- On Monday I went to a museum that displayed 
traditional Mayan dress. Since nearly 60% of the nation is Mayan, and traditional dress is still very common in the streets here, it was interesting to hear to significance behind each pattern etc. Although the tour got a little long (especially since it was in all Spanish), it was amazing to see how much thought goes into each individual stitch. After the tour, the museum offered a conference on the Mayan calandar. I went,which turned out to be a bad choice....after five hours of Spanish lessons, and a two hour tour, my brain wasn't prepared for a scholarly presentation.
traditional Mayan dress. Since nearly 60% of the nation is Mayan, and traditional dress is still very common in the streets here, it was interesting to hear to significance behind each pattern etc. Although the tour got a little long (especially since it was in all Spanish), it was amazing to see how much thought goes into each individual stitch. After the tour, the museum offered a conference on the Mayan calandar. I went,which turned out to be a bad choice....after five hours of Spanish lessons, and a two hour tour, my brain wasn't prepared for a scholarly presentation.- There is now another American student living in my house. His name is Jack and he's from Washington (state). Celas Maya typically does not allow their students to be placed in a house with another American student, but since Jack is attending a different language school in Xela, they are allowing me to stay...I really didn't want to move again. We're not supposed to speak in English to one another, and we've done pretty well so far.
- After eight days of studying present tense, I finally got to move on to preterite today! Yay! Being able to speak in past tense it nice.
- I did my first bit of shopping this week. There are street vendors and markets everywhere in Xela and I finally jumped on the opportunity and bought a hand-sewn purse on Tuesday (only $4)....the problem is that I bought another one on Wednesday...oops. I think this may develop into a habit, so I hope everyone is happy with a purse as their souvenir :)
- Yesterday over our half hour break I went to Xela pan (a popular bread chain in Xela) and discovered the BEST pastry I have ever had. The good news: absolutely delicious. The bad news: the store is only a block away from school, and the pastry only costs .35 cents....this also has the potential to develop into a very bad habit.
- Yesterday I attended a tortilla cooking class after school. Corn is a staple here, and tortillas are present at every meal. The recipe: Mix corn flour and water until you reach a Play-dough consistency. Roll into small balls. Toss each ball back and forth between your hands until you have created a small pancake. Cook on a griddle. The end. I prefer the thin flour tortillas back in the states, but these tortillas are such an important part of the Guatemalan cutlture, that you grow to love them.
- I successfully added more minutes to my phone today! I really enjoy the feeling of independence after running errands around here. I have also successfully done my first load of laundry....well, at least I successfully dropped it off at the launderia and got everything back plus an extra washclothe...sounds like success to me.
- Update: Most of the Christmas decorations have now been taken down, but Andreas and my Santa Claus count was up to 24. Impressive.
Off to Antigua...
1 comment:
Your updates are always great. Makes my life seem absolutely boring. ha.
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