First Week

On Sunday, Ingrid met me at the airport and accompanied me to Xela. I made sure not to drink anything because I knew there would be no rest room breaks during this long drive. On the bus we talked about poverty, min wage, gangs, organized crime and later found out that Ingrid was a member of the UNRG. I was extremely disatified with the fact that my poor Spanish skills kept me from understanding her story.
Every Monday the school, Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Español (PLQE), holds orientation for new students. PLQE is a socially conscious institution and one of their goals is to educate people about the history and current social and political situation of Guatemala. They hold conferences each week were community members give lectures around particular topics such as child labor, immigration, distribution of land etc. All profits are donated to support local community projects. For example the cultural center next door gives children the opportunity to take art classes or a scholarship program so children can attend middle and high school. Here, education is free only through elementary school.
My home is about a five minute walk from the school. My parents are Carmen and Hector. I found this to be special because my grandmothers name is Carmen and my fathers name was Hector. They have two daughters Luz Cecilia (16yrs) and Maria Jose (8yrs). They both greated me with smiles and my first night there Maria Jose showed me all of her school books and family pictures. I´m looking forward to the party we are planning next week to watch the final episode of Latin American Idol. A Guatemalan young man is in the final two.
Shesnarda (my teacher) and I meet every day from 2-7pm. She is wonderful! Learning Spanish is often put aside when we go off on tangents about life and politics. Really though, she talks and I listen.
I´ve made a couple friends, two young women from the states. One is from New York and the other from the west coast..Portland and LA area. We meet every night around 8:15 to walk around town, go to a bar and have a drink. The other night we went to a bar/restaurant called "La Fonda del Ché." They identify with Ernesto Ché´Guevara and his dream of having a united Latin America. They had an awesome live band "Sentimiento Andino" which is Andean Folk. I hope to purchase their CD before I leave.