Guatemala at last... Estoy aqui!

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Finally, I made it... I´m here, safe and sound in Xela!! (prounounced "Shayla," if you´re not sure)

All has gone really well so far, and I´m loving it. I made it into Guatemala City and on the way, I met an Australian girl named Amy going to the same place. Myself, Amy and her friend Gina were picked up at the airport by Gustavo, who was holding a sign with our names, as promised. He packed us and our giant backpacks into his tiny car and drove us through Guatemala City to his house. There were already three guys there, two on their way to Xela, one on his way back. So there we are, 2 Australians, 2 Americans, 1 Irishman and 1 Scottsman, all at home in Guatemala... Small world.

We ate dinner and talked a bit, and then tried to sleep. I felt so tired and my room was comfortable, but for some reason I could not sleep! My head hit the pillow around midnight, but I was still watching the clock at 5:30am. I think I fell asleep shortly after, only to have crazy dreams and awake at 7am for my bus. My daily schedule is going to be very different here, I can see that already. Everything seems to close around 9 at the latest, and everyone gets up very early. And the meals are very scheduled. My family here (more later) eats at set times every day.

Because all the other peeps were going to the same school, they got to take a later bus, and all together. I had to take the early bus and by myself, of course. After breakfast I say goodbye to Raquel and my newfound friends. Gustavo takes me to the bus station and off I go. It was the windiest 4-hour ride of my life, through impressive hills and villages. The scenery from the window was like a moving Guatemalan postcard, exactly what you think of or expect to see. There were women in bright colors carrying big baskets on their heads or sacks over their shoulders, cows tied to the side of the road for unknown reasons, men trying to sell stuff, pigs, dogs, sheep...it was great. I felt safe, except at one point when an armed police or military man stopped us, boarded and walked down the aisle, but then got off and let us go on.... It got quiet and somewhat tense for a minute, but apparently all was fine. The bus stopped a few more times, with no warning or designation, to let people on and off. Every time, these two guys would get out and try to persuade others to get on the bus with us. Then the bus would start pulling away without them and they would have to run and jump on... They were quick and it was amusing. A Guatemalan guy sat beside me and started falling asleep, waking up everytime his head hit my shoulder.

Eventually we made it to Xela and a woman from my school and my family met me at the station. My house mom´s name is Magda, and she´s wonderful. Her 18-year-old daughter Magali was driving the car. We went back to their house and I met the father, Gorge and the 13-year old son, Gorgito. This family is too cute, and so nice! And pretty wealthy I think, especially for Guatemalan standands. The father is a professor here in Xela. They showed me to my room and told me that lunch would be in an hour or two. I unpacked my things, tried to take a nap, but no luck. We ate lunch together, chicken with rice and veggies, and this yummy juice made out of a local fruit. The family speaks no English, but we seemed to do well with conversation. There are some words that they say differently here, which makes it tough. They´re so fun though, we laughed a lot, despite the language barriers. After lunch, the daughter showed me around town. We walked past my school, parks, churches, restaurants and internet cafes, and bought bread at this Panaderia that smelled like heaven. Then we walked home and with not much else to do, I walked back to this internet cafe.

I´m going to try to update this often, especially since I´´m not sure how much time (or $$) I´ll have for writing lots of individual e-mails. Hope no one minds... Feel free to unsubscribe if you like, or Enjoy!

Well, I better go for now. Dinner is at 7 tonight, and classes begin tomorrow at 8...Wish me luck! Adios Amigos!!

Hasta Luego,
Brooke

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