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!

the first step

i'm leaving leelanau county today ... the first leg of my journey.  i have another couple hours of packing/cleaning to go and then i'm off to marquette for the night to pick up kendra and brent.

it's kind of weird .. i feel a little more sad and anxious than excited.  transitions are hard, regardless of how fantastic or terrible the upcoming journey is expected to be.  well, as coleen shared with me last night, the anxiety will build until i truly set off ... so hopefully that happens when i get on the plane sunday morning.  regardless, i'm pumped.  here i go .....

packing ...

i always, always, ALWAYS wait til the last second to pack.  that's what i'm doing.  i have this swirlynervousexcited feeling ... leaving home in a day and a half and will be in guatemala on a bus by this time 5 days from now.  yikes.

the beginning (or something like that)

a lot of y'all have expressed concern about not knowing what the heck i'm up to when i'm traveling.  i figure the best way to keep everyone on the same page is like this.  (i honestly detest the idea of a blog, but this is for you: mom and dad, kendra, jesse, elizabeth, kyle(s), dana, aunt missy, and lots of others that are worried.  i love you).  i'll do my best to keep it updated, i swear.  you might even see a picture or two.

so i take off in 10 day ... leaving the county in a week to pick up my sister and brent in the u.p., then heading down to chicago to whoop it up family style before i fly out of o'hare at 6 am sunday, october 10.  currently pulling together last minute things that i should probably have taken care of over the last month.  last day of work at the riv ....

that's enough.  jeez, this is weird.