Returning back to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala to study Spanish

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After spending last year in Asia I decided it was time to return to Latin America. I wanted to study Spanish and visit some friends in Colombia, so I decided to study in Guatemala, and then make my way through Central America to Colombia. I would be traveling of ground inland but I had plenty of time for those bus rides.

I left Chicago on October 12th with a flight into Guatemala via Houston. It all started with plane problems in Houston and having to reboard a new plane. Then we get close to Guatelmala City and they are having big storms so we can't land there and need to go to Honduras to refuel. Instead of arriving at 10:40 as scheduled, I arrived around 4:30. I arrived in Antigua and spent 1 night before leaving since it was raining. I digured I would rather get to Xela and start studying Spanish. A local stopped me at the bus station and showed me the local paper with pictures of major flooding and bridges washed out from the day before. I decided to give it a go since almost all of my travel would be on the main highway. There weren't many buses or trucks traveling that day when on the normal day the highway is full of buses and trucks hauling various things. I did see a number of mudslides on the road which forced the road down to just or 2 total lanes. Luckily, I seem to remain calm on the chicken buses even when the roads are chaotic. It also helped that I made this trip numerous times on my previous visits to Guatemala.
I made it to Xela safely and without any problems. I was planning to get a private room in a hostel near the school that had a shared kitchen and main rooms. However, the more I thought about it on my bus ride, I decided to try a homestay with a local family. My first host family here in Xela was very conservative. They really didn't talk with me all that much, which defeats the purpose of staying with a local family for improving your Spanish. I specified to my school to find me an outgoing family who would talk to me a bunch. They found a family within 15 minutes and the next thing I knew I was living with a family and sitting down to dinner with them. So alot had changed in my first 24 hours.

The mother of the family runs the house and is always cleaning, cooking and running from place to place. She does make sure to talk with me each day during lunch and at dinner. She really makes an effort to speak with me, and make sure I feel welcome there. They have hosted lots of students over the years so they are comfortable hosting students. The father is a tailor and operates his business out of the house. He was quiet at first, but very friendly and willing to talk in the evenings when his work is completed. They have 3 daughters with them ranging from about 15 to 27 years old. The oldest is a black belt in karate and was quiet the first week. The 2nd daugther has a 7-year old daughter, who is always laughing and wanting to play some game with anyone, including me. There is also another student from the school living in another one of the rooms. She is from Australia and has been here about 5 weeks studying Spanish. I've enjoyed sharing the family with another person and The parents are religious and belong to an evangelical church. The mother is a worrier and is always warning us about the dangers of Xela in the evenings. I swear she was talking about the housing projects of Chicago and not Xela. Overall, it's been a good experience and planning to stay with them a few more weeks.

I started feeling sick in school last Tueday and ended up in bed almost all of Tuesday and Wednesday with a head cold, small sore throat and a fever. It was an effort to just get up and turn off the light. The first night I got some medicine for the fever and head congestion. On Thursday I thought I was feeling a bit better until late afternoon came. My fever came back and my throat was throbbing. So it was off to the doctor on Friday morning with my teacher to provide support for me. Happy to say that I was able to do the examine in Spanish without hardly any translation. The doctor diagnosed me with tonsillitis and gave me a prescription for antibiotics. I was already feeling a bit better physically on Friday night and now on Monday I am feeling much better.

Looking back on this week I had a few thoughts about this past week. I have been really lucky with me rarely getting sick during my times of travels. It seems once each trip I catch a bug that bothers me for a day or two at the most. Even with a helpful host family it was not a fun time, and much prefer being sick in the comforts of a my home with a hot shower, central heat and local food. Even after all crap from this week, I still have to consider myself lucky that after about 4 years on the road traveling the worst is with a sore throat being the worst of my troubles.

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