Pienso soy más vieja que mi abuela nueva

I’m having technical issues uploading pictures so I just posted a few from my stash of backup pics from my wanderings around Xela. Woke up to warm, beautiful sunshine in the covered courtyard at Doña Mercedes, and was sad to leave. Betty, Michelle and Juan are lovely and all the guests are really nice as well. There’s a woman from Vanderbilt University in Nashville who is also studying Spanish at Celas Maya and evaluating a clinic in Xela for university programs. She also works with Doctors Without Borders. Muy interesante. We hit the tiny market in the park this morning to practice our español and I am really bummed now because I promised one of the vendors, Marta, that I would email pictures I took of her. First she asked if I would mail them to her and then she asked “¿correo electronico?” Sí, sí, es mas facil! I have to say, I was quite surprised that this woman from a small pueblo outside of Xela had a hotmail account.

Anyway, after the market, I went to meet mi familia guatemalteco.  Guadelupe picked me up at the school and we walked to her house.  Guadelupe lives with her daughter about a 10 minute walk away in zona 1, in a lovely old house with a courtyard. Xela is a little like Riverdale, little mountains which really are a pleasure to walk unless you have 50 pounds of mochilla weight on your back. Oh yeah, did I mention that it started to rain as soon as Guadelupe picked me up from the school? Claro. Got to the house, soaking wet, after chatting breathlessly en español all the way there.

They have un perrito llamada “Gordo” and Guadelupe’s mother lives in an attached house next door.  I also met her sister Chicky. I think that’s her name, I already forgot her daughter’s name. It was all so rushed. I also asked her to write her address down, which I will later sew into my raincoat, and show me where we were on the map because I really wasn’t paying attention and we all know how long I can stumble around in the rain and go absolutely nowhere. Glad to report that I have been there and back already without getting lost so I’m definitely getting better at this direction thing.

The small family is so inviting and my room is clean and comfortable.  Sunday is their day off, they just get me settled but starting tomorrow we will be eating all meals together and they will be helping me develop Spanish conversation skills.  And they call me Pah-tee. I introduce myself as Pah-tree-see-ya to make it easier for everyone to pronounce my name (I get a lot of blank stares when I say soy Tricia). But no one calls me Pah-tree-see-ya. They instantly shorten it to “Pot” or “Potty“. I feel like I’m in Junior High School all over again (wink wink to Tammy, Fran and Gerard). They are so sweet, I’ll just let them call me whatever they want to.

I do think I may be the same age as Guadelupe’s mother, who gave me the biggest hug and told she is going to see me every day.  Okay, I may be exaggerating. I’m probably the same age as Guadelupe or maybe a little older.  I’ll find out everyone’s age and life story mañana, at breakfast.

Happy Labor Day mis amigos norteamericanos!

P.S.  If anyone has read anything about the mudslides in this area, yes, it’s true, there have been some awful accidents, one in particular that I read about today about a bus leaving Xela for Solola.  Just so no one worries, I wouldn’t travel anywhere in that kind of weather and I’m pretty sure downtown Xela itself is quite removed from those areas.