A lot of delays

Well I took some time off from my blog...actually I kept trying to publish the same page for days but with the constant rain we couldn't get a constant internet signal to get things uploaded. So, here's a quick update of my life as facilitator and student in Santa Maria Visitacion...

I got extremely sick and was in bed for 3 days with a fever that made me so cold with chills I wanted to die. Accompanied by frequent trips to the bathroom and the occasional dizzy spell, I would say that I am pretty thorough when it comes to getting sick. But, I am feeling miles better right now and getting back into my groove.

I have been spending more time at La Salle including trying my hand at the daily Guatemalan breads that we eat at every meal. It has been really fun even though the students think I'm nuts...

We have worked on group unity and had a lot of big discussions about what the role of a field facilitator and field study student should be. But, group drama is just, well, dramatic, so I'll save you the pain.

I got to go up to Xela for a short while with David and Matt as we looked for harmonicas. We enjoyed pizza in a sit-down Pizza Hut restaurant and got soaking wet in the rainstorm that hit right as we starting looking for a return bus.

I have now completed 2 official months from returning from Argentina. It feels so far away now. Guatemala culture is definitely more reserved and a-political but the community atmosphere is a lot more inviting than the sprawling metropolis of impersonal Buenos Aires. I still confuse a lot of people with my hint of Argentine accent (though I have made some great strides in working on masking it...even though my Spanish suffers in having to do that...) and I am continually making new friends just by the fact that I speak K'iche'. Quick story, I was walking down the street in Santa Clara, enjoying my water in a bag and toasted cheese junk food that I had bought at the corner tienda when I saw a group of women sitting on the grass embankment outside their house. I didn't know them but greeted with by saying "good afternoon" in K'iche': "Xek q'iij." and I kept on walking. Ten steps down the road I hear this shout behind me "CRISTINA!!!" and turning around I see one of the women motioning me to come back. I do but I was really confused that they knew my name because I was positive that I didn't know them. They then asked me if Cristina was, in fact, my name and I said yes, but that I didn't know them. They broke out in bursts of "it's true it's true!!" and preceded to tell me that there were rumors of a girl named Cristina that spoke K'iche' and so when they saw me and I greeted them they wanted to know if it was true. Slightly awkward conversation but you know...go with the flow. I decided to bring up the fight between Santa Clara and Santa Maria and they said they weren't a part of it but that we were all children of God and we shouldn't fight. I then continued on my search for high strength antiobiotics to fight the rest of my stomach infection...good story uh?

I am now in the midst of teaching the panaderia teacher how to make chocolate chip cookies and fudge...pretty fun stuff. I have really bonded with the high school students in the group and they now talk to me in "vos" rather than "usted" even though I had tried to get them to do that the first day, they only now are catching on. For those that don't speak Spanish it basically means that they are talking to me more as a friend and less as a distant adult that they have to revere. One of the students jokes every day about how he's my boyfriend and is going to lose everything the day that I leave...guys are definitely a lot more upfront and flirting is a whole different ball game down here. NOT that I'm flirting, I just haven't ever had to face cat calls from someone that I work with and don't just walk past and avoid. I give it back to him and tell him how I'd be robbing the cradle and whatnot and so things are just jokes and the whole group joins in so it's no big deal. I kinda freaked out the first time but I'm feeling better about it now.

We've had a bunch of small earthquakes recently but nothing big enough to crack foundations or hurt anybody, just long enough to freak out the Americans and get a couple phone calls from concerned relatives.

More pictures next time, sorry the limited entries. Happy birthday Jennifer, Josh, Mom and Happy Father's day dad!