turns out visiting the guatemalan relaxation paradise of sorts equals total exhaustion upon return. funny how that always happens. but clearly, i am not complaining, lago de atitlan is exceptionally beautiful and overly indulgent compared to life here without much internet, phone, restaurants, or bars. all of those things exist at lago as well as a huge ex-pat/tourist crowd which was overwhelming. still, we had a great time, got some much desired sun, and did some fantastic yoga. plus, we got up early to watch sunrises, sat in thermal pools, ate at ´fancy´restaurants (anything that´s not eggs and beans is fancy to us) and listened to some INCREDIBLE folklore latino (latin folk music) at san pedro´s one and only irish pub (that happened to specialize in mango curry.... so confusing). it was a fantastic 3 day weekend away and it was so good to eat some different food. i´ve discovered, however, that i´ve forgotten how to communicate with other... gringos, really. my friend and i managed to avoid communicating with tourists save a couple restaurant workers because.... we don´t know what to say. my spanish isn´t great right now, but apparently i know how to have small talk with guatemaltecos better than i do other americans. :)
this is the start of my last two weeks at the school and i am both very excited to start the last legs of my travels and very very sad to leave the friends i´ve made in the teachers here at the school. i´m currently attempting to learn subjunctive which makes me feel like i´ve regressed back to week one (because suddenly i was saying ´correctly´ is now incorrect). ha, such is life. for this reason i don´t have much more to report, other that i´m trying to keep my brains from seeping out my ears....
then, next thursday i meet up with another ole, mark forsberg, in his part of guatemala, following which i will fly to peru to meet up with jared brandell, and then my cousin for a quick tour of southern peru. time flies- i´ll be home in a month.
i´ll try to send some photos via email like last time... hope to hear from you all soon.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
the internet is a little sketchy this afternoon, and my time is limited, so i apologize if this is brief or.... interrupted. :)
anyway, the few days since i last wrote have been sort of crazy, so i´ll do my best to summarize once again. shoot me an email if there are questions you have and i´ll try to answer in my next email.
1) my ´mom of the kitchen´(mama de la cocina) from last week got really really sick last wednesday right after i wrote my last post. put a terrfying image of a woman being carried away in the arms of her spouse and dad screaming and crying in pain in the rain and you have my dinner from wednesday. she´s 3 months pregnant and has been having problems in her pregnancy. gracias a dios (even though i´m not much of a christian let alone a catholic, it´s just what you say here) she and the fetus are fine as far as i know now.
2) then my roommate got really sick, so i spent the day on thursday with her, and our other friend annie visiting doctors and waiting around in labs and clinics. i played translator for the morning, which is a crazy concept to me. the main thing was that the first doctor thought she had appendicitis, so we were all functioning under the assumption that she might have to have surgery. luckily she too is fine, and DID not have appendicitis. we did spend the night in xela after a long afternoon in the city. plus, our other friend found out her mom has cancer and so it was overall a draining end of the week. annie left right away the next morning to fly home to be with her mom.
3) saturday morning we spent at the ex-guerilla community i mentioned. i once again (poorly) played translator that morning as well. don´t let this fact fool you into thinking i could possibly be a translator, becuase i really couldn´t. i just happen to be the student with the most spanish ri ght now.... SCARY thought. :)
4) sunday a couple of us did this ´little´hike up to laguna de chikabal, the sacred lake in the cone of a dead volcano where the Maya have done ceremonies for a damn long time. this ´little´hike as both the guidebook and our local guide (a guy who works at the school) gustavo called it, kicked my ass and i am still sore 2 days later. still, it was mysterious and beautiful and a good challenge, especially as us students essentially have no opportunity to get any physical exercise. ask me for some hopefully mysterious and cool photos when i get back.
life here is good. i am really lucky to have gotten a fantastic family to eat with this week. two adorable little 3 year olds, a lovely and smart 9 year old, and an extraordinaril y sweet mom of the kitchen. this is a week that i am more glad that i don´t actually live with the families and just eat there because all of their beds are made of just flat boards with a blanket on top. no mattress or anything resembling a mattress. no, gracias, i´ll pass on that. and my spanish is coming along. apparent ly i am currently passing from intermediate into advanced spanish (accord ing to my overly sweet teacher this week) whi ch, again, would suggest that i am something that i am definitely not. still, i´ll be happy to hold up a conversation with a guy at the shelter when i get back, for example. :)
time is limited and i´m gonna miss the last pick- up truck out of town if i don´t head out now. hope to hear from you all soon.
anyway, the few days since i last wrote have been sort of crazy, so i´ll do my best to summarize once again. shoot me an email if there are questions you have and i´ll try to answer in my next email.
1) my ´mom of the kitchen´(mama de la cocina) from last week got really really sick last wednesday right after i wrote my last post. put a terrfying image of a woman being carried away in the arms of her spouse and dad screaming and crying in pain in the rain and you have my dinner from wednesday. she´s 3 months pregnant and has been having problems in her pregnancy. gracias a dios (even though i´m not much of a christian let alone a catholic, it´s just what you say here) she and the fetus are fine as far as i know now.
2) then my roommate got really sick, so i spent the day on thursday with her, and our other friend annie visiting doctors and waiting around in labs and clinics. i played translator for the morning, which is a crazy concept to me. the main thing was that the first doctor thought she had appendicitis, so we were all functioning under the assumption that she might have to have surgery. luckily she too is fine, and DID not have appendicitis. we did spend the night in xela after a long afternoon in the city. plus, our other friend found out her mom has cancer and so it was overall a draining end of the week. annie left right away the next morning to fly home to be with her mom.
3) saturday morning we spent at the ex-guerilla community i mentioned. i once again (poorly) played translator that morning as well. don´t let this fact fool you into thinking i could possibly be a translator, becuase i really couldn´t. i just happen to be the student with the most spanish ri ght now.... SCARY thought. :)
4) sunday a couple of us did this ´little´hike up to laguna de chikabal, the sacred lake in the cone of a dead volcano where the Maya have done ceremonies for a damn long time. this ´little´hike as both the guidebook and our local guide (a guy who works at the school) gustavo called it, kicked my ass and i am still sore 2 days later. still, it was mysterious and beautiful and a good challenge, especially as us students essentially have no opportunity to get any physical exercise. ask me for some hopefully mysterious and cool photos when i get back.
life here is good. i am really lucky to have gotten a fantastic family to eat with this week. two adorable little 3 year olds, a lovely and smart 9 year old, and an extraordinaril y sweet mom of the kitchen. this is a week that i am more glad that i don´t actually live with the families and just eat there because all of their beds are made of just flat boards with a blanket on top. no mattress or anything resembling a mattress. no, gracias, i´ll pass on that. and my spanish is coming along. apparent ly i am currently passing from intermediate into advanced spanish (accord ing to my overly sweet teacher this week) whi ch, again, would suggest that i am something that i am definitely not. still, i´ll be happy to hold up a conversation with a guy at the shelter when i get back, for example. :)
time is limited and i´m gonna miss the last pick- up truck out of town if i don´t head out now. hope to hear from you all soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)