Day One

Houston Airport – 9:40am. My flight leaves for Guatemala City at 11:25am and I have a bit of time.

Sitting in the waiting area outside my gate, I’ve been watching people walk by, thinking about where they might be headed and what their stories might entail. Are they headed home? Are they traveling far far away? Is this an annual family vacation that they are fortunate enough to take? Is there anyone like me?

I’m currently drinking my last cup of American coffee for the next four and a half weeks. Small regular brew with 2% milk and two Splenda packets. In an effort to conserve funds and more importantly, my precious time so that I could sit and write this blog while waiting for my next flight, I passed by the long Starbucks line and instead bellied up to the Little Creamery register and purchased a $1.40 small cup of coffee instead of Starbucks’ $1.79 tall cup. I probably couldn’t tell the difference anyway. So, why spend the extra 40 cents? Sticking it again to Starbucks Inc., I stole my Splenda packets from their counter because all the other restaurants only had Equal or Sweet & Lo. By the end of my trip, I might be singing a different tune about noticing a difference in types of coffee because I’ve heard so many things about the wonderful coffee in Guatemala. We’ll see how my opinion changes during the course of this trip.

What is the difference between this trip and the last time I flew to a strange country on my own? I have a computer to write a blog. In fact, it is my second computer since my first solo trip. I did not even own my own computer when I traveled to Germany to study abroad in 2003. I am carrying my cell phone because it might work at my destination, probably not but I’m willing to give it a shot. Plus, it has all of my important contact information. When I went to Germany, I was armed with a moleskin address book full of important phone numbers and addresses and an international calling card to reach friends and family once I arrived at my destination. I didn’t even bring the physical phone with me because I thought, what’s the use? Now, I can’t forget my phone because how would I contact anyone once I land back in the US? God forbid the use of landline phones or actually making plans with someone. This sounds pretty cliché, but it is really strange to reflect back on what I did seven years ago and how I’ve come to rely so much on technology.

What is the same since 2003? I’m still anxious about landing in a foreign country where I don’t quite know the language. Even though I knew a lot more German than I do Spanish, I was young in 2003 and not confident in my ability to actually speak the language that I had studied for more than six years. Now, I am confident that I will be able to speak Spanish, I just don’t have the vocabulary to do so. On the plane from Omaha to Houston, I was thinking about short phrases and strings of words that I could use when I land, if needed. No habla Espanol…Yo comprende un poquito Espanol…Me llamo Andrea…Como se dice (everything!!!). Of course all of the grammar is probably wrong and all of the blanks seem to be filled in with the German version of the words I don’t know in Spanish. That probably won’t help me much but maybe if I pepper the locals with the few Spanish words that I do know, they’ll get my gist and point me in the right direction. Ultimately, I shouldn’t need to do any of this because I will have Leonel Garcia picking me up from the airport an taking me directly to my host family in Antigua. How will I know who Leonel Garcia is? Supposedly he’s going to have a sign with the name of the language school, Mundo, and my name. How many times have I walked through the baggage claims area and imagined what it would be like if I were one of those people who was greeted by someone with a sign? Granted, I’m usually walking through the Newark Airport when I see the signs, and those people will be picked up by a town car and whisked away to some important business meeting in New York City. I will most likely be riding in a small sedan or a van/bus used by the language school to pick people up, and my important meeting will involve introductions to my host family. However, I still anticipate feeling special, and most likely very relieved, to see Leonel standing in the Guatemala City Airport with a sign that has my name written on it.

Antigua – 4:11pm. Arrived at the house of familia Garcia Marroquin.

After going through customs and exiting the airport, I saw that precious sign with my name on it and a very friendly Leonel attached to it. I was the last of the group to arrive outside the airport. Riding to Antigua with me was a Jewish man and his son as well as another woman, I’m guessing about my age or a bit younger. All of my companions were greeted by Leonel and after I arrived, we headed to the car and were on our way to Antigua. Of course, we listened to the Mexico vs. Argentina world cup soccer game on the way. I did not catch anything that the sports announcer was saying about the game except for the very obvious GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL that was scored by Mexico shortly after we left the airport. As for when I’ve heard other people speaking Spanish, I’ve understood more than I maybe thought I would upon arrival. I do, however, have a lot of Spanish to learn in the coming weeks.

Leonel dropped me off at the home of familia Garcia Marroquin and I am conveniently just around the corner from the Mundo Spanish School. It is about a two or three minute walk. The home is lovely and my room seems very comfortable. I have a large table to use as a desk and a double sized bed to myself. The house has an open center courtyard and many other rooms that I assume other students stay in. The mother of the household where I am staying showed me to my room and told me about a how things work in the house. She explained everything in a mix of Spanish and English. Here’s what I understood (we’ll see how many follow up questions I need to ask in the next few days, haha):

Meals included in the weekly fee are served Monday-Saturday. Sundays I am on my own for food. Breakfast is served at 7am because we start lessons at 8am. I forget when lunch is served and I think that dinner is served at 7:15pm. The bathroom with a shower is right outside my door and the shower has hot water. I think she also said that there is someone coming by to give me a tour of Antigua but I’m a little fuzzy on when that is going to happen.

Right now, I’m going to settle in and start warding off the mosquitos that have already started to feast on my apparent sweet blood.

5:45pm – Just got back from the tour of Antigua’s central square and surrounding streets. It seems very lively especially because of the world cup games going on. There are a lot of tourists and foreign students here studying. I’m excited to start classes tomorrow and see where the wind takes me.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I’m gonna go explore a bit even if it’s raining. Hopefully I don’t get lost :-)