The Best Donut Ever!

Hola Amigos,


Como estan? Estoy bien.

I just finished my first full week of classes today, and what a week it was. I feel I have learned a ton while being here, and I still have 8 more weeks. After a week I feel a lot more comfortable at least attempting to speak Spanish with others. I have also found it much easier to understand what people are talking about in conversations.

For class today, the teachers and some of the students went down to the mercado. Essentially it was a fruit and vegetable market. My teacher used it as a chance to visually teach me about different fruits and vegetables. What they were, the names in Spanish, what was unique to Guatemala, etc.  It was a neat experience. They also in the same area sell a huge assortment of other things. For example Ray Bans and Oakley sunglasses.  However, as you could imagine, they are fakes. Also a large DVD market where you can get movies on DVD that are still in theaters. My teacher said it's "illegal" but the police don't enforce it at all. The price for a DVD breaks down to about $1.50 in American money.  We also visited the church of St. Nicholas. It was a beautiful church. I love how large the churches are here, and how you can go in at almost anytime and people are present praying. It's a great thing to see!

We also went to the panaderia. It was a bakery with American donuts, bagels, and your typical bakery goods. I bought a glazed donut, and unlike my last post...this was the best donut I have ever had!  It was fantastic!  Speaking of food, we are having pizza at the monastery for dinner. I have no clue what Guatemala pizza is like, but I guess I will soon find out!

About an hour ago, the Nuncio to Guatemala arrived!  It was exciting getting a chance to meet him. He spoke to us in Spanish, but when he found out we were American he switched to English.

Nothing has been planned this weekend. I personally plan on using the time to review all the new vocab I was taught. Over 200 words!  Next week in class I move on from learning nouns to learning verbs.  I have had a good experience so far in Guatemala, and I look forward to sharing more with you as it happens. In a future post I plan to share with you some of the traditions and cultural things I've witnessed during my time here. Until then, I hope everyone is well back in the States. Paz!

-Cris

More fun in Guatemala

After a very relaxing weekend, it was time to hit the ground running with classes. I have class here everyday from 8am to 12:45pm, Monday - Friday. We then break for lunch. In class the past couple days my teacher and I have been going over lots and lots of vocab. She said it's important to first learn all the words I can and to speak as much as possible. We will learn conjugations and tenses later as the summer continues. After class today, I and some of the other seminarians played basketball with the seminarians that go to school here. It's a lot of fun to play with them. We Americans have a large height advantage, but they have an endurance advantage since we are at an altitude over 7,000 feet. We play basketball every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday. If I keep playing with them at this altitude, when I return to the States I should be in the best shape of my life!  At night it is mainly time to study and pray. However, it is the NBA playoffs and the monastery TV gets all the games. So the seminarians and I will watch the games at night when they are on. So far nothing is planned for the weekend, but I'm sure we will set something up. Possibly for class tomorrow my teacher and I will go down to the city. We will go to experience the market. She said it will be an opportunity to visualize the names of the words I'm learning. We are also, this week, are  supposed to visit a pandaria (bakery). Apparently one of the bakeries specializes in American donuts!  Speaking of donuts, we had them for dessert last night. One of the young monks said they only have donuts once a month. It looked just like an American donut, but didn't quite taste like one. Don't get me wrong, it was a solid attempt and had good flavor, but it wasn't quite a strawberry frosted from Dunkin Donuts :)

I hope all is well with everyone at home. You are all in my prayers. Please also pray for my teacher Gilma. She had a small motorcycle accident today. She had a little scrape on her arm and a couple holes in her clothes, but she is doing fine.

Paz,
Cris

A great past couple days

Hola mis amigos!

Everything in Guatemala is great. The food has been really good, and the people have been super friendly. Our friend Armando took us three American seminarians here on a tour of Xela. I saw the Cathedral, a theater, and the market place. I also had my first Spanish class yesterday with my teacher, Gilma. Gillma is hilarious!  She told me she is going to make class fun and she likes to teach with jokes!  Also this is so my mom won't be worried. She said she would act as my mom for the next 9 weeks, so I have nothing to worry about!  I was able to give my vocation story to her in Spanish which, for me, was very difficult. However, she understood it and I was able to say more than I thought I could in Spanish!  For class it is one on one, and it is 80% just talking in Spanish. I also have the opportunity to take trips to the city with my teacher and have lessons in Central Park or in other places besides the classroom.

Weekends are free here in Guatemala. Right now I'm just relaxing outside with my seminarian brother Keith and Spike. It is a beautiful day here. Only around 60 degrees and sunny. I hope to go to the American Embassy (McDonald's) for dinner just to experience it in Guatemala.  Everyone please know of my prayers!  Talk to you soon.

-Cristobal

The first 24 hours in Guatemala

Hey everyone!

So I have been in Guatemala for about 24 hours, and have experienced a lot!!!  The day started yesterday with 3:35am Mass with Fr. Steve and Notre Dame then off to the airport. The flights down were great, and we found our seminary representative right away. He gave us a quick driving tour of Guatemala City. I was surprised at how many things we have in America made it to Guatemala. Fast food places are everywhere, Shell gas, etc.  The driving in Guatemala is definitely not like in America. Motorcycles zoom in and out of lanes and go down the middle of lanes, and people just start walking right in front of you. We ate lunch at a local place that I believe Armando our seminary representative said was famous. I had chicken, tortillas, frijoles, and guacamole. It was delicious...I think I'll get used to eating like that!  After three hours more in the car we made it to the monastery. It's a beautiful place, and overlooks the city of Quetzaltenango ( also know as I found out as Xela).

We had Mass at 5:45am this morning and then took naps until breakfast. After breakfast was a tour of the campus and meeting the seminarians. Classes begin tomorrow, so I'm excited to meet my teacher and begin.

I don't know what we will do the rest of the day, but it's been beautiful here so far. It's been great to just sit outside and relax in the cool breeze. Plus I can play with Spike that way (Spike is the dog at the monastery).  I hope to put some photos up in time. Please pray for me as I pray for you.

-Chr....Cristobal

My first blog post ever!

Hey everyone!

So this whole blog thing is new to me, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  As many of you know I will be in Guatemala for 9 weeks to study Spanish. I'm hoping to use this blog as a way to communicate with everyone back home on how my immersion experience is going. Please know of my prayers, and if you have anything you want me to prayer for, please don't hesitate to ask!

-Chris