In Xela!

¡Hola amigos y mi familia!  I´ve arrived safely in Guatemala, so you can stop your worrying. 

Traveling on Sunday was looooooong and exhausting.  I left Brent´s house in Chicago at 3:00 am and arrived in Xela at 8 pm.  Travelling was pretty much problem free, although it was necessary to use my weak Spanish as I moved from plane, to taxi, to bus, to taxi.  When I arrived in Xela after dark no one was at the school/hostel where I was staying the first night.  After a moment of panic my cab driver and I figured it all out, and I ended up under warm covers on a chilly night. 

The next day I started lessons at 8 am with my teacher Miriam, who is wonderful.  We went to a neighboring town, Zunil, and saw a shrine to the Mayan "evil" saint, San Simon and a beautiful Catholic church.  In the afternoon I moved in with my wonderful Guatemalan family.  Another American, Tomas, is living with us, and is beyond helpful with the language barrier.

So Spanish is way harder than I want it to be, and I kind of feel like a dumbass.  However, I´m learning A LOT and i think after two weeks of language classes I´ll be a lot more comfortable with the language. 

Xela is a big city, lot´s of houses and business packed together with narrow volcanic stone streets busy with people, cars, and big chicken buses (old U.S. school buses used for chaotic public transportation).  Green mountains rise sharply out of the city, and you can see volcanoes from many parts of the city.  Here and in neighboring pueblas they grow vegetables that they export all over the place (probably Michigan, even).  The weather is a lot like Michigan this time of year, cold at night (40´s?) and comfortable in they day.  Apparently they have been getting a lot of rain, but it´s been sunny and warm the two days I´ve been here.  The people here are very friendly and welcoming.  I feel safe and essentially like I am a new person in any city in the world.  I´m not a city person, so while I´m enjoying being here in the swirl of things, I´m excited to get on the road and be in smaller towns.

And that is my story thus far.  I promise to keep y´all posted.  ¡Hasta luego!