What better way to recover from a strenuous hike than another early pickup, this time 5:30am and sitting cramped in a van bound for Quetzaltenango (known as Xela, pronounced SHAY-la) for 5 hours. I was dropped in parque Central and hobbled out of the van with considerable muscle soreness and stiffly walked up the hill to Pop Wuj, the Spanish school that unknowingly was going to be home for the next 6 weeks.

Walking into the school and meeting Marta I immediately knew I’d made the right decision to come study here. Everything was well organised and welcoming. Weekly fees of $200USD included 25 hours of classes, accommodation and 3 home cooked meals per day. Almost my exact weekly budget so as long as I didn’t buy too many beers or overindulge at the Bake Shop I’d be fine.

Marta walked me over the road and introduced me to my host mum Nydia and explained if I was up to it I could start class in the afternoon. Sure why not! With a bit of time to unpack in my OWN room, Nydia knocked and said lunch was ready, obviously in Spanish, the whole family did not speak any English.

Back over to the school to meet my teacher Ana Maria and again so well organised, very very VERY patient and even though I had some very very VERY basic understandings we started right at the start with the alphabet. Bring on feeling like a 5 year old for the next few weeks at least. Once we finished up at about 7:00pm it was home for dinner, homework and then absolutely exhausted, I crashed out at about 8:30pm.

Breakfast was always served at 7:00am and for most of the time consisted of eggs, beans, plantain and bread, and a coffee of course.

Days were spent at school from 8:00am-1:00pm, home for lunch and maybe a quick nap, before finding a cafe to study and complete homework and then home again for dinner at 7:00pm. Followed by maybe more study or Spanish Netflix which I decided counted as studying and then often getting an early night.

There are many good cafes in Xela where I could get a really decent cup of coffee. I made my way around a lot of different cafes to study most afternoons:

Also a couple of weeks in I had the chance to practice my Spanish in real situations like getting a haircut and getting my watch fixed. Simple things that were otherwise very challenging with no understanding or palabras to use.

Sometimes class would be swapped for going to a small village, a bus ride away to help the Safe Stove Project. A joint endeavour of the school and the surrounding Mayan communities to build safe stoves in the homes of rural Mayan families. Currently many families cook over open fires in their homes using plastic as it is cheaper than firewood which along with the smoke causes serious health and safety problems. I had a previous post about this in more detail and managed to raise just over $700USD to go towards this project.

Each stove is built in 3 separate stages. We worked with cement, clay, hollow stone blocks, and bricks to construct the stoves and a simple metal stove top ‘plancha’ along with a metal chimney.

Everyone helping to contribute to the construction:

 

Additional to classes there were also lectures in the evenings that outlined an important aspect of Guatemalan life, such as politics, environmental issues, poverty and Mayan history. Also once a week I had the opportunity to help at the family support centre. Helping the kids with homework and playing games.

Always having the weekends off, it was a chance to take a break from studying and explore some of the surrounding areas. A group of us from school organised a trip to go to a coffee farm, zip lining and finish off with some hot springs in the misty mountains.

Zip lining was a lot of fun, some clouds rolled in and at times we were flying through them not able to see a thing, at other times it was completely clear and could see the vast coffee farms laid out below us.

Another hour or so away along a steep windy road in the hills above Zunil we finish off at Fuentes Georginas, some hot springs surrounded by lush jungle.

1 week at Pop Wuj soon turned into 3 weeks, then 4 weeks and each week I turned up to class on Monday and said una semana mas – one more week. Then it was 6 weeks and I decided to stay until my birthday to celebrate it with my new friends and also Guatemalan Independence day which was on the 15th September. Xela is renowned throughout Guatemala as the place to celebrate it with so many parades, concerts, fairs and parties in and around the city. My school also helped bring the fair to the kids at the family support centre and we had a great day playing games and eating a lot of local food.

Us bigger kids also went to the main fair a bit of town and went on the scariest Ferris wheel ride ever, something we will never forget, we were all shaking after it and found comfort in elotes, a barbecued corn snack on a stick!

 

The day finally arrived where the rest of Guatemala and Central America was calling my name and I had to say goodbye to my host family, my teacher Ana, my school and my routine. How weird it was to re pack my backpack and get back on the road. I had made so many life long friends here and I look forward to our paths crossing again x