It's funny that feeling you get about being comfortable somewhere just before you leave. When I was in the city today I couldn´t help thinking as ¨I have often walked down this street before¨ (for all you fans of My Fair Lady) and that so much has become familiar to me. From the parks and cafes that we have read and studied in, the small tienda that we have invested a good amount of Quetzals in for snacks between classes, to the families and friends that we will soon be leaving; I couldn´t help but feel a sense of sadness as well as nervousness for the unknown.Being extremely busy as of late I would like to use the words of the great Inigo Montoya (the spanerd from famed movie ¨Princess Bride¨): ¨let me explain, ah there is too much let me sum up¨. Our vacation was a blast with highlights being viewing the towering magesty of Tikal (left), climbing the active volcano Pacaya (below), and chocolate brownies (perhaps better than any we've eaten in the states). Resting was great and the break from our studies was just what we needed. At the point that we left Xela we were fried from our intensive studies and definately need some down time. Although we did and saw some amazing things during our vacation some of the best moments involved not doing much at all. We did get to watch a little TV (including the superbowl), went canoeing a couple of times, enjoyed some great foods, listened to live music that I know my dad would have been dancing too, and viewed sights that will hopefully soon be available in our albums for all interested to see.
Upon arriving back in Xela we had just spoken with CRISPAZ and finalized our dates of arrival to El Salvador, the 12th of March. Since that time we have been in contact with CRISPAZ much more frequently through email, even writing to them in Spanish which has come with much more ease than I could ever have claimed before. With today already being the first of March we've only got a little more than a week left in Xela and have decided to double up with some studies next week. That is to say we will study both in the morning and afternoon 10 hours a day to get the most out of our remaing time. By the weekend of the 10-11 we will travel down towards Guatemala city (as with construction that route now takes close to 8 hours by bus), and then will leave Guatemala behind (at least for now) and finially meet Jeanne, Teddie, Javier, Barb, and others working with CRISPAZ. So much change will happen soon but as for now we are trying to take one moment at a time and indeed cherish all that we have learned and gained from our time here in this wonderful country.-posted by Tom
