I started Spanish lessons the next afternoon. Again, I was struck by how fortunate I was yo be the buyer in a buyers' market, able to waltz into town and start lessons the next day. The only concession I had to make was that for the first two days I had to take afternoon classes, from 2 to 7, which are my worst hours. I was promised, however, that the next week I could take classes in the morning.
When I walked into the school on Thursday at 2 and met my teacher, I have to say I was a bit taken aback. He was 22, and totally GQed out (complete with earring, and hip-bound cell phone), in the manner of Centroamericanos who have spent some time in Florida or New York. This stereotype was confirmed when he later told me he had visited friends and family living in Miami several times. By the way, his favorite part of Florida was Disney World.
But beyond the hair gel and Disney fixation, he turned out to be a really good teacher. I found myself learning really quickly, much more quickly than the last time, probably because I had 3 weeks of speaking Spanish under my belt. He was good at mixing boring (but alas necessary) grammar with more interesting conversation.
And once again, the family really made my week memorable. It was a really small family this time - the mom, Rosario, 28, dad, Rudi, 33, and two adorable little kids - Pablo, 5 and Tuti (yes, like the character from "Facts of Life"), 16 months. They were all sweet, and helped me a lot with my Spanish. Except Tuti, whose only word is YUMYUM, preferably yelled at top volume right outside my bedroom at 6 in the morning. Pablo's obsession is Sponge Bob Square Pants. Or as they say here, "Bob Spongha Pantalones."
Like many families here, they are exceptionally entrepreneurial. Not only do they rent two of their rooms to students, but their front room is a cafetin and their other front room is about to be rented to be a photo shop.
My time in Xela was pretty uneventful. On the Sunday I took the bus to Momostenango, to a weekly market there. It was enormous, and I wandered around for hours, fascinated. I didn't see another gringo all afternoon.
Another day, the school had an ex-Guerrilla fighter from the civil war come talk to us. It was obviously very interesting. He had joined the guerrillas when he was only 10 years old, along with his brothers, and spent his entire youth in the mountains. Guatemala's civil war lasted 36 years and was the bloodiest in Central America, a real distinction. Literally hundreds of Mayan communities were completely wiped out. Very sad. The Peace Accords were signed in 1996 and Guatemalans are still recovering. One of the hardest things for everyone is just getting back to normal - people lived with war for so long.
Once again, I really got to like the family and it was sad to leave. I was also really sad to leave Xela. It's a really great city, ful of interesting people and projects. I would really like to come back someday and really devote some time here.