Week 1 in Xela

As of right now, Im a little bummed that I already have my time in Peten scheduled, because I am completely in love with Xela. I love the buildings, the people, the nearby towns, my schools, my roommates, my family, the park, the cemetary, everything.

In the Central Park


walking around



pack of dogs at the park by the cemetary


i got lost on my way home on the first day, but it was ok because i found these cows



But who knows, 3 weeks later, I may be ok with going.

I only have about 15 minutes, but I am backing up my pictures so I thought Id update

I started volunteering with my classmates on Wednesday, so I have very little free time during the week and am hoping to be gone much of the weekend. A typical day goes

615 to 7 wake up
breakfast around 730
school from 8 to 12 or 1
lunch 1 30
volunteer 2 to 6ish
try to call family or do homework until
dinner at 730
homework or maybe talking with my family or roommates until
i sleep around 930 or maybe 1030 if im feeling crazy

my house is awesome, there are three kids who are super sweet. the oldest speaks some english, so we talk with him most, and i havent eaten out at all yet because Norma is an amazing cook. Tortillas are served with everything, even pasta, and my roommates and I have decided our favorite so far is pasta tacos. spaghetti noodles, some sort of garlic sauce, this amazing green salsa thats ever present and tortillas. its amazing.

oh, and there{s a dog, Canela, that i cant get a picture of because shes too durned wiggly (cute spaniel type), but also Pinchi


my original room


which i loved because of this






but after these lovely folks from new jersey left wednesday


i moved into here, and while i miss the poster, the desk to do homework and big windows are fantastic.




School is rad. I cant believe how much ive learned in only a week. easily more than I have in all the years i took classes in high school or college. My maestro, Oscar, is perfect for me becasue he not only teaches grammar, vocabulary, etc, but its not uncommon for him to take me to teh cemetary to tell me the history of certain tombs or how its segregated or to teh central park to tell me history there as well. he talks a lot about local and regional politics and my homework usually includes reading articles from various newspapers (he told me which are crap, which is also awesome). So, I completely lucked out and found exactly what I was looking for in a teacher.

My desk



My view




Art on my walk to school
href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtNK6hAFrFqvLA9CKpFLz9ND42GfZq7Nr7X72cgy3u48OYwrRl4izFMfdUG2SGvPTARV86e8eRQc8dQebZKSv_Wz5Pn22eTCsQh4AaL1qnJVcYuy2FY39B2UC3UG06q6K8vTTDFNohhnxH/s1600/IMG_0612.jpg">

my favorite


Trevor (a housemate) at breaktime



As far as volunteering, we are first painting a sign for the pueblo, then their basketball-soccer court, then we start english lessons for the kids next tues day, which well do from tue-thurs each week

Chicken busses! (volunteering was my first real experience with them (so fun, although I know I have to be careful) but I will have many more adventures thanks to these...)



Walk to the pueblo from the bus


Thats one of the twenty something volcanos Guatemala has in the background, Santa Maria. Theres a "full moon hike" this month through an organization called Quetzal Trekkers (www.quetzaltrekkers.com) and I am very excited to do it. You climb a mountain under a full moon and reach the summit as the sun is rising. THen your money goes to support a school for street children. ummm.. awesome.







My housemates from Long Island, Trevor and Finn (left to right=


Los jefes con los chicos after a difficult meeting figuring out what they had for us to do and what we wanted to do. very productive though.


our first project. A little frustrating at first, because it seemed every adult male in teh community came to see what we were doing.
It took 20 minutes for them to decide if the white paint ws going to cover teh old sign properly


And one minute to just effing paint it


But, hey, its their show.
And the kids were super cute and loved to have their picture taken




Lunch time!