1. Don't flush the toilet paper
2. You can't rush some things (ie Spanish, bathroom time)
3. The market is not height friendly
4. Pedestrians do not have the right of way
5. Tortillas are not an accessory
I have only been in Guatemala for a few weeks and have already learned so much! Life here is different from the states but I am welcoming the changes with open arms. I am living with a family of four in a beautiful house with a garden. I have my own room with a handmade armoire, desk and bed. I also have electricity, running water and hot showers daily. I must admit I was expecting the worst but I have been blessed thus far and I thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers. I have had many first experiences including making tortillas, taking a bucket bath and riding a chicken bus, thankfully getting sick is not one of them. It took a little while for my host family to learn my name, for the longest I was "la chica".
The weather and the people are pleasant, although the rain season starts at the end of the month. Every morning as I walk to Spanish class all the kids and old people look at me like ‘who is this outrageously tall stranger and why is she here’, I have gotten a little used to the staring following me with their eyes. Once a week I have training at the Peace Corps office, and I have to ride the chicken bus. The buses are 2 speed- fast and stop. But, imagine if you would, 80 men and women crammed on a school bus, three to four people per seat and there you have a chicken bus experience! Guatemala is slowly becoming my new home, poco a poco! So while you are enjoying the summer and cold lemonade on the porch, I will shortly be swimming to Spanish classes in mud puddles.
