Un Día en Quetzaltenango

Three days into my Quetzalteco adventure, and I have developed something of a routine:

Upon my arrival, Maria explained to me that I should shower at 7:00am, and breakfast is at 7:30. And so that’s what I do. At about 7:45, I depart for the seven-minute walk to La Democracia Spanish School, giving me time to do a quick email check on my iPhone with the school’s wifi. From 8:00 to 1:00, Pablo and I talk—I let him lead the conversation, which goes back and forth between explaining grammatical points and talking about whatever comes up. He talks more than I do, which is fine with me. There’s a break from 10:30 to 11:00, when I get some instant coffee, check my email, maybe the NYTimes.com headlines and Facebook, and chat a little with Joel and David, two of the other students. So far, I haven’t said more than hello to Jennifer the fourth student.

At 1:00, I walk back to Maria & Eduardo’s house for lunch at 1:30. Lunch is the big meal here. Eduardo works until 2:15, so they don’t eat with me; instead Maria serves me, and we chat a little while I eat. I feel a little weird about this set-up, but she seems happy with it. Lunch today was chicken wings with barbecue sauce and a vegetable I had never heard of (whose name I have already forgotten). Yesterday was a little more traditionally Guatemalteco, pork with white beans. Maria prefers tamalitos to tortillas, so that’s what we have.

After lunch, I retreat to my room, read a little, and take a little nap. Siesta is a wonderful thing. When I’m ready, I venture out to see the sites. Monday and Tuesday, I walked around the center of town with no particular destination. Today, I headed up the hill just south of town toward Iglesia Christo Viene, a church with a huge sign, visible from el centro, reading—you guessed it—Christo Viene. Picture a cheaper, more religious version of the Hollywood sign. I didn’t go into the church; I was in it for the view from the hillside.

After my explorations, it’s time for coffee and internet. Monday I went to a place called “coffee shop,” which was fine, but didn’t excite me. Yesterday, I found “& Café,” right on the central square, a very modern, American-style chain that I had also found in Antigua. I went back today, and may make it my daily hangout. It has decent coffee and sweets and fast, reliable wifi; and I got a bit of a gay vibe from the staff and some of the customers. Maybe I stumbled onto Xela’s gay hangout.

After an hour or two of coffee and internet, it’s time to make the 20-minute walk back home. La cena is at 7:30, consisting of coffee for Maria and Eduardo (water for me, I can’t drink coffee at night) and a light snack. Yesterday was ham and cheese sandwiches; the day before was quesadillas; today was hot dogs. After la cena, I’m back in my room to do my homework (so far, write a paragraph or two per night), write blog posts, and read. I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; now I’m getting into Daughter’s Keeper, by Ayelet Waldman, whom I sort of know. I think I have enough books to get me through the next ten days.