Dos mas

We thought we'd add a shot of the chicken buses that we regularly ride here in Guatemala.
They are so crowded that it's extremely difficult to push your way to the front when you need to get out. It was taken in San Pedro, a stoner town on Lake Atitlan. Hannah is with our friends Michelle and Eva.
The other picture is on top of a mountain we hiked with a few other students yesterday. The climb up was relatively steep and then at the top we were using hands and feet to climb up sharp volcanic rock. It was a warm day and when the clouds started to englulf us it felt wonderful! You can sort of see a view of Xela over our shoulders. We are living in a beautiful place.

Daily Life

We decided to add a few pictures of daily life in Xela. The first is a view down our street as we walked home from school today. It has yet to rain but as you can see, the clouds look menacing. On the right hand side is an example of what the indigenous women dress like here. Unlike most, she is not carrying a large parcel on her head. The next two pictures show how dirty our floors still are even after being cleaned. Every night we sit on Hannah's bed and do homework, most of the time in socks. Socks are our new best friend. Not only do they keep our feet warm on the frigid tile, they also keep them relatively clean. Hannah has been sporting Popsi's U of U socks every night. The next two pictures were taken at school. It is very sunny and beautiful every morning. The first is a shot of Edy, the younger brother of Hannah's current teacher, and his student in the courtyard. We sit at those cute little tables and talk for 5 hours every day. The next is a picture of Sergio and Hannah's teacher, Karen. They really wanted someone to take a picture of them together. The last photo is a view from our school. We walk down the hill, past the bridge, and down another street every day to get home. It is about a 7 minute walk. We love it. We are finally getting the hang of everything around here: where the good bakeries are, how to get to the cute cafes, etc. We have a home away from home!

San Marcos

This weekend we said goodbye to our first housemates and took a trip with the school to Lake Atitlan. We arrived after a two hour bus ride to a little town called San Marcos. The sidewalks were all just little dirt paths and there weren´t any tourists. It was beautiful and full of colors. Our room was darling but we had to share it with creatures of the night, including a 6 inch centipede-slug-combo and spiders as big as a 50 cent piece. We went swimming in the lake and all the local children came to watch and giggle. They kept asking us to take their picture. They are all so sweet to each other. All the surrounding volcanoes were beautiful in contrast with the lake. It was warm and heavenly. Mom found lots of flowers full of hummingbirds to photograph. The photograph of the volcano in the middle (the view across the city) was taken on our trip out of Xela. While in San Marcos, we ate at a little restaurant that had three tables. It was so small that when our group ordered beers, the restaurant owners went out to buy them. On Sunday morning, all the families dressed up and went to church. We took a boat across the lake to the big market in Santiago. The bus ride home was filled with loud singing by our driver, Sergio and loud chortles by our wonderful activities coordinator, Josue.

Week 1 of School

This week we´ve shared our house with five other great students that we´ll really miss when they leave, Liz being one of them. We had a fiesta last night because it was our last dinner as a ¨family¨including salsa dancing with Tom. It is so cold at night in our little casa that keeping our feet warm is necessary to our well being. Mom wears tennis shoes in her bedroom while doing homework. We were very happy to see Cody when we arrived in Xela and he showed us around a little bit. We went to a government building with a beautiful atrium and while we were admiring the flowers a bunch of policemen went running down the hall. We decided we should run the other way so out we went with all the other people. After that we went to a restaurant for celebratory drinks and sat on the balcony in the rain. Every Wednesday night, our school takes a trip to La Rumba, the local salsa bar. Liz got friendly with the giant blowup beer bottle out front while waiting for a cab. We took an afternoon trip to the natural hot springs located about 45 minutes up a windy narrow mountain road. It was fabulously beautiful and warm. We felt clean for the first time in a week. We also took a trip with our school to the chocolate factory (a Guatemalan staple) located only two blocks from our school. The ¨factory¨is really a home and the woman´s family has been making it for five generations. You can see the sixth generation attached to her skirt. He loved the chocolate covered fruit almost as much as we did.

Xela

We made it safely to Xela via a windey muddy road full of potholes. It got colder and colder as we went from Antigua to the highlands. We were freezing!

Our homestay family is big. We moved in with Delila and her 5 other guests on Sunday. We took this picture of Liz from our rooftop. Note the random car bench that Liz is sitting on, with a giant hole, surrounded by laundry. This is the sweet life.

Delila speaks no english so it will be hard to communicate in depth for a while. The next picture is us in front of the house. Delila´s is the white gate. The large structure is in town square. See us waving inside of it?

We took this picture of Hannah in her bedroom specifically for Mary. Douglas, the monkey that provoked many laughs from our homestay family, is enjoying his trip immensely.

The picture of Alison and Liz explains itself: we are battling the rain on a daily basis.

Antigua

Here we are in front of our hotel room in Antigua. There are three (rock hard) beds and our own private bathroom with a (cold) shower. Alison has been appointed la mujer de llaves. Our blankets are disgusting so we attached a picture for Mariah. The material is basically what you would find under a rug or a horse's saddle. The third picture was taken by our guide Tino that we paid to take us around the city yesterday. It was a slight ripoff but we thought he needed the money. He was very nice. The next picture is of Mom in front of the same fountain. The mermaids shoot water our of their boobs. This was our favorite part. Lastly, the picture of Liz and Hannah was taken under the arch in Antigua. All the roads are cool and cobblestoned. A very charming city full of english speakers! We had bagels for breakfast!!! Dad would be ashamed.

Bienvenidos

We´re here safe and sound! It´s cold and humid here. It feels great!
Today we´re getting on a bus to Antigua. Liz met us here and hasn´t slept all night!
On Monday we´re starting school in Xela. Talk to you then!