Well now that I'm home from Guatemala, I have no money, and no job. But I still need to eat. And since DC kindly puts a 1 week waiting period on unemployment, I've been having an interesting time.
I'm also spending inordinate amounts of time hanging out in my pajamas playing around on the internet. The luxury of having a laptop is spoiling me. And since I was semi out of touch for six weeks, I'm at least a month behind on any website I've ever heard of. Not the best situation for finding work or even leaving the house.
So this is my attempt to be accountable to something for getting shit done. And a place to put info about all the cheap recipies I've been finding.
Yesterday I volunteered for Earth Day, which was fun and different. I got to see some friends I hadn't caught up with and I got out of the house and only had to spend $2.50 on bus fare and $3 for a cab share. I got free food at a happy hour (empanadas, veggies and cookies) and a free beer and gourmet whoopie pie at another happy hour. Gourmet whoopie pies are like cupcakes cut in half and filled with whipped cream. AMAZING. And I made a few contacts, which might be useful in the job search.
Then today I did very little.
But I just had dinner for very little money:
rice (from cheap bulk bins at Yes)
ham (spent $5 on it at safeway, have used it in 5 meals so far)
mustard greens ($1 packet from cabinet, originally from Indian grocery)
Dal($1 packet orgininally from indian grocery)
This morning I had oatmeal (bulk from Yes), with raisins (leftover)
Later I'll have more mustard greens and rice and probably popcorn (bulk from Yes).
Now I'm going to make cobbler with an old can of peaches.
Tomorrow's money saving goals:
Go to bank with loan check (Thanks Mom!)
Gather spare change and hit up coinstar
If enough money in spare change jar, buy flour (reg and whole wheat), eggs, milk, canned tomatoes, dried beans and apples/bananas (Giant)
Also check out target for frozen veggies (bird's eye steamfresh).
Tonight's job goals:
Apply for 4 only semi interesting jobs.
Get a good draft of my resume together to send to the 2 actually interesting jobs.
Email the draft resume around for comment
Send emails to my references, reminding them that people will be calling to hear how wonderful I am.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Xela, part 2
So, obviously I´m not a very good blogger, but to be fair, the internet at school was awful, the internet cafes in Xela close early and I was sick.
But I really enjoyed the rest of my time in Xela. I went to Las Cumbres, a beautiful little hotel up in the mountains near Zunil, for an afternoon. They have saunas heated and filled with steam that comes directly from the volcano. There were always steam vents there, and someone bougth the property and build the hotel to take advantage of it. I loved the setting and the amazing views, but I think I actually had more fun on the ride up. I rode on a mattress in the back of a pickup truck. Apparently gringos in pìckups are pretty rare in Zunil, so all the little kids were pointing and staring. It was cute.
The fields in the hills around Zunil were fantastic. Some of them were terraced, but for the most part, they aren´t, so people are farming in nearly horizontal fields.
A few weeks later, I went to Fuentes Georginas, hot springs where the volcano heated water drips and trickles directly out of the mountain into the pools. These are on the other side of Zunil, so I got to drive through the same fields I admired before. Even more amazing up close. The hot springs were amazing and there was huge rainstorm while we were there. Floating in the insanely hot water, staring up into the forest with big drops of freezing water falling from the sky was incredible. Driving along the scarily curving road that was semi washed out on the way home was a little less fun.
I really enjoyed my time at ICA, my spanish school. My first teacher, Mario, was good, but I spent my last week with Rocio, who was amazing! I learned a ton, but now have to work on putting it into practice.
I also had a great time hanging out with the other students, who seemed less young as time went on. We went to two kinda crappy, but really fun bars. King and Queen, where an Israeli guy´s Guatemalteco boyfriend used to work, was a fun dive with good beer and free snacks. I got to meet everyone who worked there and most of the clients, too. We also went dancing at La Rumba a lot. It smelled, usually like crap. The DJ was absolutely awful, I could probably have transitioned between songs better than he could and there were always overly insistent drunk guys wanting to dance and not taking no for an answer the first 20 times. But somehow, it was a blast.
I still felt restricted by the safety concerns, but found a few reliable cab drivers, so I didn´t feel so dependent on other people to get home.
In the end, it was hard to leave Xela, but it was time to see the country.
But I really enjoyed the rest of my time in Xela. I went to Las Cumbres, a beautiful little hotel up in the mountains near Zunil, for an afternoon. They have saunas heated and filled with steam that comes directly from the volcano. There were always steam vents there, and someone bougth the property and build the hotel to take advantage of it. I loved the setting and the amazing views, but I think I actually had more fun on the ride up. I rode on a mattress in the back of a pickup truck. Apparently gringos in pìckups are pretty rare in Zunil, so all the little kids were pointing and staring. It was cute.
The fields in the hills around Zunil were fantastic. Some of them were terraced, but for the most part, they aren´t, so people are farming in nearly horizontal fields.
A few weeks later, I went to Fuentes Georginas, hot springs where the volcano heated water drips and trickles directly out of the mountain into the pools. These are on the other side of Zunil, so I got to drive through the same fields I admired before. Even more amazing up close. The hot springs were amazing and there was huge rainstorm while we were there. Floating in the insanely hot water, staring up into the forest with big drops of freezing water falling from the sky was incredible. Driving along the scarily curving road that was semi washed out on the way home was a little less fun.
I really enjoyed my time at ICA, my spanish school. My first teacher, Mario, was good, but I spent my last week with Rocio, who was amazing! I learned a ton, but now have to work on putting it into practice.
I also had a great time hanging out with the other students, who seemed less young as time went on. We went to two kinda crappy, but really fun bars. King and Queen, where an Israeli guy´s Guatemalteco boyfriend used to work, was a fun dive with good beer and free snacks. I got to meet everyone who worked there and most of the clients, too. We also went dancing at La Rumba a lot. It smelled, usually like crap. The DJ was absolutely awful, I could probably have transitioned between songs better than he could and there were always overly insistent drunk guys wanting to dance and not taking no for an answer the first 20 times. But somehow, it was a blast.
I still felt restricted by the safety concerns, but found a few reliable cab drivers, so I didn´t feel so dependent on other people to get home.
In the end, it was hard to leave Xela, but it was time to see the country.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Life in Xela has been pretty good. My family is very warm, even though they don't appear to eat vegetables or fruit- it's beans, eggs, white bread, tamales, meat and rice, with a nice bowl of pulverized oatmeal and cornflakes for breakfast. On Saturday I'm headed to the market with Sonia, my house mom. It's supposed to be a bit overwhelming, but I'm excited to learn from a barganing master.
I've ventured out in the evenings with the numerous Danish 20 year olds who are here. They're very sweet, but very young. I've been to a couple of touristy bars and a halfway decent Indian restaurant. The streets are absolutely deserted after about 7-30 when everyone is home for dinner.
The thing that is bothering me about Xela is that it's not safe to walk anywhere alone after about 8pm or even really to take a taxi home alone at night. I feel really restricted by this. It's driving me a little nuts.
There are things I like about Xela, but I'm considering spending my last 2 weeks of study up by Lake Atitlan. It will be warmer and more quiet there, I can live as the only student with a Mayan family and it's safer.
I'll see how I feel after exploring Xela this weekend, but I might be ready to spend some time in country.
I've ventured out in the evenings with the numerous Danish 20 year olds who are here. They're very sweet, but very young. I've been to a couple of touristy bars and a halfway decent Indian restaurant. The streets are absolutely deserted after about 7-30 when everyone is home for dinner.
The thing that is bothering me about Xela is that it's not safe to walk anywhere alone after about 8pm or even really to take a taxi home alone at night. I feel really restricted by this. It's driving me a little nuts.
There are things I like about Xela, but I'm considering spending my last 2 weeks of study up by Lake Atitlan. It will be warmer and more quiet there, I can live as the only student with a Mayan family and it's safer.
I'll see how I feel after exploring Xela this weekend, but I might be ready to spend some time in country.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Xela
I made it to Xela! I didn't see much of Guatemala City, because I stayed at a B/B outside of town. But since I was exahusted, it was great to have someone pick me up at the airport and drop me at the bus station the next day. The scenery on the bus to Xela was amazing and I'm really looking forward to seeing some of the towns.
Spending all weekend and 5 hours today attempting to converse in Spanish has been hard, but I'm remembering a ton and I think I'll learn quickly.
Photos are proving to be hard to upload - the computers here are old. So I'll leave them on facebook and you can see them there.
I like my school so far - good teachers, good faciliites and lots of social projects. There's a free clinic in the school every day. They also work with schools for indigenous people and a women's prison. I'll probably do some volunteering there.
My house is run by a sweet woman named Sonia who made me feel very welcome and like some sort of freakishly tall giant. This was a new expericence for me. The family is HUGE and there are 2 kids running around. It feels a bit more like a very welcoming boarding house than like I'm part of the family, but I'll see how it goes.
Spending all weekend and 5 hours today attempting to converse in Spanish has been hard, but I'm remembering a ton and I think I'll learn quickly.
Photos are proving to be hard to upload - the computers here are old. So I'll leave them on facebook and you can see them there.
I like my school so far - good teachers, good faciliites and lots of social projects. There's a free clinic in the school every day. They also work with schools for indigenous people and a women's prison. I'll probably do some volunteering there.
My house is run by a sweet woman named Sonia who made me feel very welcome and like some sort of freakishly tall giant. This was a new expericence for me. The family is HUGE and there are 2 kids running around. It feels a bit more like a very welcoming boarding house than like I'm part of the family, but I'll see how it goes.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Away I go.
In 18 hours I'm taking off on an adventure. I'm going to Guatemala for 6 weeks on my own. I'll study Spanish in Xela aka Quetzaltenango for a month and then do some traveling. I'm headed to Antigua to check out some of the Holy week processions and will definitely check out Lake Atitlan and probably this hotel La Casa del Mundo at Nina's suggestion. After that, I'm not sure. I've heard I have to see the ruins in Tikal, but I'm more inclined to see the smaller and less crowded ones at Copan in Honduras. They also put me very close to the Bay Islands, so I can go to the beach and snorkel!
But I'll have time to decide and plan while I'm whipping my Spanish back into shape. I'm actually hoping I can remember everything I forgot and maybe, finally learn some slang and idioms. Some how I don't think the things I learned at school (where do all object pronouns go? En boca cerrada no entran moscas) will be very helpful in actually talking to people.
I've sort of moved beyond excited at this point, I've been planning this for so long. I know I'll be excited when I get there, but for now I'm in crossing things off the list mode.
So far today I've done 3 loads of laundry, got a reservation for airport pickup/hotel/bus drop off when I get there, checked in, told the bank I'm going, called a cab, paid my tuition, got travel insurance and started a blog.
But I'll have time to decide and plan while I'm whipping my Spanish back into shape. I'm actually hoping I can remember everything I forgot and maybe, finally learn some slang and idioms. Some how I don't think the things I learned at school (where do all object pronouns go? En boca cerrada no entran moscas) will be very helpful in actually talking to people.
I've sort of moved beyond excited at this point, I've been planning this for so long. I know I'll be excited when I get there, but for now I'm in crossing things off the list mode.
So far today I've done 3 loads of laundry, got a reservation for airport pickup/hotel/bus drop off when I get there, checked in, told the bank I'm going, called a cab, paid my tuition, got travel insurance and started a blog.
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