To All the Students I've had before...

To all the students I've had before, I feel your pain!! Learning this language is possibly the hardest thing I've ever done. I am standing on the other side of the desk, trying to take my own advice. Making index cards of verbs, watching fluffy bunnies on YouTube sing the numbers 1 to 100, and searching for worksheets for the verb "ir".

Here is me trying to study last night in the torrential rain. Luckily I study well with white noise, but this was truly deafening. This is what happens when one is in a country during the rainy season!!! Perhaps I need to back up a bit. As I am writing this section I have been in the country for three days.

My flight was super smooth into Guatemala City. I knew that I was in the highlands of Guatemala, but had no idea that Antigua is 5,029 feet (1,533 meters). Just to give you some context, Denver is 5,280 feet (1,609 meters). The temperature is lovely, but it is cloudy and rainy every day. Luckily I brought a super good umbrella with me which with my fan are my two favorite possessions.

I was SUPER nervous to meet my host family, but the whole situation has turned out to be amazing. You can see a photo of their house above. I am actually staying above their residence on the roof in one of three really nice rooms. My host family is the Jimenez family. Jessica, her mother Sonia, and her 2 sons Jorge and Josè live in the pink residence you see above. They have been so kind to me, and Jessica is a very good cook. P.S. the program has the host families feed us breakfast and dinner. She speaks to me in very simple, very slow Spanish which makes me have confidence in my ability to learn.

Here is my room which is perfect to sleep and learn in. Antigua is surrounded by 3 volcanos Agua, Fuego and Acatenango. Fuego erupts every 3 to 5 minutes and is one of the ones that you can see in the video above. Hopefully, I will get to climb it while I am here. There are so many great things to do... if only the rain would go away.

This is my school, Máximo Nivel, and my current teacher Vanessa. I have her with a group of others from 9 am to 1 pm and then again in the afternoon from 4 pm to 6 pm. The first day was like getting punched in the head. I went home, ate dinner, did my homework, and passed out from sheer exhaustion. It was so hard that I wondered if I had just bitten off more than I could handle. Of course, everything is in Spanish... no English at all. In fact, my teacher's grasp of English is mediocre, her words not mine. By day 3 it is getting better but stay tuned to see if my speaking improves along with my reading and listening comprehension.

When we get out of class at 1 pm everyone is starving! Antigua has so many types of food from all over the world. Mexico, India, USA, France... I could go on. Here are my first two lunches: Mexican tacos with Conchita Pibi and a Guatemalan-inspired pizza. The pizza turned into lunch on the 3rd day because it was so huge.

My third day was the first one with any sun. I've posted not too many photos of Antigua as I have not really had any time to research anything about them!! To be sure, this weekend is exploring Antigua weekend. I'll leave you with a photo of my walk to school and my host family's pets. They are both very friendly and help me to miss Blaze and Luna a bit less. One last thing. Please don't be offended that I won't be sending any postcards. Guatemala's postal workers went on strike three years ago and still are not at work so there is literally no way other than UPS, FedEx, DHL, and private carriers to get stuff in and out. See one of the private carriers below. I've been told they are super expensive. Until next time...