Greetings from Guatemala!

Picture: The SEMILLA Seminary in Guatemala City

Hi everyone! I made it safely to Guatemala Sunday night and am beginning to settle into life here in Guatemala, though it is quite a slow process. A group of Goshen students arrived together Sunday night and we were met by a CASAS van which took us to the seminary. We then had dinner, walked around the seminary which is a beautiful place, and stayed in rooms there overnight. Monday morning after breakfast we had our first Spanish classes, which consisted of an oral and written dianogsitc. I am in an intermediate class, there are three total, with a teacher named Panchita and 4 other students. So far the Spanish classes have been my favorite part. Panchita is so great, very laid back, and hilarious. We are not allowed to talk in English, so everything is in Spanish, which has been extremely overwhelming this week, but I´m sure will get better. I will write more about a typical day later, but each weekday I have 4 hours of Spanish class in the morning, starting at 830. We go from 830 to 1030 and have a 30 minute break, then 11 to 1230, then have lunch. The afternoons vary, yesterday we had a guest speaker named Hector, who will teach my peace, justice, and nonviolence class held on Monday afternoons. He spoke to us yesterday about the history of Guatemala and the continous violence that plagues the country. It was so facinating. Back to Monday, after lunch we had 2 hours of orientation and introduction to our introduction to central america class taught by a Candadian women named Adreinne. She is definitely the mom figure here, as she has 2 college aged children and always checks in with us, so that helps out A LOT. Jeff is the director of CASAS, he is from PA, and he also is a good support or resource. At 400 Monday afternoon all the host families came to meet us and take us home. You could cut the awkwardness with a knife. We were all really scared and nervous. SO, my family! I have a dad named Oscar, he is an accountant who works 6am to 8pm everyday. My mom´s name is Sheny, she does not work and spends her days in the house, doing what, I have yet to figure out. I have one sister named Cristy, she is 22 and goes to college on Saturdays in the city studying business administration. There is also a 9 month old puppy named Tobi, who won´t leave me alone and licks everything. The first night went pretty well. I was able to speak and understand more than I thought I would. I was placed with the family because the dad and the sister love sports. The first night I watched the LA-Nugget NBA playoff game. I couldn´t believe how much American sports are in Guatemala, MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, etc. Oh man! The two are also huge soccer fans, though apparently they don´t necessarily enjoy going to the stadium to watch games. The house is a condominium in a gated area with 3 others homes. CASAS recently changed host families as the lower income areas were providing problems, etc. We are now with middle to upper class families and I find myself in a house most likely in the upper part of this group. Upper middle class or lower upper class, I don´t know. Anyway, they have 3 cars, I have a television in my room, they have hot water, and a washing machine and dryer, though they hang their clothes outside when possible. The house is fairly small. Downstairs there is a small TV room, a bathroom, then small living room, kitchen, and patio with the washer and dryer and clothesline. Upstairs is my bedroom, Cristy´s bedroom, my parents´ bedroom, and a bathroom, which Kristy and I use, there is a bathroom in the parents room. Communicating has definitley been difficult, I have personall surprised myself at what I have been able to do, though there are a lot of times where you must decide to give up trying to understand and smile and nod, or ask them to repeat it slower for the 10th time. It´s always embarassing when you smile, say yo comprendo, and go back to what you doing, the family is still looking at you, and you realize they just asked you a question. Ha. The biggest, most stressful problem I have had yet are the busses. My family is quite I would like to say snobby when it comes to the crowded public bus system, so they refuse to take the bus with me to and from CASAS, as they all drive cars, as the families are supposed to do for the first week to show students how the system works. I talked with the CASAS directors who told my host sister, who has picked me up in a car the past 2 days, that they need to ride the bus WITH me. This apparently didn´t do anything. They kept telling me that since they´d showed me the stop, told me all the bus names, etc, I´d be fine. Oh my gosh no. I have to take 1 bus in the morning, and 2 in the afternoon, since the morning bus doesn´t go back the same way. Anyway, this all boiled down to an hour long discussion last night where I kept trying to explain, I thought very well, but apparently not, that CASAS requires host families to take their students to and from CASAS for a week by bus, AND that telling me and showing me the route is not the same as GOING with me on the bus. Anyways. I think we talked in circles and finally I was so worried and overwhelmed that I almost started crying, they figured out that telling and showing me wasn´t going to work. Couple side notes to add to the rambling, my mom does not speak any English, and my sister and dad know some odd vocabulary words, which are sometimes helpful. And, my family has also had 2 other CASAS students, both they told me studied abroad in Central America for a year before CASAS and obviously their Spanish was amazing, so the family isn´t used to a bad Spanish speaker. Anyways, my mom FINALLY agreed to take the bus in with me this morning, about a 30 minute ride, and holy cow that was an experience. The busses are old school busses, there are three people to a seat and people in the aisles, and basically people just climb over you to get out. My sister met us at CASAS to take my mom home. This afternoon they are picking me up by car and we are going to my mom´s sister´s house and then I think to walk around another part of the city. Tomorrow morning I think I have to take the bus by myself, CRAP, and then in the afternoon they refused to come meet me at CASAS, but luckily some students live kind of close and use the same bus. So I´ll go with them and get off with another student, YES, then meet my sister at the stop of the second bus and she will show me that route. Oh MAN. So insane. I will be SO SO happy when I feel settled here, can converse better with locals, and take busses confidentantly. Right now, this week has been VERY overwhelming, with intensive Spanish overload, meeting families, figuring out transportation, CASAS orientation, etc, PLUS all the homework we have to do! I didn´t think we´d have that much, but we do. Lots of Spanish grammer, Spanish papers and presentations later, and papers and a final project for my intro class. I haven´t had my peace class yet. The food has been pretty good. I´m definitely eating less which is good. I usually eat beans for every meal, breakfasts have been cereal and eggs, actually not too bad, lunches have been fresh watermelon, amazing, soups, tortillas, rice, salads, and dinners have been soups, beans, tacos, and calzone things. My house is in San Cristobal, which I think is a separate city from Guatemala City, but I´m not sure. My room is fine, I have a little desk where I can do homework, a little closet space for all my clothes, a very hard bed, a very lumpy pillow with some other pillows, and a very loud drumset and rooster outside my window. But all in all, everything is great. I think my parents get up at 430 am, not sure why, but there is quite a lot of noise downstairs in the mornings. I haven´t tried my earplugs yet but maybe I will. In the bathroom, all toilet paper goes in the trash, and I have to turn on and off the shower when I´m not using the water. I also am not allowed to touch the tap water, so I have to brush my teeth with my Nalgene of bottled water. All very interesting and many processes and steps to get used to. Weather, I have not seen a drop of rain yet, but thankfully the days haven´t been too hot. There is a nice breeze that blows through CASAS, though right now in this lovely internet cafe it´s quite humid. I´ve been wearing jeans and tshirts mostly. You also aren´t allowed to go bare foot in the house, another Guatemalan custom. My family is Presbyterian, and I think I´m going to church on Sunday, though I´m regretting not bringing any nicer clothes. Oh well. I think I´ve rambled on long enough. I hope this gives you some idea of what I´m doing and where I´m at. I definitely miss everyone and miss home, but I am appreciating the challenge and opportunity that this experience has offered me so far. Let´s just hope I don´t get lost tomorrow on the bus, it´s so easy to not see your stop! I hope everyone is doing well!

Until next time, with much love,
Rachel