Next update: Weekend trip adn more

Hola amigos,

I thought it was about time to send another message. It does cost me some effort to do so, but I’m doing it haha! So here goes…

My last couple of days have been a lot of fun. I made new friends, I started taking private dance classes, went on a weekend trip, went out dancing, and more! I most certainly am enjoying myself. That’s for sure!

The weekend trip I went to Tikal, Rio Dulce and Livingston. We left Friday morning (17/01) at 4 in the morning. We went with 14 people in total. Most of them were from my school (therefore German) and 3 people from another school. I ended up spending time with those three (Alex from the US, Mario and Lisa from Canada) because they at least spoke Spanish or English and not German. On Friday we visited a banana plantation. Quite interesting. After that we could visit some Mayan ruins. I asked about the calendar (because a part of it was there) and they explained the calendar was an end of an era, not the world. They Mayans at least didn’t think so. Kind of funny to know. After that we went to a Castillo de San Felipe and had a nice picnic there. We spent the night in a town called Flores, which actually is a small island. The next day we went to Tikal. This is the place with the temples. We did a 7km hike, and climbed a lot of temples. The biggest temple (similar to a 22 storey building) provided us with an amazing view of the park and other temples. I was quite impressed. It was quiet and peaceful up there. I could have stayed there the whole day. After that we went to Livingstone. We went there by speedboat over the Rio Dulce. That was quite fun. In Livingstone we took a car to the bungalows in which we would stay for the night. The bungalow was next to the beach. Seriously lovely! The weather unfortunately wasn’t that great (or at least not warm enough for me to go swimming), but at least it kept the mosquitoes at a distance! The next morning we packed our bags, walked through Livingstone and went back home. Overall a very nice trip!

Spanish classes are going well. I am learning a lot and talking is becoming easier each day. So I am happy about that. School policy is that you have to switch teachers after two weeks. I was sad to do so, because I grew very fond of the teacher I had. But the one I have now is very nice to. Just a little stricter ;)

I started taking private dance classes, because the free classes only teach you the basic steps, and those I know by now. I am taking salsa classes, but also bachata classes, a more romantic dance. I am almost dancing daily now, and very much enjoying it! If you go out the bars in the evening you can dance salsa, bachata or meringue, or more. The thing is, you have to be asked to dance. As a girl you may (should) not ask a Guatemalteec guy to dance, because he then expects you want more. You are allowed to ask a foreigner to dance, but those usually can’t dance. So it can happen that you do not get asked to dance, and therefore don’t dance at all. That is with a guy at least.

Further more I have met a girl (34) from Germany at the dance school. She is very nice, and we now hang out on an almost daily basis. We speak Spanish, which is perfect. I hardly speak anything else here! I am also doing more with my family here. They are very nice, and they are very happy to have me living with them. My mom said I was different from the rest, special! (score!) We also went to church together past Sunday. It is an evangelical church (El Camino). It has a pastor from the US, but the service is bilingual, as it is translated by a Guatemalteec Pastor. They sing songs I know, which is handy, in both languages. The people are friendly too. When I stay the weekends here I am planning on visiting it regularly.

Last week I also visited a macadamia nut farm. We (Jennifer and I, another girl I met from the US) started talking to the owner and he was talking about Guatemala being dangerous. I asked him why, because I thought only certain places were dangerous. But apparently that was not what he meant. He explained that when I foreigner comes to visit Guatemala, they fall in love with the country and don’t want to leave. That is the danger! And I have to say, I have to agree with him. It has only been to weeks, but when I think about the fact I only have 8 weeks left it feels way too short! So I am kind of contemplating about staying a bit longer…

So that was it for now. I added some pictures, but will take more!

Abrazo!