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