Week two bites the dust

So week two has come and gone. Class last week was fun, and I feel like I learned a lot. Occasionally I'm able to bust out some good sentences impromptu, but mostly I sort of feel like I'm at a turning point... that point when you're learning a foreign language and everything starts to get really cloudy and complicated and confusing, and you can't really produce very well, but you can see little flickers of understanding the greater structure on the horizon. I feel like I have a lot of bits and pieces, and with hopefully just a little more instruction those bits and pieces will all start to come together in a more coherent way. Like I've been learning at light speed, and now I've slowed down and it's not as easy to grasp, but that after I get through this part, it'll all make more sense. We'll see if that happens in the next two weeks, or if I'll have to wait until next summer.

It's been a pretty calm weekend. Terry's been getting over being sick, so we've been taking it a little easy, and I've been venturing out here and there. Friday was Teacher Appreciation Day here in Guatemala, so the school had a party on Friday night for teachers and students. I went for about an hour... before I got there, I was picturing something like our departmental parties. A bunch of people standing around with drinks, basically. Was I wrong! I got to the back room of the school, and they had a DJ and spinning lights. One of the little cubicles where people have class nearest to the room was turned into a bar (when asked what they had, the reply was "rum... and coke" so that pretty much narrowed down that decision). The whole thing was actually quite hysterical because of the clash of cultures occuring. If there was salsa/merengue playing, then all the teachers were dancing and no students. If hip hop/pop was playing, all the students were dancing and no teachers. They proceeded to have a salsa contest for the students, which was pretty funny to watch since nobody knew salsa. Then afterwards I somehow got tricked into being on the dance floor when they had a general dance contest for the students (I had no idea this was going on), and I won a PLFM t-shirt (the PLFM is my school). So the party wasn't a total bust, I suppose!

Saturday morning I went on a walking tour of Antigua with another woman staying in our house, given by a famous tour guide/sort-of-activist here whose name is Elizabeth Bell (so I've been wanting to meet her since last year, for obvious reasons). It was actually really great. She's been living here since 1969, and she was great about answering questions and being direct.

Saturday night Terry and I went over to the Casa Santo Domingo because there was an interesting art gallery opening there. Here in Antigua, there are a group of artists who generally sit around the prominent arch, painting watercolors. They'd never had an exhibition, so they gave them one. On the way out of the exibit, we passed by the giant ruins of an old church (they still have mass there, just without walls, and the roof is a big white tent) that's on the grounds of Casa Santo Domingo, and there was a beautiful candle-lit black tie wedding about to start. So we watched the people come in for awhile (either the bride had about 10 bridesmaids, or it was fuschia full-length silk dress night), and then we decided to eat there at the restaurant in the hotel. It's an excellent restaurant, and it was nice to be able to eat a salad for the first time in weeks.

Today was really busy in Antigua (Sunday people from the city usually come in), so I poked around the market and went to my favorite huipil store (I think I'm addicted), Nim Po't (don't be surprised if that website doesn't load - it goes down all the time), where they sell huipils on consignment. I love going in and just looking at all the colors and patterns, even if I don't buy anything.

I think that's it. I'm off to study a bit, finish the book I'm reading, and practice my clicking.