What? I leave Xela in 2 days and fly out of Guate (Guatemala City) in 3 days? Puchica! Time has really flown by... I feel like I just got here, yet at the same time I have been here forever.
This past week has been great. Last weekend (my last weekend, unfortunately) wasn´t as I hoped it would be. Lucas went home Saturday morning, and with Alex gone, I had no brothers. Nisha was also gone all weekend. So because I didn´t hang out with my family at all, it was a bit of a downer. However, on the upside, I hung out with Julie whenever I was out of the house. So In the afternoon I met Julie at Paiz which is like a really nice mall here. I got a new soccer ball for my family here, and some stickers for Abi. Then we just walked around, and met her friend Karen in the Parque. We got Pops ice cream and then ate it while watching what was going on. Because of tropical storm Agatha, the village of Zunil (which I went to when I went to Aguas Amargas a couple weeks ago) is completely ruined. People here were raising awareness and asking for money, for food, water, and any sort of help. So after we watched for a little, we walked back to Julie´s house because we had to take care of Clifford, her puppy. Then Karen went home for dinner, so Julie and I went out on a cute little date to Royal Paris. It was really nice to just talk with her. We laugh sooo much. Then we met some of her friends for drinks, and then went dancing at La Rumba. It was really hot and I wasn´t feeling too well for some reason (which has actually been the case the other few times I´ve been out at night), so I went home and to sleep by 12:30am. I didn´t sleep very well, waking up pretty frequently. Apparently I needed the sleep though because I slept for 13 hours. I woke up with a really bad sore throat, and had some white stuff on my tonsils, which was the same for Sandra.
Sunday afternoon, after I finally got up and took a shower, Alex was home. :) I went out with Julie again to the Parque because every first Sunday of the month the locals sell cute artesian things. Her teacher from school also came with her son, so it was really nice meeting them. Clifford the puppy also came along, which was fun for her teacher´s 6 year old son. :) We saw Karen and a couple other friends there, so we went to get a snack in a restaurant, and then back to the Parque to relax. I was home for dinner, and by then Lucas came home.
Monday started a new week at school. I actually had a pretty bad day and Carmen and Thelma could tell, but Tuesday was much better. I´m just feeling a bit tired this week, and I feel like I haven´t learned as much, but just enjoy conversation. Also just knowing that I am leaving Xela in a couple days is heartbreaking (for lack of a better word). I have fallen in love with this place, with my school, with my family, with the mountains, and of course Spanish. It´ll be an adjustment to go back to the States, but I know that the time has come.
Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts, and I will see you when I get home! :)
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
good morning, xela
Buenos tardes, ¿como estan? :) Estoy MUY bien!
This week has been absolutely beauuuutiful. Honestly the best. After tropical storm Agatha passed, every day has been gorgeous! Chilly, but sunny mornings with hot afternoons. :) A little rain at night, but that´s usual. The sunsets especially have been gorgeous.
I also have thoroughly enjoyed school more, as I have the same maestra, Carmen, from last week. She´s amazing, and we laugh so much together. :)
Tuesday was such a great day. After lunch, Alex and Lucas accompanied me to the Parque Central to go shopping. It was so gorgeous out, but they thought it was too hot. Lucas was trying to get some shade from my shadow, haha. We got ice cream at this cute little place called Pops, and sat in the Parque and just people-watched. There were two gringos (white men) sitting eating ice cream on a bench, who wore flip flops. That day I happened to wear flip flops also, and Alex asked what the big hype was about them. Then we decided to go to a museum right next to the Parque, about Mayan culture in the past. It was neat to see artifacts, animals, cooking ingredients, money, and plants from the past. Alex was super excited to show it to me, haha. Below is a picture of the outside of the museum:
That night I also stayed up to play cards with him and Lucas until almost midnight... way past my bedtime here! ;) Within the last week I´ve gotten to know Alex better. From helping him to his anatomy homework, to teaching him English phrases, watching movies or music videos together, or just joking around at meals. He really is a sweetheart. I can tell he really views Sandra like his own mom... very endearing to see how much he loves to talk to her. :)
Wednesday morning Alex left before I was awake to go back home to Quiche (north Guatemala) for a few days. All the schools are closed because of the storm last week. After school and lunch, I went over my friend Julie´s house. She lives past the Parque Central, about 15 minutes walk from my house. I met her on the airplane coming down to Guate. I got introduced to her moms (she kinda has two, since its two sisters who run the place), and her host sister and her boyfriend. Her sister´s boyfriend brought a puppy to the house, I guess as a gift? So now it´s kind of like Julie´s dog... it´s super cute. :) After we played with the puppy we talked in the Parque. Then she had to go to work, and I went with Thelma (Zach´s maestra when he was still here) to get my hair cut. It was really interesting ´cause it was just in someone´s house practically... this lady´s own little business. And for only 35 Quetzales (about $4). That night I was really tired, so I went to bed early, but was woken up by a phone call from Cusco! I was so surprised and it was so nice to hear from him. :)
Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. I didn´t do too much. I went to the Parque to do some shopping again, and Sandra went to church at night, so I just hung out with Lucas and Nisha.
Today was a good day at school. In the morning, Carmen (my maestra) and I went to The Bake Shop, an amaaaazing bakery run by Mennonites! It was actually close to my house, and it was nice to get a break from being at school to just talk and walk in the street. :) I got a raspberry filled powdered donut, and a chocolate covered... the best donuts I´ve ever tasted, seriously. We came back to school, and I learned the future tense, and then we spent some time in the back garden just talking, and then played Scrabble (in Spanish of course) for the last hour. A nice last day of class. :) Below is a picture of us at the Bake Shop, and then a picture her laughing at the ridiculousness of a Spanish-speaker needing my dictionary to look up words in Scrabble. ;)
I had arranged to have Thelma be my maestra for next week, as it is my last week and she and I already said we wanted to do that, but I am still having Carmen. I think someone else requested to have Thelma, and maybe nobody requested to have Carmen. I absolutely love Carmen, but I was a little disappointed to hear that I couldn´t have Thelma. I think we´ll go out to a cafe to make up for it anyway though. :)
Tomorrow Lucas is going home to Solola (about an hour east of Xela), until Monday. Alex isn´t coming home until Sunday night so I am brother-less. :( But Julie invited me to hang out tomorrow and go dancing with some of her friends, so it shouldn´t be too bad. :)
A few pictures...
Me enjoying the sunshine in the Parque. :)
Abi and I just having some fun :)
My three brothers, before Cusco left. :( From left to right: Lucas (21 years), Cusco (15 years), and Alex (16 years)
This week has been absolutely beauuuutiful. Honestly the best. After tropical storm Agatha passed, every day has been gorgeous! Chilly, but sunny mornings with hot afternoons. :) A little rain at night, but that´s usual. The sunsets especially have been gorgeous.
I also have thoroughly enjoyed school more, as I have the same maestra, Carmen, from last week. She´s amazing, and we laugh so much together. :)Tuesday was such a great day. After lunch, Alex and Lucas accompanied me to the Parque Central to go shopping. It was so gorgeous out, but they thought it was too hot. Lucas was trying to get some shade from my shadow, haha. We got ice cream at this cute little place called Pops, and sat in the Parque and just people-watched. There were two gringos (white men) sitting eating ice cream on a bench, who wore flip flops. That day I happened to wear flip flops also, and Alex asked what the big hype was about them. Then we decided to go to a museum right next to the Parque, about Mayan culture in the past. It was neat to see artifacts, animals, cooking ingredients, money, and plants from the past. Alex was super excited to show it to me, haha. Below is a picture of the outside of the museum:
That night I also stayed up to play cards with him and Lucas until almost midnight... way past my bedtime here! ;) Within the last week I´ve gotten to know Alex better. From helping him to his anatomy homework, to teaching him English phrases, watching movies or music videos together, or just joking around at meals. He really is a sweetheart. I can tell he really views Sandra like his own mom... very endearing to see how much he loves to talk to her. :)Wednesday morning Alex left before I was awake to go back home to Quiche (north Guatemala) for a few days. All the schools are closed because of the storm last week. After school and lunch, I went over my friend Julie´s house. She lives past the Parque Central, about 15 minutes walk from my house. I met her on the airplane coming down to Guate. I got introduced to her moms (she kinda has two, since its two sisters who run the place), and her host sister and her boyfriend. Her sister´s boyfriend brought a puppy to the house, I guess as a gift? So now it´s kind of like Julie´s dog... it´s super cute. :) After we played with the puppy we talked in the Parque. Then she had to go to work, and I went with Thelma (Zach´s maestra when he was still here) to get my hair cut. It was really interesting ´cause it was just in someone´s house practically... this lady´s own little business. And for only 35 Quetzales (about $4). That night I was really tired, so I went to bed early, but was woken up by a phone call from Cusco! I was so surprised and it was so nice to hear from him. :)
Yesterday was a pretty uneventful day. I didn´t do too much. I went to the Parque to do some shopping again, and Sandra went to church at night, so I just hung out with Lucas and Nisha.
Today was a good day at school. In the morning, Carmen (my maestra) and I went to The Bake Shop, an amaaaazing bakery run by Mennonites! It was actually close to my house, and it was nice to get a break from being at school to just talk and walk in the street. :) I got a raspberry filled powdered donut, and a chocolate covered... the best donuts I´ve ever tasted, seriously. We came back to school, and I learned the future tense, and then we spent some time in the back garden just talking, and then played Scrabble (in Spanish of course) for the last hour. A nice last day of class. :) Below is a picture of us at the Bake Shop, and then a picture her laughing at the ridiculousness of a Spanish-speaker needing my dictionary to look up words in Scrabble. ;)
I had arranged to have Thelma be my maestra for next week, as it is my last week and she and I already said we wanted to do that, but I am still having Carmen. I think someone else requested to have Thelma, and maybe nobody requested to have Carmen. I absolutely love Carmen, but I was a little disappointed to hear that I couldn´t have Thelma. I think we´ll go out to a cafe to make up for it anyway though. :)Tomorrow Lucas is going home to Solola (about an hour east of Xela), until Monday. Alex isn´t coming home until Sunday night so I am brother-less. :( But Julie invited me to hang out tomorrow and go dancing with some of her friends, so it shouldn´t be too bad. :)
A few pictures...
Me enjoying the sunshine in the Parque. :)
Abi and I just having some fun :)
My three brothers, before Cusco left. :( From left to right: Lucas (21 years), Cusco (15 years), and Alex (16 years)
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