My days are going to slide together so I will just date the entry and we will take it from there. :)

This is the culmination of my first few days in class......

Monday 11-8-04

I went to my orientation to the school and it looks great. There is an open courtyard for students and instructors to sit at tables and talk.

My classes are from 2pm - 7pm with Miriam this week. I will have a different teacher each week for a vareity of instruction and to hear different speaking styles.

This afternoon is my first class. I am a little overwhelmed but nothing too bad. I head home for lunch and it is wonderful.... roast chicken with vegetables! YEAH

Joan is not enjoying her living quarters too much at all. She has to walk thru one of her family members bedrooms to get in and out of the house and the house is in a not-so-great part of town.

At dinner I talk to my family about Joan moving in with me. I have a full and a twin size bed in my room. They all think it is a great idea....including Joan.

Tuesday 11-9-04

Joan moves in! We are sharing a room and that is grand. She leaves Xela on Sunday so we will not be roomies for long but I am very glad that she is no longer living where she was.... it was scary there.

During the day we walk about the park and I drool over the fresh fruits being sold there. We have all been warned to not eat fruit that is already sliced because we cannot clean it before eating it. However, I watch as a woman gets a bag of fresh mango with sugar, cinnamon, chili powder and fresh squeezed limon over it. She laughs at my drooling as she walks away. Next time I am taking the plunge and eating some fresh sliced pineapple with all the fixings!

Joan and I agree that I will stay with Coni and her family for my entire stay. She is a fabulous cook, very friendly and warm, and my living quarters are to be envied. YEAH

Wednesday 11-10-04

The school puts together trips for the students to take. The cost is the price of the bus and any incidentals. The bus is $1.50 and incidentals are another $5. Today we go to Georgina Fuentes.... they are natural hot springs further up in the mountains. Unfortunately, these springs are not so hot and we all end up freezing! ha ha

It is a fun time and we make memories and take pictures. I am getting along greatly except that spanish lessons are overwhelming me. During class I get completely frustrated and tears well up in my eyes. What was I thinking.... go into Guatemala and learn a different language....

My teacher and I talk about my frustration and she reassures me that Im doing great. We simplify the lesson a bit and play a game of memory complete with cards with pictures and spanish words on them. I like this game! I excel at this game! My self esteem and frustration are on the mend. YEAH

After dinner Joan, Tera, and I go to a movie.... if you call it that. We pay $1 and sit in a dark room with futons and a tv mounted on the wall. The lady puts in a tape in the vcr and we suffer thru crackling speakers for almost 2 hours. ha ha It was fun. We watched Guanamaro, a Cuban film with subtitles and a fun story. Apparently the song from this movie, or the movie made from this song, either way the song is very popular in cuba. It is catchy!

Thursday 11-11-04

This morning we visited the city of Salcaja. They make textiles there and we visited a place where the initial stages of production are done. It takes 18 processes and three months for the material to be made into bolts of fabric and ready for use in sewing projects. I completely understand and respect the hard work that these people do. The colors and materials are amazing!

Then we visit the first christian church in Central America! It is being restored right now but it is beautiful. The inside and outside are amazing. The pillars that run from the floor to the ceiling are the original pillars of the church. Embedded in the wood is crosses of a different kind of wood. There is also a preist buried within one wall of the church. An awesome experience.

Our final visit in Salcaja was to a Caldo del Frutas house. This is a liquor that is made from fermented fruit. The liquor is illegal but no one enforces the law and Salcaja is the only place that anyone can get it. It is made and bottled in peoples homes. We went to a house that makes it and got to taste some of the liquor and some of the fruit that is fermented for it. The fruit is strooooong and so is the liqour. I bought two bottles! ha ha

In the upstairs of this house is a man handweaving fabric. We got to watch him weave and it is amazing. Each little strand of color is put in place by hand, the design is created thread by thread, and the wooden machine that he uses is old. The wood on the thread holders and the handles on the machine is smooth from years and years of use. It is amazing to see and understand the amount of work these people put into their lives.

I will buy some clothes and fabrics from this place and they will have a place of distinction in my life.