Estoy aqui en Xela!

I'm sitting the one of the classrooms at my school - Proyecto Linguistico Quetzaltenango - in Xelaju, Guatemala. (To explain the name difference, Quetzaltenango is the official name for the town, but Xelaju, shortened to Xela, is the Mayan name meaning "surrounded by ten mountains.")

So far things are excellent. My baggage has not yet arrived and that is causing some stress (or at least some smelly inconvenience), but my mom has risen to the occasion (and surpassed it by quite a bit!) and has given both Taca and American Airlines a respectful but firm piece of her mind. We hope that the pack will arrive today in Guatemala and maybe tomorrow in Xela. I'll keep you posted, but if I have to wait too much longer, you'll smell me from wherever you're reading from.

Class started this morning with an orientation to the school and to Guatemala. Having already been to both, it was review for me, but really important stuff to remember. My teacher's name is Karla, which has yet to cause too much confusion, but I can see it happening. I have a lot to re-learn. But I also feel really good about how much I've retained and how much has come back in the past couple of days.

As always, I am AMAZED by the programming the school puts on. There are political, cultural, educational, and recreational activities every single day. For example, I'm about to go watch "Life and Debt" (but in Spanish - Vida y Deuda), a documentary about international lending bodies and the impact that they have on the actual development of indebted countries. Tomorrow, Thursday, and Saturday there are hikes planned in different parts of the nearby area. Every week there is a lecture on current events in Guatemala. When I was here with CGE, we had a lot of our own programming, so we weren't always able to participate in the school's stuff. (And it was excellent programming from CGE, too, so I can't complain.) It will be nice integrate more fully into the community of the school this time around. So far I've met some really excellent people here at the school and I look forward to meeting more.


I'm glad that this time around I don't feel like I have anything to "prove" with regard to contacting folks back home. When I was abroad, it was such a relatively short time and it was an intentionally apart experience, I felt as though I ought to minimize my phone contact. This time, I'm all about the skype. I think it will be a good thing. :)


At orientation this morning, I was greeted by a mural with one of my favorite quotes I learned last time I was in Central America, from Pablo Neruda: "Pueden cortar las flores, pero no pueden detener la primavera." (They can cut down the flowers, but they can't hold back the springtime.) Ruminate on that rich clump of spiritual cud.