Blogs from Western Highlands, Guatemala, Central America Caribbean - page 95

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So I signed up for Spanish school today. At San Pedro Spanish School, which seems to be the one that everyone goes to here. It's funny, when I began this trip, I never thought that I would ever sign up for Spanish school, but now that I'm down here, I am pretty enthusiastic about it. The nice thing about independent travel, though, is that your plans can change at a whim, and your vacation can take a shape by the end that you never thought it would have at the beginning. Before this trip, the only experience I'd had with the Spanish language was a few years spent in high school where I learned little to nothing. I spent a few weeks before I came here studying Spanish independently, and I have been trying to exercise ... read more


It's been a little while since I've posted on the blog here. I've arrived in San Pedro La Laguna, where I'll most likely be staying for a a few days, and maybe even up to a week. I am considering taking some Spanish classes here for a week or so, in order to hopefully increase my knowledge of Spanish to the point that I will be able to communicate with the locals effectively. I also think think that knowledge of Spanish might be important in the US in the future with the increase of Hispanic immigrants. Another reason is that I've found the act of learning the language so far to be quite enjoyable and I'm coming to think that knowledge of other languages is an important skill. I'm somewhat conflicted about it though, because devoting ... read more
A fountain inside La Merced
La Recoleccion
La Recoleccion interior


Well, now I’ve been here for a month and can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. Every day I am occupied which is nice. I continue to meet new and interesting people which is one of the great things about this job. However, I am also beginning to realize that after meeting these people, they will soon leave making me a little more reluctant to really be “best buds” with any of them. One girl, named Ambika, is an intern here and she is really cool. She’s from Philly but was born in India. She’ll be here until the end of August, so I feel that she’ll be a good friend. I’ve also been hanging out with the guys from the office, Boni and Jaime, who are puro guatemaltecos! They are fun and we watch futbol ... read more
Walkin' out on Xela
La Vaca de Mala Leche
Broke Down Shanty


I am trying to beak the idiot curve in language school by early in my second week, pray for me and all I come in contact with. I have completed 3 days of five hour one on one classes and the optimistic part of me realizes that I am further along than a semester of classes. However, my little mind can not take it. I read as slowly a 5 year old, I can’t remember words from one minute to the next and I am showing my frustration. Today I showed my frustration with my teacher over antes and using it in a sentence ¨Estudio en mañana antes voy a clase¨ She kept going on about antes is for time and not place and that it was wrong. I tried to explain that I thought I ... read more
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Hola from Xela, Much has been going on in these last couple of weeks. I am now into week 4 of my time here in Xela. The spanish is improving each day, (or two or three days- depending on my progress) but I am finally seeing some improvements. I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, and I feel like my mind is in overdrive- sorting out all of these new words and phrases. I think this is the most active my mind has been since I was a new RN (4 years ago). I find myself thinking more in spanish, and sometimes I catch myself making grammatical errors in my typing (when I am typing in english). Often times, I get so overwhelmed and I cannot think of a word in spanish or ... read more
Catholic church in Parque Central
Procession of Jesus
Procession of Jesus


On Saturday (June 3rd) I didn´t do anything but move to my new apartment above the school and clean it a bit and get it organized. Later in the afternoon Kriss came by and we went to find a guitar and I finally found one! It was about time cause I´ve had my mandolin but it isn´t the same to sing with. After playing that for a little bit, we went to a new Indian restaurant, El Sabor de La India, which was really good and plentiful, I had to take some home. On Sunday (June 4th) I woke up early and took the students to Chichicastenango. Here they have a HUGE market on Thursdays and Sundays, though Sunday is the biggest. There is an old colonial Catholic church in the middle of the market as ... read more
Bridge over looking market at Chichi
Chichi Market - just the beginning
Chichi Bridge


Today started like any other day. I woke up at 6:45 am to the sound of my alarm. I took my shower with the always changing water temperature. I got dressed, put on my makeup and made my bed. I had the usual breakfast of corn flakes with powdered milk. I said good bye to my host mom and walked the 5 minute walk to school. During my walk, I saw the normal every day things: kids walking to school in their uniforms, dogs roaming the street, indigenous women balancing their items on their head. I got the normal machismo treatment from men on the street. Regular stuff. My teacher and I finished our lesson by 12, and we decided to watch a movie for the remaining hour. Everyone else was playing scrabble in espanol, card ... read more


I was invited to go to a futbol game with a couple of people from school Wednesday night. Xela was playing against the municipal team from Guatemala City in the semifinals. We decided to all meet at the school at 5 pm, and walk together as a group to the stadium. The actually game would not start until 8 pm, but we wanted to be there early. It was me and four other girls (the guys never showed) coincidentally all from the midwest (Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota). We made it to the stadium at 5:30, and bought our tickets for Q50 ($6.25). We could have have paid Q40 if we had waited in line for 45 minutues, but decided to do the mercado de negro way (black market) and buy it from the guy on ... read more


Time is passing in Guatemala, The trip to Tajumulco in the weekend went great (muy bueno). For me (Jamie) it will probably be the 1st of many as this is the trip I have been assigned to guide for the Quetzal Trekkers. Tajumulco is the highest point in Central America, 4220 metres. ... read more
On the way
Plaza at San Marcos
Lunch Spot, looking towards campsite


Hello, I'm in Xela (pronounced shayla). It's been raining pretty heavily for the past couple weeks. I've been enjoying my time here in Gautemala. It's beautiful and culturaly rich. The one bad thing though - the rain, but it's rainy season so what can I expect. Not going to say much on this post, but I got some good pics. Enjoy.... read more
Volcan Pacaya
Antigua
Lago Atilan




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