Mid-week letdown

Well, it’s been an interesting week, certainly with its ups and downs. I’m not too proud to say that at one point I was ready to call the airport and find out how to change my ticket to the earliest plane back to Seattle. It’s funny how sometimes things can exceed one’s expectations (for example, my first trip to Guatemala earlier this year with Mary), and sometimes you find out maybe your expectations need a reality check.

As I mentioned in my last post, I arrived in Xela without incident (pretty quickly and easily, actually, given how transportation can go down here). I got dropped off at my homestay, which was typical for down here (i.e., funky), except for the fact that the room smelled heavily of mold and/or mildew. Okay - I thought - I’ll give it a day so and see if it clears up or I get used to it. Nope. It was so bad, I could hardly sleep the first night. (This wasn’t helped by a couple of guys standing outside my window gabbing and listening to the radio until 3 AM.) After the second night I decided I couldn’t really stand it, and I talked with the director at the school. She was very sympathetic (they are incredibly nice people here at the school), and she called the homestay mom and found out that there was another room available up above - VERY tiny, but without a smell, and kind of warm and cozy. So after the move, things were looking up.

During the day at class in the school (which is actually a tutoring kind of thing, one-to-one), I was trying to absorb all the information that was coming my way, and having trouble processing it (five hours a day). I remembered that from my last stint in January, and I also remember hitting a wall, just like I did this week. You reach a point where you can’t think straight or speak, and that’s what you’re supposed to be doing. Anyway, that’s the point at which I wondered what I was doing here.

Fortunately, I also remember getting over that wall, and going on to have a successful school experience, so that’s what I’m hoping to do this time. I’m already feeling like I’m over the hump and able to understand and learn what I’m being taught. I realize, though, (and this was another thing that was bringing me down) that I came here thinking I knew something about Spanish, and in actuality, I know hardly anything.

Things haven’t really looked up with the homestay, though - there has been a problem with the water supply to the house, so I haven’t had a shower for three days (and that’s enough said about that). That’s about to change, though. I contacted the teacher at the school where Mary and I studied in January, and she has room for me at her school next week, AND I get to stay at her house. I’m expecting a warm and welcoming (and more comfortable) experience next week.

This weekend, I’ll be visiting a coffee plantation for some education and relaxation (and I assume some good coffee) with an ecological fair trade coffee group……. Should be a nice respite before I start maxing out my brain again.