Hola from Guatemala!

We are finally all settled into our home-stays, know our way around the main part of Xela (the town) and how to get from home to school, and the students are in their second day of language school today (Tuesday, Jan. 15). Yesterday was a full day beginning with five hours of language instruction. Each student was introduced to his/her Spanish teacher, and then everyone dispersed to their classroom or work area (some of the students sat in the outdoor patio at small tables with their teachers while others had small classrooms in the three-story building). All of the students completed various grammar exams to help their teachers determine their starting point in the language, and a good portion of their time was also spent in conversation. It is very important to the language school that each of our students feels comfortable with their teacher, so that the one-on-one instruction method will be a successful partnership between the student and the teacher. I checked in yesterday afternoon with the students, and everyone seemed very excited about their first day of class, although the grammar testing was a little shocking for a few of them (which is good!) I perceive that most of the students are already beginning to feel more confident in their language skills, especially with the amount of conversation they have had with their host families. It is a big confidence booster for them to realize that they can have in-depth, meaningful conversations in Spanish with their families.

Yesterday afternoon provided some free time for students to visit a cemetery, go on a short hike, or just rest and work on homework at home for a few hours. We all met later for a time of worship and reflection, which seemed to energize and encourage each one of us in our own way. As you may know, yesterday was the inaugural ceremony for the new president of Guatemala in the capital, so there was a celebration in the Parque Central here with music and fireworks. Some of our students went down to check it out.

Today we will observe a traditional way of making chocolate for drinking and tomorrow's activity will be a cooking class where we will learn to make one of the traditional Guatemalan meals called Pepian (a chicken dish with a type of brown gravy-like sauce). Hopefully everyone will be able to prepare this for their families when we return! This Thursday and Friday we will be working with the language school's community service program (La Pedrera), where we will be working with the children and youth at the neighborhood nutrition and tutoring center. We will serve the daily snack (which serves as their dinner for the day) and our students will work in teams of three with a small group of kids or teenagers to teach an English lesson and organize a recreation activity (mostly soccer!).

The weather has been wonderful during the day while the sun is out (probably 70 degrees), but the mornings and evenings are quite chilly, so most of us are using our sweaters, fleeces, and jackets several hours of the day.