We arrived!

The 18-hour trip to Quetzaltenango went without hitch. The last leg of our trip, the 4.5 hour bus ride up and up and up and curving around and around, was long and tiring, but so exciting as well! We saw Mayans farming on slopes, cows tied up in places that appeared to us like the middle of nowhere, and chicken buses flying past us. Duane saw a man on a chicken bus jump out the front door, run to the back us the bus, climb up the ladder onto the top of the bus, fiddle with lugguage, climb down, run to the front of the bus and hop on again. All the while the bus never stopped or slowed down!

When we arrived at our host family house there was no one there. The owner was out. We waited for 20 minutes for her to arrive. As we were waiting a young boy and his mother walked up. The boy had seen Charles and Daniel and couldn´t help but come over to say hello. He`s from the USA and is in Xela for the same reason we are! When our hostess finally arrived she didn´t have the keys to her house so she broke the window to open the door! The house is quite comfortable. It feels like we are at a fancy camp. And the food has been terrific! Papaya for breakfast and a delicious meal this noon with spaghetti and salsa, zuchini with a chese sauce, cucumber salad, and a hot apple drink that was similar to runny applesauce.

Our first day of class went well. My teacher kept me talking (i.e. practicing!) for at least two hours straight. It was one question after another. Whenever I tried to ask him a question, he´d answer it briefly and ask me another one. It was obvious he wanted me to do the talking in order to learn. I am greatly pleased. Our hostess has a daughter and 4-year old grandson that live below her. Next week we are considering sending Charles and Daniel to school with him, just so they can interact more with local children.

As far as safety, we feel much more secure than expected. Another huge relief! A school administator took us for a short tour of the city today. More about Xela another time.