Jan 26, 2013 - Quetzaltenango

Quetzaltenango is the second largest city in Guatemala; 225,000 people, 61% indigenous & 34% mestizo. It is at 2,330m or 7,655ft altitude, and so is often used for high altitude (read no oxygen !) athletic training. Quetzaltenango is the name the Spanish led indians gave to it in the 17th century. The local Mayans called in Xela; pronounced shay-la. Often times these towns in the highlands with a strong Mayan presence go by two names - the Spanish Indian name, and the Mayan. The city bustles with activity during the day with local produce...

Jan 4, 2013 - Adious Amigos

This is it people. Im done today. Its been a dream come through a very wonderful and long 3 weeks. Battled the flu and my lack of many words in spanish and i must say that my language skills have improved alot. I am on my way to Guate tonight then should be back home in NY on Sunday. I am once again in a rush to catch my next ride so ill post more when I settle down. Thanks for reading and keeping up with me. Buenos suetes para sus vidas L.C.

Jan 2, 2013 - Mommy chicken soup

I'm I'm pain from the flu. I could use some soup. It was a ruff new year given I was under the weather and missed out on all the fun. On the bright side, I feel like I am slowly gaining my energy back. I just hope I will have it all by Friday before my trip back home. Oh and that's the bell for my soup. I went to the local tourist spot to get some chicken soup. I hope its good else ill be sad. Happy new year to you all. I hope last year was a stepping stone for greater things this year. For me, I hope to study more and achieve more in...

Dec 30, 2012 - Not Invinsible After All

cough cough. .....dammm but i been taking my vitamins. Damm Gripe...lol. My host mom the the cold(gripe) and i though id skip me but she passed it on to me with love. Long weekend of physical activities. Played basketball with some all stars here then some American football on Sunday. It wasnt really a fair game cos i was wayyy toooo quick but it was a good workout. The altitude killed me by making me out of breath early but it wasnt a problem cos we all had fun. The football team here wants me to return on Thursday and pad up and play in a...

Dec 28, 2012 - Friday before the Last week

As the final week approaches, i evaluate how much i have actually absorbed. My teacher this week gives a lot of homework which i like but it can be a lilll over whelming which is good. Good because it is equipping me with the necessary materials to speak using correct grammar. I think by far, my biggest disappointment is not remembering most of the vocabulary i knew a year ago. This is the down side to postponing this trip constantly. Tonight is the graduation dinner for the students graduating today. I intend to make a salad with hard...

Dec 23, 2012 - The Long Weekend

Ok where do I start documenting my looooooong strange weekend and the Navidad. Should I start at the top of the Mount Quemado or Baul or at the point where i hang on to a railing outside a bus for an hour as we drove and bribed the police. Hmmmmm lets just go to the genesis of it all.... FRIDAY Ok so on Friday, we had a graduation dinner for the students who were leaving to go back home/travel around. The students brought the drinks and the teachers brought the food. There was a lot of singing and dancing and eating. i chose to get a bottle...

Dec 21, 2012 - Makes You Wonder

Sometimes, i wonder what the world will be like without the conquest of Africa and the Americas. I wonder about the validity of the evolution theories i learned about last semester. i wonder how the world will be like if back in the day, we just accepted every group´s religion rather that try to force other beliefs on them. Here in Xela during the renewing of the Mayan calender and learning about the history of the indigenous people of the Americas, it makes me wonder more and dig into a deeper part of my ancestry. Before the white man...

Dec 19, 2012 - Another Day

Last night, after a wonderful dinner with friends of my host family, i accompanied them to church. It was interesting cos i understood some of what the preacher was saying but not all of it. They also thought me a few Mayan words. Also the trip to the chocolate making house was amazing i had nooo idea the Mayans were such a sophisticated group. Im omw to a Mayan village no so dont have time to say much. Ill try to post up more pics tomar. I will be going to the hill baul., The highest peak in xela

Dec 18, 2012 - Ahhh Dious mio

I never knew there could be anything like tooo much Spanish. This is sooo hard like carrying a dictionary around just to be able to function lol. My teacher advised me to go to Tikal for the weekend given that there is a Once in a million year Mayan ceremony where there will reset the Mayan calender. Ill make calls to the bus companies to see if there are any tickets left then i will try to talk to a few people to see who is interested else ill travel solo. Should be interesting. I had to best hot chocolate in the world this morning. It was...

Dec 17, 2012 - First week of lessons

Ok so todays was great. I soooooo cold in the morning. I hate adiabatic cooling and worst of all, the weather at night and in the morning is buffalo cold with nooo heaters. I went to bes in thermals last night. looking like the Michelin man. then at noon, it got Ghana hot. During my 5 hour class, we evaluated my level of understanding and comprehension and im excited to have put work in an excel. It sucks that i cant remember all the vocabulary i knew last year but on the bright side, im gonna do right. I met my host family last night and...

Dec 16, 2012 - Some Photos

The internet is too slow so its hard to add captions and organize photos. Sorry yall. Plane photos are over Cuba, Panama and maybe the Bahamas. It took 50 min to upload only the 20 i have up. There was a Catholic Virgil in Guatemala city while i was there so i took some pics. It was about an enactment about the Bible story with Mary and Joseph staying in a barn before baby Jesus was born.

Dec 16, 2012 - Quetzaltenango At Last

After a 4 hour bus ride up and down mountains. I have arrived in Xela at last. Shared the bus ride with 4 other wonder Spanglish learners. One going to volunteer at a medical facility and 2 Brits. A mom and daughter who continued on to the mountain school. Unfortunately, the school isn't open for another hour so I'm sitting in a hostel across chatting with other people here to learn Spanish. Xela is a small town with colonial setting. So far, so god. The wifi here isn't that good but ill try to update as much as possible. Currently, seems...