I've finally arrived!!

Great news guys: The plugs here in Guatemala are the same as in the US so i’m gonna be able to use my hairdryer and curler – isn’t that great?? For a min there, i thought i had to go au naturale...not sure Guatemala is ready for this just yet. The bad news though is that whilst the temp during the day is 80F (25C for the Europeans out there),it gets down to 23F (-5C ) and ive barely packed any winter gear!!

So, I arrived in Guatemala City and it all went really smoothly! Due to the fear instilled in me about how dangerous Guatemala City is, I was expecting to get harrassed and mugged so i held onto my stuff for dear life.  I slowly creeped out of the corner of the airport, looking terrified and standing out like a sore thumb!  I got picked up by a sweet older lady called Raquel who took me to her home - she was supposed to make me dinner and breakfast the next day before putting me on a bus to Xela (my final destination) but i was so afraid of getting sick that i just stopped eating completely ! I didn’t get to see alot of Guatemala City but from the airport run it seems pretty modern – compared to what i’ve been expecting at least.  There were high rise buildings and everything!  The overcrowding is unreal tho...I felt like i was watching the making of James Bond – people were jumping onto the back of moving buses just to get to their destinations and scooters held an entire family!  If only i could talk to Obama now and explain to him why Guatemalans come to the US, he’d totally get it and that would cure our immigration problem!:-)

CONTINUED...It appears that life starts super early here in Guatemala. Raquel’s husband and kids work in a bank and start at 7 so at 6am the radio was BLASTING music.  Lucky i was already up cos my bus left at 7am...i don’t think the whole getting up early thing would work well for me!  At least they were playing Imagine by John Lennon – i could think of worse things to wake up to i guess. Gasolina for instance.

I’ve never been in a place where i stand out like this except when i’m the only white chick in a black club and I have to say, it feels weird! The people are seriously MAJORLY teeny!!  Even if they would try to mug me, i’d probably be able to swat them away with my pinky before smacking them round the head and getting my stuff back!  The average height of men here is 5 ft 3 and the women are even smaller!  I’m 5 ft 4 (and a quarter) and probably even more now that i’ve been eating all my greens.  I’m definitely  having a hard time telling the difference between children and adults.  Also, Guatemaltecos (that’s espanol for Guatemalan) have a v unique distinct look about them so u can tell i’m a foreigner straight away –not only coz i’m taller than most of their men.

Ok, back to my story.  The bus ride to Xela was 4.5 hours.  There were about 20 of us on a 200 seater so i found a nice seat and plonked myself down there.  Suddenly there’s this scary looking guy standing right next to me staring at me and i’m thinking “seriously dude, out of all the empty seats here, u wanna sit next to me??” So i look up at him about to tell him off in whatever little spanish i know and i could just tell by the way he was glaring at me and pointing at my seat that i messed up...I had taken his seat and he was not a happy bunny.  He did not need to say a word, i got it – i just shuffled off to my seat in shame apologising profusely. I’ll have to learn the power of the glare – my eyes are huge so i’ll do well with it i think.

The bus ride was fine except that when we stopped for a break, i realised that one of the tires was majorly deflated so i pointed it out to the driver and he starts rambling something to me in espanol which i interpreted as “chill out woman, there are 15 other wheels to see us through the rest of the way”.  He did stop at a petrol station though and fill it up.  Needless to say, i was happy when i reached my final destinationJ  I noticed there was this other foreigner that stuck out like a sore thumb on the bus too.  She was super tall and skinny . I kept trying to grab her attention and start up a conversation but i was really nervous...  Although i’m pretty sociable, walking upto a complete stranger and striking up a conversation requires a whole different skill set.  During the bus break, i kept thinking of what i would say: “ Hi, u look like a fish out of water too, wanna hang out?” or “Hi, i’m Luma, u seem like a gringa too, how are u?” or “Yo, whaddup”.  I just couldnt come to the right introductory statement – and the fact that i felt nervous like i was on a date meant that i was not ready for this and needed to chill out first! It was not meant to be...

I arrived in Xela and the owner of the spanish school that i’m studying at and his wife (Hugo and Elvia) picked me up and were horrified by how big my suitcases were. If only they knew what a conscious effort I made to pack light!  It didnt even fit in their car so we had to drive with the boot open:-) Suddenly, the girl i was stalking earlier asked Elvia something in spanish then jumped in our car and voila, we started talking!  Turns out her name is Jessica, she’s from Holland and has been travelling since Sep so she could speak a little spanish which was helpful.  Hugo dropped me off first to my family then took her to where she needed to go.  We agreed to meet later on at my school and get to know each other then.  My first friend – yaaaaaaaaaaay!!:-)

My place...hmmm.  Well, i’m living with Dona Blanca (Dona=Mrs).  She’s 69 and lives with her husband and her 44 year old daughter Norma who’s a nurse (which is great in case i get sick).  I am living in a converted garage and have my own private bathroom. So basically, i’m living outsideJ This would’ve been fine if it didn’t hit the 20’s at nite!!!  Dona Blanca does not speak a word of english so it’s definitely been challenging...I needed to goto the loo and asked her for some toilet paper – she told me that since it’s a private bathroom, i had to buy my own.  Whatda?!  I can see myself coming down with some pneumonia but don’t fear, Norma is here.  My bathroom is kinda skanky...i will have to take a pic for u guys sometime! Bugs all over the floor...this is where my bathroom slippers are coming in handy!

After arriving at my new digs, I unpacked and walked to the school where i met up with Elvia, my teacher Nery( a young 23 year old guy who looks like he’s 12) and Jessica.  I had told Dona Blanca earlier on that i like to dance salsa so she had already told her daughter to tell Elvia before i even got there and they had already told Nery and he offered to show me around the salsa places and introduce me to his friends!  Word gets around in this little village pretty quick it seems!

Jessica and I hung out for a little bit: we went toilet paper shopping, i went to get my clothes washed at a laundrette, we had a drink (the hot chocolate sucks here, yukh).  Then we agreed to meet up for dinner before going to the salsa place.  Apparently, it’s illegal to be in bars or clubs past 1pm over here and u can actually get arrested!!  We had some incredibly yummy tapas then went dancing – Nery was there but had no friends to introduce us to.  The average age in that place seemed to be about 15 – Jessica (who’s also 33) and I probably bumped it up to about 17 probably. But then again, they may well have been adults – just hard to tell!  They played merengue and Reggatone only which was annoying so I hardly danced. They did play 1 salsa and I got to dance with Willian who teaches out here.  His girlfriend is English but he spoke no english whatsoever – a little frustrating but my espanol is gonna have to come along quickly at this rate. 

I could not fall asleep my first night in Xela – not sure why, cos i was (still am) exhausted.  Perhaps cos of the altitude as im way up in the mountains (i’m def getting out of breath quicker when i walk) or just too much change or perhaps cos im sleeping in a garage?

What a change from what i have back home - this is really back to basics...which is cool but i have to say i feel very disorientated.  I’m such a princess when it comes to my luxuries but it just makes u realise how you could live with very little.  I mean who would've thought i could shower outside with bugs:-)

Tomorrow i’m going on a tour with Jessica to see a volcano.  Other than the active seeping lava, the only other problem with this is that the tour starts at 5am!!!!!!!!!!!  I figured i should do it –it’s not everyday u get to experience this and it’s better to do it with someone than do it alone.  Plus it’s Jessica’s birthday so we’ll probably do a hula dance celebration around the top of the volcano.  Note to myself: no heels when climbing the volcano Luma!

Alright guys, that’s it for now.  I hope i’m capturing the feel for u out here and reporting it well! J  Will write back in a couple of days.

Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaai