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Published: November 4th 2007
without any major issues 😊 other than a little tummy issue after a dodgy lunch with Guatemalan cheese. If you ever come to visit, stay away from it. It's the most vile thing you could ever eat. It literally tastes like vomit!!
Anyhow, we have arrived in Quetzaltenango (or Xela as the locals say, pronounced Shay-la) on Sunday and our family is great so far. As far as we can judge it by now, the school is quite good and we're slowly learning some spanish. Our teachers are very good and the school offers loads of activities after the morning lessons.
We had a little introduction into Mayan history on Monday, it was quite boring in fairness...mainly because we didn't understand a lot.
Tuesday we went to a little village called Salcaja where we visited the market and also saw how the traditional clothing is made. In the same house they were brewing some liquor called Calda des frutas. Apparently it's illegal but very tasty!
On Wednesday we were taught how to build a kite, by a little boy!!! A little history behind that: The 1st November is "La dia de los muertos" (the day of the dead). The people in
Guatemala celebrate it with a big dinner (The Fiambre) and they go to the cemetary to bring flowers to the graves. Also it is very common to fly kites that day. There is a little village near the capital where they have a kite competition and they are flying kites that are as big as 10 metres!
We had the Fiambre with our host family on Thursday . It was extremly delicious. Basically it is a huge salad made from loads of different vegetables and different sorts of meats and cheese. You should have seen the portions, you can feed 2 people with one plate! The Fiambre is a special dish that is made for the Day of the Dead and only in Guatemala.
Fridays is always graduation day and whoever leaves the scholl gets a certificate. We also made lunch together and flew our kites on the roof. Well, they didn't fly that well because there was no wind 😉 it was great fun anyway.
On Saturday we had a trip planned with the school as well. We went to a nearby village called Zunil, around 3 km from there are the Fuentes Georginas. Hot springs in the middle
of the woods. It was beautiful, we had a great view on the volcano Santa Maria and the vegetation was amazing. The water there was so hot, you could almost boil food in there but nevertheless extremly relaxing!
Our family (Maria and Diamantine, they are sisters) are very nice. They are making an effort to talk to us all the time and we're slowly getting better. I can undertsand more than I can speak but I'm only learning for a week now. So there's still hope 😊
We have also met loads of people here that are volunteering at different schools. This place is crammed with foreigners and you're never bored really. So much to do.
Dee, there's a little bar here (El Cuartito) you'd love it. Great drinks and little snacks, so nice!
On a side note: We're having Mojitos in El Cuartito for around 1,30 Euro and cigarettes are just over 1 Euro!!!
Well, that's all for the first week...watch this space for more!
Yvonne
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