Hello Friends & Family, This past week in Guatemala has been very exciting. I spent my Sunday at a market nearby the town I am living in. I went with a new friend I have made who works for the school, Julio. The market was beautiful and I have tried to include some pictures that show the traditional dress that the women and young girls here wear. Every day I see so many intricate attire on women, and after learning how they make it in my school, it is very impressive. Also, something that was pretty fun at the market was the fact that they sell lots of live animals. Chickens, Ducks, Turkeys, Rabbits, Dogs & Cats (not for eating I was told). It was pretty cool seeing all these animals being sold like that at a market where they have fresh vegetables close by as well as clothings for sale! 
Last Saturday I went to visit a cemetary. I was wondering through the towns and saw the size of the cemetary and was with a friend who said it is pretty awesome. Walking through, I was amazed as to how colorful and beautiful it was. Some parts reminded me a community garden in an urban setting, because there was so much plantation sprouting through the ground on top of where peoples´loved ones are buried. It was beautiful to watch people come to pay their respects to their loved ones by planting flowers, putting up baloons, and essentially making the surrounding area around the tombstone look like a party! This picture does not do the cemetary justice, unfortunately. Also, while we were there, we observed a burial taking place. The women were wearing their most vibrant and elegrant traditional attire and the magnitude of people present was incredible... although the venders selling cotton candy behind the crowd was pretty odd.
This is a good picture of the Cathedral, which is on one of the sides of Central Park. This is the ¨downtown¨of Xela, if it had a downtown. It is where people meet up and there are always lots of people hanging out here late at night. The street venders sell really great and cheap food... but my host mom says I keep getting sick because I am eating the street food too much! The Cathedral itself is beautiful and the main priest is very well liked by the people here. I go to mass here pretty much every day. While I can understand everything, because it is just like in the US, I cannot yet recite the prayers and everything in Spanish. But I have a small guide book and am working towards that! I am often hanging out around this park in a small cafe. There are many nice cafes and small restaurants around here, which is where I will sometimes spend an afternoon studying.
Walking out of class yesterday I heard Julio, my friend featured here, talking about Futbol. I had to ask if there was a game tonight or something and he said there was and that I could join him. Obviously I could not resist an invitation to a Soccer Match, but I had no idea what was in store for me. We left at 3:30 for the 8:00pm game in order to get ready. As we were walking to the game Julio says, ¨Te gusta Cervezas?¨ Although I have had no experience with such beverages being not yet 21 in the US I replied, ¨Si, porque no.¨He told me that he and his friends like to have one or two before the game begins. Although it is true his friends and Julio only had one or two beers, they followed such up with a good 6 or 7 shots of Whiskey.... let the fun begin! Suddenly I had about 15 new best friends hugging me telling me how much they were glad I was at the game.... At that point I knew I was in for a good night. The game itself in the section we were in was absolutely insane. It made the craziest fans in the states seem completely tame. These guys, with the band, had so much energy, crude remarks, fireworks, confetti, and drunken fun, that it was one of the most exciting games I have ever been too.
It was the championship game that went into overtime due to a 0-0 score in regular time. The home team - Xelaju SuperChivos - (Xela Super Goats) ended up winning 2-0 and this is a post victory picture. I had a blast at the game and with all of the people. I am looking forward to going to another game soon.
In other news. I have started teaching English at the local school nearby, which was an awesome experience. Challenging at first, but I really enjoy being in front of the classroom with the kids so excited to learn how to say things in English.
Currently, teachers are on strike, so I show up to the school often but only get to teach sometimes, when the teachers are not on strike that day!
This weekend I will be climbing a Volcano that is nearby, Santa Maria, which I have heard is gorgeous. Also, I might start working at a shelter for abused women with children in the future. Since I am going to be the only student at my school next week, I figured I should start finding some ways to get involved in the community to have things to do!
Overall, I am doing well here and the adventures continue to randomly occur. I am looking forward to bettering my spanish, because I am quickly realizing how much I don´t know and need to start working on that!
You all continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!
PEACE
Great pictures! Your adventures are so exciting! I bet you were loving the soccer game. Want to see photos of your host family. I can't believe how beautiful the women dress. Love and miss you lots!!
ReplyDeletemom
futbol with julio. always an adventure. i remember the first time i went with him we arrived really early and so we were talking about food before the game started. my spanish was still really bad and so we weren't communicating incredibly well. he was telling me about a particular kind of street food and asking me if we have it in the states as well. i just couldn't understand what he was getting at, so i told him no, i guess we don't have it. on the way home after the game he pointed out this food, and it was a hotdog. "si. tenemos hotdogs en los estados unidos." ha. but then my spanish got better!
ReplyDeletehope you are having a fabulous time and tell julio hello for me.