Sunday and Monday

Well, I’ve survived my first full day in Antigua. My head is spinning!
I had a really rough time Sunday after arriving in Antigua. I was met at the airport by an odd looking man, who, if he hadn’t been carrying a sign with all my information on it, I never would have gone with. We loaded into the van and off we went to Antigua. For a while I wasn’t sure if we were even heading in the right direction, and then things looked familiar and their were signs, so I felt better.

We arrived at my host family’s house and was told that the place I had requested was full so they put me here. The wife met me at the door and I was ushered into my room. I have a private room and private bath, and after paying today, have been charged accordingly, even though I asked for a shared bathroom as that cuts the price. Anyway, she showed me my room, told me when meals were the next day and then left. I unpacked and then realized that I was almost out of water to drink and wasn’t about to touch the tap water with a 10 foot pole. I wandered around, but wasn’t sure what part of the house was ok for me to go to. So I decided to charge my computer, only to find that my three prongs don’t fit into the 2 prongs they have here. At this point I sat down and had a good cry. I then decided to go and find some food, as my family doesn’t provide anything on Sundays. After wandering all over town trying to find something that looked familiar, I came across a Subway. I was relieved until I went in and realized that I couldn’t read the sign, nor did know how to ask for anything. I mimed to the man what I wanted and between my miming and his limited English, I was able to get my food. I then wandered all the way back to my house and proceeded to have another big cry.

After laying down for a bit, I felt better and wandered around the house some more. Finally, this girl from Denmark walked in and said hi. I picked her brain for a bit about drinkable water, laundry, and plug converters. Her and another girl were leaving for the week, and weren’t sure if they were coming back or not, but I at least felt better and had something to drink. I ended up going to bed at 8pm and slept a solid 9 hours.

Monday

First day of school! Got up and had breakfast, which unfortunately almost made me gag. I have a lot of food issues, but one of the worst is soft fried eggs. What was the main item on my place?? 2 very soft, runny eggs *gag*. Thankfully, there was bread and fruit. I managed to eat a few bites of egg and after almost hurling, stuck with the bread and fruit.

I then walked the 6 blocks to school where I met with a most wonderful teacher named Izabel. We covered 4 different verb forms in my four hour class time. I of course can no longer remember anything I studied this morning, but hopefully, it will come back tomorrow. I realized that I can understand most of what is being said, but have the verbal skills of a slow 2 year old. Anyway, she as very patient and there were enough breaks that I didn’t feel overwhelmed.
After class I headed back home for lunch, were I met two new students who had just come in. One speaks Spanish very well and is from Taiwan, and the other is a very young 15 year old from Alaska who is only here for 1 week and speaks hardly anything. We had a good lunch of Asparagus soup, chile releneo, guacamole, rice, and tortilla. It tasted good at the time, but is making me nauseous just thinking about it now.

After lunch I headed back to the school to pay for this week and leave for an activity. As I was paying, I realized that they charged me more for the school as I wasn’t paying for the full 4 weeks at once, AND they charged me for a private bathroom, even though I didn’t request one. I had already signed everything when I realized this. I requested to be moved if a spot opened in the house I had requested, and they said maybe next week.

After this, I met up with three other students from the school and we were driven to a coffee farm, where the whole tour was in Spanish, which none of us could really understand. We then went to a macadamia nut farm, which was beautiful, educational, and had good samples J After some time there, we drove to an artesian center in San Antonio where we were given a review and demonstration on Mayan fabric creation and customs. They walked through the traditional clothes, how it is worn, and then had us dress up as a wedding party. There was a married couple in the group, so they got re-married. I was the mother of the groom and the other lady was the mother of the bride. The clothes were amazing, although very hot. We got to mimic all the fabric costumes associated with marriage and the new family.

Such as: the girls start weaving/embroidering a shawl for their future mothers in law when they are 14. This is presented to their mother in law on the day of the wedding and she must wear it the whole day. If she takes it off, it is a sign that she doesn’t like her future daughter in law. The mother of the groom makes an apron that she presents to her daughter in law after the ceremony. They then have to make coffee and tortillas together before the bride can go to bed. The mother-in-law also makes a special blanket for her first grandchild that is used as a sling. Anyway, all sorts of cool things.

The real kicker though, was that it was almost all in Spanish. I was miraculously able to understand about 75% of it and translated for the others! This is where I really realized that I understand a ton more than I can speak. Afterwards, the tried to get us to buy things. I was almost tempted to buy one of the baby blankets/slings as those things rock! I didn’t bring enough Quetzales with me, so I go back if I can’t find one cheaper here in town.
Back to the school we drove and now I am at home typing this as I am waiting for dinner at 7pm. As I don’t have internet at the house, I will type now and send tomorrow at school. I’ll also try to get some more pictures up tomorrow.

Please keep praying for me as I am really lonely and unsure. Part of me just wants to hop on a plane and come home, but another part knows this is good for me. I’d love to have e-mails from home! Letter mail and packages take up to a month or two to get here, depending on customs, etc, so they aren’t really an option (thanks for the thoughts though).
Much love to everyone back home!