This past week I was in a rural stay in Cantal, Guatemala. It was a rural home stay, so I lived with a host family. It has problably been my favorite weeks so far. I stayed with an indigenous family and they were really nice and welcoming. The community was pretty small and we continued our spanish classes at a nearby church. We had spanish every morning then we had activities in the afternoons. One of the activities we did was cooking. Some women from the community came and we learned how to make tortillas and tomalis, we even got to grind the corn ourselves with stone.
My favorite activity we did was helping out with the Chico Mendez project, which is a reforestation project ran by local community members there. They plant 60,000 trees a year! We got the opportunity to help plant some trees and learn about the project. The man who runs the project, Armando was really inspirational. He donates so much of his time to this and it is hard work- let me tell you and he doesn´t get paid, he just wants to "give the world more oxygen". Which is amazing I mean here he lives in not vary good conditions but he wants to help make the world better by reforestating areas in the mountains!
This community was also largely affected by the civil war, one of the few communitys to resist the military. Because of cafta(The central american free trade agreement- with the U.S.) their water supply was privatized and also electricity. So they didnt have running water between 7 am and 5 pm. So it was also my dirties week. But I loved the people there, and it was overall a great week!
Saturday our group went to Antiguea, Guatemala. This was basically a culture shock compared to Cantal. It was a gorgeous city, but really touristy. Of all the cities weve been to this had the most tourists.. by far. The architecture is all colonial, and the night we were there there was an orchestra performing and fire works in celebration of the beginning of Lent- it was kind of magical!

So it has been a week since I have written last and I feel like I have a book's worth of things to write about, but I shall summorize. This past weekend we had a free weekend. So some of us went to the Lago de Atitlan, which is 12 cities along the coasts and on the mountains of this large beautiful lake. Its breathtaking! We stayed in San Pedro, which was a small hippie town next to the water. Our hotel, which cost 3 US dollars a night was right next to the lake! The first night we got there we ate at a restaurant overlooking the lake and mountains.
Saturday we were going to hike the mountain, but we met a local who took us on a tour of his familites coffee fields and through the mountains to look at the beautiful scenery. It was absolutely amazing! Not only was the hike nice but I learned alot just talking to our guide. He is Mayan, and he talked alot about his faith and his family structure, politics of the region, and also what everyday life is like for locals there. It was really cool. After hiking in the mountains he took us to San Jose, another town by the water. From there we walked on the beaches, and skailed rocks to get back to San Pedro. It was a great weekend and I wish we would of had more time there, I could of stayed there a week!

Well, another week has passed and I feel like I've been here for alot longer than two weeks. I feel like I experience so much everyday that time has gone by alot faster! Last Sunday I met and moved in with my host family. They are pretty cool and the family is really big. My host mother is a grandma, so her kids and their kid’s children live with us. There are 12 of us that live in the house and there is only one bathroom… which is ok because I am not there a lot. The family is really fun to talk to and there are two little girls are super cute and fun to play with. My bedroom has a really nice view, facing the mountains, which is distracting to study by.
This past week we also started Spanish class, which is a one on one tutor for five hours a day. It is very intense, but I think I’ve learned more Spanish in one week than I had in a year. We have Spanish during the morning then in the afternoons we have sessions. For example last Wednesday we met with members of the Guatemalan military, which was interesting to witness and also frustrating.
This past weekend our group went to Chichicastenango. Chichi is couple hours away from Quetzaltenango and it is a gorgeous city! It is in the mountains, like Quetzaltenagno. It has more of a small town feel to it. On Saturday we visited a widow’s cooperative in an indigenous community. There were so many beautiful cloths there. On Sunday I went to mass in the church there. It was vary traditional Catholic mass, it was a cool experience. They said the mass in Spanish and Quiche, the indigenous language. We also walked around the market, which was huge. The streets completely transformed from Saturday to Sunday, it was amazing!! I definitely could of stayed longer in Chichicastenago!