As you should already know (that it, if you've been keeping up with the random stuff I've been posting) I'm working at the European Academy here in Xela as an English teacher. Well, I got hired to teach 4 hours on Saturday mornings because they'd just started a bunch of new classes, plus some of the teachers had recently quit, so they were a little desperate. I went through the training process and did my first class without too much trouble. So yeah, I worked 4 hours my first Saturday. For the next Saturday my boss, Blake, asked me if I could do a private class for 2 hours after my group class. Sure. Week 2: 6 hours. For the next Saturday Blake asked me if I could teach an afternoon group class too. Sure. Week 3: 8 hours.
I got a call from another English school that I wanted to work at. It's called Best English school, but it has a reputation of being pretty much the worst English school to work at in Xela. But it's close to where I live and it was something to do and it would have helped pay for my rent. The coordinator there, Diana, called me and told me she probably had a student for me and that she was just waiting for him to officially enroll and then he'd have class for a couple hours every weekday morning. She said he had dyslexia so I'd have to read up on how to teach someone with dyslexia. She also said that he's 4 years old. Ummmm....maybe she should have told me all this before she asked me if I'd do it. Oh well, I was only working on Saturdays, so it'd be good for me to get out there and do something other than sit around wondering what I should do. I mentioned something about it in my Spanish class (I get 3 hours of free Spanish class from the Academy) and I guess my teacher, also Diana (but a different Diana), told Blake.
The next day I got a call from Blake, "I hear you're thinking of working for another school." This is the part where I think to myself, "Crap! I've only been working here 2 weeks and I've already gotten myself onto Blake's bad-side." But this is what Blake said to me: "How many hours do I have to give you so that you won't work for that other school? I like you and I want you to be more available to work at the Academy whenever we need you." Then he proceeded to schedule me for at least one private class every day this last week, plus 9 hours on Saturday (by which I mean tomorrow). Week 4: 24 hours.
So, I was hired for essentially 16 hours a month and by the end of tomorrow I will have worked 24 hours this week alone. I absolutely love it!! Yes, I love the fact that I'll be able to cover my rent with my paycheck, but mostly I love having something to do, I love teaching English, I love spending time with other people who work at the Academy, and I love feeling like I'm finally doing what I came here to do. I've been so incredibly blessed in my time here already and it's been so amazing this last week just watching how it seems that God is continually saying to me, "See? I told you I had a plan for you. But wait, there's more!"
At the Academy everyone who works there dresses professionally. I had to buy a lot of clothes right after I got the job. Haha! But they also have casual Friday. Today was my first day working on a Friday and it felt so nice to be able to wear jeans....and my Sambas!! I felt like I was finally part of the working adult world because I got to do casual Friday. But then I started thinking about it: shouldn't I feel more a part of the working adult world by having to dress professionally every other day of the week? I mean, at camp every day was casual Friday (including multi-lingual Mondays!). On a side note: every time you hear the term "casual Friday" do you think of that episode of the Office where Meredith wears that....ummm.....dress? I def for sure do! Anyways, yeah, I'm not working full-time, but I'm totally fine with that. I love my job and I feel incredibly blessed to be working there and to have such a great boss who is willing to give me way more hours than we originally agreed on just to keep me working only for them (also, I get paid almost double at the Academy as I would have been paid at Best English School...so it's pretty much a win, win, and win again).
My mom is getting married in a month and I get to go home for a week to see her and the rest of my family. I have an awesome job here in Guatemala. My dad, step-mom, and brother are planning to come visit me for a couple weeks after the wedding. And I'm getting more and more comfortable with Spanish every day. In the words of Ann Voskamp (if you haven't read her book One Thousand Gifts, read it!): "God is always good and I am always loved." Thank you so much for praying for me and encouraging me as I'm going on this crazy life adventure!! I can't wait to see what's next! :)
Friday, February 22, 2013
Friday, February 15, 2013
What I learned in San Pedro la Laguna
1. "Lake Atitlan" is not a place people go.
It's true, the name of the lake is Atitlan. And I've heard tons of people say, "you have to go to the lake!" or "I went to the lake and __________ happened." But here's the thing they don't tell you: there are tons of cities encircling the lake. The biggest and most popular is Panajachel, but I think all the others are named after the apostles. For instance, I went to San Pedro (Peter), there's also San Marcos (Mark), Santiago (James), San Juan (John), etc. Each one has a little somthing different to offer, so I guess I'll have to go back to see the other cities one day.
2. My back sunburns easily
It wasn't even really sunny the full day I was there. Disappointing. But (pero!) if you were to look at my back right now, you would know exactly what the back of my swim suit looks like (not color, but shape). I even put on sunscreen!! But it's only SPF 15, it might be expired (the expiration date it too faded for me to read it...), and I only applied it once in the morning but spent time kayaking and swimming (and by swimming I mean playing pool volleyball). I put on my backpack this morning and my shoulders were displeased.
3. Not all Guatemalan cities are good for practicing Spanish
The majority of things in San Pedro were in English. The signs, menus, a lot of the people who worked in restaurants, bars, etc., and most of the people you encountered on the street. There are so many foreigners there that you need only a very basic knowledge of Spanish to get by (numbers and really commonly used verbs). The guy who was working at my hostel when I checked in not only didn't speak Spanish, but also didn't know much about Guatemala....he thought Xela was another town around the lake, when in actuality it's a 3 hour bus ride away and the second largest city in Guatemala (in other words, not a no-name city...I think anyone living and working in Guatemala should know of the big cities). Overall, I had 3 conversations in Spanish while I was there and they weren't all that long or in-depth, pretty much just talking to the lady while she made my sandwich or the guy at the smoothie stand while I drank my smoothie.
4. Weed is really easy to come by...in many forms
I had heard from a lot of people that the towns around the lake are full of hippies who smoke a lot of weed. Those people didn't lie. There were people coming into the hostel hangout area selling food pretty often (one lady who is famous around town for being everywhere all the time always asking people "Quiere pan?" [do you want bread?] and she sells banana bread, chocolate banana bread, and cinnamon bread)...so half the time it was banana bread or doughnuts being sold, the other half of the time it was weed brownies or weed chocolate peanut butter balls. One girl didn't want to buy because she was in the mood for mushroom chocolate peanut butter balls...apparently it's the wrong time of year for those. But besides the special desserts, there are also kids (maybe mid/late teens) hanging out on the street asking you if you want to buy weed. It's def for sure not taboo here!
5. Don't let yourself get ripped off by the guy who takes your money on the bus
I know that in Guatemala (and probably every other country that's not predominantly populated by white people) gringos get charged more for things that locals. I'd read in a few places that it should cost Q25 for the bus from Xela to San Pedro, but that it's common for gringos to be overcharged and it's ok to fight with the guy on it as long as you're not being a jerk to him. So when I went they charged me Q30 and I didn't worry too much about it. It's completely possible that the price may have gone up Q5 since the writing of the stuff I read, or maybe he's just charging me Q5 extra, but whatevs. On the way back, however, the guy tried to charge my friend, Matt, and I Q35 each. I asked the guy (in Spanish, but it was a little rusty after spending two days speaking almost all English), "Why is it Q35? To come to San Pedro from Xela it was only Q30!" After looking at me a little frustratedly, he let us only pay Q30 each.
6. Not everyone knows what they're doing in Guatemala
As I've said before, there were a ton of extranjeros (foreigners) in San Pedro. A lot of them only stay a couple days or a week or two. Pretty much just passing through during their travels. One guy that we met, who introduced himself as Sheep F***er (like, that's what he said his name was...), told us that he was in his second month of a two-week trip. And the two-week trip was just to come down and party. I think there's a similar story for a bunch of the travelers who are staying there long-term-ish. They don't really have plans for traveling and don't really have plans for life back home (wherever that may be).
7. I'm not a traveler
I spent 2 nights in a hostel. There were quite a few people there who had been traveling for a while, living out of their backpacks, and going from place to place wherever they felt like visiting. I am not one of those people. I'm all for seeing new places, but I don't like living out of a bag. I don't like the idea of not really having a plan. I don't like the idea of just spending money on traveling for a long period of time without doing anything to offset that spending. I don't like the idea of not having a place to call home for more than a couple days. I don't like carrying my stuff around. And I'm not outgoing enough to make friends with fellow hostel stayers. I don't want to always be on the move. I love Guatemala (Xela especially), but I would never want to spend months on end just hopping from place to place. I want to travel a lot more in my future, but I don't want to be a traveler.
8. Every place of habitation should have a hammock...or 6
The hostel I stayed at had 6 hammocks in the common area and I think most of the other hotels and hostels there were equipped with hammocks as well. Hammocks are the best hangout spot ever! It's like a bed/chair. On a sunny day, you can just lounge in a hammock. On a chilly evening, you can wrap up in a blanket and be cocooned in a hammock. If you just want to sit but you don't want a hard chair, you can sit on a hammock. They are such genius inventions!! I saw a treehouse with a hammock in it...I want one!
9. If you order a tuna sandwich to go and they just wrap it in foil, don't just throw it in your bag
I went to a little cafe to get a sandwich to go for the bus ride home (by which I mean back to Xela). Today's special was tuna on ciabatta bread, so of course I went for that. I haven't had tuna in....since....I can't remember, but I know I was in Washington last time I had tuna, so it's been quite some time. The lady was super nice and we chatted while she made my sandwich (one of the 3 conversations I had in Spanish while in San Pedro) and then she wrapped it in a piece of foil. I threw it in my purse and was off to the catholic church to meet Matt for our bus home. We were there an hour earlier than we'd heard the bus was meant to leave because we're in Guatemala and nothing is ever on time and since it was the last bus from San Pedro to Xela for the day we didn't want to take any chances. So we walked around for a bit, looked at what their market had to offer (same fruits and veggies they have in Xela) then we settled on the church stairs to play a game of Spanish Bananagrams. We got on the bus and I wanted to check on my sandwich (honestly, I'd forgotten about it and been less than careful with my bag). I noticed that my book was wet and that my bag smelled like tuna. Awesome. There was a little hole in the foil (probably caused by the corner of my book) and the juice had leaked onto my book, sunglasses, and probably within the bag itself. Thankfully the hole was small and it hadn't leaked too much. But you know how tuna is with its smell...a little goes a long way. So now my bag and book smell like tuna. I'm thinking that every time I want to read To Kill A Mockingbird in the future I'll be reminded of my folly. So if you every find yourself getting a tuna sandwich wrapped only in foil, ask for a plastic bag to go with it.
10. Renting things is really easy in Guatemala!
I really really really wanted to go kayaking while at the lake. All the guidebooks/websites I'd read about the lake said that kayaking was one of the main things to do while there and really cheap too! Matt and I had both heard that it was about Q25/hour to rent a kayak (that's a little over $3), which seemed a little pricey, but if we were just going to do an hour I wasn't too worried about it (I was on vacation, and thus could justify spending more than I normally would). I asked one of the guys who worked at my hostel where the best place to rent a kayak was (he was the only Guatemalan around, so I figured he'd know best...not like that guy who thought Xela was another city around the lake). He told me the best and cheapest place was at the Santiago dock (there are two main docks in San Pedro: the Panajachel dock and the Santiago dock, named for where the boats head to from those points). I was surprised when he told me that because it seemed to me that the most happening part of town was near the Pana dock...but in hindsight I guess it makes sense that it'd be cheaper where less tourists go. Anyways, it was only Q10 an hour!! We walked down there and there were these two guys sitting in some chairs and they asked if we wanted kayaks. We said yes, that we wanted two individuals, and we asked if there was a place we could leave our backpacks. They told us we could leave them in the little tienda (store) right next door. Sketchy, I know. They took down the kayaks for us and we went into the store to ask where we could leave our bags. The lady just pointed to the floor right by the door. So we dropped our bags and she asked how many hours we wanted. We said we weren't sure, but probably just one and we could come back later if we wanted longer. Then she asked if we wanted to pay before or after and we said after, just in case we ended up staying out more than an hour. Then we started paddling out into the lake. They didn't ask for our names, a deposit, NOTHING! I mean, in all fairness we left our bags there so of course we were coming back, but still! It was so easy!!!
Same with my hostel. I got there and asked if they had space. They did. He asked for ID. I told him I left it all in Xela. No problem. He took down my first name only, wrote "USA" in the space for passport # on the sign-in sheet, and took my Q50 deposit for use of the key (so I guess it was a little more complicated, since they wanted ID and a deposit...but I didn't have to sign anything and I didn't actually have to have ID). I never want to fill out rental/prerequisite paperwork ever again now that I know it's possible to not!
Overall I'd say I had a great time in San Pedro. All of the Guatemalans that I met there were incredibly nice people willing to help with anything that I needed. The town is beautiful with plenty to do. I think that my only complaint is how English everything is. I would say Americanized, but it's not really...it's just that so much of everything is in English and even the things that they have in restaurants or the stuff they show on television in the bars is so non-Guatemalan. I didn't really feel like I was in Guatemala anymore because there were so many gringos and so many places to get food not typical in Guatemala. But I'd definitely go again and visit some of the other towns. I'd like to spend more time there since I was only there one full day and two nights.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Taking a microbus in Guatemala
Most people here in Guatemala take public transit. If you're just going around town, the best option is a microbus. This is basically just a van (see above picture) that can fit like 30 people when it's full (this means that the seats are squished full of people and there are people standing, well, more like hunched, and there are a few people hanging out the door). The guy you can see standing out the door in the above photo works on that microbus. His job is to yell out where the bus is going, to wave people on, and to take their money when they get off. These buses are everywhere! I have to take one to get to where I work and I never have to wait more than 2 minutes for a bus because they come one after another all day. It's really funny sometimes because there will be people waiting at a bus stop-ish area and two buses will pull over to pick them up and the door-hangy-outy guys will run over and try to usher the people into their bus instead of letting them go into the other (even though they're going to the EXACT SAME place!). Today I was on a bus and the one in front of us pulled over to pick some people up and my bus swooped in between the people and the other bus so that we could take them instead of the other.
These buses are great because you never know which route they're going to take to get where they're going and you never know how long they're going to wait at certain places. Sometimes they just sit at this one park by a big market waiting for more people to get on. They'll wait for like 5 minutes (which doesn't seem that long when you say "5 minutes," but when you need to be somewhere at a certain time and your bus is just sitting, it feels like an eternity!). One morning, I got to the school I work at in 15 minutes, the norm is about 30 minutes, but in the evening it can take up to an hour (and it's about a 45 minute walk). So sometimes it's really hard to gauge how long it will take to get to where I'm going. Another great thing about these buses is that they stop anywhere! If someone is walking on the side of the road and they put their hand out to be picked up, the bus will pick them up (there aren't really designated bus stops....well, there are, but really anywhere is a bus stop). And if you're on the bus and you want to get off, you can just tell them, "the next corner, please," or a specific place that's on the way and they'll drop you off. There are, of course, more popular stopping points and the guy who hangs out the door will announce it and if you want to get off you just have to say, "sí!"
You pay, usually, when you get off. Sometimes the guy will collect money on the way though. It costs Q1.25 (which is about 16 cents). There are microbuses that do longer trips and the cost of those depends on the distance, but I think I prefer a chicken bus (old US school bus painted and pimped out with a nice stereo, and sometimes a TV to watch music videos) to a microbus for a long trip. All this is to say that I will never look at public transit the same way again. I might get back to the states and try to flag down a bus in between stops, or I'll be outraged at how much it costs, or I won't read the little reader sign that says where the bus is headed because I'll be expecting some guy to be hanging out the door yelling the destinations. I'm not really sure yet. All I know is that the public transit here is great...that is, unless you're really into personal space. But really, I love it! It's super frequent, easy to flag down, and so cheap!! Sure, it goes a little slower than I'd like sometimes, but hey, I'm on Guatemala time now. :)
Friday, February 1, 2013
It's official!
My first day of teaching is tomorrow and I've been in training all this past week. I'm super nervous, but I can't wait to start! I look forward to telling you fun stories about my classes! :)
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