Friday, January 25, 2013

Xela

     On Wednesday we arrived in Quetzaltenango, or Xela. We will be staying here for about three weeks and we are moving in with a host family on Sunday! We will also start class on Monday, which consists of five hour of one on one Spanish each day. (yikes!)

     I love the city here so far. I love that all the buildings are open-air and most also have a courtyard in the middle with gardens and fruit trees. The only problem is that it is reallllllllly cold so I have to stay bundled up all the time, even indoors. I also love how the cities are set up with a central square downtown with a park in the middle!

    Even the three hour drive to this city was an awesome experience. We drove through many rural areas and over many highland mountains and we got to see many indigenous villages and farms that still use traditional farming methods (except for the part where they grow crops that they can export to the US now...)

   While here so far we have been hanging out at a lot of the cafes where you can get the best hot chocolate ever and get on the internet. There is also a place called Cafe Red where we eat a lot of our meals. The cafe is a blend of many cultural foods and it is literally some of the best food I've ever had. Cafe Red is also committed to using local ingredients and has a Fair Trade shop with Guatemalan made artisan items, like bags, headbands, and scarves.

I will be posting more pictures soon! :)

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