Those Were the Days

Sorry this took so long, peeps.

Field Trip #5: Tikal

On Sunday (three weeks ago) at 4:30 in the morning we left Antigua for Guatemala City where we got on a plane headed towards Flores City (This was a really small plane that was completely full and I was the last person to find a seat so I sat next to the flight attendant in a seat that faced everyone else! This was pretty exciting for me.). From there we had a short bus ride and met our tour guide for the day, Eddie. Before we arrived to Tikal National Park, Eddie was imparting all sorts of knowledge on us.

“[something educational about Tikal] Look at that pig! [more educational stuff]”

“Four corn tortillas have the same amount of calcium as a glass of milk. This is good for when you need to carry a refrigerator up a hill or something like that.”

Tikal was beautiful. It was so cool to imagine that at times there were so many people there. I could just picture them walking around in all the buildings, filling the courtyard-thing.

This trip ended in a way that nobody thought possible: a ride on a plane that was smaller than the first! It was basically a party. Everyone felt bad for the two people who were not in our group.

Más Español

My first week without Spanish was pretty weird. I was in the process of looking for an internship and my online class has not started so the only required event of that week was my class with Paul. By Tuesday I was super bored and I really missed having Spanish lessons. That being said, it was not a hard decision for me to decide to take more lessons. Unfortunately, Brenda had already received a new student that she would have for 10 weeks so she could not be my teacher. This made more than one person mildly sad, but with or without Brenda I wanted to take more lessons. My new teacher is Olga. At first she appeared to be the exact opposite of Brenda. This was not bad at all, just different. After a week of classes, Olga and I had really bonded. She is so sweet and I am glad I had the opportunity to be her student. I was really happy to be at La Unión every day and realized even more how addicting Spanish lessons can be. I never wanted to be done.

But, of course, this past Wednesday I finished my Spanish lessons again. Cony asked if we needed lunch the next day and I told her that I didn’t think so because I had plans with my ex-teacher. I guess this made everyone laugh, but Brenda is the one who referred to herself as that. After the laughter I did clarify that the plans were with my first ex-teacher. This made Cony laugh even more.

People Leaving

Compared to the majority, we are staying in Antigua for a long time. We have made friends with people from all over the world, and a few weeks ago we experienced the first wave of leavers. Jeff, Keely, and Tanner left. This was rather uneventful and I am completely secure that their lives will be awesome. Tanner will know when the guys on his baseball team are making fun of him and Jeff and Keely will be able to teach the children in the DR.

A little harder goodbye was the one to Rob. I legitimately might have not mentioned him before, but he had come to be a pretty sweet friend of some of us. Rob is from London and was in Antigua to learn more Spanish. From here he goes to Hong Kong to visit his cousin and eventually he will end up in Central America for a bit longer. The celebration of Rob leaving began during Spanish lessons. Some of us and our teachers watched a movie and ate pizza. The movie was preceded by short speeches by everyone. Jamie was first and touched our hearts by finishing with her Shakira voice. Ana went next and read the note she wrote Rob. Next were Dana and I, giving a joint speech, since Rob would expect nothing less. Since Dana refuses to practice her Spanish she said some words in English and we finished with the abridged version of My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion. The celebration continued into the night and concluded at an extremely reasonable hour and absolutely no tears were shed.

Note: After the celebration there was confusion in our household and we were locked out. Jamie boosted me up like a professional cheerleader and I was almost on the little ledge to where I could easily enter our house but I slipped and fell into the street. I knew I could make it if we tried a second time but the neighbors were looking out the window so we just went to Dana’s house and all three slept on her single bed.

Last Saturday we said goodbye to Paul and Barbara. In the slightly distant future they will join Jeff and Keely in the DR. Paul and Barbara became our friends at salsa lessons and we have always enjoyed talking with them at school. Many people at the school rave about what an awesome couple they are.

Chente didn’t have classes this past week, but he will be back in the afternoons this week. That was a close call.

One day after classes I bonded pretty well with Nat and Max from Canada. They are gone now and with them went a piece of my heart.

Other

Church is bilingual. Some Sundays the lead pastor speaks in English and a man translates to Spanish. Other Sundays another pastor speaks Spanish and a guy translates in to English. This Sunday was the latter. So this happened:

Pastor: “Estas frio?” (asking if we were cold)
Translator: “It’s a little nippy out, eh?”

I have a completely irrational fear of birds. There are birds everywhere here. We will be walking down the street and a bird will come at mebro and I jump because it is terrible and then Dana jumps because I jump and then people stare.

In the Presence of a Star

Last Friday Jamileh’s dad came! His name is Abrahim Attalah and he is previously known for his role as the voice of Gru in Despicable Me. Now, one of the most enjoyable parts of my day is watching Abrahim either attempt to talk to our family or practice his Salsa and Meringue. He usually does the latter whenever the feeling hits him (on the stairs, in Central Park, etc.) Usually Abrahim practices his Spanish with our family members. He decided to take four hours of Spanish lessons over two days. After day one he learned hor to have a basic 30-second conversation with someone. After practicing with Dana and then Austin, he was ready to practice with our family. The family really enjoyed their personal conversations with Abrahim. Outside of Spanish class, Abrahim learned how to say he like different things. Since he is a semi-professional chef, he always learns how to say different foods we eat. At dinner he told Cony and Jamie and I all the foods that he liked and concluded with the grand finale:

“Great! Now everything is me gusta’d.”

Field Trip #6: Monterrico. A Beach.

First of all, I just thought that it was going to be an average Saturday where I went to a black-sand beach in Guatemala, but I was so mistaken. I was preparing to leave my house for the daily activities of beaching it up when SPIDERMAN CAME TO VISIT! I even got a picture of him without his mask on. Sucker.

For at least the past two weeks I have been so excited to go to the beach. Although people tried to deter my excitement by saying the waves were crazy, they only made me more excited because I love crazy waves. So we get to the beach and Dana and I are running to the ocean and clothes are flying and I cartwheeled down the last hill. We hit the water and it was great. For lunch I had a fish, eyes included, but I decided to not eat the eyes.  Now it is one week later and my back “is peeling like a new born baby.” (This is how Morgan calls it. I don’t understand it either.)

Field Trip #7: Earth Lodge

The Sunday after Monterrico Beach we went to Earth Lodge. A van and a pick-up truck took us up one of the mountains around Antigua and after a short hike (down, which I thought to be counter-productive (or maybe part of the ride up was counterproductive))  we were outside of a little building where we could order lunch. There were hammocks and there was Americanafolk music and there were eggplant sandwiches. I will always refer to this place a Hippieland or ThemotherlandofCrystal.

Processions

In the weeks leading up to Easter there is a procession every Sunday. All the processions are a little bit different and are a really big deal in Antigua. I am still researching more about their significance, but our family always encourages us to watch them. The past Sunday we stumbled across the procession a couple times. I really enjoyed the band, so here is a VIDEO (!!!??:O!!) of the float and some of the band.

(my internet isn't good right now. but I will get this video up ASAP).

A Little Too Nice…

In recent days Cony has started being really nice to me. She says my name all friendly when I get home and she says “my pleasure” about all the things she offers to do for me. She wasn’t even fazed when I ran into the house, asked for dinner at 9 pm, and ran back out after she said it was her pleasure. At first I thought she was just warming up to me because I can talk to her a little more now, but in reality I know that she is trying to get me to make my bed.

17^th Anniversary

This past Wednesday La Unión celebrated its 17^th birthday. There was food and dancing and lots of people. This night was very special to me because basically all of our friends were there, even the ones who don’t attend La U anymore. There were lots of teachers and their families and other friends of the school. There was dancing and eating and more dancing. All I can say is “Thanks, Meme, thanks for the salsa.”

In the words of Dana,

Hasta.