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.

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.

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.