Things I'm learning: Take 2

26) Hot water does not, in fact, come out of the sink. I still try every time to get hot water.
27) The climb to the Parque Ecologico is long and hard. But so, so worth it.
28) The lake you can see from the Parque is not, in fact, Lake Atitlan, but rather Lake Amatitlan.
29) People walk up and down the mountain every day carrying logs on their head.
30) Language school is kind of intimidating. But in a good way.
31) Pilas are for washing clothes by day, and making out by night. (At least this is the case with the big pila we have to pass any time we want to go somewhere.)
32) You can also wash children in the pila.
33) A good cup of coffee is totally worth the long walk to find it.
34) Lavandarias are kind of expensive. But clean clothes are really nice.
35) The awesome car at our house is a '57 Pontiac.
36) We have a maid. Also a cook.
37) Soccer se mueve el mundo.
38) Guatemalans love the European soccer leagues. You can't go anywhere without seeing a Barcelona or a Real Madrid jersey. Our host dad loves both, but Real Madrid most.
39) Lunch (at least at our house) is the biggest meal of the day typically.
40) Cafe Barista makes a great latte.
41) I still love Fun Dips.
42) Our house kind of reminds me of the hotel in The Shining. I have to try to not think about this when I go to the bathroom at night so as to not scare myself.
43) God is so much bigger than the box I put him in.
44) Running in the afternoon: not smart.
45) "Coffee should be black as night, strong as passion, sweet as love, and hot as hell." (I think this needs to hang in my house someday.)
46) Dark chocolate with orange is perhaps one of the best things ever.
47) Latin American soccer fans do it right!
48) If you want to learn to swear in another language, go to a soccer game in a country that speaks that language.
49) Wear sunscreen to soccer games.
50) The market is amazing and overstimulating, all at the same time.
51) Bartering is mildly frightening. But expected. And necessary to get a decent price.
52) I don't love sushi. But I don't hate it either.
53) Fresh fruit is perhaps the best thing ever. Especially when you bought it at a market directly from the hands that grew it.
54) The unidentified purple fruit we bought at the market kind of looks like an alien from War of the Worlds inside. Can't say I'll get that one again.
55) Soccer really is the world's sport.
56) Wearing a skirt like the native women wear is harder than it looks! (I bought one at the market!)
57) I could probably spend a lot of money at the artisan's market...
58) I love finding new coffee shops. Especially ones that play Gungor and make fun shapes in my coffee.
59) The maid does not come every day. Especially on the weekends. But also not today.
60) I do not love history classes. But my teacher at the language school thinks I do...

Lake Amatitlan

The pila near our house

I think this would be a good life skill to have.

Soccer love!

Antigua and CLM

Hello there friends! I have officially been in Guatemala for two weeks! It seems longer than that though...orientation at Semilla seems like forever ago.

On Sunday we moved from Magdalena to Antigua where we'll be staying until the end of April. It was sad to leave our first host family, but we're excited to get to stay with them for several weeks at the end of the trip. Our new host family is definitely a different situation than what we had before. We were told before coming to Guatemala that some of the host families in Antigua treat hosting students more like a business than a chance to get to know students, and our new family would definitely fall into that category. They're nice enough, but they just aren't looking to get to know us like our first family was. We're also somewhat unclear on the family relationships going on. Our host mom's name is Patricia. We think her husband's name is Carlos (there is a man named Carlos that lives there. We are fairly certain they are married. She said something about a husband once, and Carlos seems to fit the bill.). Carlos is really sweet and funny. He likes to tease, and he loves soccer. Last night at dinner we talked about soccer for probably 15-20 minutes. Luis (might have a different name....) is Patricia's brother-in-law who typically lives in Chicago, but is here visiting. There's a woman who eats lunch with us, but we don't know her name. Or her relation to the family. And they have a dog named Romíl. Or something along those lines. That's what it sounds like at least. There's a girl from Japan that lives there. Her name is Tomoko, and she's here to learn Spanish so that she can better teach Japanese. There is also a girl from Minnesota named Anne. She is also taking classes from CLM (Centro Linguistico Maya). The house is kind of like a hotel, and so it's definitely different from Magdalena. We also have a maid that makes our beds each day and cleans up our rooms. Just like home, eh mom? ;)

Monday we started the class portion of the semester at the Centro Linguistico Maya. CLM is a school where people from all over the world come to learn Spanish. We all have our own teachers, and the 1:1 ratio of students to teachers makes sure you are getting lots of Spanish practice in. There's definitely not a way you can hide in the back of the class and not talk when it's just you and the teacher sitting at a table! I was pretty intimidated at first, but it's really not as terrible as I thought it would be. My teacher's name is Noemí. She's very sweet and smart, but also pretty sassy and opinionated! We only take one class at a time, so while it's intense (just four weeks), it's not overly stressful. At least not yet. I guess we're not very far into the class! My first class is Ibero-American History. I don't love history classes, so we'll see how it goes, yeah? We do four hours of classes Mon. -Fri. and then we have the rest of the day free! (Except for a few planned group things, and meals with the family) I'm excited to get to explore this beautiful city throughout the semester! Oh and drink coffee! We're already staking out our favorite cafes. :)

Things I'm Learning: Part 1

1) It's approx. 7.5 quetzales to the dollar. This is not a great exchange rate.
2) You can get a basic cell phone for approx. 130 quetzales.
3) Many current problems that exist in Guatemala stem from the 36 year civil war (started in part because of the US's involvement...)
4) The National Palace was designed by a former dictator (pre civil war). There are 5 floors in the place representing the 5 letters in his first and in his last names. The inside color was his wife's favorite color.
5) There are people that make their living digging through garbage in Guatemala City.
6) There are no rules of the road. At least non that I can see.
7) Racism is not a purely American problem.
8) You can buy an ice cream cone for the amount a guajero makes in a day.
9) It is very difficult to unlearn muscle memory. For example, brushing your teeth. We have to use purified water, because the tap water could make us sick. While I have a bottle of water sitting next to the sink, it can be difficult to not just turn the tap on and put my toothbrush under it. That is what my hands and brain want to do. Also, toilet paper. It cannot be flushed, and has to be put in a garbage can next to the toilet. This can be difficult to remember when it is very early in the morning.
10) Guatemalan schools are very different than American schools.
11) Dogs live on the roofs.
12) Dogs also live wherever they want. There are tons that live on the streets and do not have a house to go to at night. I would equate the number of street dogs in Magdalena to the number of squirrels in the states.
13) Pelota is a loose term for any game with a ball. Soccer (the rules of which are also loose), volleyball, kick the ball as hard as you can and see where it goes, see how many times you can keep the ball in the air...these can all be "Pelota"
14) Crossing the monkey bars is called something along the lines of "pasa las manos." Usually it goes something like, "¡Seño, ayuda me pasar las manos!" (Help me do the monkey bars, teacher!)
15) Female teachers are called Seño_________ (As in I'm Seño Raquel). It's short for señora or señorita.
16) Teaching jobs are sometimes considered transitional jobs. You can teach after completing a high school equivalent.
17) God is the same here as he is at home and anywhere else.
18) Students kiss the teachers on the cheek as they leave.
19) Showers are a gamble. And water pressure is virtually nonexistent.
20) Things take forever to dry, if they dry at all. e.g. my hair, wash cloth, and toothbrush
21) Not greeting the people you pass is frowned upon. Buenos dias, buenas tardes, buenas noches are heard even if it's to a complete stranger. (At least here in Magdalena, it may be different elsewhere)
22) There is always room for one more. (#riding the bus)
23) Beans can be eaten at any and every meal.
24) Beauty is all around.
25) The climb is hard, but the view from the top makes it all worth it.

Just a little update for you all!

We moved to Magdalena on Sunday. Magdalena is a very small village up in the mountains. It's two short bus rides from the somewhat larger city of Antigua where we'll be splitting the time this semester. We met our host families Sunday morning and then drove down into Antigua to spend the day eating Pollo Campero (the pride and joy of Guatemalan restaurants), going on a scavenger hunt, meeting the S.I. staff, and watching the Super Bowl. Go Giants? It was a long day, and we were more than ready to crawl into our beds at our host family's house. My roommate and I have the absolute sweetest couple as our host parents. Our host mom, Dolores, has made us two delicious breakfasts so far, and is an absolute doll. Her husband grows flowers and they sell them in two different markets twice during the week. Yesterday was our first day at the ministry sites (community development sites is perhaps a more appropriate term). I'm working at a private elementary school here in Magdalena teaching English. Fridays are non-academic days and so we'll be teaching Bible classes on Friday. There's about 80 kids in the school, and it's a bit overwhelming but fun for sure! Right now the four of us students and one staff member are all working together in the classrooms, but later on we'll be doing some teaching on our own. I'm looking forward to be able to practice the things I'm learning in Tesol back at Greenville! The kids are fun, and exciting, and dirty, and loud. So it's going to be crazy, but good. At least I think it will be. :) (Check back in later to see if I'm still thinking the same thing!) We're here in Magdalena for this week and then we'll move to Antigua for the start of our language classes. Can't say I'm looking forward to starting classes again...It's all very exciting and overwhelming, so please be keeping me in your prayers! Alrighty, someone's about to have a skype interview so I'm going to get off the internet for her. Later gators!

Contrast Tour

Tomorrow we're heading out from this lovely little place we've been staying, and I'm taking full advantage of the internet while I have it. I don't know when I'll have it again, so posts may be sparse.

Yesterday, as part of our orientation process we went on what they call a Contrast Tour. There's a weird juxtaposition that exists in this country (and others in central/south America) between the rich and the poor. From what I can tell the majority of people in Guatemala live in poverty, and something like 60% of those people are indigenous. The purpose of the Contrast Tour was to show us in a tangible way the difference between these two groups of people. We started off by going to the national cemetery, which served more as a history lesson than a normal walk through a cemetery would be. First of all, I have never seen so many gigantic mausoleums in one place. They're like miniature cathedrals all throughout the cemetery. It'a also expensive to have someone buried here, so the poor people, as in the majority of people, would not be able to bury their family members in this cemetery.

A small monument in the National Cemetery. Most are like small houses!

Within the cemetery are monuments and graves for some of the prominent political figures in Guatemala's history. Pre-civil war, post-civil war, and several from the 36 years in between. It's always interesting to me as I travel to hear about the involvement the U.S. played in the civil wars and fights in these countries. It's not a good picture, and not what you hear in the history books...

After walking through the cemetery and learning a bit more about this country's history, we walked to a place that overlooks the largest garbage dump in Guatemala. It collects a third of the country's trash, I think. Something like that. We were told the Americans came and taught the Guatemalans to make trash. They have yet to teach them to recycle properly. So instead of recycling bins and plants, Guatemala's largest garbage dump has guajeros. Guajeros are people whose only source of income comes from whatever they can dig out of the trash and sell. There are thousands of people who get up every day and walk to the dump, so that they can dig through the garbage and find recyclables and other things to sell. When a garbage truck comes in the guajeros put their hands on the trucks as a way of claiming the garbage inside. Only those who have their hands on the trucks can dig through the piles of garbage that come out of them. They're mostly looking for glass and plastics, but really they'll collect anything they can sell. It used to be that these people not only worked in the dump, but lived there too. They would take their children in, and either leave them in a box until they got done working, or have them come help dig through the trash with them. There's been some regulation, due to deaths and injuries and fires caused by extreme buildups of methane gas. Now guajeros are no longer able to live in the dump, nor are children under the age of 14 allowed to work in the dump. Still, it's a horrible place to live and work. The average daily income for a guajero is approx. 10 quetzales. It's about 7.5ish quetzales to the dollar, so you do the math. Their daily income is practically nothing.

After looking at the dump came the contrast portion of the tour. We were then taken to a mall that the higher class populations shop at, and were given 10 quetzales, or one day's wages for the typical guajero. We were then told to go buy something for 10q. Here's what we were able to purchase: an ice cream cone from Dairy Queen, a candy bar, or a few very small coffee type drinks. Like I said, weird juxtaposition of rich and poor in this country. Humbling too, to be reminded of how much I actually have. I'm not rich by anyone's standards, but I definitely can afford to buy more than an ice cream cone. And I don't have to dig through trash to  make a living.

Guatemala: el empiezo

¡He llegado en Guatemala! Wednesday was perhaps one of the longest days ever, but despite the long hours of travel I got here all in one piece, as did my luggage. So thankful for that! There's about 25 people on the team, most of them from Bethel University in MN. We're staying for a few days in Guatemala City at a retreat center for seminary students. It's a ministry of the Mennonite church. They offer classes and lectures for seminary students, as well as providing a place to stay for groups like ours. So we've been staying here while we go through some orientation stuff. After this weekend we'll head out to start at our missions sites and later on classes.

Yesterday we were able to tour around some of Guatemala City, go on a scavenger hunt, tour the national palace and cathedral, and start to learn a bit about the history about this country we're going to be spending the next four months in. It's weird to say that. I don't think it's set in completely that I'll be here for four months. Every time I've been out of the country in the past has been for about two weeks at a time, so we'll have to see how I'm feeling when that period of time is up on this trip. I'm looking forward to it though! I'm taking lots of pictures, but here's a few to get you started.

Guatemala City from the plane as we flew in.

Palacio Nacional de Guatemala

Half the group listening to our tour guide describe the mural in the front of the national palace.

Well, that's all for now. I'll be posting more as I have time and internet. Blessings!