a day in the life

I only have 9 minutes so I'll try to type fast. So much happens every day and the days go so fast - it is hard to find time at the computers!

So each morning I wake around 6 am. Usually because it's getting too light to sleep, there is a lot of noise outside, and because I most likely went to bed at 9 the night before! Before going to the bathroom for my shower I have to turn on the hot water in the outside hallway. Though - this doesn't make the water all that hot. Since I've been in Guat I've only had one hot (warmish) shower. Brr!

Then the four of us students in the house set the breakfast table. Promptly at 7:00 breakfast arrives. Usually a lot of fruit combined with pancakes or bread or cereal or eggs or other things, and always coffee and tea. We all attempt to speak spanish with one another and Tomas, el hombre del casa. About 7:30 or so we all head to school. It's just a couple minutes down the road from us.

Classes begin promptly at 8:00. Mine starts with talking with my maestra for an hour mas o menos, en espanol. Sometimes this actually resembles a conversation, and sometimes it involves a lot of "ahh, umm, hmm, aahhh, I think..." trying to come up with the right words! And also using the dictionary a lot.

At 10 everyone takes a break for cafe, te, y pan. Then it's back to work at 10:30 - 12:00.

At 12 we're all finished. Some people run errands then or do some email. Everyone eventually heads back home for lunch at 1:00.

That's only half the day - but I have to go catch a bus - the biblioteca bus! We're riding the bookmobile bus to a pueblo up near one of the volcanos. I'll be back later in the afternoon. Not sure if I'll get to post though... I'll try!

the rest...

Lunch is at about 1:00 each day - almuerzo. Lunch is the main meal of the day so it is usually pretty big. All the students and the people of the house return and we set the table again. The food comes out and we all try to remember, yet again, how to say things like 'please pass the salt' (pasame la sal) or the words for fork, knife, y spoon (tenedor, cuchillo, y cuchara).

I think one of us has another hour or two of classes starting at 2:00 but the rest of us are free for the rest of the day. On Tuesday through Friday the school has different activities each day. Tuesday it was a 'reunion' with Rigoberto, the director of the school. Wednesday was making bolletes, Thursday a trip to a local ceramico. Today was a trip to a pueblo up in the mountains. More on that later!

The afternoons are a good time for these activities and also for wandering the city and shopping in the mercado. The Parque Central in the middle of the town is also a nice place. Yesterday there was a band playing in the arcade of one of the old buildings in the square. It was really cool!

All the students return before 7:00 for dinner. Some much earlier to work on homework! Pero there isn't usually much homework. Dinner at 7:00 and we don't usually go out after that. Well, the guys do - but I suppose it's fine for them. Usually the days are so full and it has been so warm, I desperately try to stay awake till 9:00! I guess it is my vacation - but I'm used to going to bed LATE and waking up LATE - not the other way 'round!

This morning I woke to the sound of rain. (You were right mom!) The sound of rain has to be one of the most beautiful things in the world! It stopped by 8:00 though and the rest of the day has been hace mucho calor!

Oh - yesterday morning after breakfast, Tomas said he was a giving us an examen. We each got a piece of paper and he had us write down three words each. Then he told us it was market day and we had to find these things in the market! I think mine were caimities, zapotes, and manzaniros - or something like that. Madarine oranges and two other odd things. We had to find these things after classes (or during) and bring them to the house before lunch. Que bueno!

My teacher and I went to the market during classes and found all the fruit. I also bought some flowers - some for my teacher Olga and some for the house. None of us were quite sure what this fruit was for. A big fruit salad?

Lunch came and there was no fruit, some rice and other things (I forget now). Right as we were finishing - the fruit came out on 4 platters! I've never eaten so much fruit in my whole life - combined! There were two kinds of bananas (mmmmm), two kinds of mangos, zapotes, boysenberries (muy sour!), mandarin oranges, and several other fruits I've never seen before. This combined with the pineapple, watermelon, and cantelope from the morning! Some of the fruit was good, some was weird, and others were kind of yucky. Me no gusta. It was a fun experience though!