The other day when I was sick and went home from school I couldn't find Margarita at the house and I needed to let her know that I was there and that one of my directors would call in a few hours to check on me. I wrote her a note and left it in the kitchen, then went to my room to take a nap. When I woke up she asked if the paper was from me and acted kind of weird about it, but I didn't think anything of it. Today, I asked her what the ingredients were in a drink she gave me and she looked at the box then handed it to me. That is when I realized she cannot read. I was overcome with a horrible feeling. I am in a country where it often takes me a minute to understand things that people are trying to communicate to me. Margarita lives a very comfortably routine life, but she probably experiences a similar feeling of frustration when students like me live in that home and assume that she is capable of doing something that we had the privilege of learning when we were children.

We attended a meeting today with Eduardo, a teacher at our school. He gave us a civilian's perspective of the war. In part of his lecture he mentioned that many indigenous people here maybe make it through a few years of school if they're lucky…this is very possibly the case for Margarita. I am absolutely amazed and humbled by these realizations I make almost every day. I take so many things for granted that are an absolute luxury and privilege for the people here.

Eduardo also said that Guatemalans have suffered, but that makes them so much more thankful for what they have and makes them more determined to change and look toward the future. Foreigners, including myself, often get frustrated with the social and economic situations in Guatemala, but while I was in my first years of school learning math and reading, children my age in Guatemala were helping their families pick up the pieces of their lives at the end of 36 years of war. Guatemala is now like a baby taking its very first steps towards freedom and stability.

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I've been writing a paper and doing homework in Spanish for the past few hours and now its hard writing in English…

Anyway….last night several people from our group attended a salsa class. I can now use a combination of three salsa moves when I go to the club. That, plus a few choice zumba dances will ensure that I heat up the dance floor…or a least I hope so. It is very possible that I will just make a fool of myself, but I'm ok with that.

This weekend we are going to Lake Atitlan, which is apparently a beautiful place. I'm pretty excited to go and get out of Xela for a weekend!