Blogs from Quetzaltenango, Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 8

Dias 13, 14, y 15 Friday morning I woke up to shocking news- not one, but TWO of the boys from our group were in the hospital with stomach trouble! Turns out both Mike and Stephen were suffering from parasites and amoebas, and had to be kept overnight in the private hospital in Xela to be given IV’s and receive parasite medications. All morning I was stressing, trying to figure out what they had eaten and why Matt and I weren’t sick. I guess they must have eaten something together that the rest of the group didn’t have, because thankfully Matt and I never ended up getting sick (well, as sick as they were). With this added reason to worry, I was especially motivated to get my “muestra,” or stool sample, in to the lab where ... read more

Dia 9, 10. 11 Today kicked off another beautiful week in Xela! In class today Carmen and I worked more on some idiomatic expressions, grammar etc… and I talked with one of the teachers, Eduardo, whose brother makes shoes- he is going to ask if his brother can make me a pair of cowboy boots! They will make them custom fit for your foot for pretty cheap here, so we will see…  For our snack today we had hot chocolate—I’m not sure if I said this before, but hot chocolate here is literally made with a brick of chocolate. It’s very different than in the states, and you can drink it pura (made with water) or con leche (with milk). And they finally had mangos today! I tried a chocolate dipped mango, and it was ... read more

Dia 4 & 5 I think I am falling in love with this city more and more every day! Yesterday was another great day here… I had class in the morning, where we have started doing some more grammar (something I definitely need!!) During our snack break there were some artisans selling their goods on the grass, and I bought 3 bufandas hechas a mano (handmade scarves). I had to bargain a little, but I got a pretty good price  I also made an important discovery- on top of the normal snacks they serve, for about 25 cents you can but a homemade treat-chocolate dipped fruit. They make strawberries, bananas, watermelon, mango, and pineapple… they keep it frozen on sticks and when you order one they dip it in chocolate right in front of you! ... read more

Dia uno: June 12th, 2011 Today, I arrived in Guatemala. Getting here was about as smooth as I could have hoped (more or less…). My parents weren’t able to drop me off at LAX to catch my flight since they were up at my cousin Amy’s graduation in Cal Poly SLO (wish I could have been there too!) so Oliver took me to the airport. We arrived incredibly early because I was paranoid about the flight being overbooked, so even though my flight was at 1:30 AM we arrived at LAX around 9:15. After getting my bags taken care of and fussing with my phone, I hung out at the terminal and started reading “The Help,” one of the many books I downloaded on my Nook for the trip. So far this book is incredible, I ... read more

'For the next 6 weeks, I will be participating in a program called Somos Hermanos and living in a city called Quetzaltenengo, abbreviated as Xela (pronounced Shay-la… I know, it’s REALLY confusing!). I am staying with a Guatemalan host family, taking one-on-one Spanish lessons 5 hours a day, and working in local clinics and hospitals. I’ve known about this program for years, and strongly considered taking ayear off between college and medical school to complete their full 6 month program. But, as it turned out, I was too eager to start medical school instead. When I found out they recently started offering a shorter 6-week summer program for 1st year medical students, I knew the program would be a perfect fit for me. Thanks to the incredible generosity and support of a wonderful USC Alumni organization ... read more