Maced in the Face

Ugh.

Just finished my 3rd day of language school here in Quetzaltenango (Xela) and DAMN I've got a lot of homework! Whatever happened to siestas in latin america? Mi Maestra is pretty awesome... really understanding and she doesn't push too hard, but there's a lot of homework involved every night. Pair that with volunteer work and student activities, and I find myself pooping out at about 8pm every night.

Overall, I'm doing well. Met some cool people that I'm volunteering and studying with, and I'm staying in a hostel that has private rooms for 4 bucks a night. Not bad. I think I'm coming down with something at the moment though... my stomache feels... odd. It may be because I drank about 5 cups of tea this morning trying to stay awake through my lessons... Or it might be because I've been eating street food... a big no no in the hygiene department.

Whatever the case, Xela is one of the bigger cities in Guate, and I'll be able to get medical attention should I really need it... I hope.

Anywho.. I ended up going to San Pedro this weekend with a couple of guys from Colorado. It was FUCKING AWESOME. I'll post pictures as soon as I've got a minute to grab my USB cable. There were a lot of expats.. primarily Americans, but it was still a sick spot to spend a day or two. Except for the hippies. Too many damn hippies.

We ended up going out both of the nights that I was there. 5 Q for a cuba libre. 8.1 Q= 1 USD. 10 dollars = trashy smashy. Both nights, we ended up at Freedom Bar, which hosts a fat rave party every night. Imagine lots of Europeans dancing to trance back when trance was still cool... circa maybe 1986? I didn't mind though... it was still a rockin good time, except for the end of the night.

Instead of turning on the lights and telling people to get out, like we silly Americans... they just pepper spray everyone in the fucking club. At first I thought they had unleashed a cat upon us (which would have been about on par for both originality and cruelty)... but after speaking for a moment or two with a very irate bartender, we had come to find that this is the general means of doing business. I think the Guatemalans win in the efficacy department.

Blerg! Ok, my stomache feels really shitty. Gonna go curl up in bed for a few minutes... and then it's off to go teach art at the local high school... I'll post pictures when I don't feel as likely to puke anymore.

Besos.