two weeks gone by

This past week has definitely flown by, kinda making us wish we could stay in Xela longer before we move on! But in a few hours we leave for la escuela de la montana, which has a little farm and three dogs and some hammocks so it´s really going to be excellent. our Xela family hasn´t gotten much crazier, except that Tina (the grandmother) think there´s a cat in the house and makes us close the doors and windows to the kitchen at night. Edna has confirmed that the cat is all in Tina´s head. I will miss coming home and seeing little Tina sitting in the car out in the street because she´s cold, watching little Irena play with her food and make crazy faces at the table, and listening to Edna talk about all her bodily functions and how all the exotic food she buys is very expensive... "muy caro, muy caro".
We went on two little trips this week... to the beautiful agricultural community of Almolonga where we had hot baths in little concrete rooms, and to the insane market at San Francisco. The market was like an hour away and we took the bus with our teachers. (As it turns out, our maestros this week were best friends, and KJ and I studied in the same little side classroom with just the four of us. At one point we were all doing yoga on the floor, and as as our teachers are both about 5 feet tall, 50 years old, and were wearing heels, it was pretty hilarious. Rosario -KJ´s teacher- is also missing her front four teeth). Anyways the market was great, completely overwhelming and huge, and full of squealing pigs, chickens in baskets, turkeys in sacks, and cows sheep, goats, puppies, and bunnies for sale. The animal market looked like complete chaos but somehow sales were going on all the while, and the little balls of piglets huddled together and the large sheep attempting to mate with each other were all going home with nice families to be eaten.
We also had two awesome women speak at school this week. One was a midwife in a rural community and she just talked about the birthing methods they used and the natural plants and the problems with health care, etc. I volunteered to be the "demonstree" for the post-birth massage, and not only had my breasts rubbed in front of the whole room but was forced to sit on all fours while she slapped my rear with a handful of plants. Other than that awkwardness it was really interesting. The other woman talked about ¨La Voz Popular", the underground radio station that she worked for during the war and it was awesome to hear her story.
And yesterday we went to help with a reforestation project outside of Xela where we collected seeds for tree planting. KJ almost got caught with her pants down in the woods but other than that it was just a nice morning outside of the city with our little green seeds.
Anyhoo its off to the mountains for us, so we´re just hoping for no parasites and no amoebas and that the mosquitoes are small and the days are warmer!!
Adios--

Electricity

And we wonder why the lights, microwave, washing machine, etc. aren´t as reliable as one would hope...

Altitude

It´s a bi-atch.

Yesterday we climed laguna chicabal--a magical lake nestled in the crater of the (now inactive) volcano Chicabal. Mind you I don´t use the term "magical" lightly--it actually is consered a sacred and holy place for the Mayans who come here for meditation and to perform Mayan ceremonies. No one is allowed to enter the lake for any purpose, as it apparently, besides having magical powers, has somehow connects to the Pacific Ocean... (because we are foreigners, we just tend to belive anything we hear)

Minus the feeling of lack of oxygen and possible imminent death, it was spectacular, and was worth the effort, as it always is.

Kaia Joye and Sarah

an interesting translation...

an excellent translation by one of the nicer first class bus companies in guatemala:

Who we are

We are a company of transport f service first bonus, we unite to city Guatemala with Tikal, Island of Flores that are the heart of the Maya word, has the vehicle fleet but modern model 2008.

Guaranteed to our passengers the only service first bonus, in the route of

GUATEMALA-FLORES.

Settling In...

After what I am surprised to say has only been 3 days (!) we are finally settling into our new life in Xela. Back on track, and out of Antigua, we have begun school. Waking up earlier than I have since highschool, I am learning to see daylight in the 6:00 hour--granted it´s 6:45, but still--probably to the delight of my father. We are living in a little yellow casa about 4 blocks from school with Edna, who has become our new mom, and her mom (unable to be in the picture with us), as well as her daughter, Viki, who is 16. Much to the dismay of her mother, who is a retired sex-ed teacher, Viki is pregnant and due the same time as Bronwen. Edna now only cries occasionally. It made me wonder if she cries a lot, or particularly if she cried when our first night with our new family, Sarah and I slept through dinner by mistake, having traveled 6 hours on 3 different busses through the mountains with the only hope brought by the heaven-sent Dramamine we took. Edna´s granddaughter has also taken a liking to us as I think we have the same vocabulary. She may actually have more.

But the city is wonderful--all that the guidebooks said it would be and more. The streets are stone and simple, but busy enough that I daily think I am going to die either from the speed of the mini buses and mopeds, or from asphyxiation from their deisel engines. ITs amazing how quickly we are picking up the language. EIther that or people are very nice because currently I speak in only broken sentences comprised of the present tense. At the dinner table people seem to speak louder when directing questions to sarah and me, I suppose because they think that this helps, when in fact we simply don´t know what they are saying...yet.

Our classes are all outside and one-on-one. Its the learning environment I have always wanted. We sip coffee and sit in the sunshine, and laugh at my poor knowledge of spanish vocabulary, but I can ask as many questions as I like!! Not to mention the school offers a PLETHORA ("Would you say that I have a plethora of piñatas?" "A WHAT?" "A plethora.") of activities--hikes, trips to hot springs, movies, lectures, parties. The mentality of the school is awesome--they really want us to learn and be educated, as opposed to leave having some new vocabulary.

We are now off to perhaps plan some more of our trip, because as of now we are here for two more weeks, and then have no further plans. Hopefully we will also make it to our yoga class, which it turns out is similar to flogging, as my muscles are still sore from Monday´s class which kicked our booty. I am hoping that our teachers hair will still be unwashed and the 5´x 12´room will still be packed with 20 people, creating a perfect mix of sweat and incense that makes you both light headed and sort of want to vomit. It´s all wonderful.

Paz y amor.
K

a day in Antigua!!

so after a lovely sweaty six hours at the beautiful guatemala city airport kj finally arrived with her matching backpack and our adventure begins...
somehow we found ourselves in antigua for the day/night... a crazy little colonial town surrounded by mountains/volcanoes and covered in cobblestones that almost looks too cute to be real. in just a day we´ve probably already consumed seven hundred delicious avocadoes each (now i see why they nickname people here ´green bellies´)
anyhoo antigua is adorable but pretty gringofied so we´re excited to get to xela tomorrow.
hopefully we´re actually enrolled in spanish school... i guess we´ll find out!
till next time ....

we're guatemala bound!

In 5 hours I will be Guatemala bound--or at least Atlanta to Guatemala bound. Sarah is already en route via LA, in what i last heard was a small plane that we are hoping can accommodate the rather large backpacks that give the perception of us "roughing" it. We are. One backpack for three months...impressive.
Now I wish I could answer all the questions I have been asked about what we are doing and where we are going and the places we will see, but for right now I can only tell you bits and pieces--and by that I mean what tomorrow will bring. Tomorrow I will fly into Guatemala City where I will meet Sarah (see side picture). Ideally, because Sarah will have been there for 5 or so hours waiting for me she will figure out how to get us from Guatemala City to the Highlands of Quetzaltenango and perhaps if I am even enrolled in the school (a last minute detail that apparently slipped through the cracks...)Described as what "may be the perfect Guatemalan town--not too big, not too small, enough foreigners to support a good range of hotels and restaurants, but not so many that it loses its national flavor...Xela attracts a more serious type of traveler--people who really want to learn Spanish, and then stay around and get involved in a myriad volunteer projects. It also functions as a base for a range of spectacular hikes through the surrounding countryside--the constantly active Santiaguito and highest point in Central America Tajumulco volcanoes, and the picturesque, fascinating three-day trek to Lake Atilan to name a few."

In Xela (city's abbreviation, pronounced shell-ah), we will be going to "school" to learn Spanish and hopefully do some volunteering. We are fairly certain that we will be living with a family and attending classes, which are described as 5 hours of tutoring. We will also be spending a week up in their Mountain Again, we don't REALLY know what any of this means, but you can check it out for yourself at: http://www.hermandad.com/

Beyond this we will be playing it by ear, which may make some of you nervous but don't worry. we will keep you updated and if nothing else, you can know that we will end up at the Yoga Farm in Costa Rica. It's going to be WONDERFUL.
Will miss all of ya'll! Check back and we will keep you updated!
XOOX!!

KJ
(ie-- Kah Jota en espanol)