No tengo veinte años, no tengo veinte años

Tengo un dia magnifico! First, my maestro nuevo, Carlos, es muy muy muy bueno. For some reason, I lost a lot of my self-consciousness speaking today.  I like the way he corrects me at the exact time I make a mistake.  I like how he explains what my mistake is and why I made it and I also like the way he talks about his children and family.  He also taught me little things like when to say “yo también” vs. “a mi también“.  We had incredible conversations about our respective childhoods, relationships (this seems to be a common theme with my teachers!), some philosophical exchanges on what a good life is, Guatemalan history and human rights issues amongst the Maya.

After class, I went home to eat some lunch, leftovers from my yummy pasta dinner last night, but when I arrived at mi casa, Christina invited me to share lunch she made for everyone (everyone includes Stef, Leti, Christina and apparently me).  She’s also French and is a chef at The Royal Paris, THE French restaurant in zona 1.  So far I’ve seen a French restaurant, a Tex-Mex restaurant and several Italian restaurants.  I’ve eaten at an Indian and Middle Eastern restaurant.  Christina made a delicious pork and potato casserole.  I decided to play hooky from my job today to go on a hike organized by my school.  I don’t feel that bad because I´m waiting for a little more direction from the boys on how to proceed with the design.  They both really liked my mockup and I’m so happy I was able to actually communicate my ideas successfully en español.  It took me almost two hours to write that email, but it was soooo worth it!

Okay, so I went on my first real hike since I’ve been here.  The weather has been so horrific the past week and half, we have finally had some really nice days and today was one of them.  Cesar, the guide from Celas Maya, me and two other students  went to La Muela (the molar) today.  It’s a small mountain a little southwest of Xela, that was formed by an old eruption of the Santa María volcano.  I think sometime in the early 1900s.

The formations are absolutely stunning.  It was the perfect combo of leisurely hike and strenuous bouldering.  Okay, it was probably mild bouldering, or more likely meandering over some rocks up a steep hill, but it was strenuous for me.  I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not 20 anymore.  Or other people should really remind me when I forget.  The view of Quetzaltenango and the surrounding mountains was magnificent.  I can’t wait to meander up Santa María!

We hopped on a camioneta and then in the back of someone’s pickup truck to get to the entrance of La Muela.  We practiced speaking Spanish as we hiked up some pretty steep inclines and I couldn’t stop taking pictures.  I´m a little disappointed because I didn’t change the ISO on my camera and a lot of my pictures came out a little grainy—which I like sometimes, but really wanted these to be as crisp as the colors and textures were.  Oh well. La proxima vez. Next time.

Well, it’s time to heat up some food and study. Mi tarea esta noche is to translate a passage Carlos dictated to me and to write about what I did over the weekend using both past tenses.  I practiced my Spanish a lot this afternoon with Cesar and my classmates so hopefully this will be a lot easier than last week.