First Impressions

I've been in Xela now for about two full days following what is arguably the worst travel experience I've had in recent memory. And if not the worst, tied for the worst with the travel between Tahoe and Denver directly following my broken wrist.

I for the first time in my whole entire life, I got sick on a plane. And as luck would have it, it didn't happen on the last flight of the day, but rather the first. I'll spare you details, but it was pretty terrible. Every moment I had my eyes open, I kinda wanted to die. Then, I had the pleasure of a three hour bus ride (that should have taken four) up a curvaceous mountain road. Thanks be to god that I managed to sleep through most of that too. But I did wake up a couple times to look out the window and see the colorful country in the late afternoon sun's rays. Wow. So beautiful.

But I eventually made it to my host family's house in Xela, ate, and promptly went to bed. And slept for 11 hours. Oh sweet relief.

The morning brought corn flakes with hot milk (because its powdered and needs to be mixed with boiled water). Then I was off to my first Spanish class.

In pictures, this is how I feel about my Spanish:

Before I went to Panama, I was riding a plastic tricycle with my helmet on backwards:



Before I got to Guatemala, I was kicking it on a real bike, but with training wheels, and in way over my head:



And the ultimate goal of this trip is being able to rock a beach cruiser:



And I know I will never get to be this good at the espanol, but its fun to dream:


However, the most incredible thing that happened to me was that I checked my email. Turns out I was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship for this upcoming academic year! WooHoo! I was ecstatic when I opened that email, but there is kind of a disconnect in getting that information here.

After class, I met up with Joe, my friend from Seattle, and we hung out for a while. We went to a salsa class given by his school, which was so much fun! Sadly no pictures of that either, well, yet, he might send me one.



All and all, I am really enjoying it here. This city is so colorful, and old. It reminds me very much of Europe. Winding cobblestone streets, a big central parque, brightly painted buildings, I'll go out and take some good photos when it stops being all rainy and cloudy. And when I stop being so damn tired after my exhausting travels.