¡No hamblamos Español!

After having woken up at 2.00am in Washington in order to make our early flight to Guatemala via Miami, we arrived in Guatemala City completely disoriented and exhausted. It seemed as if the whole of Guatemala City was out to greet the planes and if we hadn't been met by someone we may have turned around and gone home right then! We were taken back to a little bed and breakfast not too far from the airport and we spent most of our first afternoon in Guatemala sleeping.

The following morning we got up early again and were put on a bus headed to Xela. The trip took 5 hrs and was all of 210km but at least the trip offered some interesting sites and was a good first glimpse of life in Guatemala. We arrived in Xela (the Mayan name for Quetzaltenango) in the early afternoon and got a taxi to our new home. We met our host family - Lili (mum), Giovanni (dad), Melanie (12 yr old daughter), Giovanni(5yr old son) and Stella (great-grandmother). They all seemed really lovely but can not speak much English and they are not allowed to speak English to us anyway because of the immersion Spanish course we are taking! We sat down to lunch with the family and the other students that were staying at the house for our first 2 days. The other students spoke fantastic Spanish and we didn't speak any, we were still exhausted and completely overcome by the whole experience. It was at this stage that we realised that turning up in a country and just ´learning the language' may be a little harder than we had first imagined! So we decided to start Spanish classes immediately even though the following day was 'El Dia de los Muertos' (the Day of the Dead) which is a public holiday in Guatemala. Our first lessons at Juan Sisay were pretty good - teachers are used to people that are unable to speak any English, and we found that we could understand them pretty well. We spent the morning session learning basic Spanish and then they took us to the cemetery for El Dia de los Muertos.

El Dia de los Muertos is a huge festival in Guatemala. Everyone goes to the cemetery and puts flowers on the graves of their family members, they fly kites, eat lots of food and generally have a good time. In Xela the cemetery was packed with people and there were so many flowers, bands, kites, people etc. Outside the cemetery was a huge market which had food, games, and flowers filled to the brim with people there to celebrate the lives of their loved ones. We are icecreams while meandering through the cemetery, as Lara's teacher Mario said it was necessary for the spirits because they still live in the cemetery and they need you to share your food with them!

The following day we had more Spanish classes....in between classes all we really managed to do was sleep and go to meals. I guess we were still a little jet-lagged, not quite used to the altitude of 2,300 metres etc. And then it was the weekend - the benefit of starting classes on a Thursday! Our first weekend in the region and on Saturday we decided to join the school trip to Fuentas Georginas, hot springs about half an hour outside of Xela. By this time we had made some friends with other English speaking people who were on the trip with us and had stopped feeling quite so intimidated by the whole situation! Fuentas Georginas was lovely...the baths were unbelievably hot, enough to give you a head spin when getting out. We spent the day in and out of the pools and had a lovely lunch there. We also sampled the local beer Gallo (rooster) which is actually not too bad. We returned to the house, and slept....again! Being on holidays is very tiring!

On Sunday we decided to explore a bit of Xela, we went to the Mercado Democracia, large markets selling everything under the sun, we walked past the Teatro Municipal and wandered back through the Parque Centroamericano, which is the centre of Xela, surrounding it are banks, restuarants etc and a beautidul old church built in the very traditional Spanish style. In the afternoon we headed to a mall on the outskirts of Xela to watch movies with some of the other students. We copped out and watched a movie in English with Spanish subtitles, thinking that our 2 days of Spanish classes may not be enough to endure watching a Guatmalan war movie. As it turned out the students who had been studying for awhile still had no idea what happened!

We commenced the new week of Spanish classes with new teachers. It is one-on-one intensive English, so everyone has their own teacher which is great as you can learn at your own pace and in your own way. After class we went to the mall again to get a Guatemalan SIM card and to buy a cake for Al´s birthday which was the next day. By this stage Al was feeling pretty fluey, Xela is hot during the day but cold at night which leads to many colds etc. Unfortunately he didn´t make it out of bed on his birthday and after opening a few cards and pressies he spent the rest of the day sleeping and reading while Lara was slaving away in Spanish class.

By Wednesday Al was back at school and feeling well enough to participate in the school activity, volleyball being played in the afternoon. Lara managed to sprain her wrist and wore a bandage for the next 3 days. Thursday we went to a very unusual church, San Andres Xecúl. It is bright yellow with tigers, saints and vines painted on it. Fascinating! We also saw a Mayan Altar and visited a Mayan saint, Saint Simon who is a very colourful character thought to be a combination of Mayan Gods, Pedro de Alvarado the Spanish Conquistador and Judas. The Mayans make offerings of cigarettes, rum and candles to him.

Friday night is Graduation Night and there is a party for all students finishing school that week. We had to make food from our home country so we made lamingtons, well we bought vanilla cake and covered it in chocolate icing and coconut anyway. It was a pretty big hit, and actually tasted like a lamington. We also had to dress as Conquistadors which involved a lot of alfoil and a bowl as a helmet, plus plastic swords - completely realistic! It was a pretty funny night with all the teachers dressed up and music that seemed to be from our own year 9 formal. Does anyone remember 2unlimited?

Saturday we headed down to the coastal region to a hotel which is known for it´s lovely gardens. We spent the day by the pool which was a lovely change, and we saw a couple of hummingbirds which was very exciting. On our return we headed out to see the nightlife in Xela. We have discovered a love of mojitos and spent a lovely evening bar hopping with a great Irish couple.

Sunday we went to see the local football team, the Xela Super Chivos play. The crowds were great, really enthusiatic and colourful. There were bands and songs and lots of yelling Spanish swear words. We got really sunburnt, the game was average but the atmosphere made it all worth it.

Our second week of Spanish classes and we bludged a little more than we had previously. We obviously continued with our Spanish classes - and you can actually tell the difference. We can say things and understand things (I'm not sure if we are understood but we try!) We did however participate in a few school activities and a few other things.

On Monday afternoon we visited a womens shelter, Nuevas Horizontales (New Horizons), which is a refuge for women who have been victims of domestic violence. It is the only one like it in Guatemala and it has been running for 18 years. We took them some essentials like soap and rice, and a few toys for the children living there. We got to play with the children which was really lovely and they were adorable kids. Al loved it when he got lollypop rubbed all over his jumper by a particularly naughty little girl. It was hilarious.

We also attended a benefit for a local school. They were raising money to allow the children who are required to work all the time and help support their families, to learn some English and have some fun with painting etc. We got to eat a whole lot of 'tipico' food which we do have regularly in the house. On Friday we went out and had pizza and beer with a lovely Irish couple. We kept thinking 'We didn't come to Guatemala to eat pizza and drink beer' but it was Guatemalan beer at least!

Our school activity for the weekend was a trip to the ruins of Zacaleu and the nearby market town of Huehuetenango. The Mayan Ruins are Mam Ruins from 700 AD (if my Spanish is correct) and are fairly small compared to most reknowned ruins in the region. They were lovely though, no thanks to a bad repair job by the United Fruit Company in the 1940's. After spending a bit of time looking at the ruins we had some lunch in Huehuetenango followed by a walk around the large markets in Huehue. It is a market town and people from mamy outlying regions come into the town to sell their wares. There were all sorts of things - from live chickens, fruit and veges, tea, spices, and all sorts of meat. It was fascinating but definitely turned you vegetarian, at least for a few hours!

And Sunday was spent sitting in the park and watching the world go by. It was lovely to have a day off from everything as studying and doing homework can be pretty full on. Another 4 weeks of classes to go before this chapter of our trip comes to an end.

Apart from not having had water for 5 days the following week went by pretty quietly. We went to school, participated in the school activities such as attending conferences and watching "Maria llena de Gracia". By Wednesday we were able to shower again which was very exciting after having had dirty hair for a week! On Thursday after school we climbed 'La Muella' ('The Molar' in English) which is one of the mountains that surround Xela. It was a tough scramble up the slope followed by some mountain climbing. In any other country we would have required ropes and harnesses but we all survived and the view at the top was worth it! We walked back down in the darkness and got to see hundreds of fire flies and traditional Mayan farmers finishing up for the day. It was well worth the danger and the effort.

The following day was the graduation party, the theme was 'Cocktails and Juegos' and everyone had to make cocktails in groups. We made a Martini de Profundo Mar Azul with our teachers which was pretty good and then we played games. While playing 'hot potato' Lara had to dance on the table! We then went to a crazy nightclub called Kokolocos and played pool and danced the salsa until early in the morning.

We had a pretty quiet weekend, going out for Indian and trying the local fried chicken chain 'Pollo Campero'. Al devoured a few whole chickens which he then needed to walk off. We spent Sunday morning hiking to Laguna de Chicabal, a beautiful crate lake at the centre of Mayan Cosmovision. We also got to see a volcano erupting in the distance and a Mayan ceremony being performed on the lake. The lake is surrounded by lush rainforest and beautiful flowers. And apart from the altitude causing a bit of havoc it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning.

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