So far, So good

Monday, January 05, 2009

Well, I am alive and in Guatemala. So far, so good...I have survived two nights so far and start school at Celas Maya today. For the first five weeks of our program each student is assigned a teacher and we have individual Spanish lessons from 8am-1pm everyday. Since I have only been here two days, I don’t want to make too many early judgments, but things are interesting to say the least. I live with the Cajas family which consists of father, Jorge, mother, Blanca, sister, Alejandra (27), brother, Jorge (26) and another sister, Mindi (20). My family hosts students year-round, so they have had many students in and out of their home. The downfall with this is that I am not necessarily a part of their family, as much as I am the person in the spare room. I have talked to my mom the most and she is really sweet, but to the rest of my family I am mostly just a visitor. It doesn't help that my Spanish is so terrible; each night so far they have had people over and mostly just talk around me. Hopefully this gets better as my language skills improve.
My house is really interesting. The living room doubles as a garage (no, I'm not kidding, there is literally a car parked behind the couch). My room is very simple. A bed (in the shape of a U because it is so worn, but at least comfortable), a tiny desk (my computer barely fits on it), and a small dresser. I'm not going to lie, I do really miss my house/apartment in the U.S. There is no heat in the home, so my room is FREEZING at night, thank goodness for long underwear! My room is technically located on the roof of the house. I open a door to an outdoor staircase from the kitchen and my room is up there, it's tough to explain. I took my first shower today, and based on the experience, I will probably be showering much less frequently than usual. I really miss having a roommate. My room is too quiet here;it doesn't help that no one in my family knows any English. This is starting to sound really negative, but it's really not all bad. The weather here today was beautiful. It's chilly in the morning, but reached nearly 80 degrees this afternoon. My school, Celas Maya is wonderful and I will probably be spending more time there than at my actual home (internet access and a warmer environment). We took a mini tour of the city’s downtown area and it is very nice. I have about a 6-7 minute walk to school and I feel mostly safe during the day (catcalls are intimidating) but do not after it is dark (around 5:30 pm).
Prior to coming here, I knew very little about Central America. So much of my interest and studies have been focused on Africa, that I have really neglected this region of the world. On the five hour bus ride to Xela from the airport, I saw poverty on par with that in Kenya. The standard of living here is incredibly low. I look forward to learning more about Guatemala’s history and political system as time goes on. I know the first few weeks are going to be difficult, and it has been so far; I'm lonely and miss the comforts of home. However, when I get frustrated about not being able to flush toilet paper or being forced eat foods that I am not fond of, I have to remind myself what an incredible opportunity this is, and how blessed I am to have it. Right now, four and a half months seems like a really long time, but I'll do my best to take advantage of my time here, and turn it into something positive.

My address:
Celas Maya
Stephanie Wegmann
6ta. Calle 14-55, Zona 1
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala