Xelaju

Well it's been 4 days of language school and there have been times of complete spiraling darkness as i can't imagine comprehending all of this and then some light moments of laughter with my teacher, hilarious mistakes i've made when talking with my family and a sense finally after day 4 that i can possibly do this.

I'm the oldest student here which is an interesting dynamic, most are ya's (just like work....) but i have been applying myself and just getting my head around the sounds and how people speak. Reading from a book is a completely different experience than trying to understand what a native speaker says.

I have a great connection with my teacher who is mayan and full of interesting topics. When my brain is ready to explode we go for a walk and discover something new, like the names of streets and how you say 1st Avenue.

Julio gave me a great orientation to Xelaju (Mayan name) and Quezaltenango to the spanish. I can navigate my way around this city of app. 300,000. My family has a beautiful new house (the nicest by far on the block) and i have a lovely room with a bed that isn't a total crouton.

The school is amazing. Very political, was founded by a group of ex-guerillas 25 years ago and does great work in teaching us spanish but also educating us on the reality of the conflict.

My typical day:

wake up at 6 ish

eat breakfast at 7:15 am

Walk to school with Teresa (the mother of the house who is a teacher here and Marite who is 9)

Drop Marite off at school

8 am start class

10:30 am bread and coffee break

11 am back to class

1 pm walk home and have lunch with mi familia (main meal of the day)

relax after lunch

3 pm go to a lecture at the school or a fieldtrip

7 pm head home for a simple dinner

Have an english lesson with Marite.

9 pm go to sleep or meet some students at a cafe

Julio was here on Tuesday to give a lecture at the school, he did a great job talking about trauma in general and then the details of the trauma that is still being experienced here each day. He talked about the history of his family and the healing process all of us can experience. We had a lovely day exploring Xela, eating amazing food at a french restaurant and drinking beer at Xela's only microbewery (it's been there since the 50's) and still looks the same. Julio said when he was going to highschool in Xela, he and his brother saved up for 2 months to be able to go to and have a beer. What must it be like to have lived like that and now to live in such a different way?

I'm trying to learn as much as i can while i'm here. The school has an amazing library of books in English and i'm reading alot about the conflict and the effects that live on today. Many of the lectures are on the topic of the civil war. I'm developing a little experiential workshop on the history of guatemala for participants coming down on tour to come and i'm getting alot of ideas.

Tomorrow we are having an international dinner and friday graduation for students who are finishing their time here. We all have to bring something, i'm the only canadian out of about 25 americans....WHAT SHOULD I BRING?? Easy, no oven, ingrediants available here....ANY IDEAS???

I'm so blessed to be here.

Sending you love from the place where God is known as the Heart of Heaven and Heart of Earth.

Dor

julio outside his highschool, a visit back after 25 years...