As I sit here in the dark of my room, it being another night with no power, I am debriefing with myself my first week and a half at site. It has been very eventful, so eventful that I have been sick and had to stay home from school yesterday. Last week, all I did was work on my living arrangement and observe all of my schools. It was nice not having many responsibilities, since I was not very comfortable yet. The observations went well, and I think that all of my schools are very excited for me to be there. While both of us are not sure of the plan for the next two years, that will come in time.
The rest of my time has been spent trying to set up my room and relaxing. Relaxing includes watching movies and TV shows. It has been my saving grace being able to watch Parks and Recreation, Limitless, True Grit, Unstoppable, LA Confidential, and many others. Instead of freaking out in my head, I am able to focus on something unimportant, and relax my mind. Being in a new country, speaking a different language, with different customs, a new family, and a new job, my mind can get overwhelmed at times.
This past week, I have purchased many things. I went through that move in allowance quickly. I received just over Q3,000, which was just enough for me to buy a bed, a stove, gas for the stove, get two bookshelves made, paint for the bookshelves, and food to get me started. That is what I get for moving into an empty room.
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| In front of Lago de Atitlan |
On Sunday, I went zip-lining with my friend Ashley was one of the directors from one of her schools. It was an intense and memorable experience. I have always wanted to go zip lining and I finally got an opportunity. The park where the zip lining is located is located in my town, about 20 minutes from my house. (Hint, hint for those who want to visit.) So we did two zip-lines. The first one was about 50 meters long. It was a little bit high, but after I did it, I felt so proud of myself. I was ready to conquer the other one; well, my body had other plans. As I climbed to other one, I started to get really tired. Now let me say, I am not in shape, however I am in better shape than when I came here. We were climbing stairs straight up, and I was really having trouble breathing, and on top of that, I had a slight cold. I had to stop about 5 or 6 times before we got to the top. That altitude really hit me hard. I was very embarrassed. In Santa Clara, I am at about 2000 meters (which is 1.2 miles) up. This mountain we were climbing was about 2600 meters (which is about 8000 ft). I am completely not used to the altitude yet. I finally got to the top, and had to sit down to catch my breath again. I was really scared, and nervous as to why this was happening to me. To make me even more scared, I was about to zip line on the longest (or highest, I can’t remember) zip line in Guatemala!
I caught my breath, and was hooked onto the line. I went flying down the line. To my left, were beautiful mountains and to my right, was the beautiful Lago de Atitlan with views of all of the volcanoes. I was up so high; I would say at least 10 stories. I finally reached the other side, and what a rush it was. I took off my heavy-duty gloves, and my hands were shaking. Many people who know me would be surprised that I zip lined, and I am so proud of myself for doing it. And, I am actually super excited (and nervous) to do it again.
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