Skype is great! I am grateful to my friend, Cindy, who introduced me to Skype before we both left for Guatemala at different times. I downloaded the software on our computers, and Grace helped me set up our accounts at home, one for Rachel and one for me. We are mainly using video conversations and Chat.

Guatemala is a gathering of contradictions. The country has high rates of poverty, illiteracy, and is suffering from the downside of globalization. Climate change is hurting the agricultural livelihoods of indigenous people. Yet, it seems that everyone here -- in business, education, little shops, tour guides -- has a cell phone, and most large municipalities have public wi-fi. There seems to be an internet cafe or wi-fi hotspot on every corner here in Xela, including the guest house where I am staying now.

Because the internet is so widely available here, I am able to talk daily with home for no cost, except what might be built into my rent. I will share these cute photos of my family, and a sweet sign that Grace made for me.

Language School

I am having a great time studying in my first week. I need to post a photo of my teacher for this week, Lesvia. She has been putting me through the paces of Level 1, reviewing present tense regular verbs, numbers, and I have begun to add technical terms from Pastoral Care (La Cuidad Pastoral) and medical care (enferma, enfermedad: sick, nurse). I am pleased with the recall I have for previous studies.

My class is in the afternoon. Lesvia and I sit across from each other at a table. For five hours, she teaches me, we talk about the lesson, I practice conversation, and many other helpful one-on-one lessons. We talk about current events, also.

Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco de Espanol is part of a larger collective of projects that exist to advance the rights of the indigenous peoples of Guatemala. We see films, hear lectures, and visit places of significance to the indigenous peoples, especially in relation to the internal armed conflict that lasted for 36 years, ending only recently with what I gather are poorly enforced peace accords. I won't go into it in detail here, but suffice it to say, the indigenous peoples have had a horribly tragic history, and the average US citizen doesn't know the half, not even the tip of the iceberg in which we are implicated.

Every day I go out for a walk and make myself talk to lots of people about lots of things. This morning, I chatted with Sr. Juan, who managed the guest house in the mornings, about the sound I recognized to be a sump pump under the patio floor. He explained that the house has a cistern, and clean water is pumped from a well into the cystern, then we use it for our showers, washing up, etc.

My friend, Cindy, arrived last night. She has had a terrible time with a recurrent bug she picked up on a trip to Cambodia a few years ago. She was en route to Xela from Antigua and had to stop off in Panajachel, on Lago Atitlan, to go to bed for a few days. I am glad she was able to travel yesterday afternoon and is feeling better. We are staying in the same guest house. In fact, she is about to make our lunch here in the guest house kitchen. It's good to get started here with a friend who has more time in study and speaking.

Today I have a big review at school, to see if I can move into the next level and some other time than the present in conversation. However, there are many ways to communicate using the present tense; and, as they say, there really is no time like the present!

Arrival During Holy Week (Semana Santa)

Words cannot begin to describe the experience of Holy Week, especially in Antigua, Guatemala. In this photo, members of a congregation are constructing an alfombra, a carpet on the street in Antigua. Similarly to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, each day of Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday, has a theme and many, many processions sponsored by churches (Roman Catholic and Mayan Catholic) in every major city. Antigua is second only to Seville, Spain, for the attraction of thousands of international tourists and pilgrims. Campesinos come into the city for the week, especially for Good Friday, or Viernes Santo. The suffering of Jesus on Good Friday is the peak experience of the week. In the Protestant branch of Christianity, we think of Easter as the peak experience, but for many reasons, in Central America, and for most of Latin America, the people identify most with the suffering Christ.

In each procession, churches bring their statues out and use them on what we would call "floats" to dramatize themes and events in the Passion of the Christ during Holy Week. Good Friday processions begin at 2 am, with centurions on horseback, commemorating the arrest of Jesus and the interrogation by the Roman authorities. From then, processions are continuous. Holy Saturday is fairly quiet, and Easter is down-right anticlimactic. The highlight was Mass in the Cathedral today in Xela.

Quick recap of my itinerary so far:

Friday morning, arrival in Guatemala City; met by guide who informed me that due to Holy Friday, no buses were running to Xela; went to Antigua; no rooms available until mid-afternoon when a pension owner and housekeeper offered me a bed in her house. Since all was well in the end, I am glad I ended up in Antigua.

Saturday, van ride from Antigua to Xela by way of Panajachel, on Lago Atitlan. Must try to go back there for a day. Traffic had us crawling toward Xela. Did I mention how people come out in droves from all over the world and from the countryside (el campo, los campesinos) in every vehicle imaginable, that made my ER chaplain's heart skip a lot of beats?

In Xela for Easter Sunday, was able to see the 11:00 mass, with sermon by the archbishop, the bishop, the cardinal, and even many young women and men as readers and servers of communion in the service in the cathedral. I was captivated by the indigenous dress of the Mayan congregants.

I took some long walks around town to find my school and begin to learn my way around this city that will be my home for five weeks. I am in a very comfortable guest house now. Xela has many fine restaurants in this neighborhood (Zone 1), around El Parque Central. Even McDonald's :-). Tonight I had Italian.

I have been quite pleased with my recall of previously learned Spanish, and am looking forward to my first day of class tomorrow.
I have posted many more photos and will continue to update on my Flikr photo site. Follow these links to see more:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indyanne/sets/72157616691024312/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indyanne/sets/72157616692428762/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/indyanne/sets/72157616684049608/

iPod Rip is a Time and Music Saver

Hey, just a quick note of advertising: I used this software to save the music from my friend's iPod when her hard drive crashed. As you know, you can get iTunes purchases back, but not all the music that you might have burned from your CDs. That's a lot of time and energy.

iPod Rip worked like a charm using the Mac. I haven't tested a PC version yet.

They have a giveaway going on now, just in case you might be interested in checking it out.

giveaway@ipodrip.com