Poco a Poco (Little by Little)

Xela is a beautiful city.  I was overwhelmed by it at first, and I am sure that I will continue to be, at least sometimes.  The buildings, the paint jobs, the cobblestone-ish streets, the smells, the etiquette for crossing the road ... it's not what I am used to, but that's a good thing. Canada should not be my picture of what safe, secure, friendly, and good are.  It is just a country, with people living there.  Guatemala is a country too, with people living here.  You can pray that how I look at Xela will continue to change (for the better) in the next couple months (although weeks would be preferable). 

Here was my week:

Monday:
So, I was unsure of how I was going to make it even to the Parque Central (Central Park) on my own, which I heard is where most things happen.  The musical demonstration turned out to be a museum in guess where... Parque Central! One of the teachers from the school took us (the two of us that showed up) to the museum and then showed us around some of the other historical buildings around the park, including the political offices.  He gave the historical background on everything we saw, but I understood next to nothing, which is fine...He then said we could go home.  hmm.  If only I knew where that was.  I was actually glad for that as it forced me to get to know my way around a bit.  The other student pointed me in the right direction, and off I went.  I found some postcards on the way home (a bit of an adventure in itself) and did indeed make it home safely. 

Tuesday:
I went to class, which I enjoyed more than Monday's and then went home, and stayed there.  There were lots of concerts and festivities going on at the Parque Central, but most were at night (the sun sets around 6pm), and neither my family nor the students I asked were going, so I didn't go either...Honestly, I was glad that I was "advised" not to leave the house.  Something that seems like an adventure with too people is just kind of scary with one.   (I did get to watch fireworks from the roof/terrace outside my bedroom...but went to bed around 10...Poor Sonia, however, didn't like the fireworks/firecrackers at 2 in the morning!

Wednesday:
No class for 'Independence Day'!  Since I slept, read, and did Sudoku all Tuesday evening, I thought that I should get out of the house.  My teacher had told me about a parade going on in town, and I had heard the marching bands practicing all week, so with directions from my host mom, Sonia, and the help of two different sets of people on the street, I found my way to the masses of people waiting for the 8:30 show to begin.  I found my spot, up against a lampost, so that I wouldn't block anyone's view.  I had a great view, grace to how short everyone else was.  The parade started; more people came; more people came; more people came; one left; more people came.  My spot by the lampost turned out to be not so "out of the way" as people squeezed in front of me, behind me, and beside me.  It was quite humorous for us who had been there since 8:30 to watch people squeeze their way past us, assuring us that they could indeed make it through, only to retreat 30 seconds later.  The parade (desfile) was definitely a good exercise for getting over space issues...and I talked a bit (a very little bit, but still talking) with a couple people who wondered what a blue-eyed girl was doing there.  All in all, a good experience, fire-crackers and all.  I stayed 3 hours, but a woman told me that the parade was scheduled to go for another 2 hours, I decided to call it quits. I went to Parque Central for a bit, but other than that, didn't do much else. 

Thursday
I liked classes more than Tuesday, and my teacher realized that I had some previous knowledge of grammar, at which point he started to use more complex verb tenses with me, not that I could understand or respond, but I felt stretched.  So good!  (I sound like a nerd.)  At 4 on Thursday there was a talk on Las Fincas de cafe...Coffee farms.  (Before the lecture, Enrique (presenter and school director asked me how my spanish was.  I said "malo" and he corrected me "poco a poco", which is a good reminder and attitude!)  With hand gestures and drawings, I understood quite a bit (but definitely not all!).  We were supposed to go to visit a Finca tomorrow, but I was the only one signed up, so it was cancelled.  Language school enrollement is way down, they think because of the mudslides.  It is true that there were people that died from the slides (and that is NO small thing), and parts of the road were reduced to one lane where mud still covered the road, but still, from what locals say, it isn't as bad as the press makes it out to be (which makes Guatemala a less appealing place to visit.)  My host at the bed and breakfast is thinking about looking for other work; host families aren't receiving students; the school isn't receiving tuition (which also finances NGO projects)...etc.  It's just too bad that there is such fear where there doesn't really need to be, and that the people of Guatemala, who are feeling the effects, are voiceless in sharing that.

Friday
Good class!  (Next week is a new teacher, so we'll see how the switchover goes.)  I had asked Carlos (my teacher) about a good price for watches and how to get to La Feria (the week long fair to celebrate Independence Day).  He was going to take me to the market to buy a watch in the second half of class, but that would mean that I wouldn't get to learn about prepositions.  The market was probably more important, but I opted for prepositions since I wouldn't have any more classes with him and I knew that that was something I wish I knew in French.  (Judgement?)  Carlos did show me on a map where I could find name-brand watches, no-name watches, and a Mennonite bakery.  I found ALL 3 on my own in the market that afternoon, although it took a while longer than it would have with Carlos ... the streets aren't marked that clearly!  At the market, women in woven clothes sit on the curbs selling all types of fruits and vegetables, while pedestrians and cars share the middle of the road.  Shops and tables sell brightly coloured bowls and basically everything else you can imagine (including scarves!).  It made me wish that I could set up a home here.  So beautiful.  Still, I felt somewhat awkward and just unsure of what to do.   It isn't that the market was scary.  Really, people were quite friendly, and were less "pushy" than I remember markets being...is that rude to say?  Like I told a friend, even one of the men holding a large gun (It seems that they guard banks and electronic stores etc.) was joking around with a young boy. But after being directed to the "watch" section by a young boy selling electronics, and buying one, I made my way home without much other exploring.   I hope that I will be less aprehensive in time, and more open to just exploring and enjoying.  Small steps though, right? 

Saturday:
Today I feel like I actually did something!  Okay, well, I didn't do anything this morning, but this afternoon, I made my way back to the Mercado (Market) Democracia and found the bus (again with lots of help from Xela citizens) to the Feria.   I wandered and wandered.  At first I was just looking, with the idea that I didn't really want to buy anything...  I wandered through the mazes of stalls, never knowing where I was, but always finding my way back to the main street.  Finally, I realized that I was always going to feel like an outsider if I didn't make an effort to not be.  I mandated myself to buy something.  It didn't matter what...and then it became more fun.  I stayed until around 5, and then caught the bus home...which ended up at a different street, but I found my way back to the mercado and then home :)

Tomorrow I will find my way to church, I hope!  Carlos gave me directions for there as well.  I am excited that I have something planned for tomorrow as it is so easy just to sit in my room, out of the way.  Confession: I have been going to bed around 9:30 because I really have nothing else to do.

Eek. I ended up writing a lot, and I won't do so every week (I don't think), but everything seems like such a new, important stepping stone to being at home here...steps to not spending EVERY afternoon in my room being "unsure" and doing sukokus (which, by the way, I had never tried before this trip)...

that or I'm just wordy :)

- I left for la cena (supper), and am now back.

There is a family reunion downstairs.  Sonia has a wonderful family!  I think that they let me eat first so that they could fit around the table, so I ate and left, but they were so easy to talk to.  You know chaotic large families, where the kids are running, the parents calmly scold them for running in the kitchen because they could hurt themselves on the counter, and then the parents sit back down and ask about your life in Canada, and give you a hug.  Thank you Jesus for gifts like this! 

oh, and the fireworks are going again outside!  Okay, I am definitely almost done...I'll just show you some pictures of where I live :)

This is the roof/terrace.  My door and window are directly in the middle.  The bathroom is the room behind the ladder.

I love my door and window!

The red one is my house.  The yellow one with the flag is the school.  Close :)

This is one of the views from the roof. 

Another view from the roof ... to the left is Volcano Santa Maria.

View from roof #3...a beer factory, but mountains and volcanos more than make up for this one side!

La feria (fair)

The parade

The vegetable section of the market + car, which I guess is part of what is in the market...

Beautiful Xela!