Lo que pasa... how the start nearly every sentence down here in Guatemala. I found it quite fitting for a little life update...
My oh my...how time flies! I have been in Guatemala for officially three weeks, and I have yet to have words to fully describe the beautiful colonial town of Antigua. Antigua is a quaint little city where the people are always kind, the cobblestone streets are always inviting for a nice stroll, and the volcanoes in the background are always tempting me to cancel class at sunset just to see the beautiful view.
Upon arrival here I started touring and training for the job right away. This didn't give me much time for adjustment, but I was totally prepared for that part of this adventure. After two days of getting everything set up through Maximo I was standing in my very own classroom. Well... kinda. We all share rooms, but all my classes are in the same room. Which keeps thing pretty simple. Moral of the story, I was already teaching!
After my adventures around Peru following my TEFL course I could hardly remember all the techniques of eliciting, CCQing, STT... blah, blah, blah. Yet, I quickly adjusted. The first week was pretty frustrating for me. I have five classes and four of those are basico nuevos, meaning they don't speak a lick of English. This is super hard when you are only allowed to speak English to them during class time. Eeeeeeek! You can see the frustration in their eyes when I tell them something, they ask me in Spanish and I reply in English that they need to use English. My students-formally known as clients, are adjusting well and I think we are all having a good time. I feel like I've done a good job of creating a classroom chemistry, and have been able to let my personality out in all of my classes. Mind you, I think a lot of my students think I'm crazy since the best part of this job is charading around to get them to understand vocabulary. Plus, it is completely evident that my biggest weakness is spelling, making everything seem a bit more questionable. Yet anyone who has played board games with me can understand why I get excited to go to most of my classes daily- its like Cranium 101 some days...even gnilleps.
As for life in Antigua, its very mellow. Which is a really good taste of reality for my normal high speed pace. I spend my hours in between classes, wandering to the market to by the equivalent of 25 cent avocados or 13 cent mangoes, reading my books, or just laying in the hammocks. It has been nice and relaxing, yet as always I am ready for more adventure. Luckily, I have found somewhere to live and I get to move in very soon. Not that I don't appreciate the overwhelming kindness of my coworkers, but I am ready to unpack, sleep in a bed, and have a place to call home. The new set up will be ideal too. I will be living with 7 other people, the majority of which work for a really neat social organization focused on education in a poor village near Antigua. Just up my alley right?!?! So far getting to know some of them, I feel like it will be a great fit and a good way to get out and see a variety of things.
As of now, I have just stayed within the confines of Antigua, but I plan on getting out this weekend. There are a lot of quick and weekend hikes around. Not to mention some of my students work in the tourist industry and are willing to get me some sweet deals! Beyond that with the Easter holiday quickly approaching we get an extended break to get out and mentally collect. It is a lovely set up for some travel adventures in and around Guate.
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