Busy Days

Yesterday was a long one. Elisa and I said adios to one another and I hoofed it like a mule up to the church to catch a chicken bus. I really wish gringos would call them what everyone else does which is not chicken bus. It would really make it a lot easier to ask about them when talking to locals. Every extensive visitor to Guatemala has chicken bus stories. Fun. Dangerous. Your call. Either way, they're an adventure. Or so I'd heard. This ride was pretty uneventful for me. I don't fit in the seats at all, though. If you don't know, CB's are old US school buses of the Bluebird variety. These are the bus system of Guatemala. Everyone takes them wherever they need to go. Remember these buses? We've all ridden them. Apparently, when full, these repainted in bright colors, individual dashboard expression, potential chariots of death, have 3-4 people to a seat with people packed in the aisles. A rack on top for larger items (like my big bag), and an ayudante´that has one of the craziest jobs ever (these should be stunt men in training), are a roller coaster that could never be duplicated in the states.

But like I said, my ride was uneventful, slow even, and by no means full. ayer, yo llegue a Queztaltenango a las medio dia, mas o menos. I was dropped off w/4 other backpackers at the big CB station but we had no idea where we were. They weren't the nicest Germans I've ever met, but the 2 girls spoke Spanish well and they were going to the volcano tourguides I was also trying to talk to.

We made it there with minimal trouble and I was #13 on the wait list for the overnight full-moon tour, which I ended up bailing out on trying to do. No biggie. I was really in Xela (aka Queztaltenango) to enroll in Spanish school. I spent the afternoon trying to find one, running all over a couple of city zones close to downtown.

I settled on El Mundo en Espanol. I went to this one because it advertised a 'holistic approach to Spanish' and a onsite gym. It was in a home with a lot of students about. Gladis, the director and owner, showed me around and explained how her school was different than the rest. Sounded like what I was looking for. I talked to one of the more senior students, or was she a student coordinator? Either way, she raved about her experience. Then Gladis and her mother (she introduced me to all the family members but I can't remember all their names) offered me a Guatemalan tamale (I don't remember what tamales are called here, but they're steamed in banana leaves and are effin' great!) and some tea. She said I could start tomorrow. I signed up and paid immediately and was invited for desayuno this morning.

Next was accommodations for the night. The Quetzaltrekkers (volcano tours) office is in Casa Argentina. I looked at one other hostel then went back to Casa Argentina and scored a decent single room for ~$3. I wish I would've taken pictures of it. Literally looked like a monk's cell but I didn't care. Took a shower and crapped out.

This morning I had to hustle here for breakfast and then started my 4.5h lesson. Not so bad. Stuff I remember. El, los, la, las. Articles, ya know. Then I went to my homestay house. I'd requested no extraneros other than myself. She wasn't ready for me to get there, so I walked around and got some lunch.

So much food for ~$1.75! Damn good though. She never stopped patting out tortillas the entire time. Spoon out rice. Pat tortillas. Fry up carne asada. Pat out tortillas. Take another order. Pat out tortillas. Yeah, no washing of her hands, but when in Rome....Marcia, you're so right. Handmade tortillas are so much better! These are pretty thick though. I prefer thinner, but they're still so much better than machined ones. You can taste the fat in them. Mmmmmm.....

I went back to the house, stashed my stuff in my room, asked about dinner, then came back here to write this.

I've got to study too so I'm out.