Moving on

So getting to Xela caused me about as much stress as I expected - that was the main reason I was hesitant about going. It isnt worth talking about what happened, but suffice it to say that I was ready to go about 8 am and didnt leave until 2:30 pm. And I ended up going the most expensive but safest and easiest route. But happily I am here and happy to be here! I stayed in a hostel last night that wasnt very social, at least for me, and English wasn´t the language I heard most often (it wasn´t Spanish either) and besides, I have my 9 pm bedtime. I need to say that earplugs are an AMAZING invention and I can´t believe I have never traveled with them before!

My private room in the hostel was about 6 dollars, a little less than my dinner. So some things are cheap here and some things aren´t (ie I don´t find the food partucularly cheap considering that this is a very developing country. I understand it would be cheaper shopping for food in a market, but still in Asia you could get a dinner for a dollar). I also find it interesting how people choose to spend their money. For me, spending $1.25 more for my own room rather than sleeping in a bunk bed in a room with 7 other people is well worth it. But I didn´t order the sandwich last night with chicken because it was $1.25 more than without chicken. But I think a lot of people are the oppostite. Anyway staying in a hostel for even one night made me think that staying with a family in Ecuador will be most pleasant. At breakfast I saw someone pulling down her box of food and getting milk out of a communal fridge...I just have no interest in preparing my own food, especially in a shared kitchen.

So going from Antigua to Xela is sort of like going from Williamstown to Ann Arbor in terms of size difference (I think the only people who have been to both places that read this are my parents, so that doesnt help most people much). But I just had no idea what to expect coming here. I´ll have to think more of two cities to compare them to in terms of atmosphere. It definitely isnt as charming - the streets are narrower and the building colors not as pretty - but I find the central park attractive. The buildings surrounding it have big Corinthian columns and it is sort of European looking. I went to the school this morning and in about 5 minutes was registered, and 2 hours later came back to meet my family. This time it is just one woman, about 50. she has kids but they dont live here - some live in Europe. I really like her, and my room is huge (which doesnt matter) and there will be another student coming later, which I asked for. I am amazed at how much I understand or can say today compared with moving in with the family 2 weeks ago, but I guess that is to be expected. Maybe after 2 weeks of one-on-one lessons I should be able to say a lot more, but for now it is nice to have seen progress.

There aren´t many Easter celebrations here like in Antigua, but I´m tired of them anyway. On Friday night in Antigua the processions were more interesting than earlier ones because they had different floats that were lit up (each float was followed by someone pushing a generator). But I´ve had enough of them for a few years at least! But I guess I´ll be living in NYC next year if I haven´t had my fill and want to see the Macy´s Thanksgiving Day parade. It was cool this morning, but warm and sunny right now, which I wasn´t expecting because it is cooler here than in Antigua. I´m getting a little nervous about the weather in Ecuador, not because I dont want it to be cold but because I´m not sure I brought enough warm clothing. I´ll just have to wait and see I guess.

I´m excited for school tomorrow. There´s a lot of students at this school, which I wanted (especially with the 20 or so from the American university that are here all semester). The city also has a lot of activities that appeal to foreigners - yoga classes for about 2 dollars, lots of places that show movies every night. Similar to Antigua, but not as much focus on tourists as there. Walking around today I definitely didn´t see as many gringos, but people weren´t looking at me like I was unsual or out of place, either. It is a good balance. It is funny because it hardly feels like it is Easter here, although more stores are closed than would be on a Sunday I think. Here, Good Friday is more important than Easter Sunday. Maybe it is at home too and I just don´t know that.

I have to study more than I have been. The past few days when walking down the street I have been trying to talk to myself in Spanish (in my head of course, not outloud) and I think that will help, but I also just need to keep memorizing even though that isn´t the most fun kind of studying to do!

I feel like the blog has been boring, sorry.