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School, Shopping, Cemetary, and Chicken Buses
North America » United States » California » Los Angeles » Hollywood
November 2nd 2009 by Guate Gal, Xela, Guatemala
Hi everyone. Love your comments, please keep them up & let me know how you are doing. I really want to stay connected to you. My new family is great. There are 2 other students in the house right now and it is working out well. The other 2 students are both studying for the bilingual exam in 2 weeks and they speak Spanish all of the time and we have very interesting conversations at the dinner table. The parents of the family always help us with our Spanish and have patience with me. The food is much better than my 1st family and I am happy to say that I get a daily serving of veggies. My fruit needs are subsidized by chocopina´s. I suppose it could be worse. There are 3 kids in the family so we have a very active dinner table. The nights here get cold and there is no heat. My room is on the roof of the house so I don´t get insulation from the house. Fortunately I brought a very warm sleeping bag. So far I am staying toasty thanks to long johns and my sleeping bag. It is supposed to get much colder in December. I hope that layering up will keep me warm. During the days it is pretty warm, around 68-70. It is supposed to stay this way all year round. Knock on wood!
I´ve met a few friends here & I traveled with them 2 1-2 hours on a chicken bus to a town with the best marketplace this side of Guatemala. A chicken bus is basically a retired school bus that has been decorated by the new owner. The name ¨chicken bus¨ comes from the fact that locals sometimes take their chickens on the bus with them. There were no chickens or goats on our bus though. The ride there was pretty comfy but it was standing room only on the ride home. Every single part of my body was touching another person, crazy. One kind-hearted man gave me his seat an hour into the ride--very kind!! The day was filled with haggling and bargains--way fun.
This past weekend was filled with celebrations for Todos Santos and Dia de los muertos. I took a few trips to the local cemetary. It was so crowded with families honoring their loved ones. The graves were decorated with beautiful flowers and many people made traditional dishes to honor the day. Today families took the favorite food of their loved ones to the graves and ate the food at the gravesite. I thought it would be intrusive to take photos but my teacher assured me that it was perfectly fine. He said that this is a time of celebration not grief.
School is going well. I am working with a mail teacher named Carlos. He knows his stuff and is pretty funny. Classes are INTENSE. 5 hours of class a day and at least 2 hours of homework a night. It is a lot of fun learning a new language but also can be frustrating. Poco a poco is my motto. Well, that´s all for now. Please keep in touch.
Guatemalteco Skateboarder
This is Mario, a Guatemalan skateboarder. I met him last Sunday on my way back from the cemetary & just had to get a picture.
My 1st Chocopina Experience
My friend Julie introducing me to Chocopina´s. My life will never be the same.
Part of trip: Xela, Guatemala
15 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
November 3rd 2009 - Cynthia: Tonto mí
Oops! Yo no me di cuenta de que podría hacer comentarios acerca de su página! Hola, chica! Adoro lectura su blog de viaje. Sus experiencias son muy interesantes. Sobreviví curso avanzado de Landmark. Estaré comenzando SELP este mes. Teniendo adelantos agradables. ¿Tengo yo sentido en español? Probablemente no! Dan es todavía un petimetre fresco. ¡Yo me pregunto cómo eso fue traducido a español! ¡Muchas risas! Nosotros no somos casados, todavía. ¡Víspera de Todos los Santos feliz, mi amiga! El tiempo tiene calor aquí. Adiós para ahora. ¡La escritura en español es divertida!
November 3rd 2009 - Phyllis: Blog & photos
Hey Sister! Great pictures and naratives as usual. Keep 'em up! We miss you a lot. We always include you in our healing circle on Monday nights. I pray that this experience is all you imagined and more! Keep warm and learn lots. God bless you my sister.
November 3rd 2009 - Jim Wing: Skateboarders and Jim-all English
Hi Guate Gal,
Very much enjoyed your latest entry. When I was a boy we always celebrated the eve of
All Saints Day by going Trick or Treating (All Hallows Eve or more commonly called Halloween).
Nov. 1st was our Bro. Anandamoy's birthday and Nov. 2nd (today) is Bro. Bhaktananda's B.D.
Many people in America probably have forgotten the meaning of these important days. It's
good to see our brothers and sisters in Guatamala remembering the holy ones who have
graced our lives and their dear ones who have gone before them. Your life in Xela seems to
be a very colorful one. The chocopina surely covers many a frustration. Thank you for all the
beautiful pictures. We are beginning to set up for the Christmas Faire already. This past Wed.
evening was Lay Disciple night and we saw a video of a talk Bro. Bhaktananda gave at the 1994
Convocation. The perfect thing! It was like getting a birthday present from him. Well, time to
close. Keep warm and keep up the good fight!
Hasta luego!
In Master's joy.
Mr. Jim Wing
November 3rd 2009 - Linda Wenger: Loved the pictures
Tam, sounds like your fittin g in really well. What an experien ce. Try to stay warm. Miss you. Mom
November 3rd 2009 - steph: cool
well at least your room has a view it looks like.thats pretty neat that they have celebrations to honor there loved ones lives. to bad we dont have celebrations like that. they seem more happy out there than americans. And thats great that there are a couple other students so you guys can help eachother learn spanish. well sounds like you are having fun and learning alot. we need some of those chocolate covered pinneapple's out here!
November 4th 2009 - Rachel Downing: good writing
You are actually quite a good little writer Tamara. I didn't know that about you. I am thinking of you and thanks for the pictures and updates. Uh...Is this supposed to be in Spanish? I love the pictures and stories, keep them coming.
November 4th 2009 - Anjna: greetings!
Hey Tamara;
Boy! I can see that you are really getting to know the locals and the lifestyle thats wonderful. Life here is as usual. Halloween was a fun night I was serving near the queen's court. Helping the children carefully come down the steps after being blessed by the queen. There were over 2300 people mostly children. Lilah was there with her husband Lilah was Tinkerbell and Manu Captain Cook. That was cute!
The weather here has been too warm I hope it cools down soon. We really could use rain.
I am happy to hear about your chocopina experience- is that chocolate with pineapple?
Thanks again for keeping us informed.
Lots of love and Divine Mother warmth to you.
Anjna
November 5th 2009 - Mary Ann: Love....
Hi Tamara,
Really enjoying your updates and so glad that your "Guate Girl" expereince is going so well. You are an excellent writer and the photos are great, too. You're bringing back some memories for me. I've been on a chicken bus WITH chickens (quite an experience) and I've shopped in Chichicastenaga, but how did I ever miss chocopinas?!
Take good care. It's great to hear from you.
Much love,
Mary Ann
Tu no eres tonto, pero me gusta la palabra. Estoy Escritiando in español sin el dictionario entonces perdon las problemas por favor. Me encanto recibir su letre in español & puedo a aprender mucho. Yo solemente aprendio tres tiempos (presente, el preterito, y imperfecto). El tiempo tiene frio aqui & tiene lluevo tambian. Espero tu peudes comprender mis palabras. ¡Adios!
Thanks for the prayers, love,and support!!
Sounds wonderful. I am still hoping to find some devotees in Xela, but so far no luck. Thanks for keeping me posted. The holiday season is always such a sacred and special time at Hollywood Temple. I am happy to hear about the festivities.
Miss you to mom!
Yeah, I love the view from my room. There are about 30 students in my school right now. This is the slow season. I´m told that there can be as many as 80 students in the summer. The celebration definately seems like it is right up your alley. I always remember when you asked me to take you to Grandma Oyes´grave.
Thanks. No need to do this in Spanish, I gave up that idea a while back. I do have 1 friend who posts in Spanish and I do enjoy it but I don´t many people would read it in Spanish and I would be very limited in what I could post .
A chocopina is a slice of frozen pineapple on a stick that´s dipped in chocolate and nuts.....yummy!! Thanks for the update of Mother Center, it sounds wonderful. Were you dressed up too?
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