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Learning a Language | Half of sentences…

May 13, 2017 First Person ForeignBlank Slate

When I met Training Host Mom Rosa Maria, she was very patient and spoke slowly. I told her Spanish was ‘difícil’ for me before I knew the phrase “me cuesta.” And she told me “pero[…]

La Posada | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

March 5, 2017March 9, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Posadas are another word for hotel or inn. ‘Round Christmas time (this borrowed from a google search) posada is: (in Mexico) a ritual re-enactment of Mary and Joseph’s search for a lodging in Bethlehem, performed[…]

¿Preguntas Dudas Quejas? | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

February 9, 2017February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Questions/Doubts/Complaints At the end of each session, without fail, we are asked “Preguntas? Dudas? Quejas?” And without fail, there are preguntas. Sometimes dudas. Often quejas disguised as preguntas or simply statements in the form of[…]

La Inauguración Part Dos | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 28, 2017February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

Continuing The First Day of School, January 16, 2017 Camera pulls focus on me in the row of teal chairs in the cancha/basketball court/auditorium. I’m sitting on the end of the row in my recently purchased[…]

Hembra | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 27, 2017February 1, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

The first week in site, welcome and instructions came in a shower of words from my host mom. Lots of words. At dinner, she’d eat a bite, wipe her mouth and say more. Eat a bite,[…]

Pelar | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 12, 2017February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

This post is meant to convey first: humor and b: humility. Beyond that, please take it with a grain of salt. For flavor. And oyster pearls. I woke up this morning with a food hangover[…]

La Publicacion | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 12, 2017February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

So it’s the New Year and I haven’t heard from Socio #1. I get up the nerve to call. I leave a message: “Can I come visit the school sometime to familiarizandome? Gracias.” I still[…]

Cualquier Cosa | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 12, 2017February 19, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

When I moved to site, I become immediately aware of two phrases: “Cualquier cosa, con confianza.” Like peanut butter and jelly, they compliment each other and often come as a pair but can just as[…]

Fomentar | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 9, 2017January 9, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

December 17, 2016: K’oliw! (kuh-olee-ew) is K’iche’ for “Is anybody here?” I say this as I walk into the kitchen. I took my second Mayan language class (Cuerpo de Paz pays for 20 hours) and[…]

Cortar Café | 75 Palabras in Guatemala

January 6, 2017January 6, 2017 First Person Foreign75 Words in Guatemala

My alarm went off at 7:17am. Already winning. On my second morning in my new pueblo of Santa Clara, I descended the stairs to find my host mom in her tasked cooking pace, donning her[…]