Third week of Español

When I wake up in the mornings I am speaking beautiful Español, in my head. But I have to admit that when I actually start speaking the language I feel like a fool and for whatever reason now I can hear my accent. Before learning to speak Español I never realized that I had a southern accent. Did ya´know that I spoke southern? I do understand a whole lot more than I speak. Our classes are totally in Español--no English--and I find myself saying ¨Si¨ a whole lot and then I sit back and think did I really understand what was just said or was ¨si¨an automatic response.

Anyway, I did start yoga this week and attended classes regularly for three days before getting the Guatemalan bug. Yep, I finally got real sick, but immediately went to a lab and verified that I had gotten ever parasite known to the Quetzalteco´s. The school, PLQ, recommended a clinic close by so I went there. Not to gross you out...well I won´t even go there then. But needless to say I got the bugs. The clinic said my results would not be available until 2 p.m. so I went back home. Fausto, the man whose family I live with said ¨no¨. So Fausto and I go back to the clinic, he talks with them, they give me back my ¨sample¨ and he and I go to another lab. This lab is also owned by the doctor who also owns the pharmacy. And within 30 minutes I am on my way to mi casa having paid a total of 57 Quetzales for the lab, the doctor, and medication. This is approximately $7.50. I think that Central America must be the one place Americans CAN afford to get sick. After 1 day of strong medication I am already much better.

This week I am doing yoga in the mornings and Español en la tarde, 2 - 7 p.m. Since there are fewer students in the evening classes our school day trips are much easier to manage. Nothing as exciting this week as last week though so I only went on one trip which was to Almolonga. This is a small pueblo about 30 minutes out of Xela. Oh yea, and I took my first Chicken Bus ride that day. Almolonga is known for its famous vegetable market. At the market I bought a whole lot of produce for the house and spent less than $10.

Last night at la escuela we had the international cena. We had so much comida. I love potlucks. There is a woman from New Orleans, here at PLQ, and she made jambalaya. It was good and even though I had been sick earlier that day I ate two helpings of it and then a lot of other foods. A man from Japan made great rice rolls, and we had a lot of other great foods as well.

Today I have been walking around Xela for a couple of hours. At Pargque Central there are huge demonstrations going on. The upcoming presidential election is only weeks away and the young Guatemala´s for social justice and change are having a great day. Not understanding the language and all of the history of injustice that has been done to these people, I find it difficult to stay for any length of time.

At PLQ we had several conferences this week. One was on the presidential election and the other one was about a mining project that displaced and entire pueblo. These indigenous people were forcible removed from their land by the government who leased their prosperous property to a Canadian mining company. In all of the conferences the United States government has been one of Guatemala´s worse culprits to violate the local people and their economy. The US involvement goes way back many many years with the CIA and J. Edgar Hoover. There is much to learn here. It seems the US government finances a lot of the corruption. This way they can continue to have a strong hold on Central America.

Well another week of school has ended and my first month in Guatemala. My prayer is that I learn Español and that all of you have peace in your life too.