¿Como se dice en español?

I wish I could say all of these wonderful things to you in Spanish, but I do not know enough words (todavìa) to convey how wonderful this first week in Guatemala has been.

I arrived to la cuidad de guate late thursday. In the ten hours I spent there I have only to say that Dos Lunas is a lovely and attentive hostel and staying in zona 13 means lots of loud and not very inviting noises. I hope that I see more of the city on my way back that way.

The next afternoon I arrived in Quetzaltenango, or Xela as the locals refer to it. I spent much of the weekend walking so much and seeing so much and doing actually very little, outside of eating. The food here is awesome, so so cheap and friendly to my kind. Los mercados are amazing, overflowing with the brightest verduras and freshest frutas. The street vendors sell tostadas covered with raw beets, carrots, squash, soya, guacomole, etc. The eggs are the best I have eaten. Panderias and tortillerias on every corner. And the tortillas here are thick and homemade and always warm...like magic.

I started school on monday, and am here 8 to 1, lunes a viernes. Mi maestro se llama Alberto and we study all over the city. The school was founded to fund various proyectos and los estudiantes are able to particiate in some of them. They have a medical program that runs a free clinic downstairs, so I am meeting lots of doctors to be from all over, whom make up the bulk of my friends here. Monday we have cinema nights at the school, where we watch movies about or made by Guatemaltecos. Tuesday I went and volunteered at a day care and did some cleaning and painting in preparation for school to start. Later, my friend Andre and I went to an awesome lectutra given by Willy, a guatemalteco who fought in the civil war here in Guatemala in the eightes, as a guerilla, and fled to los estados unidos in 1996, as a polictical refugee, when the peace treaty was signed. He spoke of his experiencias as a migrant, his ideas for sustainable living here in Guatemala, and showed a documentary he directed. This was great, as you all know my passion for working with the immigrant and refugee peoples.

I met a girl named Su from Canada who spoke to Willy, who knows of many proyectos locales that need volunteers. She is off to an organic coffee farm for the next three to four weeks, where I may join her next month some time.

Yesterday I went to a beautiful pueblito northwest of xela and built a stove. Yes, a stove. It is part of another proyecto the school has, building safe stoves en el campo. Most homes traditionally cook on open fires, inside. We go in, buy the products and build the stoves, designed by an engineer here at the school. I cut tiles and bricks with a machete, mixed clay and cement, laid clay and cement, and other fun things. I will post fotos as soon as I can of este estufa muy bella.

Some other neat things I found are a track down the street from my house where I can run, yoga classes that cost 15 quetzales, about 2 dollars, how my name is pronounced en español, hot springs, a cafe that shows spanish, french and itallian films with spanish subtitles (very good practice), great cafè (which I guess I drink now), pretty trees and flowers that grow in between the tiles on roofs, many nice cats and dogs, very polite people (except that hijo de puta that grabbed my ass last night as he rounded a corner on his bike) and all things foriegn that teach me and awe me.

Long story not so short I love it here. And I have so much more to see and do. This weekend I am going up with some students to the tallest point in Centro America, Volcon Tajumulco. It is a two day hike, which we finish at sunrise on sunday! No worries mama, we have a guide. I promise to put some pictures to supplement this narration after then. I love you all muchisimo and there are things I wish you were here to experience with me. And if I get to live here one day you will. many, many hugs and kisses, laurel