17.07. - 18.07.2009 Semuc Champey We had breakfast at 7am and then got back onto the bus to drive to Semuc Champey. The ride was only about 2,5 more hours. Approximately 10km before we arrived at the hotel we had to get off the bus and continue in pick-up trucks, because the road was really bad. Katrin and I squeezed on the back seat with two of the others whereas the rest of the group had to stand in the back. Josué distributed the rooms. Katrin and I had to share our bungalow with Frida. She's a 23 year old girl [View Full Entry]

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16.07.2009 Witch Although I have five hours of private lessons every day and I was worried that they'd feel never ending, with my teacher Vivi they don't. We are having so much fun. She teaches me a lot but there is still space for telling funny stories or just acting stupid. Some days ago she announced that she's a witch and if I don't study properly (well, I really don't have time. I don't even have time to keep up with my travel blog) or if I don't pay good attention she'll have to turn me into a "rana". Because I [View Full Entry]

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15.07.2009 Busy, busy, busy!!! After another eight hour marathon of Spanish lessons Katrin and I had a very busy evening. After the lessons we had a few minutes left to use the Internet before the school closed. Then we ran about to have my phone - which I bought in Australia and couldn't use since - unlocked. At the phone store I got a new address for my adapter and was really excited to finally have found one. Actually Katrin brought one from Switzerland which didn't work either but works now in combination with the new one. Now I can finally [View Full Entry]

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14.07.2009 It's going to be a tough week Because Katrin and I signed up for the weekend trip to Semuc Champey - which is going to start on Thursday morning - we have to take our lessons earlier. We are going to miss two hours on Thursday and another 5 on Friday. Therefore Vivi and I scheduled to study eight hours today and tomorrow. During the brake I had to go home, get my dirty clothes and bring them to the laundry place. It was all a little hectic, but I needed to get my washing done and when else would [View Full Entry]

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11.07. - 12.07.2009 Lago Atitlán After a tough week of studies it was time for my first weekend to start. I joined a trip to Lago Atitlán organized by the school. We left by a private bus and the journey only took about two hours. When we got there the rooms were distributed to the students. At first I was a bit worried that we could not choose ourselves who we wanted to share with, but it turned out that I got a room to myself :) A few minutes after arrival it was time to take off for those who [View Full Entry]

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13.07.2009 A new week at school Last Friday I was a bit disappointed, because I thought that I haven't progressed too much with my Spanish during the first week of studies. But what did I expect? It's not possible (ok I've seen an exception on TV but let's say for an average human being) to learn a language within three weeks. Today I had a hard time to get into Spanish again after speaking English all weekend. But once I got my brain focused on the target language I noticed, that this week I had less problems to express myself and [View Full Entry]

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10.07.2009 Going out or not?! Today for the first time I didn't want to getting up. Not that I didn't feel like going to school. But I was just so so tired. Every single day here is so packed. I go to school, I speak Spanish, I meet new people, I try new things... there are so many impressions to process and I never have time to myself to just sit down, relax and think about the wonderful time I have here... Besides, I was a little sore from the killer yoga class last night! All I wanted to do today [View Full Entry]

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09.07.2009 Yoga and more I spent another tough morning at school. One of todays activities consisted of a discussion about Pop Wuj which can sort of be considered the Mayan bible. The discussion took place in the morning during class time. Today I called my mom during the break. It was nice to talk to her although it was just for a few minutes. I told her how much I liked Guatemala and she reminded me, that I HAVE to come home at the end of the trip. In the afternoon we had a typical cooking class. We learnt how to [View Full Entry]

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08.07.2009 Vamos a bailar I've only been here for a few days, but it feels like two weeks or so. I'm learning a tremendous amount of Spanish every day and I'm having so much fun with my teacher. We laugh a lot and it doesn't feel like class at all. I like the people around here and I feel comfortable with my host family. I also enjoy the activities organized by the school. I'm so happy and content. All in all I could say I'm having the time of my life :) Today I've become friends with Josué, who works for [View Full Entry]

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07.07.2009 Starting to settle down Today I woke up one hour early. I'm slowly adapting to the new time zone ;) I had really good conversations with Vivi, my teacher, at school. I started to make jokes which is a good sign. I once read that once you can start joking around you start to master the language. I'd say I'm still far away from that. But I also managed to say a few thinks in the past. Actually I have to clue how to conjugate verbs in the past for I was too lazy to properly learn them. Here at [View Full Entry]

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