The Beginning of the Adventures

Hola todos,
Hey all. I am here. Safe and sound. Welcome to the second semester.

I started my classes a week ago already. I have one on one Spanish tutoring for five hours each day. Eight am to one pm. It is rigorous but fun. I can tell my Spanish is picking up already. We have five weeks of this and then we diversify more into other stuff like my human rights course, senior seminar, and another Spanish class with more tutoring. I have a lot to learn.

I am living with a host family and so far so good. In the house it is my host mom, Esmeralda, her son of about 23, Ronald, and another student that attends a different Spanish school here in Xela, Amanda (from Colorado), and then of course me. The rest of her family stops in often including her other son married with child, her daughter also married with two children, and her husband who lives with his sick father. People always seem to be coming in and out. I live a far distance from my school so it is about at 15 minute walk each day to school, back again for lunch after class, and then back again for some afternoon activities (more on this later.)

Good news! I haven’t got sick yet! (knock on wood) The food is of course different but generally pretty good. The strangest yet best food I have come across yet is corn flakes in a hot mush/milk. Tastes good believe it or not. We get in plenty of beans and bread each day. It is interesting that despite Guatemala having some of the best coffee in the World (arguably) most of the time families just have instant coffee in their houses. I actually haven’t tried the coffee yet but I assume I will be getting to that soon. I do drink plenty of tea though! Breakfast, during class, and at dinner. I think it is helping to keep me healthy. I am excited to do some more exploring around the city to find some good restaurants and cafes.

It seemed that we really jumped into Guatemala head first. After starting classes the first day we were briefed on the activites of the week for the school we attend which included visiting a hot spring that afternoon on Monday. There were two choices of travel to the site: on bike or in the back of a pick-up truck. Myself and three other women choose to bike. It was mostly downhill for our hour and a half journey but the last bit was all up hill. It took a lot of effort but we survived. On the way back we opted for the slightly sketchy public transportation, the chicken bus. The chicken bus is an old school bus that is used everywhere. The typically are uber packed with three people to a seat and a six inch isle between the seats. It smells and is a rough ride but and interesting experience all in all. I didn’t actually end up going in the hot springs because I was so wore out for the bike ride but it seems I didn’t miss too much from what the others described. Although it was worth the adventure.

On Tuesday the CSB/SJU group took a tour of Xela in a trolley like bus. A women described the history of the city as we went and every once in a while we would also receive an English translation for the really important stuff. Near the end of our tour we stopped at a shop that is more or less a chocolate factory. We were briefed on its history and the process of going from a tree with the cocoa bean to the more refined chocolate that we eat. Then they brought us large bowls of cold fruit covered in chocolate! Wow was that good. (I think it may have been the first time I smiled since arriving.) After that, as if it wasn’t enough chocolate, we had hot cocoa as well. It was a great treat! I can assure you I will be visiting that shop again soon.

On Wednesday after a check-in with Villma, our director, we painted with some of the kids from a nearby orphanage. There were lots of smiles and giggles to be had by all as everyone worked hard on the paintings and creatively bridged the language gap. I had to leave a little early to get in some more tutoring to make up for lost time that would come from missing an hour of class on Thursday and all of Friday due to an extensive weekend excursion. Nothing like a day with seven hours of Spanish tutoring!

Thursday-Sunday: This weekend most of our crew (that wasn’t sick) and a few other students from the school or that signed up with the travel agency went to Semuc Champey and the Kán Ba caves. It was a 10+ hour bus ride on horrible and winding roads. A few people got sick to the point of vomiting. Not a real pretty site. But as with many other things from this trip it was “Vale la Pena” as they say here in Guatemala (worth the pain). We finally arrive at our destination on Friday after staying in a nice hotel in a different town Thursday night. Our travel guides describe the experience as such: ‘Arguably one of the most beautiful places in Guatemala Semuc Champey is a must see for Guatemalans and tourists alike. The Kán Ba caves take you into the center of the earth as you make your way through the water filled caverns by candle light. This experience is full of wonder and adventure.’ We had many “surprises” along our journey each day. One of the first included an extremely difficult climb up to the top of a mountain to the mirardor (lookout). Some of the sick kids still recovering from the bus ride didn’t make it to the top (or just barely). The view was pretty amazing though. Other surprises including jumping into water from varying heights and in varying situations. For example. A rope swing into the river. I was able to perfect my release from the bar into an elegant dive. I would estimate the height at about 15 feet up. The second jump was from a bridge probably around 45 feet up. (I decided this one was not for me despite the others surviving perfectly well with only a few traces of evidence from the hard impact into the water.) The third jump was also from a swing. However this jump was from a seated rather than hanging position. It was also much higher than the first at about 25 feet and the timing had to be perfect for the descent otherwise you would crash into some very large boulders only a meter under the water. (I again decided this one wasn’t for me although the others survived only slightly shaken from the adrenaline rush.) The fourth jump was inside of the cave. From about 10 feet up into the dark water on a slippery ledge. I did partake in this as did most of the rest of the group if not everyone. Other surprises included climbing up a waterfall with a rope in the cave. Sitting in pitch black for about 10 minutes (the whole while unfortunately I was imagining things biting at my ankles rather than enjoying the stillness around me.) I am sure you would have thoroughly enjoyed this Sue. Sliding down a small hole in the cave into a hidden pool of water. And tubing back down to our hotel on the river going over some small rapids. All in all a real good time to be had. The sore calves from traversing the mountain and skinned knees from contacting rocks hidden beneath the water when swimming and trying to keep the candle light above the water were once again “Vale la Pena.”

That is the beginning of my adventures. Today it is back to class. Excuse my poor use of English and creating a blog far from the literary genius of my friend Jolene but hopefully it will provide a good glimpse into my life down here. Keep healthy.

Always,
Genna