Day Two

Today i arrived in Xela after a 4 hour bus trip through the highlands. What a ride. Guatemalan busdrivers handle an old school bus like they are in the Indy 500. The busdriver´s attendant accomplished amazing feats of human strength and fearlessness, jumping out of the back door, and climbing on the roof to retrieve someone´s bags while the bus veered around sharp corners at high velocities.
When we arrived in Xela I took a taxi to Hostel Quetzalteco. They give student discount ($3.50 per night for a private room). I went out for a walking exploration of the town and it was much larger and maze-like then I had expected. Needless to say I got myself turned around a few times and was very grateful to see an office for a tour agency where I found a map. Then I found El Parque Central and had myself an ice cream cone.
It is warm here but today Im all covered up. Yesterday I gleefully spent the whole day walking around Antigua and sitting in plazas wearing nothing more than a skirt and tank top. I wanted to soak up all the Vitamin D I´ve missed out on in the past year but instead I got real sunburned. It serves me right. I´m not sure why I thought I could spend a whole day out in Central American sun after a winter in Seattle and not get burned...
Tomorrow I will go to the mountain and start the language school. I´m looking forward to spending time out of the smog and horns of cities for a while. Thanks for tuning in. Hasta Luego.

Bien Viaje Festividades

For those of you who are in the Seattle area I am having a little get together the night before I depart for Guatemala. I am calling it a, "see you soon" party. The festivities will be at Watertown Coffee on March 3rd at 8pm- ? If you want to come earlier they have a pretty great happy hour from 4-7pm. There will be food, drinks (available for purchase) and ping pong (free of charge). Watertown is on 12th in between E. Cherry and E. Jefferson (near SU and my apartment). If you can make it, I would love to give you a hug and beat you at ping pong.

Movin' Along

Hello friends and family. In a couple of weeks I will be leaving Seattle for Guatemala. I will be attending Proyecto Liguistico Quetzalteco, a language school, for three weeks before beginning my midwifery apprenticeship. I will apprentice for two months and return to Seattle on June 9th to celebrate the union Cory and Shauna on the 12th. From the middle of June to the middle-end of July I will be roaming about a bit eventually ending up in El Paso sometime in August. September 1st I will begin the midwifery program at Maternidad La Luz for one year.Whew.
The next few weeks here will be full of farewells. I have decided to let Olive have new people care for her. Olive will be living in Madison, Wisconsin with our dear friends Heather and Mike indefinitely. This was a tough decision but I feel like they are able to give her a lot more stability and attention than I will be able to in the next few years. I will also be saying goodbye to Seattle as home and all the folks in my life here. The last six months have been full of loving friends who will be dearly missed: my neighbors Nikki, Chris and Viva, the mothers I have helped in birth and their new babies, my Co-op family and my new love Basil.
I will try to be diligent about posting has things move along. thanks for tuning in.