Rainy Day

Today our trip to Chichicastenango was cancelled and it's raining and I'm procrastinating and I don't have anything super exciting to talk about…SO I'm going to take you through a typical day in the life of Cassidy Miller, Xela style and also give you a little list of cultural differences I have noticed here.

I. DAY IN XELA:

Every morning I wake up at 6:45am to one of two alarms. The first alarm is the one on my sweet Casio wrist watch, the other is the man next door who sings very loudly and off pitch every morning at about the same time. After I lay in bed for an extra minute while giving myself a pep talk, I get out from under my covers and the cold punches me in the chest. I then grab my clothes and head to the bathroom where I put in my contacts in and undress as the water in the shower reaches a nearly luke warm temperature. I quickly wash as the water becomes warmer and warmer, so I end on a good note. I dress myself, run my fingers through my hair, throw on some mascara and head into the main house.

As soon as I step in the door, Margarita's face lights up and I sit at the counter and talk with her as she prepares my breakfast. I eat (cereal and warm milk, pancakes, or eggs and salsa with a cup of mush and a cup of tea). I eat and study in the kitchen until about 7:30 when I return to my room to study a bit more before I head to school.

At 7:45 I walk to the corner to meet up with Ryan and Chelsea, and we walk the three blocks to school. At school I grab a cup of tea and then get my brain pummeled by Doris for 5 hours. During these five hours I drink about 6 mugs of tea/coffee and relieve myself after every one.

After school, I walk home with Chelsea and Ryan. I throw my bad down in my room, and go to the bathroom again (that's how I spend 50% of my time…the other 50% is drinking liquids). I sit in the kitchen while Margarita makes my lunch and talks to me about my day. After lunch (usually chicken with rice, beans, and/ or some type of potatoes) I grab my stuff and head back to school to study. During the afternoon I either participate in some sort of group activity or do a ton of homework.

I usually go home at 6:30ish…unless we're going out. I eat dinner in the kitchen while I study. Usually my host parents eat with me. After dinner I put on my warm jammies and curl up in bed where I study and do homework until I pass out.

II. CULTURAL ACTIVITY (we had these in my high school Spanish books…they weren't activities)

Here are some cultural differences I have noticed during my time in Guatemala thus far:

-The people use the bare minimum of everything. Even my rich host family uses very little water, electricity, toilet paper, etc. In the US we have the mentality that everything is indefinite, so we can use whatever and however much we want to.

-You throw your toilet paper in the trash, but the bathrooms don't smell. I don't know if it is the food or what, but I know my BMs don't smell and the bathrooms don't smell either, so I'm assuming the BMs of others don't smell. I feel like they would reek after people have left behind wads of soiled toilet paper…sorry if that was too much information.

-There aren't many trashcans. In fact, the only trashcans I have seen are in the bathroom, and that is for the toilet paper wads. They seriously use everything and don't buy the things they can't use.

-Everyone says hello to everyone else. I was under the impression that this culture was more like New York in that people would mind their own business and pretend other people don't exist. This is definitely not the case. It's "buenos dias", "buenos tardes", "buenas noches", and/or "hola" todo el tiempo.

-Being a minority is strange. Everyone always stares at the gringos. Some try to take pictures very discretely, some yell "GRINGOS!"…the one constant is the staring. I don't really like it, but I am appreciating the rarity of the situation.

-The people are very blunt. You don't have to try to guess anything. It's all out in the open. If you do something wrong be assured that someone will let you know.

-Punctuality is essentially non existent. If you are given a time to be somewhere, you should be at least 5 minutes late and never expect someone on time….basically, the Carney's would fit in here.

In general, the guatemalan people don't live behind facades like US Americans. They have no shell. They are who they are; real, raw, and beautiful. I love it and I've found that it is a lot easier to be myself as well.

Well, back to the homework.