The beginning of the week was quite boring or just very chill. I think some days I have to tell myself that it is okay just to go to class at the university, come home for lunch, either go to Celas or volunteering eat dinner and then just stay home. That's basically what I did Monday Tuesday, Wednesday. I didn't even go out for salsa or anything on Wednesday. One new thing that I tried this past week was aerobics! Me Steph, Jenna, and Nicole found a as close to non sketchy gym as we could find which is pretty much near Celas. Tuesday was my first class, it was intense but good!
This week was also kind of morbid which I just remembered...Sonia told me that her niece's son died in Guatemala City because of a shooting for one. When we were at lunch Maria got a phone call and her uncle died of a heart attack (she called him her uncle but really he was her grandma's brother). Three there was a shooting in Xela. For the sake of my mom and all of you I won't tell you guys where it happened but it definitely shook up our group. But the important thing to remember that our director told us is that we are not the target for anything like that. It was a planned attack on a man. Sorry this one is so sparatic but I must go do some homework now because today is Sunday. I will write more about my second volcano climb later! I hope all who are reading this are enjoying it because I do this for all of you and so that I can remember for myself :)
Thursday
Class
Volunteer
-Played outside on the court
-Taught them how to play the game colors, and they now are pros at red light green light
-Paid and Received plane ticket for Mexico and Honduras
-Ate dinner out at El Cuartito
-Went to Smoothies and Rum, had a glass of wine with Steph, Angela, Megan, Mike L, Travis, Jordan, and Jordan's friend Christian. They stayed open for us until one!
Friday
Aerobics
Volunteer
-we took the kids to a fair
Studied with Julia for a bit
Santa Maria Volcano
-I will write more about my second volcano trip later but it was a full moon hike we started to climb around midnight and got to the top around 5:00am. The climb itself was a lot easier than my first volcano trip. I think it was because I wasn't carrying a 30lbs. backpack up a steep incline. All I had was my little school back pack with some food and some water. We climbed in the dark which was actually pretty cool, except I couldn't decide which layers I wanted to keep and which layers I wanted to take off because the temperature was chilly but I had been sweating from the climb. The path of the volcano was different then Tajulmulco as well, it was more of a zig zag type of climb. I was very proud of myself for doing another volcano since Tajulmulco (my first volcano) was so difficult of a climb that I didn't think I would ever do another volcano. We rested at the top again until the sun came up but we were very much disappointed with the view because there was nothing to see but clouds. The guide told us that he had done the climb probably almost 100 times if not more and he had only seen it that clouded over about 3 times in all of his climbs. Since there wasn't much of a view to see all of us too a nap at the top with the warm sun shining upon us. We actually spent a lot more time at the top than I thought we would. Overall though it was a fun hike, and I can now say that I have successfully climbed two volcanos!
Sunday, March 15, 2009
March Already?
Hello there. My title pretty much explains how I feel that it is March! I can't believe it is March...Holy MOLY! Anywhoo I thought I would finally catch up on some blogging and let you all know what I've been up to the past two weeks after Mexico. Things have been pretty crazy and busy, at times stressful but for the most part going well. I would rather be busy than not knowing what to do with my free time.
Week of March 2nd-8th
I am continuing to very much enjoy my volunteer work. Now I do my volunteering every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. On Tuesday we brought some things to do with the kids at the orphange. Our director and his wife bought some puzzles, coloring books, and sidewalk chalk that we can bring to do with the kids. They loved it! They especially liked the puzzles or rompecabezas in Spanish. On Monday and Wednesdays is when I have my tutoring from 2-7pm. I go in and contribute extra hours after volunteering or on Fridays when I don't have any classes. I am getting to know my tutor Juila that I have now really well and sadly this upcoming week (the week of the 16th) is my last week with her :( Wednesday after class Julia invited me out to dinner with her and some of the other teachers from Celas. Originally I thought that some of the other students were going to come but it ended up being only me and Juila and about 4 or5 more teachers (Julia's sister Carolina, Juila, Maria, Ana, and Karina) from Celas. We went to a cute little Italian restaurant called Gesepies, I had a salad and some pizza :) The pizza here is a little different...especially the sauce, but it was pretty good overall. I love hanging out with the teachers from Celas outside of school. I believe I have mentioned before that the teachers at Celas are more like friends than teachers. For volunteering on Thursday I decided that I wanted to plan an activity with the kids on my own. I have actually brought the activities that our director bought a couple of times, so I wanted to do something new. I bought stuff to make nametags with the kids. I have now been working with the same small group of about 12 kids or so, which is nice because it is easier to get to know them that way. There are two groups of kids that are not allowed to leave the home for their safety (not even for school) and I work with one of those groups. Making nametags was a success, they loved them. The government barely gives the orphange money, so it felt nice to be able to support any way I can. Also on Thursday there was a large dinner at Celas with a group of local students that attend the same university (Rafeal Landivar) as us. My teacher for Guatemala History who we call Vivi organized the whole thing. Students from one of her classes attended. The local students brought Guatemalan food and we brought and made American food. It was real fun talking with some of the students, although most of them are unlike the average Guatemalan student and are pretty well-off financially (Rafael Landivar is a private university). Afterwards Jenna, Brianna, Nicole, and I met up with our friend Viktor at his apartment and then went out to a local disoteca with one of our friends from La Rumba (our salsa place). Friday was pretty chill, I didn't do much...I brought some laundry in, printed off some things for class and then I went to Celas and worked on a paper with Julia that I had due for history the following week. Afterwards I was supposed to go out to dinner with Freddy, but he bailed so Julia invited me out to dinner/hot chocolate with her, Carolina, and Karina. It was so nice of her to invite me unplanned! We went to a cute little place that had really good hot chocolate. It was more of a snack place than a dinner place but I still was filled up by hot chocolate, bread, and a tostada (crunchy tortilla shell with meat). Aftwerwards we went back to Celas for the graduation. There were very few people at this graduation but it was still fun. Afterwards I went to a new little cafe/bar called Ojala. They play live music there. It was really fun seeing another new place and it was fun just to relax and have a glass of wine in that environment.
Weekend Sum UP
Saturday
-Slept-in and tanned on Jenna's Patio
-Tried to plan my Spring Break Trip. We can not stay with our host families during Holy Week. **Thus half the group has family coming to visit (*cough* *cough* my family is not able), 8 are going to Belice, and me, Shannon, Brianna, and Jenna are going to Honduras! Its been hard planning it tho, I am still in the process today. I am actually going to Puerta Vayerta Mexico with Jenna first to see her family who is vacationing there and then we are flying from there to Honduras. Keep in mind I just figured this all out this past weekend (today is March 15th) and not the weekend that I am currently writing about haha...**
-Ate dinner at home with Sonia
-Went out with Steph, Mike A, Mike L, Chris, and Matt for dessert. I had dessert and they had pizza, it was another Italian place on the other side of central park
-Afterwards I watched Slumdog Millionare with almost half the group at Blue Angel, an internet and movie cafe. Not quick my type of movie but I thought it was good.
Sunday
-Went to the coast and beach of Camperico!
-Met Jenna, Nicole, and Shannon, and three of our amigos Viktor, Juan, and Chuchu, in central park at 7:00am.Ta
-We took 1 micro bus, 1 chicken bus, a smaller tuk tuk, and then another chicken bus to the beach for a total of about 4 hours.
-Got to the beautiful coast and I got to ride a horse on the beach! We only did a few laps around the beach with them, but mine was lazy and after awhile had to be pulled by one of the little boys that was 'renting' them to us.
-Swam in the wonderful ocean for the first time since being here.
-Tanned in the warm sun
-Had shrimp for lunch...with eyes! Yes, the shrimp had eyes. haha we had to peel them ourselves. They were a lot of work but I guess they were pretty tasty....
-Tanned and swam some more
-Got dressed and had some icecream before we left.
-Had the most interesting trip back.....
We took one bus and then at the next station we found out that since the hour was so late there was no more buses back to Xela. The group wanted to stay overnight in that town where the station was and I was like...ummm no thanks I really want to go back to Xela! After much debate and frustration we took a mircobus to a different station where there was "probably" going to be another bus (before we found this option the only option was to take a direct taxi back to Xela which was a little spendy to some...but not to me so we opted out of that). I kind of had a break down of frustration on the way because I was scared of the late hour and that we werent going to make it back to Xela. However it turned out well in the end...Instead of waiting for the bus at that station, which I believe arrived right after us, we took a truck back to Xela! It was like...an animal truck..haha...with us being the animals. Looking back on it, it was a little dangerous and it was a chilly ride back, but it was quite the adventure! We had left the beach a little before 5 and finally arrived in Xela a little bit after 9pm.
Week of March 2nd-8th
I am continuing to very much enjoy my volunteer work. Now I do my volunteering every Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. On Tuesday we brought some things to do with the kids at the orphange. Our director and his wife bought some puzzles, coloring books, and sidewalk chalk that we can bring to do with the kids. They loved it! They especially liked the puzzles or rompecabezas in Spanish. On Monday and Wednesdays is when I have my tutoring from 2-7pm. I go in and contribute extra hours after volunteering or on Fridays when I don't have any classes. I am getting to know my tutor Juila that I have now really well and sadly this upcoming week (the week of the 16th) is my last week with her :( Wednesday after class Julia invited me out to dinner with her and some of the other teachers from Celas. Originally I thought that some of the other students were going to come but it ended up being only me and Juila and about 4 or5 more teachers (Julia's sister Carolina, Juila, Maria, Ana, and Karina) from Celas. We went to a cute little Italian restaurant called Gesepies, I had a salad and some pizza :) The pizza here is a little different...especially the sauce, but it was pretty good overall. I love hanging out with the teachers from Celas outside of school. I believe I have mentioned before that the teachers at Celas are more like friends than teachers. For volunteering on Thursday I decided that I wanted to plan an activity with the kids on my own. I have actually brought the activities that our director bought a couple of times, so I wanted to do something new. I bought stuff to make nametags with the kids. I have now been working with the same small group of about 12 kids or so, which is nice because it is easier to get to know them that way. There are two groups of kids that are not allowed to leave the home for their safety (not even for school) and I work with one of those groups. Making nametags was a success, they loved them. The government barely gives the orphange money, so it felt nice to be able to support any way I can. Also on Thursday there was a large dinner at Celas with a group of local students that attend the same university (Rafeal Landivar) as us. My teacher for Guatemala History who we call Vivi organized the whole thing. Students from one of her classes attended. The local students brought Guatemalan food and we brought and made American food. It was real fun talking with some of the students, although most of them are unlike the average Guatemalan student and are pretty well-off financially (Rafael Landivar is a private university). Afterwards Jenna, Brianna, Nicole, and I met up with our friend Viktor at his apartment and then went out to a local disoteca with one of our friends from La Rumba (our salsa place). Friday was pretty chill, I didn't do much...I brought some laundry in, printed off some things for class and then I went to Celas and worked on a paper with Julia that I had due for history the following week. Afterwards I was supposed to go out to dinner with Freddy, but he bailed so Julia invited me out to dinner/hot chocolate with her, Carolina, and Karina. It was so nice of her to invite me unplanned! We went to a cute little place that had really good hot chocolate. It was more of a snack place than a dinner place but I still was filled up by hot chocolate, bread, and a tostada (crunchy tortilla shell with meat). Aftwerwards we went back to Celas for the graduation. There were very few people at this graduation but it was still fun. Afterwards I went to a new little cafe/bar called Ojala. They play live music there. It was really fun seeing another new place and it was fun just to relax and have a glass of wine in that environment.
Weekend Sum UP
Saturday
-Slept-in and tanned on Jenna's Patio
-Tried to plan my Spring Break Trip. We can not stay with our host families during Holy Week. **Thus half the group has family coming to visit (*cough* *cough* my family is not able), 8 are going to Belice, and me, Shannon, Brianna, and Jenna are going to Honduras! Its been hard planning it tho, I am still in the process today. I am actually going to Puerta Vayerta Mexico with Jenna first to see her family who is vacationing there and then we are flying from there to Honduras. Keep in mind I just figured this all out this past weekend (today is March 15th) and not the weekend that I am currently writing about haha...**
-Ate dinner at home with Sonia
-Went out with Steph, Mike A, Mike L, Chris, and Matt for dessert. I had dessert and they had pizza, it was another Italian place on the other side of central park
-Afterwards I watched Slumdog Millionare with almost half the group at Blue Angel, an internet and movie cafe. Not quick my type of movie but I thought it was good.
Sunday
-Went to the coast and beach of Camperico!
-Met Jenna, Nicole, and Shannon, and three of our amigos Viktor, Juan, and Chuchu, in central park at 7:00am.Ta
-We took 1 micro bus, 1 chicken bus, a smaller tuk tuk, and then another chicken bus to the beach for a total of about 4 hours.
-Got to the beautiful coast and I got to ride a horse on the beach! We only did a few laps around the beach with them, but mine was lazy and after awhile had to be pulled by one of the little boys that was 'renting' them to us.
-Swam in the wonderful ocean for the first time since being here.
-Tanned in the warm sun
-Had shrimp for lunch...with eyes! Yes, the shrimp had eyes. haha we had to peel them ourselves. They were a lot of work but I guess they were pretty tasty....
-Tanned and swam some more
-Got dressed and had some icecream before we left.
-Had the most interesting trip back.....
We took one bus and then at the next station we found out that since the hour was so late there was no more buses back to Xela. The group wanted to stay overnight in that town where the station was and I was like...ummm no thanks I really want to go back to Xela! After much debate and frustration we took a mircobus to a different station where there was "probably" going to be another bus (before we found this option the only option was to take a direct taxi back to Xela which was a little spendy to some...but not to me so we opted out of that). I kind of had a break down of frustration on the way because I was scared of the late hour and that we werent going to make it back to Xela. However it turned out well in the end...Instead of waiting for the bus at that station, which I believe arrived right after us, we took a truck back to Xela! It was like...an animal truck..haha...with us being the animals. Looking back on it, it was a little dangerous and it was a chilly ride back, but it was quite the adventure! We had left the beach a little before 5 and finally arrived in Xela a little bit after 9pm.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Mi viaje a Mexico (My trip to Mexico)
Thursday 26 de Febrero
We left for Mexico right after my Mayan Cosomovision class. We didn't have senior sem oh but don't worry our director Brian made us watch the documentary of Romero on the bus. We switched off watching it in groups of three or four on our lap tops, it was a depressing movie about Liberation Theology which is basically the topic of our Senior Sem. Anywhoo, the purpose for going to Mexico was to renew our visas. The bus ride was soo long. It felt longer than the one we took to Coban from Guatemala City. The ride was only supposed to take "6 to 8 hours" but we left Landivar a little after 11am and didn't arrive in San Cristobol Mexico until 9pm. It was really interesting at the boarder...we had to get out of our bus about 4 times within a couple of miles, thats when it felt like we were just inching along. It was SO hot when we were at the boarder, we could definitely tell that we were no longer in the cold mountains of Xela. We stopped at two "official" buildings where we got our passports stamped, and then the other stops were by the army or other officials to look inside our bus for things like drugs or to check our passports. Like I said we finally arrived in San Cristobol around 9:00pm. We unloaded and everyone was so tired that all we really wanted to do was crash in our beds. A bunch of us took advantage of the fact that the hotel restaurant was still open and ate a nice big substantial meal because we had been munching on snacky type food all day! Then we all went to bed. I really liked the hotel, it was huge!
Friday
Most of the people in the group slept in and didn't leave the hotel until 10 or 11. We had a free day on Friday :) A bunch of us girls (me, Brianna, Nicole, Jenna, Shannon B, and Steph) decided that we wanted to go shopping (a lot of the group went shopping as well)! I really liked the city of San Cristobol. It kind of reminded me a bit of Antigua but it was better than Antigua. It was a beautiful city, touristy, had many shops and restaurants side by side. We had a beautiful day to shop, the weather was similar to that of Xela because San Cristobol is also somewhat in the mountains hence it was cooler in the morning, beautiful warm sunny during the day, and then cool again at night. I shopped my little heart out on Friday. Literally we started off at some American looking stores but then finally we found the awesome artisan market (where vendors sell hand made things, it is outdoors and there were many tents side by side in long lines!). On the way to the market we got swarmed by indigenous mayans who carry what they make and try and sell it to you on the spot. We only took a break from our shopping spree to eat at cheap little taco place and then returned to the market. In between I must of visited the ATM like 3 times that day....haha. Luckily for us the peso has fallen a lot and it is 15 pesos to the American dollar! Later that night almost the entire group went out to dinner at a place called Margaritas. Beforehand I bought an elote off the street! Elote is corn on the cob, but almost like state fair style but weirder...it had mayo, shredded cheese, ketchup like salsa, and picante! It was delicious. Dinner was too I had chicken fajitas, and my first ever tequila popper ;) After dinner we got icecream for the second time that day (we had some after lunch too).
Saturday
Saturday was a planned trip day by our director. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel at 8. It was BY FAR the best hotel breakfast I have had thus far. It was buffet style. Eggs, big pancakes, fruit, bacon, beans, platanos fritos, yogurt, fruit, granola, pastries, the works! Afterwards we got in a bus and rode about an hour to a Zapitista village. I knew nothing about this group before visiting but a bunch of students in my group did. The Zapitistas are a rebellious group that fought against the Mexcican government with arms, but haven't fought with arms since 1994. Now they live still in existence in their own autonomy in their own society. Almost all of the men and women of this village wear black ski masks or hankerchiefs around their faces to protect their identity. Upon arriving our director told us that they don't always let visitors even enter their village so we really didn't have any idea what was going to happen. Luckily they were accepting and collected our passports and let us enter then asked us why we were there. We told them we were just visiting. We got to walk around the village a little before getting the opportunity to speak with some post revolutionary Zapitistas. Our director had us come up with questions to ask them and before entering the room and listening to them speak to us but we had to wait for a long time. One because Spanish is not their first language and two because they didn't want to answer some of our questions because they didn't want to disclose some of their information. It was interesting to hear what they had to say but it was a little hard to focus at times. Afterwards we left the village and went to an Indigenous Mayan town. Here the indigenous men wear wool vests and the women wear wool skirts. We got a tour of a beautiful church there which as a mix between a Catholic church and mayan tradition. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the church because of the belief that the Mayan spirit would be taken away or something along those lines... There is no mass conducted in the the church; the indigenous people in small groups to worship the figures (which are all statues of saints) that are all around the church. They worship by putting candles in front of which ever saint they would like to pray to and saying or chanting a prayer. Ah sorry this is getting kind of wordy...I'm just describing what I remember! We returned to our hotel around 4ish, and returned to the market again! I didn't buy anything more though, I had already boughten a lot! Then Steph Jenna and I decided to give in and taste a little bit of home by eating Subway for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I believe I got more elote and icecream that night as well...haha. That night we just hung out at the hotel. Some played cards others like me relaxed and took advantage of the wireless.
Sunday
We ate another buffet breakfast at the hotel and then we were on our way back to Guatemala! The bus ride on the way back was better we still had stops at the boarder and all but they were shorter and took less time. This is when we actually got our visas stamped. We got back to Xela around...5 I believe. Even though we were tired, Nicole, Brianna, Jenna, and I went to the fair that was still going on outside my house (it lasted from Sunday to Sunday). We took advantage of the food :P I had a cheverre, elote, and curos! Yummy yummy. I am proud of my stomach :) Now its off to another week of classes....I can't even believe its March! Wow. I only have approximately 5 free weekends left in Xela! The other two or three others are our final group excursion to Lago de Atitlan and Spring Break! Oh and I don't recall if I made this shout out yet but I now have internet in my house! I bought a USB port that gives me wireless wherever I want it :) I only wish I would have known about this possibility from the beginning of trip. I absolutely love it, it elimates the anxiety I had about not being able to use the internet whenever I wanted (before I would go to internet cafes). But to all of my friends who are reading my Blog I am now available for evening Skype dates! Love to all.
We left for Mexico right after my Mayan Cosomovision class. We didn't have senior sem oh but don't worry our director Brian made us watch the documentary of Romero on the bus. We switched off watching it in groups of three or four on our lap tops, it was a depressing movie about Liberation Theology which is basically the topic of our Senior Sem. Anywhoo, the purpose for going to Mexico was to renew our visas. The bus ride was soo long. It felt longer than the one we took to Coban from Guatemala City. The ride was only supposed to take "6 to 8 hours" but we left Landivar a little after 11am and didn't arrive in San Cristobol Mexico until 9pm. It was really interesting at the boarder...we had to get out of our bus about 4 times within a couple of miles, thats when it felt like we were just inching along. It was SO hot when we were at the boarder, we could definitely tell that we were no longer in the cold mountains of Xela. We stopped at two "official" buildings where we got our passports stamped, and then the other stops were by the army or other officials to look inside our bus for things like drugs or to check our passports. Like I said we finally arrived in San Cristobol around 9:00pm. We unloaded and everyone was so tired that all we really wanted to do was crash in our beds. A bunch of us took advantage of the fact that the hotel restaurant was still open and ate a nice big substantial meal because we had been munching on snacky type food all day! Then we all went to bed. I really liked the hotel, it was huge!
Friday
Most of the people in the group slept in and didn't leave the hotel until 10 or 11. We had a free day on Friday :) A bunch of us girls (me, Brianna, Nicole, Jenna, Shannon B, and Steph) decided that we wanted to go shopping (a lot of the group went shopping as well)! I really liked the city of San Cristobol. It kind of reminded me a bit of Antigua but it was better than Antigua. It was a beautiful city, touristy, had many shops and restaurants side by side. We had a beautiful day to shop, the weather was similar to that of Xela because San Cristobol is also somewhat in the mountains hence it was cooler in the morning, beautiful warm sunny during the day, and then cool again at night. I shopped my little heart out on Friday. Literally we started off at some American looking stores but then finally we found the awesome artisan market (where vendors sell hand made things, it is outdoors and there were many tents side by side in long lines!). On the way to the market we got swarmed by indigenous mayans who carry what they make and try and sell it to you on the spot. We only took a break from our shopping spree to eat at cheap little taco place and then returned to the market. In between I must of visited the ATM like 3 times that day....haha. Luckily for us the peso has fallen a lot and it is 15 pesos to the American dollar! Later that night almost the entire group went out to dinner at a place called Margaritas. Beforehand I bought an elote off the street! Elote is corn on the cob, but almost like state fair style but weirder...it had mayo, shredded cheese, ketchup like salsa, and picante! It was delicious. Dinner was too I had chicken fajitas, and my first ever tequila popper ;) After dinner we got icecream for the second time that day (we had some after lunch too).
Saturday
Saturday was a planned trip day by our director. We woke up and ate breakfast at the hotel at 8. It was BY FAR the best hotel breakfast I have had thus far. It was buffet style. Eggs, big pancakes, fruit, bacon, beans, platanos fritos, yogurt, fruit, granola, pastries, the works! Afterwards we got in a bus and rode about an hour to a Zapitista village. I knew nothing about this group before visiting but a bunch of students in my group did. The Zapitistas are a rebellious group that fought against the Mexcican government with arms, but haven't fought with arms since 1994. Now they live still in existence in their own autonomy in their own society. Almost all of the men and women of this village wear black ski masks or hankerchiefs around their faces to protect their identity. Upon arriving our director told us that they don't always let visitors even enter their village so we really didn't have any idea what was going to happen. Luckily they were accepting and collected our passports and let us enter then asked us why we were there. We told them we were just visiting. We got to walk around the village a little before getting the opportunity to speak with some post revolutionary Zapitistas. Our director had us come up with questions to ask them and before entering the room and listening to them speak to us but we had to wait for a long time. One because Spanish is not their first language and two because they didn't want to answer some of our questions because they didn't want to disclose some of their information. It was interesting to hear what they had to say but it was a little hard to focus at times. Afterwards we left the village and went to an Indigenous Mayan town. Here the indigenous men wear wool vests and the women wear wool skirts. We got a tour of a beautiful church there which as a mix between a Catholic church and mayan tradition. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the church because of the belief that the Mayan spirit would be taken away or something along those lines... There is no mass conducted in the the church; the indigenous people in small groups to worship the figures (which are all statues of saints) that are all around the church. They worship by putting candles in front of which ever saint they would like to pray to and saying or chanting a prayer. Ah sorry this is getting kind of wordy...I'm just describing what I remember! We returned to our hotel around 4ish, and returned to the market again! I didn't buy anything more though, I had already boughten a lot! Then Steph Jenna and I decided to give in and taste a little bit of home by eating Subway for dinner. It was absolutely delicious. I believe I got more elote and icecream that night as well...haha. That night we just hung out at the hotel. Some played cards others like me relaxed and took advantage of the wireless.
Sunday
We ate another buffet breakfast at the hotel and then we were on our way back to Guatemala! The bus ride on the way back was better we still had stops at the boarder and all but they were shorter and took less time. This is when we actually got our visas stamped. We got back to Xela around...5 I believe. Even though we were tired, Nicole, Brianna, Jenna, and I went to the fair that was still going on outside my house (it lasted from Sunday to Sunday). We took advantage of the food :P I had a cheverre, elote, and curos! Yummy yummy. I am proud of my stomach :) Now its off to another week of classes....I can't even believe its March! Wow. I only have approximately 5 free weekends left in Xela! The other two or three others are our final group excursion to Lago de Atitlan and Spring Break! Oh and I don't recall if I made this shout out yet but I now have internet in my house! I bought a USB port that gives me wireless wherever I want it :) I only wish I would have known about this possibility from the beginning of trip. I absolutely love it, it elimates the anxiety I had about not being able to use the internet whenever I wanted (before I would go to internet cafes). But to all of my friends who are reading my Blog I am now available for evening Skype dates! Love to all.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Cosas grandes de la semana: 23 de Febrero
Second week of classes is over. I'm starting to get a little more a custom to my new schedule. Nothing real big happened on Monday...besides classes I went to El Cuartito which is a little cafe which has internet and some good food and coffee. Usually there is live music by an acoustic group that plays Goo Goo Dolls and Coldplay and other fun groups like that, last week they were really good but I guess they didn't show up this time because there wasn't enough people :(
Tuesday
I had my volunteer work for the second time at the orphange, since it was only my second time I didn't really know what to expect. But it was a blast! We played a game called "Pica Pica" outdoors on the court outside. We played this particular game in celebration of Marti Gras. All of the kids had either bags of confetti (pica pica) or casterones (hallowed out eggs filled with confetti). There really was no point to the game other than to take hand fulls of confetti and rub it in people's hair or to my personal favorite, taking the castorones and smashing them on people's heads! I had to bend over for some of the kids so that they could break them on mine haha but others who were tall enough or had a good vertical jump surprised me and broke them on my head anyway! Walking on the way home there was a huge celebration in the park. It was the one year anniversary of the SuperChivos in Central Park, which is the Xela soccer team. I finally bought a jersey! We stopped and watched for a bit and watched and then I went home to eat dinner.
Wednesday
After a long day of classes I thought that I was just going to go out salsa dancing like I usually do on Wednesday nights but right towards the end of my classes at Celas I found out there was a SuperChivos home game! I was really surprised because I thought that all of the games were on weekends and our group has already missed a bunch of them because of traveling. So a bunch of us went to the game right after class (which ended at 7:00pm). It was a smaller game because they were playing a team in the minor division instead of the major division, but it was still fun. I ate a Cheverre off the street (its a hot dog, kinda like dome dog with mayo ketchup, picante sauce-spicy sauce, and mustard oh and it usually has cabbage but I decided to skip out on the cabbage because it was sketchy lookin) :) I think my weak stomach has actually gotten a lot of stronger since being here! We ended up winning the game 1-0! It was funny there was about 12 of us gringos, all decked out in our SuperChivos jerseys. Afterwards a couple of us went to La Rumba just for a little bit to hang out.
Tuesday
I had my volunteer work for the second time at the orphange, since it was only my second time I didn't really know what to expect. But it was a blast! We played a game called "Pica Pica" outdoors on the court outside. We played this particular game in celebration of Marti Gras. All of the kids had either bags of confetti (pica pica) or casterones (hallowed out eggs filled with confetti). There really was no point to the game other than to take hand fulls of confetti and rub it in people's hair or to my personal favorite, taking the castorones and smashing them on people's heads! I had to bend over for some of the kids so that they could break them on mine haha but others who were tall enough or had a good vertical jump surprised me and broke them on my head anyway! Walking on the way home there was a huge celebration in the park. It was the one year anniversary of the SuperChivos in Central Park, which is the Xela soccer team. I finally bought a jersey! We stopped and watched for a bit and watched and then I went home to eat dinner.Wednesday
After a long day of classes I thought that I was just going to go out salsa dancing like I usually do on Wednesday nights but right towards the end of my classes at Celas I found out there was a SuperChivos home game! I was really surprised because I thought that all of the games were on weekends and our group has already missed a bunch of them because of traveling. So a bunch of us went to the game right after class (which ended at 7:00pm). It was a smaller game because they were playing a team in the minor division instead of the major division, but it was still fun. I ate a Cheverre off the street (its a hot dog, kinda like dome dog with mayo ketchup, picante sauce-spicy sauce, and mustard oh and it usually has cabbage but I decided to skip out on the cabbage because it was sketchy lookin) :) I think my weak stomach has actually gotten a lot of stronger since being here! We ended up winning the game 1-0! It was funny there was about 12 of us gringos, all decked out in our SuperChivos jerseys. Afterwards a couple of us went to La Rumba just for a little bit to hang out.
Fin de Semana del 20 de Febrero
This weekend was really fun. On Thursday night we all went to a concert and saw a band called Buena Vista Social Club. Its a really old band, but they are well known throughout Latin America and have been in existence for a long time. They played mainly salsa and merengue they were very fun to listen too, and the place we went to was packed! We waited in a long line outside the door for almost an hour before even entering the buildiing. Esta noche Jenna durmio en mi casa conmigo :)
Friday I spent some time in the morning using the internet and trying to fix my computer which has a virus....I think it had virus before I left. I made a pit stop at home to eat lunch and them me and a bunch of girls went over to Steph's house to tan! It was a gorgeous weekend for tanning and Steph has a nice little concrete patio in her backyard that is perfect for laying out. My goal is to be nice and bronze by the time I come home. Friday night there was yet another graduation at the school (like there is every Friday) except this one was way different from many of the others because there was a HUGE group of students from Holand graduating from Celas. They were a big group of about 25 students like us, they studied for 3 weeks but unfortunately I don't think many students from our group got to know them that well because we went on our long excursion one of the weeks and then all of us got real busy and started taking classes at the University. Anywhoo the graduation was beautiful, it had candles and a cena tipica (typical guatemala dinner). There must of been AT LEAST 50 people there! Afterwards we decided to have a few drinks and go out dancing at La Rumba. It was really fun this night. I danced with one of the Rumba guys named Pepe. Afterwards me, Jenna, and Nicole went back to Nicole and Stephs house. Their parents were gone for the weekend and so we got permission to sleep over :) I slept with Steph.
Saturday
I slept in and since I was already at Steph's we all decided to tan again :) This time we went out earlier and therefore the sun was stronger! It was awesome. That afternoon I went to Hiber Pais (the mall) with my friend Freddy and I bought....INTERNET! I bought a USB port that gives me internet in my house. Its so awesome, if I would have only known about this option way sooner that would have been nice. So to all my peeps out there I have more time to Skype now, I am probably going to be most free in the evenings ;) Afterwards Freddy and I went to central park to hang out and we bought some icecream to keep us cool. Saturday night we went out to the Rumba again...it was fun meeting up beforehand at Nicole's house but when we went to the Rumba it wasn't as fun as Friday night. Jenna and I were both kind of frustrated how the night turned out.
Sunday
Freddy took Jenna and I to a sweet outdoor pool! It was only about 20 minutes away by car. It had beautiful landscape with palm trees, flowers, and nice green grass, it was just purdy. However we did get scared at, Jenna and I were definitely not only the white people there but the only white girls there, and the only girls that were wearing bikinis...haha. We did see Jordan (a guy from our group) there with his little host brother so that made us feel a little more comfortable, overall it was a great time! I came back home to eat lunch with Sonia and Maria. Then I went to school and got a little piece o home and watched Grey's Anatomy with Jenna. That night I went to church with Sonia and Maria. It was really good I like El Calbario (the name of our church), its easier to understand then the others I have attended. I think God sent me a message that night in the reading (member its Spanish mass) I understood "Don't think about the past." This was really good for me to hear. After church we went to this carnival that was right outside my house! Literally I could see the a farris wheel from my courtyard. Apparently this fair is only here for a week, it moves around during Lent to the different zones of Guatemala. It has ghetto little rides, some games, but the best part obviously was...THE FOOD. Which ended up being the only part I participated in. Sonia bought Mari and I Curos which are basically sugared donuts but they were way yummier than donuts!
Friday I spent some time in the morning using the internet and trying to fix my computer which has a virus....I think it had virus before I left. I made a pit stop at home to eat lunch and them me and a bunch of girls went over to Steph's house to tan! It was a gorgeous weekend for tanning and Steph has a nice little concrete patio in her backyard that is perfect for laying out. My goal is to be nice and bronze by the time I come home. Friday night there was yet another graduation at the school (like there is every Friday) except this one was way different from many of the others because there was a HUGE group of students from Holand graduating from Celas. They were a big group of about 25 students like us, they studied for 3 weeks but unfortunately I don't think many students from our group got to know them that well because we went on our long excursion one of the weeks and then all of us got real busy and started taking classes at the University. Anywhoo the graduation was beautiful, it had candles and a cena tipica (typical guatemala dinner). There must of been AT LEAST 50 people there! Afterwards we decided to have a few drinks and go out dancing at La Rumba. It was really fun this night. I danced with one of the Rumba guys named Pepe. Afterwards me, Jenna, and Nicole went back to Nicole and Stephs house. Their parents were gone for the weekend and so we got permission to sleep over :) I slept with Steph.
Saturday
I slept in and since I was already at Steph's we all decided to tan again :) This time we went out earlier and therefore the sun was stronger! It was awesome. That afternoon I went to Hiber Pais (the mall) with my friend Freddy and I bought....INTERNET! I bought a USB port that gives me internet in my house. Its so awesome, if I would have only known about this option way sooner that would have been nice. So to all my peeps out there I have more time to Skype now, I am probably going to be most free in the evenings ;) Afterwards Freddy and I went to central park to hang out and we bought some icecream to keep us cool. Saturday night we went out to the Rumba again...it was fun meeting up beforehand at Nicole's house but when we went to the Rumba it wasn't as fun as Friday night. Jenna and I were both kind of frustrated how the night turned out.
Sunday
Freddy took Jenna and I to a sweet outdoor pool! It was only about 20 minutes away by car. It had beautiful landscape with palm trees, flowers, and nice green grass, it was just purdy. However we did get scared at, Jenna and I were definitely not only the white people there but the only white girls there, and the only girls that were wearing bikinis...haha. We did see Jordan (a guy from our group) there with his little host brother so that made us feel a little more comfortable, overall it was a great time! I came back home to eat lunch with Sonia and Maria. Then I went to school and got a little piece o home and watched Grey's Anatomy with Jenna. That night I went to church with Sonia and Maria. It was really good I like El Calbario (the name of our church), its easier to understand then the others I have attended. I think God sent me a message that night in the reading (member its Spanish mass) I understood "Don't think about the past." This was really good for me to hear. After church we went to this carnival that was right outside my house! Literally I could see the a farris wheel from my courtyard. Apparently this fair is only here for a week, it moves around during Lent to the different zones of Guatemala. It has ghetto little rides, some games, but the best part obviously was...THE FOOD. Which ended up being the only part I participated in. Sonia bought Mari and I Curos which are basically sugared donuts but they were way yummier than donuts!
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