a weekend spent on chicken buses

This weekend was spent traveling!

On Saturday I was determined to go to the beach. The fact that no one wanted to go with me and that my guidebook said the beach was not that great were no deterents! I was going to the beach. On Friday night I talked with my hostmother about my plans. She told me that the closest beach was only one hour away. She also suggested that my host sister and her friend go with me. Which she readily accepted. Great - I was going to the beach with two Guatemaltecas and it was only an hour away. Then Saturday came around. It turned out that neither of the girls could go and that the beach was really 2 1/2 to 3 hours away! I was still determined. I finally got on the bus about 11 am. (Remember these are old US school buses, but they insist on three people to a seat). On the second bus I was squished between an old lady and a woman with her baby in her arms. I was in the aisle near the front as people were still boarding. I tried not to elbow either the old lady or the baby. More standing and trying, unsuccessfully, to make myself guatemala sized. Then I got a tap on the shoulder "¿Do you want a seat back here?" Obviously I went with the man. This man and his wife were nice enough to give me a seat (of course all three of us were sharing one bench - but at least I was in the middle!). They had lived in Los Angeles for 18 years, so of course they spoke English. They saw a Gringa Americana as a good opportunity to practice English. My eyes teared up because they were so kind to me. I finally arrived in Champerico - a small industrial town on the beach that has black sand. Yes, beaches here in Guatemala have black sand due to the volcanoes here. I had finally arrived and found the beach. I went to the restaruant my friends from the bus recommended and I had some delicious, but over-priced, shrimp. I went and played in the water for fifteen minutes then headed back to the bus terminal. I had to be back home before dark, which is usually 6ish here. Somehow the busride back took even longer than the one there! I watched the sky darken from the bus window knowing that I was doing all the things I had been told not to do in Guatemala. I was on a Chicken bus after dark by myself. I finally arrived at about 7 pm. I decided to take a taxi, just for safety's sake. When I walked in the door to my house I felt so relieved. Yet, I had accomplished my goal. I had gone to the beach.

Sunday I went to some ruins pre-hispanic rule. They had both Olmec and Mayan relics! However, that is for another day's story....

a lazy day and planning to go back!

I am really getting close to the time when I have to say Adios to this country... at least for a while.

I have made a good friend from the Church here. She and her fiance volunteer at a children's shelter and I might go with them this weekend. That would definitely be interesting....

I will post if I do.

I am also going to go to the beach on Saturday and go see some ruins on Sunday. So lots of things going one... but today has been lazy :)

I spent the morning watching a telenovela and then having a very long breakfast with the said friend from Church. It was so nice and relaxing. In the afternoon I made Pupusas with my host family and just hung out. (I actually know how to do this, so people can expect a Pupusa party in Austin and perhaps some at Thanksgiving or Christmas!) It is so nice to feel like I'm part of a family (even if I don't actually talk to them much). My family here is huge and I think they all live on the same street. I have my two 'parents' plus their youngest daughter. They also have two grown children who are married and have kids. But the sister of my 'mother' also lives near with her children, who are in their teens or twenties. A nephew or grandkid is always at the house. Plus last night a friend of the teenage daughter moved in because she is going to be taking summer school. So now there are two of us renting a room. I really love having family around... even if it's not 'my' family. I like just spending time with them and relaxing.

Tomorrow I'm going to a beach with black sand! exciting.....

just over half way through

I am just over half way through my time here. I counted today and I have twelve days left in this amazing country. It seems amazing that I have so little time left and that I have already been here three full weeks. I feel like I have a pattern to my life here, but I also feel like I just arrived.

I think going out of town this past weekend helped me feel more at 'home' here in Xela. I am planning another trip for this weekend. We'll see where I end up. I enjoy traveling for weekends, it's a realistic amount of time for me.

Yesterday and today were good days in my Spanish classes. So far the highlights have been eating a home made tamale, going to the Bake Shop*, and meeting a grand neice of my teacher. It is all very interesting. I'm looking forward to learning how to make chicken tacos and playing Scrabble (en español por supuesto).

I am also going to bake for my host family. I am going to make one of my quiches for them next week. Looking forward to that too!

*The bake shop is a small bakery run my menonites here in Guatemala that has donuts and cheese and yogurt and all sorts of baked goods but it is only open on Tuesdays and Fridays!

not a traveler

I've never really considered myself a traveler. That may sound weird, considering how many places I've been. But I've always moved to a foreign place and then traveled a bit from that place. Right now I live in Xela I'm certainly not a permanent resident but I have a routine. I'm learning my way around, I'm learning which places make the best coffee, I'm learning which places are 'tranquilo', I'm learning how much a taxi should cost from one place to another, and of course I'm learning Spanish.

This weekend I took on the role of traveler. I put some essentials in my backpack and with other couchsurfers got on a chicken bus headed to San Pedro La Laguna. San Pedro is a picturesque town on Lago de Atitlan. Lago de Atitlan is a huge lake surrounded by volcanoes. (Pictures are coming soon to Facebook, I promise).

Here I'm a traveler. The only purpose of our weekend is to enjoy the lake and be 'tranquilo'. I want do all the touristy things. I want to say in hostel with other foreigners and have the travel experience. I'm even writing postcards this weekend because I feel like I'm actually traveling.

I wrote the above portion yesterday but didn't go online to write it up here. So now I'm 'home' in Xela at my internet cafe with my friends from School. I'm just hanging out doing what I do feeling like I'm ready for the routine to start again tomorrow. Tomorrow is just another Monday here in Xela with Spanish classes at 8. I'm back to my 'real' life. I prefer this form of travel to the travel that takes you so many places so quickly.

problem solved!

When I decided to leave my school I thought that I could continue to stay with my host family. This, however, is not the case. I found that out yesterday at lunch. My host mom, who has been nothing but wonderful informed me of this fact.

Therefore I was searching for somewhere to move into by Sunday. However, at dinner, my host mom, said that she had a friend who lives just next door that sometimes rents rooms to students. So after we finished eating we went and talked with him. He is probably about my parents' age and seems very nice. So, I will have a room all to myself (with a brand new bed) a kitchen, that I can use, plus my own bathroom. Basically, I'll have the bottom floor of the house for me and they live on the top floor. Plus they will give me three meals a day! All of that for about USD 7.50/day. Incredible!

I am very excited that I solved my problem. I am moving early Monday morning and I am beginning my new lessons Monday morning.

On a side note, we went Salsa dancing last night. So much fun!

sunshine and thinking about money...

I worry and worry and worry and yet things always work themselves out. I really need to learn not to worry so much, but just trust that if I am doing what I need to be doing that things will come together. Clearly, this whole trip to Xela has been exactly where I need to be right now.

As many of you may know I came down here with very little money. In fact, if I spent very wisely I would probably still run out. It seemed like things were going to be very tight for me, until Sunday.

On Sunday I went to Church at the Episcopal Church here in Xela (yeah - who knew, right?) After, I went to lunch at Wendy's (yeah - who knew, right?) (also on a side note, I did not actually eat anything if that makes it better somehow). As I was talking to the others there they mentioned that they all took Spanish classes from a woman named Letty. She also offers private lessons, like the ones I am taking in school. I was given her number.

I thought about it. It makes so much sense. I will spend about half as much on my Spanish classes and accomadation, if I pay for it myself. So I spoke with my host mom - she said I could continue to stay there. I finally called Letty (I got up the courage because I had been warned that she didn't speak any English). We spoke for about three minutes and agreed to meet Saturday and that I will start full time classes on Monday!

I am so excited about this. Hopefully this will enable me to enjoy my time here more fully and maybe even travel.... More stories and pictures soon.

Also all this week the sun has been shining! It has been such a nice change from the rain of last week. It is cold, though.

A Saturday Adventure

My Saturday adventure started Friday when I was invted to join a trip to a Sauna "Las Cumbres" on Saturday.

We met at 10 am on Saturday morning outside the school. After waiting less than ten miutes the four of us were off.

First, we had to find the Shell Station where we could catch a chicken bus to Zunil. (A chicken bus is the most common form of public transportation in Guatemala. They are mostly old school buses from the US, usually with each seat crammed with at least three Guatemalan adults, plus maybe some chickens). After asking directions three times we found the corner, which was a block from the Shell stationl. There are no signs, of course. Guatemalans just seem to know where to stand or maybe anywhere is a good place. Luckily, the bus we picked had some open benches. The four us slid into two.

In Zunil we had to take a pickup to Las Cumbres. (Where Chicken Buses don't go - pickup trucks do. You simply hail one going your direction and climb in the back). Once again, since there were no signs we asked a police officer where we could get a pickup to Las Cumbres. He said to just wait. The second truck that passed was the right one. We boarded the back ofthe truck, standing with all the Guatemalan women - all of us gringos with our heads sticking a good foot higher in the air.

The truck stopped for us at Las Cumbres. We had succesfully arrived.

Entering the grungy buiding, I was suprised to see what looked like a five star hotel (okay maybe three stars by US standards) in a jungle setting. The plants were so green with the natural volcanic steam creating a tropical feeling.

We were shown to our private steam room. I had never been to a sauna before, so I didn't know what to expect. The room had wooden benches and a small concrete "chimney" on the ground where the steam came out. Once we had changed into our bathing suits we all piled into this room. The attendants were to come back in half an hour to get the others for their massages (I had opted out of this). We had half an hour to relax and enjoy the steamy heat.

The steam and heat and sweat mixed together in an intoxicating way. Every few minutes I had to leave the steam room, just to keep a sense of normalcy. The half hour felt like an eternity. When the knock finally came, I was left alone in the steam.

I stayed for a few more minutes, pondering my good foturne to be alive and in Guatemala. Finally, I finished and took a cold shower.

After meeting the others, we went to try and a find a pickup back to Zunil to get lunch and then a chicken bus back to Xela. The first pickup did not stop. The back was already so full that there was no room for giant gringos.

The second one stopped. We got in, never saying a word to the driver. In the back were five children. Plenty of room for us to sit, under the blue tarp. Luckily, we were on this pickup because shortly it began to pour. As we listened to and felt the rain we realized that we didn't know to make the bus stop. (On the earlier ride the nice police officer had told the driver where to stop for us). We decided to ask the children: ¿De donde? The answer was surprising. Xela. Our plans changed. We decided to take this pickup, in the rain, all the way back to our temporary home. My Saturday adventure came to end when I finally got "home".

letter to friends and family

I just finished my first week of classes. I have crammed a lot into a small amount of time. My 'maestro' is pretty good and I am going to stay with him next week. I definitely do not know how to say much in Spanish, but I my comprehension is good - when people speak VERY slowly :)

My family is nice and now I am the only international student there. Both Canadians have left. Although they are still in Guatemala.

This week, I think the highlight has been the activities that I attended after school. On Tuesday I went to a house for women who experienced domestic violence. It is the only women's shelter in the country (and maybe central america). It was fascinating to see the women who volunteer there (one of the teachers in my school) and the women and children that live there. They live in very basic situations, with almost no amenities. They didn't have hot water until recently when a foreign student decided to raise the money for a hot water heater for their shower! On Wednesday I went on a tour (in a little tourist tram) of the city here. We were supposed to go up to Baul except we couldn't because of the rain (more about that later). It was interesting to hear all the history of this town (and for a short while capital of an independent country). Then on Thursday I participated in a salsa class. That was fun, if a bit out of my comfort zone.

I'm hanging out mostly with the other students in my school. They are from the US and Canada, and one girl from Hong Kong.

And for the rain. It has been raining here non-stop. (except for yesterday morning, when I went on the terrace to study and got a sun burn). All day, every day, nothing but rain, rain, rain. There has been more rain in September than there was in all of 2009 (I think that's what the newspaper said). There are mudslides everywhere and travel is difficult because roads are flooded out and the ones that are passable are dangerous and overcrowded. The school had planned a trip to the beach this weekend, but they cancelled it and are advising us to stay in Xela. Today, so far, it hasn't rained, but I think it's starting. So I'm going to see if I can buy an umbrella somewhere... that's my mission for the afternoon.

I'm doing well here and I am beginning to acclimatize to the culture and the noise. Walking down the street is always an adventure, you have to watch for dogs and cars and scooters and while there are sidewalks on most streets they are not much wider than a person, and often they are blocked and broken. I am also sleeping a lot. 9 hours a night, with a nap during the day. I think there are a few reasons - the altitude and stress of learning Spanish. It's good for me :)


I'm definitely enjoying it here and I am glad I am learning Spanish here.