Long time gone

Hola hola hola...
Okay, so first of all sorry I haven't blogged for two weeks. I barely have time to get the stuff done that I HAVE to get done. Plus my computadora doesn't connect to the internet in my house (no idea why), so I can only get online when I am at school, in clase (which I do occasionally, but whatevs...) Sometimes (like now) I borrow someone's computer that does work, but I feel bad doing that. Anyway, lots to tell, so I better get to it.

School is easy (or I am just really inteligente). lol. I am pretty sure it's just easy. My typical dia goes like this: wake up around 7:15-7:30, eat desayuno, go to my Magical Realism class from 9-11, then from 11-1 I have Contrastive Grammatical Structures in Ingles and Espanol, then we come home to eat lunch. After lunch I usually hang out for a lil while, take a siesta, read, or do homework. Then, I have my Cultura class from 5-7. Dinner is at 7:30. Then we usually chat, study, read, or lo que sea until I go to bed at anywhere between 10:30-12 depending on how much homework I have.

My magical realism class is getting better, but holy shit...some days I just can't stand it. My amigo Pedro is in it with me and we just look at each other and take off our watches. The first half of the class, everyday, is what we like to call "el discurso de Blanc" or Blanc's discourse, which could consist of anything from talking about the road conditions here in Guate to ranting about the economic problems facing the university and the state of California. After he's done with that, we make a round about to the literature we are studying--which is fantastic. I can't wait until the day I get to teach literature (not that I don't love teach grammar and vocab, but...).

The grammar class is a joke for me. I got a perfect score on the midterm. It's during this class that I get online. The professor is bien chistoso, so he makes it tolerable. He is retired but still manages to do this programa because he likes it so much. He makes all kinds of funny (and weird) examples accompanied by some very strange groans. :) My friend Miguel is in that class with me so we joke about it all the time.

Finally, I go to my Guatemalan Culture class, which is okay. I do actually learn a lot in that class, although his presentation skills could use some work. It's a lot of informacion presented in a pure, stand-up lecture. BORING! The best part of the class are jueves and viernes when we either watch a peli or have a guest author come talk to us. So far, I have met Enrique Noriega, Ana Maria Rodas, and Rigoberta Menchu. The first two are poets, and Menchu is an activist/writer who will probably be the first woman president of Guatemala and the first indigenous one, as well. My favorito is Ana Maria Rodas. I looooved her. My friends were making fun of me because I loved her so much. They said I was like a kid in a candy store because if you don't know already, I am a giant nerd when it comes to poesia espanola and a sort of feminist. :) Well...put those two things together and you get Ana Maria Rodas. She was inspiracional. Menchu was a little bit bigger deal though because she won THE Nobel Peace Prize for literature (although I was not impressed with her people skills...after her talk we were all lined to get autographs and she barely looked up and just kept saying "mas libros, mas libros").

The food is good. These last few days have been the first days since my arrival that I haven't had problems with my stomach. Stomach aches and other digestive issues ;) were pretty common among us all. We usually have something light for breakfast: yogurt, fruta, granola, etc. Lunch tends to be a little heavier with lots of soups and arroz and tortillas. Dinner is normal and ranges from eggs to chiles rellenos to pasta.




The weekend/night life is the best part. :) We go to a karoke bar every Tuesday, which is a lot of fun. We sing canciones in english and in spanish. Then we go out Friday and Saturday--usually a bailar (I need to take lessons, fo sho!!).

The first Saturday in Antigua, my friend and I went to a couple of small surrounding villiages. That was cool because there were NO tourists (well...apart from us), we watched the 3rd place game for the world cup, and just hung out. The following Sunday was the World Cup championship game (Espana won!), so we hung out all day watching the game.

This last Friday, we were going to go out after dinner, but plans changed. I went to take a little siesta before going out and the guys mistook that for me not wanting to go out anymore, so when I got to their room to get them, they were all in their camas. I was pissed!! I looked really guapa and had told my other amigas (with whom I do not live) that we would meet up with them. Well, I decided that I would go sola because two of my other girlfriends live like 3 houses down the street. No big deal. I can walk three houses by myself. So I left, but when I got there, they didn't want to walk at night without a man, so I turned back to go home. When I got back home, the guys asked me what was up, and I convinced one of them to come with me to get a bottle of Ron. He did, and so we just sat around, us four, playing poker (at which I kicked their culos!!) 

Then Saturday we left for the playa. It was just okay. There wasn't a lot of sun, so I didn't get a tan or anything. The pacific coast is SUPER strong, and I was walking along the waves on the shore when a really strong one came and knocked me over...purse and all, so I was freaking out about my camera. Well...it stills works, but later that evening I went to use my iPod, which I had forgotten all about, but it doesn't work anymore. :( So I don't know what I am going to do when we have a 4-6 hour bus ride in a couple of weeks. I was not happy. Saturday night we just hung out and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Sunday is rained all day so we couldn't really enjoy the beach. Oh well. It was still cool--the sand was negra because of all the surrounding volcanoes.

And that pretty much brings y'all up to speed. Tonight we are going to a hookah bar for my friend, Alex's, birthday. Tomorrow will be karoke night and the rest of the week is study time...til the weekend. :)

Hope all is well and let me tell you...I am NOT missing the hot, humid Midwestern summers. Its like spring time here (I am sitting here in jeans and a zip-up hoodie). awesome!