What a crazy weekend! On Saturday my school took a bunch of us kayaking on Lake Atitlan which was beautiful, but it got hot pretty early, so even though we headed out at around 9 i was already sweating when we had been out for about an hour. A good workout but I got burned a couple days ago so I couldn't stay out that long anyway. I wasn't really planning for the sweltering heat since I pretty much packed for the cold weather in Xela, and i was under the impression that we would be farther into the rainy season once I got here...
I finally am on my own here though! I know I always was travelling alone, but having friends around that I met from Antigua the whole time kept me busy and in good company the whole time. The Englishmen, Dan and Josh left yesterday with some girls they knew from home to go check out Semuc Champey. I constantly have been meeting people though which is awesome, and all the people from my school are great!
Moving in with my family yesterday was a big step too, I think. The mother's name is Dina and she works in the home and volunteers with the Catholic church here, taking charge of the singing groups from children to adults. I haven't met my homestay dad yet, because he leaves to work as a teacher in a town a little further away, called Santa Lucia and has to leave at 5 in the morning. The children are adorable! The 7 year old is named Ana, the 9 year old is Embilin, and the 13 year old is Marvin. Theyre all so nice and the youngest has started following me around already. Its great talking to kids, they keep the vocabulary simple, haha. And they are really used to having students around, theyve been hosting students for over 8 years. So I have meals with the family, except in the morning when we all have meals separately, leaving the house at different times.
I started class in the mornings which is kind of hard to get used to. I have 4 hours from 8 to 12, so ill be needing a little more coffee I think, haha
But today was a little out of the ordinary. Mother's Day is a pretty big deal here, and I was woken up to fireworks and music outside of my house at 3 in the morning. Then there were celebrations all day, and my teacher and I spent half our lesson at an elementary school where all the kids were putting on performances for all the mothers who were in attendance. I went and bought a gift for my host mother...a yard and a bit of nice fabric for a blouse or something. Wilson, my teacher, suggested it and i think she appreciated it!
Im excited to see more family interaction and integrate a little more with them! theyre ridiculously nice and are willing to correct my Spanish, haha. but they said that my spanish is pretty good already so i know i can only get better from here!
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