Guatemala!

Ok, so I haven't posted since December. And I've left Korea a poor blogger. But let's not dwell in the past... I'm in Antigua, Guatemala, now - and I want to tell you all about it!

I left snowy Wichita at 7:40 Sunday morning. Take-off and landing were bumpy on both flights, but I made it to Guatemala City in one piece. After clearing immigration and customs, I walked outside to a large crowd, many of whom were holding signs. Unfortunately, my name wasn't on a single one.

The school had told me that someone would be there with a sign saying "Emily Weigand," but they were wrong. I began to feel a little panic-y, especially since my brilliant mind didn't think to bring along the school's address or phone number. A kindly shuttle driver was trying to help (and asking if I was single) while I watched a tiny girl playing with pieces of a broken Snapple bottle. Finally, a man showed up with my sign. Whew.

The drive was curvy and wild, and the panic returned when we passed the exit that said "Antigua" and continued on into mountains and nothing. All I could imagine was being sold into prostitution at knifepoint. Perhaps I should have gotten more sleep the night before.

We finally arrived in Antigua and he dropped me off at the beautiful home of Marta (who prefers to be called Titi). This was also confusing, as I had signed up to stay at the more dorm-style place instead of with a family... Today it was explained to me that the dorms are under construction. Titi and her family are extremely kind, and her home is beautiful. The living area is all open air, with hanging plants and soft, overstuffed couches. Around the outside of the living area are the bedrooms - kind of like lower-level apartments around a commons. My room is small and neat and I'm sure I'll make a mess of it in a few days :)

Anyways, Titi's brother Eduardo was visiting, and his English is quite good (Titi speaks none). He invited me to come into downtown Antigua to see the Holy Week Procession... on the back of his motorcycle. Again, I was nervous. But I figured if I survived airplanes and taxi-vans to nowhere, God wouldn't let me die on a motorcycle. So I went. It was great. Antigua is beautiful and old and a great place to walk around. Also, Eduardo seems to know everyone in the city, and everywhere we went he stopped and introduced me to another of his friends. (When we were leaving to go back, we ran into his girlfriend. She did not look amused to see me on the back of his bike. I wanted to point out to her that he's 60-something and I'm not interested.)

After dinner, I was very ready for bed. Also, I had to be at the school an hour early today for orientation. So I was sure to set my alarm so I could have time to shower and get ready. Except I forgot the time difference. When I was done getting around, the whole house was still black and quiet. I stressed again, thinking "I'm going to be late on my first day and won't have time to eat breakfast and this is horrible!" Then I remembered the flight attendant mentioning something about a time change. A quick Google check later, I realized I had another hour of sleep :)

The original plan for today was that the maid would take me to school and show me how to take the bus(it's much too far to walk). Unfortunately, today all the bus drivers decided to strike. No transportation into Guatemala City (where many people work), no transportation to nearby neighborhoods (where many children go to school), no public transportation anywhere! So Titi took me to school.

The school is beautiful. Again, all open air (with free coffee all day long!). My instructor is Nora, a sweet older woman who seems a bit judgemental of behaviors that don't follow strict Catholic guidelines :) After 3.5 grueling hours of forcing my brain to think in Spanish (with a small break in the middle to eat chuchitos ), Titi arrived to take me back to the house. We had an amazing lunch with some meat mixture (with cilantro), rice, homemade tortillas, and a yummy veggie mix. Then I went to my room to study Spanish. Instead I passed out. At 3, Titi woke me up to come back to the school where one of the directors gave me a mini walking tour of Antigua. Now I know where the best ice cream, wine, beer, and coffee are!

This catches you up to now, when I am sitting in the school using the computer because I'm not quite ready to go back to the house. Partly because it's good to be somewhere with lots of people, and partly because there are some English speakers here so I can rest my brain. Also, I am going to take a tuc-tuc (little three-wheeled taxi-thing) by myself, and am a bit nervous. But, like everything else I was nervous about, it'll be fine :)

Love you all! Promise I will try harder to keep this updated!