A Lehigh Surprise!

Thanks to the infamous social networking site Facebook, I discovered my friend Kelly from Lehigh was here! I happened to see something come up on the news feed about a trip she took to Lago de Atilan!! It was just chance that I happened to stumble upon it. If I hadn't, I never would have known our trips were overlapping. It was so nice to talk to her before I moved here. She eased all my fears and got me really excited! She had been staying in Antigua for an 8 week research program for medical school. When she told me that I was going to have the best two years of my life, I was sold! I had heard great things before I moved, but when the encouraging words came from the mouth of one of my sorority sisters, I just felt better. We exchanged Guatemalan numbers before the move, and we were in touch the day I landed. We decided to meet up the night after I returned from Antigua. To my surprise, she met a very nice Guatemalan and they picked me up from the hotel. She also brought her friend from med school that she had been traveling with. They brought me to a great little Spanish tapas place. You have to be very careful here and remember that when we say "Spanish" it means from Spain. Back in the states anyone who speaks Spanish, is called Spanish. But that is actually politically incorrect. It's better to say "Central American" or "Latin". Back to the Tapas place....We ordered some very interesting food. For example, Cow's stomach and uncooked Beef. I'm still a practicing vegetarian and stuck to the artichoke dip, calamari and this quiche/pizza dish. All delicious (except for the cow dishes, which I decided to pass on). The sangria was out of this world! We hung here for a while and talked. It was so nice to see Kelly and also nice to learn some ins and outs of the city. The music at this place was hysterical. It must have been a kareeoki mix. We heard Grease songs, 80s songs, the marcarena! The best part was we could see the music videos on a big screen. Very entertaining :)

After we went to a club. I invited the new teachers from the hotel because it was right down the street. Unfortunately I never met up with them because we walked into this place and then walked out. It was so crowded and crazy music. I was happy we were with Guatemalans with a car. They were able to show us around, since I'm not that comfortable with the city yet. One of the guys we were with just finished up vetrinarian school. He is also on the Guatemalan Olympic team for horse riding! Maybe I'll see him on the big screen one day!! Instead we ended up driving over to a bar that was more of a sports lounge. It was better here because you could actually hear the people next to you and talk. It was fun reminicing with Kelly about good ole times at Lehigh. Bars close here at 1AM (which was a huge surprise!) Kelly was leaving on Monday to go back to Denver, so we said our goodbyes. Hopefully I'll see her again soon :)

Antigua Trip 8/7/10

Today I went to Antigua. It was so cool! Very traditional and colonial. Cobble stone streets and old unique buildings. We left in the morning at 8:30AM. The drive through the mountains to get there was really cool. It was a clear morning and we were able to see the volcanoes perfectly. When we got to Antigua, a few of us walked to a Bagel shop while waiting for other people to arrive. It was funny that they had a bagel shop and everything was in English. It was a cool cafe and reminded me of one in NYC. I tried to order a bottle of water and some how ended up with a bagel with butter & jelly haha! You live and you learn. We broke into groups right after that and were sent off to explore the city. We had three people from the school in our group and 4 new teachers. They sent us on a little treasure hunt. The hunt was basically specific rquests to take pictures in front of things that are special to Antigua. Such as admiring jade, admiring textiles, in front of a fountatin, picture with one of the funny taxis in the city called a Tuc Tuc (I think). We had a lot of fun!

Jade is beautiful and I look forward to buying some special jewelry here. I loved the city and wished the school was just a little closer. It took us about 45 minutes to drive there. They brought us to this amazing chocolate shop. It was so good! Guatemala is also known for it's chocolate! It was so cool and was owned by this French guy that spoke Spanish. He was singing and making chocolate, he was just full of life. I bought a bag of cafe and cardamom chocolate. It was yummy! One of the guys in my group is so funny. He bought a bunch of hakey sacks and told that he wanted to have a juggling contest. So we all took turns juggling and he played music on this instrument while we had the contest. It was hysterical. The consensus said that I won! He gave me a necklace he bought on the street as a prize. At 12:30pm all the groups met at the nicest hotel in Antigua called Casa Santo Domingo. It was was the nicest hotel I've ever seen! Definitely try and look it up online. It's really romantic. Reminds me of the secret garden or something. Totally indoor/outdoor with beautiful flowers everywhere. We had special lunch set up for all the new teachers in a big banquet room. The tables had really unique pink flowers as center pieces. The first course was pea and carrot soup, then chicken, rice, carrots and broccoli. For dessert we got two different types of flan with caramilized sugar on top. The food here for the most part is not that good. This lunch was exceptional. The cool thing about the fruits and veggies are that they are soo fresh. The seem to have so much more flavor than at home. After lunch we headed back to the hotel and I met up with a special person....

I'm in heaven 8/6/10

My first day in Guate, I woke up to beautiful blue skies! We didn't have to catch a bus to the school until 10:30am, which was nice. We had a quick continental breakfast at the hotel and then the school picked all of us up. I was blown away when we arrived at the school. It was absolutely beautiful!! Tons of people were waiting to welcome us and I just felt so happy to be here. They introduced us to everyone and then took us on a tour around the beautiful campus. It was just like being on a nature trail. The whole school is indoor/outdoor. I love the classrooms. The rooms all have two walls of windows, so there is a lot of natural light. They also have a workout room and pool we can use too! The early childhood classrooms have bright green doors!

I cannot wait to get started working here. The people are amazing! The school arranged a delicious sit down lunch. The food was great, nothing especially traditional though. After orientation, the school arranged a trip to the airport for me to track down my suitcase. I was told that I would have a driver and a bilingual companion to go with me. I find out that both speak only Spanish!!! I was really worried, because I would not be able to communicate with them. They were both very nice and knew where they had to bring me, but I just didn't feel comfortable. Luckily, one of the new teachers volunteered to accompany me! He was bilingual and it made me feel so much better to have him with me. Long story short, I GOT MY SUITCASE BACK!!! I've never been so relieved! The suitcase weighed over 70lbs and I was afraid I was not going to see it again. The reason being that when I was waiting at the carousal the only suitcase unclaimed looked exactly like mine. I figured someone took my suitcase on accident, which made me think someone just might not return it! But all worries disappeared as I saw it being wheeled around the corner. I started feeling myself again. I was on cloud nine! After getting my luggage, the drivers from the school dropped us back off at the hotel. We had till 6pm to relax, and then we all met in the lobby of the hotel to go for dinner. It was TGIF pizza party at the Middle School principal's house. His house was nicer than any house I've been to in the states. Indoor outdoor garage area with a nice sized back yard. Beautiful! He moved here from Iowa with his wife and daughter. There are so many families that move here. I love it! It's great to see that it's possible. The American children that go to this school get a better education than the ones in the states. They become bilingual is just months. All the principals, a few teachers, and all the new teachers were there for the party. It was great to meet even more new people and learn more about Guate and the school. I had so much fun. We were invited to go up on the roof to take a look at the views. It was a little cloudy, so there wasn't a ton to see, but it was still really cool. It seems that there is always things to do and people to see. The whole staff is so enthusiastic and positive about being here. It doesn't feel like I'm hanging with colleagues. It feels like I'm hanging out with old friends. I look forward to more nights like these..

First Day in Guate 8/5/10

                                                    The view from my hotel room!
I made it here!! The hardest part is over. It was sad saying goodbye. As I walked through the security area at LGA I debated turning around. I was definitely having lots of mixed feelings and was on about 2 hours of sleep. However, I got the courage to get on the plane. Danny and Meg both wrote me really amazing cards so I read them first thing so I wasn't too puffy eyed when I got to Guatemala. I passed out immediately after and was in Miami before I knew it. The flights were easy and smooth. Customs was a little scary, but also really easy. The airport was newly renovated and really nice. I waited and waited for my luggage. One suitcase showed up, the other did not! I was slowly the last person waiting at the carousal. I had to go claim it and all they gave me was a form to call the airline. Very frustrating, but I pushed on. I walked out of the customs and saw tons of people offering me a taxi. I was happy to hear someone yell my name, and it was my principal. She gave me a huge hug!! It was such a nice welcoming. Other new teachers were there and another principal too. I was impressed that even the principals pick you up from the airport. They were so organized and gave us cellphones and money immediately. It was smooth sailing from there on. We went right to the hotel, The Clarion Suites. It is a beautiful hotel. When I got up to my room, I looked out the window and saw a beautiful mountain landscape. The weather was gorgeous. Mid 70s and sunny. Right now is the rainy season, so at about 3pm everyday it rains and thunderstorms roll in. Within an hour they stop. Not a bad rainy season at all. Being that the best part of the day is blue skies and sunny! They told us to meet in the lobby at 6pm for dinner. Only six teachers had showed up so far, so we walked to a little taco place with the middle school principal. I thought it was really cool once again that the principal came to dinner with us and bought up a bucket of cervezas! We drank a beer called Gallo. It's really good. I ordered a vegetarian burrito, which ran me about $3 bucks haha. It was nice to sit down and get to know the new teachers. I  love them all. Everyone comes from a different part of the U.S. with totally different backgounds/experiences. I am one of the youngest. The average age of the new teachers is 30. After dinner, we headed back to the hotel and went to the bar they had downstairs. We found out that Guatemala is popular for their rum. So we tried some rum and hung out in the lounge. Shortly after, four more teachers showed up! My principal was with them and they all joined us in the lounge. It was a really nice night and I felt immediately reassured that I wanted to be here. That I made the right choice :)