we’re here!  safe!  and we’re having a good time… except for the leg/back pain from walking everywhere. 

goodies so far:

- convenience stores are everywhere and better than anything we have in the US.  even famima. 

- japanese girls are SO CUTE.

- early morning fresh sushi from the fish market is SO GOOD, but it may give you a stomach ache. i don’t think my body likes fish at 6am.

- the monorail is always crowded, but so far no one has tried to touch my butt.  go japan!

- constant access to vending machines with cold beverages equals fantastic

- i can’t use japanese keyboards.  they’re messing with my head.

- everyone over here dresses like they’re ready to party.  i need to have crazy japanese hair.

- nighttime isn’t nearly as scary as guatemala. 

- i could stick my ticket through the little machine all day. zip zip zip!

- wanna use it?

- malls here are amazing.  i don’t have time to go through them all. 

- love love love cheap japanese photo booths.  gotta get some cute japanese girls to join me.

- 4am is a great time for stuffed pancakes and curry croquettes.

and…. that’s all for now.   

i got back yesterday afternoon… and showered!  life is good here.  ryan took me to old pasadena where i refused to eat food from anywhere “south of the border” and opted instead for some good old italian food.  il fornaio to the rescue! pinkberry has a big “now hiring” sign up, but there’s no sign of it opening anytime soon.  i haven’t psyched myself up to drive again yet… the guatemalan roads have scarred me for life.

we´re catching the 4am bus out of xela tomorrow… back to guatemala city. yaaaay!

tram and i are jumping around, giddy and insane… i can´t wait to come home! i want strawberries. chocolate soy milk. a shower. froyo. bottled water. a hug.

yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

lunch at la luna cafe, plus coffee with ice cream and cake.

dinner with mi abuela´s son´s family.  photo albums, spanish lessons, and discussion on religion…. in spanglish.

slept in until 740am.

at 10am we left for la pradera, trekking through the trash filled minerva terminal with our grandma in tow.  when we got to the mall, the kids rushed over to the escalator and had a great time riding it up and down.  magda (the mom) and our abuela, however, were terrified and refused to get near it.

at the theatre, only 4 movies were playing, and only 2 of them were suitable for children.  unfortunatly, the movies were all in english with spanish subtitles, which the kids weren´t interested in.

instead, we took them down to a game place, somewhat like a decrepit chuck-e-cheese.  the  kids played airhockey, and then were introduced to skeeball… for the very first time.  tram and i handed out tokens and took pictures while they played.  at the end, the kids had no idea how to exchange their tickets for prizes, so we had to walk them through it.

at the food court, we ordered two dominos pizzas, a bottle of coke, and chow mein for our abuela.  the kids fought over who got to carry the pizzas back to the table, and finished every last bit.  then… we grabbed chocolate dipped soft serve cones from pollo campero and took a micro bus back home.

back in our room, tram fell asleep at the desk sitting up, so i napped as well.  when we got up it was too late to go out anywhere to study so we got milk from the local tienda and made hot cocoa.

slept in until 8am.  impressive!

andrea made tamales in the kitchen.

breakfast and studying along to 80´s music at cafe babiera. ran into steve.

souvenier shopping.

taiwanese store run by a cute little couple that sells empanadas (asian style), shaved ice, and soy ice cream.

tacos in parque centrale for Q5 each.  not yum.

back to cafe babiera for ice blended cafe mochas. Q20.

dinner: homemade rice tamales that andrea made this morning.

there´s nothing quite like the fear you feel as you watch the scenery rush by while you ride a seemingly out of control chicken bus along a steep, narrow, windy mountain road.

we walked along a dirt road, hiked into a wooded valley, and walked around the mountain some more until we ended up in a tiny village where we were to build our stoves. we first visited a home where the stove had recently been finished, and watched as ana gave instructions on how to use the stove. then, we came to another house where we were given machetes and told to cut bricks in half. tammy mixed cement with her hands and laughed at seeing me do manual labor with my french manicure.

tram and i went to another house to start another stove. we were given new machetes and cut cinder blocks for an hour. then, we got our hands dirty grabbing fistfuls of cement and putting together the base of the stove. it was strangely relaxing.

fearful of the food and lack of clean water, we skipped out on lunch with the family and opted instead for doritos and cookies. maynor ended up getting sick from the food, so we were doubly glad we didn´t eat with him.

back at home, tammy came over for some hot chocolate.

after we showered the dust, cement, and grime away, tram and i got ready for our big night out. we broke out our makeup for the first time in guatemala, and put on nice clothes for a change.

we met cathy, liz, theresa, oscar, emma, and bryan at royal paris, a french cafe with live cuban music from ¨el sombrero negro¨.  after desserts and coffee, we ended up at kokolocos, the nearby salsa/merengue/whatever discotecque.

we finally found the chocolate shop in zona 1– bought a couple bricks of some very fabulous smelling chocolate.

went to cafe baberia for breakfast- benedictinos with jugo de naranja, plantanas, frijoles, y pan. then…. iced cappucino because the cafe isn´t well ventilated and has a tendency to become very hot.

in lieu of class today, we followed our maestras to the public hospital. unfortunately, we arrived too late for visiting hours, and the rifle-wielding security guards wouldn´t let us in. instead, we flagged down some medical students and chatted with them about guatemalan medicine and medical school.

apparently, med school starts at age 17 and lasts for about 7 years. the local school costs only Q100 per year, but the competition is fierce to get in… and out. the first year starts with 600 students, by the second year it´s down to about 200. by the 4th year, they´re down to 80 students, 50 of whom are female. woo hoo!

i spaced out during a lecture on public health because it was all in spanish and the nurse giving the presentation spoke tooooooooooo fast for me. i got that it sucks, doctors aren´t paid well, and nurses are given 180 patients each during night float. not suprisingly, people are neglected and die overnight.

we spent the evening at a fundraising dinner for voces de cambio, an organization that seeks to empower young girls through writing and photography. the dinner was fabulous– homemade vegetarian indian food and chai tea. our friends bought raffle tickets and walked away with yoga classes and free internet time at the local cafe. fun fun.

that night, we walked liz home to her sketchy neighborhood and by the time we got to our house, we realized our key didn´t work and spent the next few minutes freaking out, ringing the doorbell, and calling the house until magda came and showed us how to open the door. bah!