Home sweet homestay

Following the recommendation of many other travelers we've met along the way, and wanting to explore some places in Guatemala that I had not previously visited, we decided to travel from San Pedro la Laguna to Quetzaltenango. Don't bother re-reading that or trying to pronounce it. Locals would probably give you a quizzical look if it stumbled out of your mouth anyway. Here, and maybe everywhere to the people who know it, it's Xela. No, not the not the sister of Xenu, Scientology prince, but rather pronounced Shell-a or Shay-la. I should definitely know which is the most correct pronunciation especially after spending 10 days there, but I apologize, my phonetic Spanish is still weak.

There are about 16 million people in Guatemala (so I think and have read), and about 1.6 millionish live in Guate (Guatemala City) and then just under a million live in Xela making it the second largest city in Guatemala. Located in the beautiful sprawling mountains (of which Guatemala has many), we lived at over 8000 feet and enjoyed warm days (sometimes) and cool nights. Summer is the rainy season so we often found ourselves cold and wet more than we would prefer. We stayed in Zone 1, a very central district surrounding the plaza principal, that had a small-city feel. We could easily walk to everything we needed and again, navigated the city fairly easily.

In the weeks prior, we discussed to possibility of going to language school and doing a homestay as well but never came to a firm decision. Upon our arrival, we struck out finding a hostel or hotel that we really wanted to be our home for a week. After a somewhat overpriced night at Hostel Don Diego, we decided to check out Utatlan Spanish School. It was located in my most favorite building I have seen so far on our travels! A very good sign if I do say so my self! We inquired at the school and were told we could start our homestay immediately and classes the next day.

(inside of my favorite building.  school was at the end of the walk and upstairs on the second floor)

We were both open-minded and tried to have little expectation, as with homestays, you never quite know what you are going to get. When I studied in San Pedro years ago, I thought about doing a homestay because it “would be good for me” but felt too shy about it. And I was a terribly picky eater at the time and I feared I would be both rude to my hosts declining food, and starving to death (homestays typically include most meals throughout the week). Since, I have graduated into a class of what my husband calls “particular eaters” and although I still thought it "would be good for me," this time I was certain that I would neither starve nor disgrace my hosts.

Luckily we were placed with a wonderful host family of 6 (well 8 if you count our other Spanish-studying “hermanos”). Mom Elisabeth ran the household like a champ and cooked us wonderful meals tres tiempos.* Dad Guillermo worked very long hours and aside from a few lunch meals, we didn't see much for him. Kids were Guillermo (16), Zully (pronounced Suley) (14), and gemelas (twins!!) Heidy and Karlita (7). They were all very nice and a lot of fun but we probably interacted most with the twins. They loved Nicolas (Brandt) and were constantly using him as a jungle gym and let me teach them gymnastics and yoga. We also had 2 brothers, Stu and Danny, who were also staying in the homestay and had arrived before us and were planning to stay a few weeks more.

(our hermanos, the gemelas, and us)

(our house is at the bottom of the hill)

By Guatemalan standards this was what we might call an upper-middle class family and our accommodations were very comfortable (this is a matter of opinion as many might call them basic). The home was a large 2 story cinder block home (what almost all homes and buildings are constructed of here) with 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms (with hot water showers!), living room, kitchen/dining area, roof terrace (where strangely, the dogs lived), and store out front (don't be surprised to find that the owner of a tienda, panaderia, or lavanderia lives in an attached home directly behind). Surprisingly and generously, everyone gave up their rooms for us. By the end of our stay, another student had arrived leaving Brandt and I, Maria (new student), Stu, and Danny to occupy 4 rooms while the family of 6 shared 3 double beds in mom and dad's room. It was a humbling reminder of what our wants and needs are and how often there are drastically far apart from one another.

We studied one-on-one for 1 week at the Utatlan Spanish School for 4 hours a day. Turns out I didn't even cry once! My teacher, Patty, was a very sweet university student. She helped me learn the subjunctive, improve my vocabulary, and just talk which I desperately needed (still do). I can't quite say how much I learned, but I'm sure it helped. I also try and study on my own most days. I'm still optimistic that continuing to listen to Spanish, studying on my own, taking a few more weeks of lessons down the line, and spending a year in Central and South America will get me to a point where I can actually make myself understood.

(my teacher Patty and me at the birthday party the school threw for me. i.e. birthday cake snack!)

(My classroom)

Also, we've discussed that we like homestays and actually want to do more of them! Look forward to us spending a week every month or so staying with another family somewhere else. It's a great way to get a closer peak at the day to day life and culture of those that live in the places you are visiting, and of course a better way to learn and practice the language.

School and studying kept us busy and wore us out! We did get a chance to experience 2 of the many markets which is always a bit of a wild and crazy ride. We also took a short hike up to El Baul which is a beautiful lookout of much of Xela. Also, we have been so impressed with the kindness of the people we have met and merely encountered here in Guatemala. Just saying the people are “friendly” or “kind” doesn't paint a fair picture, so I'll get into this further in my next post.

(view from El Baul)

(morning in the market)

From here, we are on to Chichi(castenango) to experience what is known as one of the largest markets in all of Central America!

*This is an inside joke, sort of. All across Guatemala we have seen tortilla stores (there are hundreds) that are basically all called "_______'s (insert any name here) tortillas tres tiempos". In hindsight, this is clear as day, but for the longest time we didn't understand what “tortillas 3 times” meant. Also, I thought 3 times was tres veces???  God, I was confused... We asked our house mom Elisabeth. Even though she was smiling, I caught a glimmer in her eye which said, “is this a joke or are they completely stupid” when she explained that the shops are open 3 times a day and that they make tortillas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Duh! Mostly, we had walked past these shops during meal times and they were open (and no, no one posts hours here), and I figured they were open all day. But no, they make tortillas and are open, 3 tiempos every day.

Thanks for continuing to read and follow me on this journey! As always, forgive my errors as I have no editor. Also, please leave your comments, questions, or feedback – I love it!!

P.S. I cannot write or read this post, or say our "hermanos" without wanting to watch an Arrested Development marathon all day long.  Who will join me?!