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Hello everyone,
I am here at my school PLQ (Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco) in Quetzaltenango (also known as Xela (pronounced Shay-la). After leaving Los Angeles on a 2:00 am flight, I arrived into Guatemala City Sunday morning at 8:30. I had no difficulties passing through immigration, and no problems finding my luggage. In fact, I was the first person to find my bag and leave the baggage terminal. The previous week, I had made arrangements with Mr. and Mrs Lizama (in Guatemala City) to pick me up from the airport Sunday morning. As I was leaving the airport terminal, I quickly found Mr Lizama amoung a crowd of 50 or so people. I felt everyone looking at me, but when I saw Mr. Lizama I felt great relief and happiness that I had made it safely. Mr Lizama is very sweet, and friendly; much like his son Juan (my patient). We then drove back home, and I met his wife Thelma. Mrs. Lizama is very friendly; kissing my cheeks and hugging me. We had a quick cup of coffee and cake, and they showed me around their home. They have a large home by Guatemala standards, with two floors. I talked
Mr. and Mrs. Lizama
My grandparents in Guatemala City with Mr and Mrs Lizama over coffee; me with my little spanish and them with their little english. It went well though; you can get a lot across with some knowledge of the language.
Soon after, we left to go drop Mrs. Lizama off at church for Sunday morning mass. Mr. Lizama then drove me to the bus station, and helped me buy a bus ticket to Xela. There are two different kinds of buses in Guatemala- the camionetas (aka chicken buses) and the 1st class pullman buses. The camionetas are old school buses from the US that have found their way down the Central America. These buses often travel through small villages making frequent stops. They are very inexpensive, and often are very crowded with the luggage strapped to the top of the bus. The pullman buses are old Greyhound buses, that serve more of a express route; making less stops. The travel time from Guatemala City to Xela is roughly 4 hours via pullman bus. Mr Lizama left me at the bus station- I thanked him for all that he had done. I really appreciated that he waited for me at the airport for two hours, and
also had gotten me my cell phone. I paid him back and gave him a little extra for his efforts. I feel very blessed to have met the Lizama family and reassured in knowing that I have people out here to help me.
The bus ride to Xela went well; the road is newly paved for the entire journey. However, we travelled through many mountainous regions and 90% of the ride is curves. I was starting to feel a little car sick towards the end the ride. During the ride, the bus stops at little stops for a brief moment (sometimes not even a complete stop) and people are let off and others hop on. A little boy of 8 or 9 years, checked everyone´s ticket and made change with the ones that were buying a ticket. The little boy would also periodically announce the stops, and assisted people with their luggage. About halfway through the ride, a man stood up and introduced himself. He said that he had studied medicine for two years in the United States. Then he proceded to talk about different health problems that people face from eating McDonald´s and other bad foods. He spoke about different organs and diseases (cardiovascular, gastro intestinal, diabetes ect) and in the end held up a large bag of herbs saying that these herbs would cure these ailments. I don´t think anyone bought his product, and soon after he got off the bus.
Besides resting, I looked out the window and took in the scenery. The countryside is very green and lush with many little farms and plantations. I saw corn growing, cabbage and other plants that I could not identify. The people are very interesting to look at- especially the Mayans. There are many different Mayan tribes here; with several different dialects. The individual tribes dress in different ways; with different styles of clothing and colors. It was fascinating to see the different types of dresses, scarves, hair pieces and woven colors in their clothing.
I arrived to Xela around 3:00 in the afternoon. I found a taxi to take me to my school. My school is very beautiful and colorful. I will have to go into more detail later. Soon after, my host families sister came to pick me up. We walked from the school to my house (about 5 minutes) and I met my host family. I live with a two women- a mother and grandmother. The daughter (I think she is in her mid 30´s) lives in the apartment behind us. She has a little boy of 7 years old and a baby girl of 6 months. Her mother and grandmother watch the baby while she is at work in the daytime. I don´t see any men around, and I don´t feel comfortable in asking. I think the grandmother´s husband died (she told me yesterday that he used to be a colonel in the army) but I don´t know about the mother´s husband. I have much more to write about (especially my first day of school yesterday) but I need to go run errands and such.
Adios!
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Fonsi
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through your eyes
Hi sweety. I enjoyed reading your stories so much before I go to bed. They are so descriptive. I honestly feel like I'm seing the world through your eyes. I imagine everything you are talking about and everything is so pretty and interesting. I'm so glad everything is going so well for you. I pray for you and your well being. I'm so proud of you, and I admire you so much for your courage. Anyway I feel like I'm writing my own blog within yours.... hahahah. God bless you and see you soon. mua mua.