School Schmool!

February 3, 2011
Checked into the Corizon Maya Spanish School last Sunday. Our bungalow is pretty self sufficient. We've got a fridge and a stove and our own bathroom. It makes you feel right at home when you can make yourself some lunch or a cup of tea. We've done classes now for almost two weeks and it seems like learning spanish is getting harder instead of easier. Conversing with my instructor is very broken and most of the verbs I use aren't conjugated properly but she seems to get the idea about what I'm trying to say. We had a discussion yesterday about how women in Guatemala have babies and what they feed them and about high blood pressure in pregnancy. It was crazy that I could even understand her let alone find the right words to get my point across. My maestra had her first baby 4 years ago and had to have a c-section at 7 months because they couldn't control her blood pressure. She said that the doctor gave her special formula to feed the baby because she was premature, and that breast milk wasn`t good for fattening up premies. Its strange because even premies in Canada are fed breast milk if at all possible. In all the little tiendas here they sell formula and advertise for it a lot. I told her in Canada we only breast feed if you can because it is best for the baby and she didn`t seem to agree. Next week I am taking off from classes. I`m tired of homework and 4 hours of class every morning (rough hey?) I think I'm going to pick up an excersize book and do some self study and practice with people in town. Chad wants to take another week of classes here, The room is super comfortable so I don't mind and the beach here at the lake is lovely. After next week's classes are over its off to Tikal to see some ruins that rival Machu Picchu suposedly but are not as studied. After Tikal we are going to Belize! yay for English! a nice little break from all the Spanish, hope we don't forget any though.
Just got back from the beach. Went for a swim and just soaked up the surroundings. A volcano behind me, a crystal clear lake and mountains in front of me. Birds of all kinds and a little nina getting scrubbed down in the lake by her mom and wailing the whole time! She hates getting her hair shampood just as much as some little girls at home! First the mom and the oldest daughter washed all thier clothes on a rock in the water with a bar of soap and scrubbed the hell out of them. The littlest gitl who looked about 3 helped too! She washed her own clothes she was wearing. Then comes bath time. The mom and the oldest daughter got down to their shorts and scrubbed thier skin like they were never going to bath again. After they finished they put on the clean dry clothes they brought with them. There was a little boy about 4 or 5 there too but he didnt have to help wash the clothes or even have a bath. He tromped around saying things like "mi brazos esta fuerto!" or something of the sort meaning he has strong arms and they should look at him. In the vegetable field just up from the beach there were some older boys around 12 or so carrying big jugs of water from the lake and watering vegetables. All in all very productive day! breakfast, class, lunch, beach, nap, supper, sleep and repeat!