I’ve been attempting to get online and post an update. However, the villages I’ve been in have had very weak wifi. Here in Quetzaltenango, we have wifi but it won’t accommodate posting to my blog.
Good news: I haven’t been writing but living and experiencing. Other good news: I took local buses (for the first time) and found a place in the mall that sells sim cards for iPhone.
Bad news: I didn’t have my passport! What would be a very short drive around town shopping required almost an hour. Small buses don’t go until full. Big buses drop at a central parking lot and I had to work my way out of that maze. Awesome experience that was!
Good news: the second time, I knew exactly how to get where I needed to go. And fortunately, the line diminished. Yes, you get a number and take a seat. My number was called and a woman named Maria Jose was very helpful! Awesome!
She installed and tested the sim card and took care of paperwork. I took receipts to the window to pay while she went along to help. Another person helped me trouble shoot settings and I was off.
Now, if you are reading this, I was successful as using my sim card to connect to my computer and post this! It really pays to be flexible in life!
Today is my third day in Centro Maya Xela Spanish school. There are two guest rooms on the top floor and two more on the second floor. They are private quarters, mine with a view of the mountains and volcano surrounding the city.
Every day the schedule is different. I like it! I normally have two or three sessions a day for a total of four hours. The schedule depends on Pedro’s Skype schedule. Now, he’s with someone from Wisconsin. He has students all over the world.
Today is the first time I’ve had three hours in a row! And that seems short compared to last time when it was five hours. I’ve learned so much already and have another full week after this. After four hours today, my head froze and it was nearly too much! We finished and I rested before heading to local cafe for tea and working with my notes. Much clearer now! Helpful hearing conversations around me with words we practiced today!
I’ve been here since Sunday afternoon and other than a couple travelers on the bus, I haven’t seen a single tourist! Tomorrow, we finish early so I plan to go to Central Xela where I’ll probably see my first tourist.
On the bus, at the store, in the market or cafe, on the street, nowhere have I heard a single word of English! Great climate to practice.
Reflection: Great choice to go to Chichicastenango on Friday. Yes, it was a long day! Yes, it was confusing at first in the dark getting my bearings. And yes, it was amazing watching the village transform itself in preparation for market day on Sunday.
I didn’t see a tourist until Sunday morning! And most of those were in groups waddling along together afraid to get separated and speaking to none of the locals. No smiles or “hello’s”! At the prime hotel near the market, I witnessed a woman berate a Guatemalan woman in english for changing the price of a wall hanging. I was sitting there during the initial transaction with her husband. This was NOT the woman he bought from! Really bad form! Another example of ugly tourist.
She then ordered a man sitting beside me on the steps selling musical wood drums to GO and find another one in the color blue! Not a request! I tried to tell her that she could walk half a block to my friend Manuelo’s booth where there were lots of textiles in many colors. She ignored that I was even talking to her and during that entire time, she never crossed the threshold of the hotel as if it were here safety zone and it was unsafe to venture out in the least! WOW! Why bother?
Staying in one of the most expensive hotel in town arguing over one or two dollars?!?!? Two dollars makes a huge difference to the locals. Spending $100 a night on a hotel and arguing over $2? The couple will spend more for dinner than that woman will make this week! Ugly!
This is exactly why I feel like I am an ambassador because I talk to everyone, treat them with respect and attempt even a modest level of interaction. I’m sure that woman will tell friends she experienced Guatemala. She experienced a hotel in Guatemala. The people and culture are outside!
However, the woman wasn’t bothered by that! She continued to offer products, never lost her smile and tried to get the abusive woman’s attention!
I was out early Sunday morning. It was still relatively quiet, preparations were finishing, and the crowds hadn’t arrived yet. However, the street was packed shoulder to shoulder by 10:00 making it difficult to navigate.
All the local pueblos’s come here to shop. Many shops in other areas of Guatemala have fabrics made by machine. These are made by hand locally. I highly recommend following a similar pattern of getting in early to experience the change of the village in preparation for Sunday market!