be able to speak more, and even to see how much I progress within the next month.

Something that I´ve really enjoyed the past couple days is the view out my window. We live in a very busy area... the streets are cobblestone and mostly one way. It´s obviously quite poor compared to home, with beat up cars and the buildings aren´t in the best shape. There are buildings everywhere that I can see, but in the distance out my window are mountains, and two volcanoes. One that I can see most of time is inactive, but there is one behind it which erupts several times a week. I can´t see it, but when it erupts, I can see the smoke. Mom got me two canvases and paint and new brushes, so I hope to have time to do that. But even as it being my second full day, time is running short, even as I understand more... I won´t want to stay in my room as much.

Every day I have class from 8am to 1pm. They have so many activities to do here, and tomorrow I am going horseback riding. Wednesday they have something where we can go in hot springs! I might go to that too. :)

Zach is leaving for Belize on Thursday, so I only have a few more days of him showing me the ropes around here. I´m learning the walk to school, but it´s frustrating being so dependent on him for things. He´s hosting a trivia night on Wednesday that I will go to.

But for the mother and all others wondering about my health: it´s all good, and I really like the food. Beans, rice, chicken, eggs... it´s hard not to like it.

All is well. I´m not sure what else to say. Thanks for reading and I´ll post soon. :)