slowly starting to get it

So, yesterday I left off about to meet the family I'd be staying with for the next week. There was nothing too remarkable about the experience - at first the only family member I met was one of the daughters (Sophia) who showed me my room and let me know what time the meals were (no meals Sundays, so I didn't have my first one until this morning). The room is cute, certainly not as colorful as the dorms, but it's nice to have my own space and a bigger bed.


I'm spoiling myself for the rest of the trip with privacy and comfort.


And check out the view from my bed! Please ignore my dirty feet.

The house itself is impressive, both in all the open spaces, and the amount of rooms (husband, his father, wife, five daughters, two other boarders besides me and room for two more). As I was exploring the little rooftop patio, I met a boarder who left yesterday, giving me confidence in the 'brilliance' (British, haha) of the family and the school. It wasn't too long later that I met Cesar, the husband/man of the house, who seemed to be enjoying his Sunday (he smelled of alcohol and introduced his name about three times but seemed really nice, haha). As the rest of the house seemed quiet, I decided to go out and spend my late afternoon in the park.

Sunday in the park was a different experience than the other days I spent there - everyone, their babies and their grandmother seemed to be out. I couldn't help but buy an ice cream cone (not even $1) from a vendor...much like the ones that push the carts in SF/Santa Cruz, only his had a big tub of ice cream with two mixed flavors and then he topped the cone with a sickly sweet sugary jam. Perhaps not the most delicious dessert I've ever had, but the sweet cool treat hit the spot. I found myself a bench so that I could continue devouring 'In Cold Blood' (probably will go see about trading it and 'Shopgirl' tomorrow), but it was easy to be distracted by all the people watching. The traditionally dressed women were all out too, selling their wares - one of them even sent up their chubby faced 1-year-old to me, tapping me on the knee, trying to sell me a necklace. As adorable as the gimmick was, the necklace was really a POS and with only enough quetzals left in my pocket for dinner (I figure, the less I carry, the less I will spend), I had to decline.

I was feeling really tired by about 6pm (I'm not used to all this walking around!), so I found the grocery store and bought a couple small snacks - I couldn't believe how much cheaper everything was there then in the shops by the park. I mean, duh, of course the touristy shops would be more expensive, but we're talking 70 cents for two liters of water compared to $1.50 for not even half. Little discoveries like this are going to make it easier for me to make my dollars stretch.

I spent the rest of the night reading and was asleep by 10pm...originally, I'd considered going out again, but thank goodness I didn't! Apparently, the alarm on my watch is worthless (sooo quiet), so getting up before breakfast was served was not an option - however, Cesar knocked on my door to wake up and I enjoyed a delicious meal of french toast (you all know it's my favorite!), bananas and cantelope. BTW, I am in fruit heaven down here. Anyways, it was nice to eat with the other boarders (one who has class in the afternoon as well) and Cesar (who I found out does all the cooking and cleaning).

And now I'm here! I found a cheap place with incredibly fast internet (I think it might even be DSL! hahaha), so it should be easy for me to keep up my blogging routine - though hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to share more interesting things than the price of bottled water. :p

***

Facing towards the South, you can see Volcan Agua in the distance. Apparently, the crater had filled with rain water and somehow erupted, causing a huge flood in the city. Crazy to think about, but such a pretty sight.


As seen walking down the street.


Gotta love that super zoom!