Casa de Elena - Casa Hostel
Wow! I have really been lacking on updating for all of you and I apologize. I have lots to talk about like: my weekend trip to Lake Atitlan, life as a student, the food, and moving out of my host family and into a hostel.
Lets start with the move.
I very much enjoyed living with a host family and the guaranteed (sometimes) 3 meals a day. My host mother was very sweet. A great apartment with a private room and bathroom off the living room seemed ideal as well. Nothing about my experience there or my family influenced my decision to move out. Instead, it was more the feeling of resentment from my host mother permeating the walls and affecting each bite of food I had at their table. Mom was tired, all day, everyday. She owns a store underneath the house that is open everyday from 10 AM - 10 PM. A high pitch bird screech would indicate a customer was at the store front and looking to buy anything from a piece of gum to a bottle of rum to a homemade meal, prepared by Mom herself. I assume that bird haunted her dreams, much like the sound of my alarm on a day of early morning Ram Van.
Taking every opportunity possible to be out of the house and away from the stress that seemed to surround her like a cloud, I wandered the streets of Xela most days until lunch, ate, and then left again 45 minutes early for school. In order to give myself a little more freedom to come and go as I pleased, I moved into a hostel across the street from the school. For Q210.00 a week (rougly $25 US), I have a private room which is perfect. My nightly romps around town with fellow students are complimented nicely by the thought that I wont be disturbing anyone if I wander back at a slightly unreasonable hour.
I appreciate very much the hospitality of my host family and Im glad I was able to spend some time living with a Guatemalan family during my time here.
