Some random thoughts I've had this week

The view from my new room in Antigua.

• I still can’t believe that I’m actually in Guatemala.  I really just feel like I’m at college somewhere in the States, even though everywhere I go people are speaking Spanish, and I can’t understand everything that people say on the streets or in stores and restaurants. 

• The bugs here like me just as much as they do in the States.  I was really hoping to escape them here.

• As much as I dislike wearing skirts in the States, I don’t mind it here.  We have to dress up every day for language school, and we can only wear jeans on Fridays.  Of the 13 days I’ve been here, I’ve worn a skirt or a dress 6 of them.

• After a week of being here, there are times I feel my Spanish is getting better and times when I think that there’s no chance I’ll ever be able to carry on a conversation without struggling.  My language teacher is constantly correcting my same mistakes over and over again.  On the bright side, when I was reading my econ book in English, I got to a date and started reading it in Spanish.  Also, when someone asked me what I did today, I told her I went to Café Barista and then started to continue in Spanish because the name of the restaurant was in Spanish. 

• To everyone who makes fun of my early bed time at Bethel, I go to bed even earlier here!  I’m so tired all the time.  I usually start getting ready for bed around 9:00 and will journal and read my bible and then I go to bed.  I stayed up until 11:20 one night we were here, otherwise I’ve been in bed around 10:00, and I get up at 7:00.  It’s wonderful!

• As much as I miss everyone at home, I really can’t imagine being anywhere but here right now.  I constantly see things that remind me of home (The dogs on the streets remind me of you, Mom, because I know they would break your heart every time you looked at them, which would be way too many times to count in a day.  Dad, I know the first thing you would have bought here would have been a 3 liter bottle of Diet Coke.), but I know that this is where I’m supposed to be right now.

• The longer I am in this room in Antigua, the more I love it.  It reminds me of a loft, one of the ones you read about in books.  It’s SO great!

• It feels like I’m sleeping through a thunderstorm every night because of the traffic outside our window.

The view of the volcano from our house.

• Leah is bound and determined to turn me into a tea drinker before we leave.  I have already found one hot tea that I like and an ice tea that is good.

• Even while I’m here, my mom still has to remind me not to be so cheap and actually spend my money.  She chewed me out today for getting the cheapest thing on the menu at Café Barista.  Some things will never change!

• There are mass amounts of Christmas candy and other goodies at the grocery store, along with all the Valentine’s Day stuff.

• Security guards/policemen with guns in cafés, on the streets, and in the bank are a common occurrence here –I don’t know if they make me feel safer or not.

• When going into the bank Guatemalans have to have their purses checked, but American’s don’t.  Also, at the grocery store, Guatemalans have to put their bags in lockers so that they can’t steal anything, but Leah and I (and other American’s) were allowed to walk in with our huge backpacks.  I guess they figure that American’s have enough money and won’t steal anything, but Guatemalan’s are going to steal stuff…

• We have Spanish speaking birds in our house.

• SMILE!  It's the weekend, and life is great! =)