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Published: July 13th 2007
Hola a todas! Things have been crazy here and I haven´t had a chance to write in awhile. I arrived in Xela on Sunday afternoon and started classes the following morning. It has been crazy ever since. Xela is very different from any place I have ever been (including Antigua). It is really big and hardly any of the streets are marked so I get lost every time I leave the house! Even now I don´t know how to get to Parque Central from my house and people tell me that I live very close to the park. I haven´t been speaking a lot of English lately so it´s a little difficult for me to write in English. My brain is full of spanish!
I am incredibly lucky to have the host family that I have. The mother and the son both are spanish teachers and everyone is really friendly. They have a dog that is a cross between a german shepard and an akieda. It is cute but it has been marking it´s territory in my bedroom and also the other girl´s room. The other student that lives with us is a girl from South Carolina that is here for six months studying spanish and working in a medical clinic. I´m pretty sure she is starting college in the fall (I think Cornell). The house that we live in is really cool. There are three different courtyards in the house that are open to the outside. The dog must love it because it can go into the backyard any time it wants. All of the rooms of course have roofs over them and they have a big dining room where we all eat together three times a day. I´m really comfortable there.
My school is extremely small and only has 8 students (4 who study in the morning and 4 in the afternoon). I am the youngest person at this school by a long shot but they are all excellent people. Today we went to an orphanage in a small town right outside of Xela and played with the kids a bit. Their ages range from 4 months to 7 years so they are teeny and adorable. Today we played a game of soccer (futbol) with them and I almost died from all of the running around I did! I was so in love with them that I have decided to volunteer there in the mornings. So starting Monday I will go there every day to help with the children and teach them some stuff. Because of this I´m also going to have to start taking classes in the afternoons so I won´t get out of school now until 7pm. It´s worth it though because that is what I came here to do.
After school I went with a couple of other students from my school to work on a mural project at an after-school program in Xela. There were about 20 kids there and it was by far the most fun I´ve had since I´ve been here. I actually just came from there and the people in the cafe are looking at me funny because I am COVERED in paint. I have about 100 pictures of this because I let the kids take pictures with my camera and I´ve never seen a group of kids have so much fun. Once I weed through them a bit I´ll post some here so you can see the mural. The mural´s not finished yet but I won´t be able to go back there again next week because my schedule is changing.
I wish I could write pages more but right now I have to start looking for my house because dinner is in a half hour! Hope you all are doing well and I´ll write again soon.
ps...I forgot to bring my address book with me so unless people send me their address I won´t be able sent any postcards. Also, I have a cell phone now and if you ever want to call me I would love to hear from people. The country code here is 520 and my number is 5468-5523. Tengo que irme!
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Kristine
non-member comment
Girl - I hope you know how strong you are sista. You set your mind to something and then you go out and do it. Be proud that you're making a difference, that you didn't sit at home talking about Guatamala are actually achieving all the goals you set for yourself. It's a bit deal and I hope your as proud of yourself as your friends and family are of you. Be safe and have fun. I'll keep enjoying your adventures.