a quick recap

after spending an unplanned extra day in san pedro (turns out the buses don´t run on sunday. who knew?) i returned to xela. of course, the lake was absolutely beautiful the day i left, go figure. as the bus slowly wound up the mountain, i bid adios to the blue skies and idyllic waters and mentally prepared myself for another chilly week in xela.

side note: weekend in san pedro with ray was awesome! we went back to some of our favorite places, discovered a couple new ones and just chillllled out--san pedro's speciality.
of notable occurence:
a.) our hostel party got broken up by policia with very large, VERY loaded m-16 guns and,
b.) on sunday, there was a ginormous storm, during which i was partly convinced that the volcano had erupted or the sky was falling, because i had no idea that thunder could be that loud. and as a result,
c.) the power went out. IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY. only in guate, right? i guess its a good thing we don´t have to worry about terrorist attacks here. headlamp usage due to blackouts: 3 and counting!

xela continues to be a strange and exciting mis-mash of a city. big yet small, safe but you can´t walk alone, hummers zipping down cobblestone streets, a mickey d´s in walking distance of a small pueblo filled with indigenous mayan women making tortillas the same way they did 100s of years ago.

i´m still really enjoying my time here, though i don't lead the most interesting of lives, considering my days are largely dominated by school, homework and family life. but, i'm trying to absorb as much 'pure guatemalteco' culture as i can while i´m here. i figure i have plenty of time on this journey for crazy stories and fiestas, si? and i'll be getting my fill of hostels, so i might as well take advantage of home-cooked food and my own room while i can.

family continues to be great as well. the daughter is trying to teach me to crochet, of which i am hopelessly inept. i play football (both kinds) with the two boys. sonia continues to make really good comida, and i'm finally embracing the interesting guate food culture. like warm milk in cereal? eggs that aren´t refrigerated? and tortillas with everything? for example, for lunch yesterday we had veggie chow mein--with tortillas and salsa. and plantains. seriously, if i never had to look at a plantain again (chip or otherwise), i would be a happy girl.
(p.s. as i was writing this post, i was called to dinner. the menu? fideo--a kind of latin american pasta, tortillas--of course, and...plantains. ay dios mio)

oh, and click here for some photos of guate thus far...