¡Aguas!
In case you aren´t current, I´ve moved on past Greece, past Istanbul, past Chicago and Cleveland and Tucson and LA, all the way to Xela, Guatemala. I think most people know this, however, so let's skip all that in between stuff.
As noted, I´m in Xela. Since most people don´t know where that is, get out your map of Guatemala - I know you´ve got one somewhere - and look for a city called Quetzaltenango. It´s a small country; it should be easy. This is Xela. The city has two names, a Spanish conquistador given one (Quetzaltenango), and a Quiche Mayan one (Xela). Everybody calls it Xela, though.
Two weeks into this little Spanish speaking experiment, I´ve become rather fond of Xela and Guatemala in general. While I relish in nagging David for all sorts of reasons, I´ve got to give him credit on this one (I´m here by his recommendation). The school at which I´m studying - Guatemalensis - is great so far. For $130 USD a week, you get a place to stay, three meals a day, twenty-five hours of one-on-one class a week, afternoon activities about twice a week, and a field trip every Saturday. It would almost cost more than that to lock yourself in a closet in DC for a month.
If we´re making comparisons, so far Guatemala is a lot like the Philippines. Most people are Catholic, with a healthy mix of random Evangelical groups around (including Mormons). There is also a lot of Spanish colonial architecture left over, especially in Xela and Antigua. Xela is located in the highlands, so it kind of reminds me of Baguio on Luzon. There are mountains all around (including a few volcanos), the temperature is quite agreeable, and there are a lot of pleasant-looking villages nearby. Just yesterday I went to a natural hot sring in the middle of some very scenic-ly cultivated mountains. Like Baguio, Xela is also a big university city. The only public university in Guatemala - San Carlos - is here, as are a few other private schools. That, plus a heavy dose of hippies and/or foreignors learning Spanish gives it a pretty liberal feel. It´s even easy to find vegetarian food. Guess those crazy hippies are becoming useful.
The Philippines and Guatemala are also similar in that the US has been and is now pretty heavily involved in determining politics etc. You can wikipedia either one and get a good sense of how each was screwed over in it´s own special way.
Anyway, so far I´m having a great time. Spanish is coming pretty easily thanks to French, although my head is sort of achy and spinning from all the talking. I feel like I talk more now than I did in Taiwan. At least I was confined to simple words and phrases there. The best part, at least, is that my host family is a little - not vulgar, but something kind of like that - so I spend a good deal of time trying to catch on to and use various insults that will certainly become useful later.
In any case, I´ll be trying to insult people for about two more months here, so all reports will be of the Central American variety. Time to go home and listen to my new radio. I got it from the market today, which was very stressful for me. I hate buying things. Except Diet Coke and liquor.
As noted, I´m in Xela. Since most people don´t know where that is, get out your map of Guatemala - I know you´ve got one somewhere - and look for a city called Quetzaltenango. It´s a small country; it should be easy. This is Xela. The city has two names, a Spanish conquistador given one (Quetzaltenango), and a Quiche Mayan one (Xela). Everybody calls it Xela, though.
Two weeks into this little Spanish speaking experiment, I´ve become rather fond of Xela and Guatemala in general. While I relish in nagging David for all sorts of reasons, I´ve got to give him credit on this one (I´m here by his recommendation). The school at which I´m studying - Guatemalensis - is great so far. For $130 USD a week, you get a place to stay, three meals a day, twenty-five hours of one-on-one class a week, afternoon activities about twice a week, and a field trip every Saturday. It would almost cost more than that to lock yourself in a closet in DC for a month.
If we´re making comparisons, so far Guatemala is a lot like the Philippines. Most people are Catholic, with a healthy mix of random Evangelical groups around (including Mormons). There is also a lot of Spanish colonial architecture left over, especially in Xela and Antigua. Xela is located in the highlands, so it kind of reminds me of Baguio on Luzon. There are mountains all around (including a few volcanos), the temperature is quite agreeable, and there are a lot of pleasant-looking villages nearby. Just yesterday I went to a natural hot sring in the middle of some very scenic-ly cultivated mountains. Like Baguio, Xela is also a big university city. The only public university in Guatemala - San Carlos - is here, as are a few other private schools. That, plus a heavy dose of hippies and/or foreignors learning Spanish gives it a pretty liberal feel. It´s even easy to find vegetarian food. Guess those crazy hippies are becoming useful.
The Philippines and Guatemala are also similar in that the US has been and is now pretty heavily involved in determining politics etc. You can wikipedia either one and get a good sense of how each was screwed over in it´s own special way.
Anyway, so far I´m having a great time. Spanish is coming pretty easily thanks to French, although my head is sort of achy and spinning from all the talking. I feel like I talk more now than I did in Taiwan. At least I was confined to simple words and phrases there. The best part, at least, is that my host family is a little - not vulgar, but something kind of like that - so I spend a good deal of time trying to catch on to and use various insults that will certainly become useful later.
In any case, I´ll be trying to insult people for about two more months here, so all reports will be of the Central American variety. Time to go home and listen to my new radio. I got it from the market today, which was very stressful for me. I hate buying things. Except Diet Coke and liquor.
posted by bethany at 15:58
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