Jess and Stacey’s Travels

Xela-click for more photos

We are in Quezaltenango, Guatemala now, commonly referred to as Xela.  It is a big town in the mountains on the ‘Gringo trail’.  It is much, much cooler here.  I bought another sweater to wear here and broke out the blue fleece again.  We were told that Xela is at about 8,500ft altitude. It took us 4 hours by bus to get here from Guatemala city.  It was a winding road through the moutains of Guat.  I wouldn’t want to do it with stomach issues.  We met two other women from Washington also going to Xela.  They are also going to the same Spanish school, ICA, as we are.  We also moved in with our new family, the Lopez’s- Mario and Monica (parents), Javiar (15), Daniel (10), Alejandra (7).  They seem to be a really nice family in a nice house about a 20 minute walk from the school.  There is also another American woman, Helen, living here.  She has lived with the family for 7 years and works as a special ed teacher.  We don’t see much of her.  The family just built this house about 4 years ago.

The woman, Gilda Arroyo, that we stayed with in Guatemala city had told Jess and I that women are expected to do most everything in this society.  Gilda was frustrated at times because although she is a single mom with 2 teenage daughters and her own bed and breakfast business, her mom still expects her to wait on her brothers when they come to her [read on]

Scorecard (to date): 

# of naps:  7

# of Spanish words learned:  20

# of times we have eaten rice and beans:  30

Our first month is dedicated to learning some Spanish.  We are taking classes at a school called One on One tutoring which is one of many schools here in Granada.  It literally is 1:1 with one instructor per student.  You can sign up for as many hours as you’d like in the week.  We take 4 hours of classes per day – a different subject each hour – grammar, vocabulary, exercises and conversation.  We each have a different instructor for each hour. 
We decided to take two hours in the morning and two in the evening so that we can study in between (i.e. nap).  The first day, we did 4 hours in a row, and it gets to be a bit much in this heat.
Every weekday, we wake up about 7-7:30am which is later than everyone else.  We have breakfast prepared for us by Lucila, host mother (35) which includes fruit, rice, beans, sometimes eggs, usually  a meat and a several varieties of juice.  Breakfast also involves a bit of conversaton between Lucila, Julio (resident handyman) and us-the majority of which we don’t understand.
It usually involves asking us what we will want for lunch when we will come home. 
We then walk to school about 12-15 min away for our classes, which are from 9-11am.  The journey takes us through the center of town where there is the central park and a cathedral.  For the way home, We try to take a different walking route home to see more of the town.  We get home about 11:30-noon and have lunch about 1pm which also involves rice and beans and some sort of meat. 
We try to study between 1-4:30pm but are usually overcome by the urge to nap.  We study in the living room. Julio has taken Jess under his wing to help him study.  Unfortunately, while Julio is a great guy, he doesn’t appreciate the need for some quiet study.  He hovers next to Jess repeating Spanish words over and over.

We take our two hours of class in the evening and then head back home.  Sometimes we stop at a cafe called the RoadHouse for a cold lemonade.  Lucila serves us dinner at 7:30 or 8pm.  Our host father (Guillermo) is already asleep by that time since he gets up at 5am to work at the market.  We always eat alone, just the two of us but Julio is usually around trying to talk to us.  The daughter, Maria (7), usually keeps to herself.  We’re not that interesting since we can’t talk to her.
The family has two TVs and cable.  Sometimes we indulge and veg out watching CSI, Cold Case, or one of many other US shows.  I am very excited that Dancing with the Stars is on here as well.  🙂
At night, we try to do our homework and play cards.  The hum of fans is a constant since it is hot all day and all night. 
We go to bed about 11pm.  The rest of the family is usually in bed by 9 since they get up so early.

Notes for fellow travelers:
in Granda it is easy to use ATM card to get Cordobas or dollars at the BAC near the central square.  Maximum withdrawal is $400. 
Wifi is accessible at several place that we’ve found so far- one to the right of the cannon in Independence square, at the hotel across from the main cathedral, and at Kathy’s. 
Internet access is everywhere but some places are slower than others.  We were told that the cafe to the right of the cannon is a better one – faster connection.  That’s where we have been going.
Don’t bother with traveler’s checks. 
Can use dollars just as easy if not easier than Cordobas.
We were able to get a 6 month visa in Managua at the Immigration office for $35/visa.  They only take Cordobas or dollars – no credit cards or travelers’ checks.
We were suprised since we heard that we would probably only be able to get 3 month tourist cards.