Where to even begin...

Hola a todos!!

Where to even begin... the last week has been amazing! Between Spanish lessons, salsa lessons and cooking lessons I’m becoming a little bit more Guatemalan each day. My salsa lessons went much better this week, mostly due to the fact that the teacher was my partner. It was so easy to dance with the teacher. He gave the signal and somehow my body was usually where it was supposed to be. Cooking also went exceptionally well. I went over to my Spanish teacher’s house to make Chile Rellenos. It was a lot of work, but with the fantastic guidance of Carla they turned out exceptionally well. I’ll make them for you all when I get back. Wed. night I went out with Jose Manuel (who boards in the same house as me- he’s a student in the university here) for his birthday. It was really fun to meet and spend time with other Guatemalans my age, but it made me realize how desperately I need to learn slang Spanish. I hardly understood a thing the whole night =)

Sat. was probably by far the best yet most intense day I’ve had to far. A few of us students from the school went to a village set up by USAID for the victims from Hurricane Stan. It’s always hard to know how to react when faced with such suffering and devastation. At first I felt really awkward and didn’t know what to do with myself. Unsurprisingly, it was the kids who broke the ice. A few girls came up to us and started talking. While we were all waiting gathered inside one of the corrugated metal huts Alicia and I offered to braid two of the girls hair. That was it! From then on I always had at least two kids at my side. I had a bunch of marbles that I gave to the kids to play with. That was definitely a hit. After the initial presentation and introduction, we started handing out the supplies we had brought to the village (each of the students from my school contributed something). We had some food, medical supplies (there was a doctor and a pharmacist with us), and school supplies. I was overwhelmed by how grateful the people were. The best part of the whole experience though were Maria and Manuela. They were two very very precious girls. At the end when we were all kind of wandering around, they came up to me because they wanted to show me their house. They led me down the hill to their house. Their house was a wood frame, with a metal roof and plastic walls covered in the word “USAID.” Inside it was two bedrooms. They had a bunch of blankets, a few toys and some food. We played inside their house for probably 15 minutes. I taught them some English words and wrote some things for them in a notebook they had. They could actually read pretty well. They loved having their photo taken, and especially being able to look at the image on the digital camera. Needless to say, I got some adorable shots (see below). Finally, it was time to say goodbye. I climbed into the bus exhausted and hungry, but more than anything else I was humbled. I would love to go back to that village again. That village and especially those kids have a piece of my heart.

This morning I had another really interesting experience. I went to church with my host family- expecting Catholicism I was surprised when we walked into a whole-in- the-wall protestant church. If the service wasn’t so long (I cut out early with Luis, the boy who lives in my house, after 2 ½ hours), I would probably go every week. They whole experience was highly entertaining and I actually learned a bit of new spanish. The first hour of the service was essentially a Christian Rock concert complete with drums, base, a guitar, a keyboard, a flute, a saxophone and an impassioned singer. When my host sister pulled out her tambourine I knew that I was experiencing church in a whole new way. The lady in front of me had her hands in the air and was crying and all around me people were shouting amen. Then after the concert there was a half an hour of announcements and thank-yous before the sermon began. The sermon was something else, as well. The minister pulled out a chalkboard and started teaching the congregation like it was a classroom. He would ask a question (example: where do you stand before the Lord?), then pieces of paper were passed out for people to write their answers on. After a few minutes the minister passed the microphone around for people to share what they wrote. The best part was that he spoke slowly and repeated himself ten times so I understood absolutely everything the was going on. Interestingly, all the while that minister was talking, kids were running in and out of the church and people were having their own random side conversations. Definitely some different social standards. I was actually quite impressed with the overall message of the church- it was essentially God is good, always present and its important for each on of use to examine the way we act in everyday life. So yah, like I said quite an experience.

This afternoon, I hung out at a café (where I drank real coffee for a change-yum) and studied Spanish. My flashcards are definitely starting to pile up. Now, it’s time to get home for dinner.


Love you all,
Amy



P.S. As I only posted photos I thought I would add a few words on my hike last week up the volcano. It was amazing! I really enjoyed being out hiking, talking to people from all over the world and soaking in the views. Everything was a bit old school, which was actually really cool. Instead of worrying about having exactly the right gear everyone just used what they had and what worked. Our guides were not only really nice, but also really professional. I was very impressed by their leadership skills. All the guides for the company I went with are volunteers and all the money they earn goes to support a school, dormitory and medical facility for street kids. They have a very well run organization and system. The only drawback to the whole thing (which was minor) was speaking in English all weekend. It took me a day or so to get back in the groove of Spanish afterwards.