Getting settled!

We are settling into our second day in the city of Xela after a gorgeous bus ride yesterday from Guatemala City. The roads here are actually brand new, better than a lot of roads at home surprisingly! No 8 hour Kenya road trip repeat here. We stopped at some Mayan ruins along the way which was pretty cool and got us all excited to be here. The city of Xela is an absolutely wonderful place so far; it´s kind of the Goldilocks city of Guatemala or so I have found...not too big, not too small, juuuust right. The city revolves around the `Parque Central´ (pictures to come soon), and our hostel is only four blocks away from it. The city is very interesting to look at as it´s kind of a mishmash of architecture; it is separated into ´Zonas´ which vary substantially both aesthetically and functionally. Our hostel and the Parque Central are both located within Zona 1, which is the colonial part of town, full of nicer restaurants, the main central banks, courthouse etc and nicer cafes. The town was destroyed by an earthquake in 1902, and was rebuilt shorty thereafterwith Gothic style buildings, there are lots of very grandiose buildings surrounding the Parque and throughout Zona 1. The other main area of our concern is Zona 3, which we found yesterday during our explorations; it is the commercial centre of town and holds a massive market where you can buy anything from mangoes to TV´s that are straight from the 70s.

The hostel itself where we are staying is a very cute little place- I lucked out and got a single bedroom on the second floor and I am in love with it. The walls are sunny yellow, the ceiling is sloping paneled wood, the walls have exposed brick and I have beautiful little carved wooden shelves to store stuff. AND, two electrical outlets (bonus!) The hostel is pretty basic- we have two showers for 26 people which could be a bit of a challenge...and one and a half fridges...so it´s going to take some adjusting but I´m sure it will work itself out. There is a ´courtyard´in the middle of the hostel, which in reality is a 20 by 20 foot hole in the roof which is fantastic when it´s sunny, but is just a big hole in the roof when it rains (the drainage system in the hostel is pretty good though and the potted plants love it!)

I successfully got a cell phone yesterday (20 bucks US for a phone and 50 international minutes...ridiculous) and have ordered at 3 restaurants in Spanish and gotten what I ordered every time. Great success! The lanaguage is definitely going to be a challenge, but mostly an issue of confidence- the locals are very willing to help and appreciate my valiant efforts to communicate (phew).

Will update soon after we start the Habitat project this Monday!

Hasta luego,

Caroline xox

Landed!

Hola chicos!

I have officially become a gringa...landed safely in Guatemala city, made it to the hostel with the rest of our group and am now taking a break from hanging out on the rooftop patio drinking cervezas (with our professors. This is going to be a good semester).

Flights were smooth- we had a short layover in Dallas and it´s true, everything is bigger in Texas. I had a salad the size of my head (complete with BBQ sauce IN the salad and deep fried tortilla bits...bye bye arterial blood flow...) that was served by a waitress with hair the size of Texas, on a giant indoor `patio´ inside the airport. We also discovered a shop that sold lollipops with real scorpions in the middle...needless to say I did not partake...but overall Texas was hilarious.

We are taking a bus to Xela tomorrow and I am excited to get a sense of the country- right now all I have seen is customs and the inside of the shuttle to the hostel. My Spanish is clearly lacking- we were waiting for our luggage and trying to converse in Spanish and a local was chuckling in the corner at our attempts...ohhhh dear....alll in due time I suppose....

Anyways, that´s all for now folks...will update when I get to Xela!

Much love xoxo

Hola from Vancouver!

"You're going to what-the-heck country? Where?"

- direct quote from my mom upon telling her I was going to be spending three months in Guatemala.

I didn't know much more about the country than she did at that point, only that it was a fairly poor, small country with a wealth of Mayan ruins (ooooh, Indiana Jones...). I initially was convinced that Guatemala bordered Panama and Costa Rica (wrong) and that I was going to be hanging out on a beach for three months (also wrong). For this reason, I decided to blog my experience under 'what-a-mala' as I discover and learn more about the country, its people and myself during my term abroad. 

Here is a basic rundown of my trip for those of you who I have left in the dark:

I have been in Vancouver doing a crash-course of Spanish 101 from September 1st until this Wednesday- hablo mucho espanol! yo quiero taco bell....dos cervezas por favor....aye carumba! I think I am in good shape...at least, we will see when I get my final grade....

We depart Vancouver this Thursday September 17, layover in Dallas (I am so excited as I have always secretly wanted to go to the American South...) and finally arrive in Guatemala City around 7 in the evening. We will be overnighting in Guatemala city (don't worry Dad they are escorting us to a safe hotel and we are not allowed to go out in the city), followed by a 4 or 5 hour bus ride to our home base, Quetzaltenango, for the next two months. 

Quetzaltenango, known by the locals as Xela (thank goodness because I go cross eyed looking at the first name let alone trying to pronounce it) is a town of about 140 000 people located in the Western Highlands of the country. It is heavily influenced by Maya culture and is reportedly a wonderful spot to base yourself as it is quite safe, beautiful and foreigner-friendly. Xela is one of the foremost towns for Spanish-language schools in Central America and has built up quite a reputation for capturing tourists for much longer than they intended to be there, as a place to build firm local, intercultural friendships, and as a place to establish a sense of community. 

We will be living in a hostel which we have block-booked as a group (26 UBC students and three professors) for at least the first month (http://hostaldondiegoxela.com/ if you are curious...it is cute, clean but very basic). The first few days upon our arrival into Xela will be devoted to orientation and general settling-in, getting to know the rest of the group and exploring our new surroundings. On September 21st the work begins; we will be doing a two-and-a-half week Habitat for Humanity project, building sustainable housing alongside local workers. I am excited for this new experience as it will really give us a chance to practice our Spanish, and who knows, I could discover my future as a construction worker (doubtful but it will be an interesting experience nonetheless). Just to give you a sense of the practicality of our Spanish course- I can't tell you how to say anything in the past tense, but I can tell you how to say 'power drill' and 'wheelbarrow' and 'cement mixer'...ahh academia. 

Upon completion of the Habitat project, we will begin classes for the remainder of the term. While in Guatemala, we will be taking three courses, each in a three-week chunk; this will be quite an interesting change from the five-course-at-once model I am used to. I have finally met all three of the professors and they are all extremely gung-ho about the program and the learning models we will be using are unique and creative. We have been told not to bring laptops; most of the work we will be producing will be largely a reflection of what we have learned from our experiences and our surroundings- they call it 'experiental learning'. Definitely a big change from 3AM nights in the library cranking out research papers, but I am looking forward to it. The program is officially called the 'Arts Term Abroad in Global Citizenship', and so our courses have been themed accordingly. We begin with a Philosophy course called 'Contemporary Moral Issues: Global Citizenship', followed by a Sociology course- 'Perspectives on Global Citizenship' (see a theme yet?) and finishing up with Politics and Government of Latin America (much more my speed). I am very curious to see how the 'global citizenship' business evolves; right now I am inclined to perceive it as a vague blanket term of no concrete significance. Hopefully my understanding (or lack thereof) will continually grow and change over the next three months, and I think that is a big part of the program's aim.

I will leave it there for now, but will strive to update this blog as often as possible to keep you informed of my whereabouts and goings-on! Thank you all for your support and understanding as I venture into the unknown.

Hasta luego!

Love Caroline