So happy Holland is home!

Last Day

Here is the view from my desk, where Ana Maria and I sit every afternoon and study. The intersection down below is quite busy, so I have a good view of all the action below.

Holland and I are all packed up and ready to take a shuttle into Antigua in the morning. Although we've already spent a weekend in Antigua, we are planning to spend tomorrow night there before flying out of Guatemala City in the morning. It's supposedly about a 45 minute taxi drive. We are not staying in Guatemala City because it's not particularly safe for tourists and also because we want to take a cooking class in Antigua.

Although Holland kind of dragged me here, I've actually had a really wonderful month and am very sad to leave. I like our host family a lot. I am amazed at how much progress my Spanish has made over the month. Although I took it for two years in high school, it was pretty much non-existent when I got here. Now I can hold a comprehensible (although somewhat labored) conversation. I wish I had more time to learn more....and to get a little more relaxation in! I've wondered many times during residency how much time it would take for me to start feeling like a human being again and now I know: about a month. I've begun to feel like a normal person again for the first time since med school. I can think about non-medical things that I want to do and what I want to do with my life. I can talk without saying negative things! And for that, I am terrifically grateful.

Hair

Most of the various Mayan groups have some sort of cloth head/hair piece that is worn by the women of that particular town. Here is one of the more popular ones around Xela, which involves cloth woven into braids.

Iglesia, San Francisco el Alto

Here are photos from an old church that we visited while in San Francisco. Note the girl in the bottom right hand corner of the first paragraph, carrying a basket of mango slices on her head.

We were able to climb some precariously old and steep stairs to the top of the church. Here is the view from above, with some of the students lounging about.

Photos from the market, San Francisco el Alto

Today, I went with a group from the school to the nearby town of San Francisco el Alto. There is a big market there every Friday. Unfortunately, Holland had to work in the clinic so he couldn't go. Here are some scenes from the market:

Baby Chickens!

Something you definitely can't do in the US - raw chickens on a table at the market.

We passed an entire section that had table after table of these antique sewing machines. I loved them! Perhaps they're popular here because they don't require electricity?

Hand-woven cloth used to make the traditional indigenous clothing:

Ladies buying vegetables and such.

La cena

Every Thursday night, the school has a dinner (cooked by a group of student volunteers) to socialize and to celebrate the accomplishments of their students who are leaving to go back home. There is a sizable group of us who started together and who are now leaving this weekend. Your teacher gives you a little diploma and then you are encouraged to give a little speech in Spanish. Here is Holland (and his beard!) giving his:

Here is a picture of me and my teacher, Ana Maria. She and I are the same age and I like her a lot. I'm making a truly hideous face but it's the only picture of us that I have!

Other students...

Around Xela

This picture is taken from the inside of a beautiful old building next to the park (parquet). Note the clouds - it has been intermittently rainy this week, which everyone keeps telling me is practically unheard of in February here. Xela basically has two seasons - the rainy season, which I think runs from like April or so until October, then the non-rainy season. The temperature doesn't vary much, although it does warm up slightly beginning around now.

This is from the top of one of the streets in Xela. Those elbows belong to Holland, who is taking a picture with his camera. Note the volcano in the background.

This is inside Cafe La Luna, a little cafe with delicious hot chocolate. We go there to study sometimes...when it's open. The owner tends to close up shop when she feels like it during the day.

This is inside Cafe Baviera, another studying haunt. They have delicious crepes. The thing that always amazes me is that they keep all these lovely fresh flowers in the fountain.

This is a mall we went to today. The whole thing is one big spiral. In the background is the really old church in the park.