Hi everybody! Well, this week has totally flown by; I've been sooo busy and even a bit stressed out that I can't believe how fast the time is going. I feel frustrated too because even though the time is going so quickly, I don't feel like my spanish is coming along nearly fast enough, and still have trouble with anything more than the most basic conversations. This week I learned about the Irregular past tense (i.e., I was doing the laundry when you called) and the future tense, but I am obviously still having lots of trouble trying to incorporate them into normal conversation. And my progress on my little "holiday packages" I'm trying to get ready is at a crawl; it feels like nothing here works with even the remotest semblance of efficiency. For example: I finally have an idea/ plan of what I want to send someone; it should be fairly simple to then go out and locate that item or, at least the materials required to make that item. But no. The first step is a general interrogation of every shop owner about whether they carry/ can do what I want. Since the answer is invariably No, I then take out my pen and notebook and start making notes of the varying places that each person assures me will, in fact, have what I'm looking for. Step two means going to each of those places, followed by a repeat of step one in which everyone tells me No, they can't actually help me, but they know a place that can. I am then invariably referred first back to the initial place that sent me to them; when I explain that no, actually, that is who sent me here to them, they think a little more and eventually come up with a new list of ideas. Step 3 involves finally finding a place that DEFINITELY has/ can do what I want, but... not right now. Or, in fact, anytime in the next week or so. It is either really far away, doesn't have the proper equipment at this exact moment (but will have it soon, promise!), or both. So I've basically been running around in circles trying to find or make things, wasting more time than I even want to say, and generally accomplishing absolutely nothing. So if you get something from me this Christmas, even if it's something you've never wanted, you better damn well appreciate it! (p.s. due to the circumstances above, I predict that hardly anybody will be getting something from me this year, so please, don't take it personally. It really is just a massive pain and I don't even believe in all this materialism at Christmas anyway! sigh. But I still love you).
Anyway, moving on to other topics... In better news, I have managed to find yoga classes for the unbelievably cheap price of 25Q/ week, which works out to approximately US$3.50 for unlimited access to really good, really intense, challenging yoga. The teacher is the quintessential white guy yoga teacher prototype, with stringy brown hair and a scraggly beard, white shorts and a funny/ creepy t-back tank top, and a voice that is simultaneously menacing and reassuring, as if just under the calm, controlled exterior is a crazy man ready to snap. I wouldn't want to be his roommate, but in terms of yoga he's a good teacher cause he is really intense about making sure you are really, really trying your hardest. Of course, this means I spent the better part of this week unable to walk, sit or lie down normally, but I guess it comes with the territory of "getting in shape". I haven't actually "exercised"- at all- for over 6 months now, so it's pretty intense how much my body is hating what I'm doing to it now. I did my third class this morning and it does feel really good, even though my lack of ability to actually do a lot of the things I used to find easy is nothing short of embarrassing.
Anyway, that's basically the biggest news of late for me. Aside from totally craving things like chocolate, nutritional yeast, and quinoa (who knew that NOBODY here knows about quinoa- it's an epic adventure just trying to find brown rice), I have been pretty much just studying, embarking on the misadventures of the holidays detailed above, and doing yoga or feeling sore from it. Oh, and I bought some knitting needles and yarn and have begun to knit a little too, though the needles I bought are sooo skinny that it has taken me a week to complete the first 6 inches of a scarf. But it will be a very warm scarf when it is done, densely knitted as it is.
Yesterday and today I hung out a bit w/ a couple of friends from school, and that has been really nice- just having some people w/ similar backgrounds and experiences to just talk to and mess around on the computer with is really refreshing sometimes!
And right now I am at a local video cafe (where you can watch a movie anytime you want, or join the nightly viewings at 8pm) awaiting a batch of vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to come out of the oven. I couldn't believe it when I found out that this place, with its cookies, has been here all along and I never even knew- but yesterday I came here, determined to get one, only to be informed that they wouldn't have any more until tomorrow (which is now today). "First thing in the morning", the woman promised my friend Laura and I; so today, bright and early at 2pm, we showed up, ready for cookies- and the place was locked. Like whimpering puppies, we frantically looked around, trying to figure out what was going on, until finally I deciphered the the ancient, faded sign announcing that they actually open at 3 today. Okay, no problem; we can just go use the internet down the street... at 3:30pm, we showed up again, ready for cookies, but.... no dice. So the woman assured us that in one hour, at the most, she would have them, so rather than take my chances I just asked if I could hang out here and wait until they're done. There's free wi-fi and I needed to use it anyway, so I figured Why Not. At least this way they won't be tempted to put it off again, since I'm sure they don't actually want me hanging around here all day, peskering them for cookies. Yeah, so that's my exciting life in Xela right now... how far I've fallen, and how fast.
Again, I would like to take this opportunity to solicit mail, be it letters and postcards to photos or cd's or even some cookies or something (okay, maybe that's not realistic).... but yeah, it's nice to have some remembrances of all you folks I miss at home. And cookies. I tried to bake my own but my host mother wouldn't let me, explaining that the oven uses way too much gas, which is extremely expensive right now. Fair enough, but anyone who knows me will understand that me without an oven is kind of like a fish without water... well, or maybe an amphibious frog, since I'm not actually DYING, just not as great as when I have my special life's necessities (like baked goods). Everyone here seems incredulous that I'm still trying to eat vegan, like it's the craziest thing they've ever heard of. I admit that the food choices aren't exactly exciting, but in a way it's liberating not to be thinking about food all the time (not counting when I'm actually just lamenting the lack of certain things). I did also manage to find one type of chocolate bar (of questionable quality, but still) that doesn't have milk, and dipped in the local, organic peanut butter I tracked down last week it is actually really good. Still. Okay, I feel like I've done nothing but whine throughout this entire entry, so let me try to think of some good stuff:
*the weather has been really beautiful the last two days (I've been wearing a skirt and flipflops instead of the 6 layers of shirts, two pairs of pants and legwarmers I was rocking the rest of the week).
*I listened to Zorro by Isabel Allende, while knitting every night this week to chill out a bit. It's kind of corny but worth it, considering the circumstances. I am really glad I went to the library before I left and put as many audiobooks on my computer as I could find- it pays to be a nerd sometimes! This way I feel a little less guilty about knitting when I should be studying...
*I got to see the fairly interesting process of how they process and dye the thread used to make some of the many intensely- colored local fabrics and textiles in a nearby town called Salcaja, which is also the home of what is supposed to be the oldest Catholic church in Central America (a little creepy, but the church was beautiful).
* I've gotten to hear from a good number of you, dear readers, which has really been great. Please keep me updated on your lives and happenings! I really like to know.
Other than that, I am getting ready for another week of school, and trying to figure out how to attend the 3rd Encuentro of Zapatista Women and the Women of the World, which is happening from the 28th of December to the 1st of January in Chiapas. It's so close to here that I can't imagine a better way to spend my New Years eve, so hopefully I can sort out how to make that work. It's a little unclear from the website what information, exactly, they need, and if I actually have to apply at all or just show up. So that's another one of my missions for this week. Along with figuring out how and when I'm leaving Guatemala to actually head south... it would be really, really easy to just stay here and in Mexico for the next 5 months, but I'm determined to at least set foot in South America, one way or another!!!
Anyway, I hope this finds you all well, as always, and I hope you have a great week! Love to all! xoxo p.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment