Always Christmas in Guatemala....

So, finishing up the third week of my stay in Antigua, Guatemala, I can say that much has happened. Celeste and I moved into a local family´s home last Sunday and have been enjoying taking classes to review our spanish language skills. So far, our "pescatarianism" has been adherred to and we´ve had many wonderful (albeit unusual) meals in our new home. But I think the best way to really update is to cover the main drama in my life....the hunt for a phone.

I have had the worst trouble figuring out my mobile phone situation! First adding credit was pretty simple, but only a particular chip would work in my phone--the one that the store had run out of. So, I returned later and got that chip, but then they didn´t have the right charger. I would have to go finagle in the market to get the right charger for my phone. I knew I needed to reserve a certain amount of time and energy for that, but by then I was sick (I went on Cipro for 5 days because I got strep, but luckily you can get antibiotics over the counter for cheap down here) and then we moved in with the family and the rain has been incessant, yadda, yadda, yadda...


Entonces...I finally got the right charger the other day....and then lost my phone that same night. Yep, that´s right. Needless to say, it´s getting pretty freakin´ hilarious at this point ; ) However, I just found out that a friend is willing to give me her phone since she leaves soon to return to the States. So all in all it will work out and soon I can finally call my mother.



The house we´re now in is a nice neighborhood just outside Antigua. We have absolutely no idea who actually lives in the house since half the neighborhood seems to pass through daily. It is a loud, boisterous family--this last Sunday I was awakened at 9am (not a decent hour to be awake on the weekend) by circus/carnival music that pulled me into a daydream about living in a Fellini film ala Dolce Vita. The music continued however for 3 more hours.... The children are quite lovely, especially our 6-year-old friend Adriana who we are plotting to kidnap so that Celeste and I can sneak into the nearby playground to play and who is our main form of entertainment during meals. Mostly, we spend a lot of time guessing who is actually part of the family--we´re pretty sure there are four generations present, since the 16-year-old granddaughter is quite obviously the mother of the youngest baby--and figuring out what we´re going to have in our next meal....it´s almost always a mystery. But the family is very friendly and the matriarch quite obviously has an unusual fondness for Christmas tunes and decor(even in September), as well as the most expansive cow figurine collection I´ve ever had the pleasure of viewing.


I´m also greatly enjoying reviewing my spanish with my wonderfully patient teacher Mimi (I think that name is a bit ironic, since that was my pre-natal nickname). She´s great at building my foundation of skills again and testing to see my weaknesses and then strengthening them, but also she´s just fun to chat with as well. I love speaking with a fiercely progressive Latina woman who is young and proudly single as well--I also learned today that even though she is culturally Catholic, she considers herself just spiritual or agnostic, much like myself. I feel much more confident speaking español all round, even though it´s still a struggle to get the words out correctly, but people here are used to language students and are very supportive and appreciative.

Ok, this was long awaited for and now has gotten too long.....but more adventures are in the near future so be prepared....

Abrazos!