Gato2 gatos enjoying the sun

Our housemate Paul helping out in the kitchen

26 de Julio

We are still getting used to the new environment of a household. We had home-made pancakes this morning are chuchitos with Spanish rice for dinner. We decided tonight to embark on an excusion tomorrow. Our new friend, Paul would like to climb the Volcano of San Pedro for his birthday at the top so we are pretty excited. The word of the day is “polvo.” Polvo is Spanish is “dust.”

25 de Julio

Yah! We are finally set up with a family and it is so easy to see why it is strongly recommended. Where do I start? There is another student who lives in the same house hold. His name is Paul. Paul has long red hear, and is really tall . He’s the nicest guy and is trying very hard like us to learn Spanish. The woman of the house is Magra. She is super nice and even more talkative. This is a very good thing for us. The more dialog, the better. Pedro is the man of the house. He has a hard time getting a word but is very kind and engaging. Next in line is Jonny. He takes after his mom and is very talkative. He’s 16 years old but very mature and pleasant to be around. Carlita is the daughter. She is quiet and polite. Lastly is Andy who is 7 years old. You can tell that he thinks it’s the greatest thing in the world to always have new friends visiting his house. The house itself is very nice. Our room is great and our bathroom has hot water. We are on the top floor with a varanda which has yet another great view. Downstairs is the part where the family lives. It is not really big but quite modern and comfortable. We are free to watch t.v. or listen to music whenever we want. I haven’t even mentioned the food yet. I’m so exited to not have to go to restaurants for every meal anymore. Tonight, we had exactly what I have been craving for a few days now, black beans. They were delicious. Along with the beans were eggs, tortillas, pan (bread), and a hot drink that magra said is made of miez. It has a freakishly nostalgic taste. We also had fried plantain. It was a feast. I can’t wake up tomorrow and eat breakfast. The word for the day is “adivinar.” It means, to guess.

24 de Julio

It was another basic day for us, a little on the cold side however. The high was probably 63 and the low is probably around 48. I started to wish a long time ago that I brought more pants. It is our final night in Villa Lupita. It’s been fun but there won’t be many tears tomorrow. I saw the craziest butterfly today. It’s wings were transparent! I was pretty exited to nag a couple pictures of it. Andrew and I had pancakes today. They weren’t as good as the picture showed but it was a good attempt I am very excited to find out what will be on the menu while we are with a family. The word of the day is “Grama.” It means “grass.”

23 de Julio

It was pretty quiet this morning without our fellow classmates that we started out with. The day was filled with normality. I studied, messed around on the internet, and had a good session in class. There was an extra treat at the end of class today. There is a large group from Portland University that is leaving tomorrow and there was a party to wish them farewell. The party was during my class but they brought my teacher and I tamales and punch. There are two types of tamales here in Guatemala. There are “chuchitos” which are very similar to the tamales of Mexico, made of masa de meiz and wrapped in corn husks. Then there are “tamales” de Guatemala. They are about the size of two open hands put together. Instead of masa de meiz, they are made of rice and they are wrapped in banana leaves. They are pretty good but I still prefer the “chuchito” style best. They call the punch here “caliente”, mainly because it’s caliente. I’m not sure what kind of punch it is exactly but they serve it hot like cider and there are chunks of cocoanut and pineapple inside. It’s really good. The word for today is “pupitre.” It means “writing desk.”

22 de Julio

Sunday means a few things here in Panajachel. First, it means market day. The market was packed beyond fire marshal limits today. I was enojado (angry) because my batteries ran out after a few pictures. I wasn’t able to capture the fascinating images of radish, fresh bass, mangos the size of a child’s head and live crab. We purchased our breakfast for the next 4 days, 4 avocados and 4 mangos for about 2 bucks. Second, Sunday means lots of tourists. Normally it’s an even mix of Mexicans and US “gringos” that crowd the streets and shops. Lastly, Sunday means mucho studying. While we ate dinner tonight, we listened to the movin beat of Latino American traditional music. It was a band of locals I believe. They were seriously rockin. Andrew and I sat and listened to them for close to 2 hours. I have a new favorite desert as of last night. It is called a churro relleno. It is filled with heated nutella syrup. “Riqueza” is the word for the day. It means “richness.”

fish bait

21 de Julio

After 6 days of having your mind constantly racing between two languages, appointments, crunching numbers for a budget and taking in new experiences, I have found that it is hard to allow my brain to slow down and rest. It is blessed Sabbath and my thoughts are flying a mile a minute. This morning, we had our first go at fishing Lake Atitlan. We rented a trashy paddle boat for 50 quitzales and used a bottle with fishing line wrapped around it. I bought a piece of fried chicken for lack of a better idea for bait. Although it was not our most successful fishing excursion, we had fun trying something new. We also decided to try out our new indoor soccer shoes today and spent a couple hours kicking the ball around. The rain came early and in force today. It was kind of nice because it forced us in our room and we used the time reading the Bible and Christian literature and writing journal logs, all the time with the sound of thousands of raindrops on the thin, fiberglass roof. We are counting down the days when we will be able to move in with a family. It will be that much more exposure and that much more opportunity to speak. Hopefully it will greatly increase our language ability. The word for today is “Reis.” It means, to “laugh.”

20 de Julio

I have officially finished past and present tense grammar. So technically I should be able to tell you what I’m doing and what I did in Spanish. Should and can are 2 different things however. Despite my incapability, I feel like I know a lot more than when I arrived. If only I can apply it now, I’ll be set. It is the weekend once again and time for rest and catching up on studies. The plan is to do some fishing tomorrow which will be a blast no doubt. Many of the students that we started with are leaving this weekend and in a way, I envy them. However, even though I miss family and friends very much, I know very well that I need more time to accomplish what I set out to do. The budget allowed for us to treat ourselves to a nice breakfast this morning. I had to large crepes with fruit salad and yogurt in the middle. Andrew had scrambled eggs, beans, tortillas and fried plantain. The word for today is “estornudo.” It means “to sneeze.”

19 de Julio

Life is really too good. I asked myself today why I deserved to be in such a wonderful place where my only care in the world is to learn a fun and interesting language. I am so disgustingly blest. Today I ate lunch with the Father student and his two daughters. The girls are pills but the Father is an interesting and pleasant guy. I learned a lot in class today, now the trick is applying it when I speak out of class. I’m very excited that I was able to begin construction on my makeshift fishing pole. I have very high hopes for it. Today, I cut a piece of cane down to size, made 2 small holes, and Andrew helped me hollow it was about 8:30 p.m. and I went out in search of some sort of thin metal pole to hollow out the cane. There it was, the absolute perfect piece of metal for the job. However, it just so happened to be on a metal roof top about 5 feet out. I called Andrew to observe my discovery and he courageously offered to stretch out onto the roof top and grab the metal rod. It felt like we were on some dangerous mission because it was dark and a little risky. All went as planned and now I need to go in search of a few other materials and my wonderful construction will be finished. The word for today is “Disgustar.” It means to be repugnant or to hate.

18 de Julio

Today I purchased some indoor soccer cleats in desperate hopes that I might be able to play a game or two on the indoor courts. I also bought materials for fishing. We’ll probably make our first fishing excursion on Sabbath. We’re not sure right now what to use for bait, however. I had a solid day in class which felt good. The weather here is very predictable. It is the warmest in the morning but come 1:00, the clouds start rolling in and there are decent sized rain storms every night. I have constructed my very own defense against the elements out of a couple plastic bags. We are getting to know some of the other students better. There is the couple I mentioned last week, another younger couple from Iran and a father with his 2 very young daughters. The daughters have taken a liking to us and are the type that warm up very quickly. The father is a pretty nice guy who looks like one of the last remaining hippies of the sixties. Speaking of hippies, there are tons of them in Panajachel. Though they aren’t the cleanliest looking bunch, they are definitely talented. Many are jewelers, others make custom diaries that are really cool looking, and others are painters. It’s quite an interesting culture to observe. The word for today is “descalso.” It’s significance, “barefoot."

17 de Julio

I think I hit the wall today. You know the wall I’m talking about, when you start learning something new and your progression is really rapid up to a certain point and then your learning curve all of the sudden comes to a screaming halt. It’s alright though; I intend to put extra effort into my studies to counteract that natural slump. I’m really happy with my choice of school. The director, Gregorio, is seriously just the nicest guy to work with. Andrew and I went into a restaurant to have dinner and Gregorio was there with his son waiting for take out. We were able to chat for quite a while. He’s got the greatest sense of humor. When Andrew and I arrive early to school, we like to sit and listen to Gregorio teach other students. He cracks some of the funniest jokes. We can’t stop laughing. Today, for example, Gregorio’s student is a very timid and serious figure which makes it that much more hilarious because ninety percent of the time, the student has no idea how to respond. So, the student did not have his homework don today and this was Gregorio’s response. He bent down from his chair and whistled. Then he said, “Perro… porque comes el tarea.” For some reason it was so funny to hear that joke in Spanish. Maybe you had to be there too… The word for today is “broma.” The significance, “a joke.”

16 de Julio

We had a nice addition to our econo-breakfast this morning. On our way to school, we bought 10 maiz tortillas straight from the manteca as well as some salsa verde. Avocado breakfast tacos, we call them. It’s a real tasty and inexpensive way to fill ourselves up a little fuller in the morning. We had another new delightful sabor (taste) for lunch as well. Argentinean empanadas are “incredible.” I regret to inform that class was not so hot today and I’m pretty sure it’s because I cheated a lot on Saturday, talking to Andrew. I think I will regain momentum though. The word for today is “sin.” Its significance is “without.” I just think that it’s interesting because I once heard the definition of sin as anything that separates you from the love of God. “Without” the love of God = “sin.”

15 de Julio

“Estudiar” is the word for today. Even though it is not a word I need help remembering, it sums up our Sunday pretty well. About 9:30, after getting ripped off because we needed to buy a knife to cut our fruit, we headed to the playa to eat Pitaya (my new favorite fruit on the planet) and avocado and began studying. Despite the many distractions, we got a good three hour session in before going back into town for lunch. I had my first go at tofu tacos and I give 2 thumbs up. It was back to studying for another 3 hours with intermitted internet breaks. This evening I made my first purchase, a shoulder bag authentically made here in Guatemala. The initial price was 125 quitzales and the closing deal was 80. That’s about 10 dollars U.S. It’s a strange thing. Here in Guatemala, Andrew seems to be some-what of a celebrity. At least that’s all we can think of to explain the strange looks that he receives continually throughout the day. Male and female, in the street, at a restaurant, everywhere people will look and sometimes stop to stare at Andrew. We sat down at a restaurant to have dinner on night. When the waitress came to give us menus, she stopped at our table and literally stared at Andrew for a good three to five seconds. After she left and Andrew exclaimed, “What is it with these people?” We still have yet to figure it out. My personal theory is that there is some Spanish soap opera that stars Andrew’s look alike. Unfortunately, we might never know the real reason.

14 de Julio

I think it’s safe to say that we are becoming quite accustomed to this town. Being Sabbath, we took it nice and chill. We had ourselves a nice breakfast and then headed to the lake. We spent a good 3 hours there, discussing the meaning of life and other such topics as natives continually came up to us, trying to take us on boat rides or sell us table mats. It was a perfect day to do some reconnecting that time and distance often inhibit us from doing. Things picked up around 7:00 as is expected on Saturday nights. Andrew and I had our first real go at shopping. I was honestly a little disappointed. As I went from vender to vender I noticed that all their goods looked strikingly similar; and all this time I thought I was going to buy a one of a kind original piece of some ones manual labor. Turns out, much of these goods are bought by the locals and resold to us for 3 times the price. However, there are some who sell authentic, traditional wars and I intend to buy from them. After shopping, we returned to the soccer court that we discovered the previous evening. We sat through 2 games, the last being a game of two guys teams. They were pretty good. They were really good actually. It was a lot of fun to watch people with such talent. After the game came an experience that I will never forget. Andrew and I went to Jack’s place, one of our favorite restaurants just because it is such a sad establishment and we feel sorry for it. Well this night there happened to be live music that was extremely loud. We ordered our food and began eating. After a short while, the owner came up to me and asked me something in Spanish. It was really loud and I only caught a couple words that I recognized. So I sat there for a few seconds after confidently answering, “Si.” After she walked away Andrew immediately asked, “Did you understand her?” I began to laugh hysterically as I shook my head “No.” Andrew’s eyes widened and he began to laugh as well. So there we were anxiously awaiting for whatever it was that I had just asked for. She came back and set two glasses filled with a mysterious looking liquid. Andrew looked at me while shaking his head in disbelief. “Nunca otra vez” (never again) he said before slowly putting the glass to his nose and then taking a small sip. “I don’t know” he said. So after I got done crying I took the glass to my nose and then took a sip. It was like a cross between spiced apple cider and grape juice. After the taste left my mouth, I looked at Andrew again and we began to laugh hysterically at my mistake that is so typical of someone who is not careful of their response when they have no idea what was said. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson for good. I would have felt worse for leaving two full glasses there but we noticed on the bill that they were free. It was an experience that could only be completely appreciated by two good Adventist brothers. The word for today is “repite.” It means, to repeat and can be used by itself when one does not understand another’s question and needs clarification.