¡Por fin llego a Xela!

After speaking with one of the marvelous directors of Miguel Angel Asturias, Juan, I decided to spend however many more nights I would have to spend in Guatemala City with Raquel, a woman who works with the school.  She takes students into her home when they are on their way to or from Xela and going through the City.  She was wonderful to me, offering me lots of good - and safe - food, and drew me a map so I could go and walk through Central Park and not get lost.  She called the bus station for me every day and finally made a reservation for Thursday morning, Sept. 9th.

Normally the ride up to Xela is about 4 hours long on a bus.  This trip, however, took about 7 hours.  We left the City at 7am and arrived in Xela at 2pm.  Not only did we pass the big landslide that had covered a bus and killed so many people - only one lane of traffic at a time could get through there - but there were landslides all along the highway route.  In several areas there were long lines of traffic waiting to get through bottlenecks.  It looked absolutely devastating.  It was devastating.

A landslide blocking half of the highway.  This was a small one.

Xela, a.k.a. Quetzaltenango, is the second largest city in Guatemala, next to Guatemala City.  It is, however, much more charming with its cobblestone streets and colorful buildings and homes, and safer.  I met 2 girls on the bus who are from the States and shared a cab with them from the bus station to Parque Central, where they got off and I continued to my school, not far away.  Then I was taken to my host family's house, just a few blocks away from school.  My mother is Marta, my father Julio.  They have 3 older kids, Robyn, Ingrid, and Julio, who are studying at the university or working, but they all still live at home.  It's normal for children to live at home until they get married, sometimes into their 30s.

Municipal building in Parque Central

Tree in Parque Central

View of the Cathedral

Houses in the cities in Guatemala, as in Mexico and most of Central America are, from the street, a cement wall with a door and a garage door, often with barbed wire or broken shards of glass fixed to the top of the wall.  But inside there's usually a little courtyard and overall charming living areas.  My room is separate from the rest of the family, above the garage where they have several rooms and bathroom ready for students to come stay.  Marta prepares 3 meals a day for me and she or her daughter, Ingrid, always sit and chat with me while we eat.  It's actually great accomodations for me because I almost always have someone to talk to, but I still have the privacy of my own little living quarters.

My room

View from the roof terrace of my house