This is probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever
done. Ixim suggested that we shower in
the morning because it usually rains at night, meaning that we actually have
running water. They have a collection
unit on the roof. I want to figure out
why we have to be so careful of the water if it is coming from the sky, but that
is for another day. Anyway, I hopped in
and wasn’t aware of any way to heat the water, so it was COLD. I managed and began to think of how nice it
would be to be in the US and have a warm shower. But I would happily suffer than for the
opportunity to be here with Wuqu’ Kawoq.
Breakfast was good, basically some beans, eggs, bread, juice, and
tea. I’m telling you, I eat well here.
Usually we will walk to class, but the rain was
especially hard today so we took a tuk
tuk. This is the Guatemalan name for
a mototaxi, as it is called in
Peru. These are essentially motorcycles
with a frame and plastic around them to offer protection from the weather, and
they put a small seat on the back for passengers. Ixim, Luisa and I all crammed in the back of
one, but I don’t think it was quite designed for people my size. Still a fun
experience. In a few minutes we got to
the school, where we had some trouble finding out how to get in. The other 2 stayed at one door while I went
to another one. An elderly,
indigenous-looking woman who couldn’t be over 4.5 feet tall opened the door and
let us in. We discovered that we were
the first people there when we walked into a bare room lined with empty chairs
that was lit by 2 incandescent bulbs. We
decided to move the chairs to the room next door to avoid a leak in the roof. Eventually 4 more Americans walked in
(including Daniel) with 3 more teachers.
Small, intimate class. And so it
began.
They mercifully gave us a short introduction in
Spanish at the beginning of the day, but almost the entirety of the class from
that point forward was exclusively Kaqchikel.
I don’t know how many of you have been in a situation where you have
been surrounded by a language you have never heard before, but it is a bit
intimidating. Then all of a sudden the
teachers start coming up to you and asking questions or doing greetings. Talk about being thrown into the fire. I believe the philosophy of this is something
like throwing someone who has never swam before into a pool, watching them
drown for a while, and then bringing them back up for air for some lessons on
what they should have been doing for their first few moments in the water. We had several breaks throughout the day to
ask questions and write everything down in smaller groups, which were very
helpful. Nonetheless, this is one of the
hardest classes I have ever taken.
Amazingly, I can already see improvements. My pronunciation is better than it was
yesterday. A week ago I couldn’t have
told you that I was capable of making all the sounds I did today. I can do basic greetings. The most interesting part to me was that at
the end I could understand their discussion of the possession of objects only
based on the pronouns I had been learning throughout the rest of the day. In that section, I felt like I had at least
learned enough to follow the whole discussion.
As I have told myself before, I am going to stay engaged and give it
100% no matter how difficult or hopeless it feels. I will learn this language, at least at a
basic level, by the end of these 2 weeks.
Rest of the day..
walk around town in the pouring rain and buy my internet modem with the
help of Samantha, who will also be working on the same project as me with Wuqu’
Kawoq this summer. Daniel also stopped
at a bakery and talked to a guy for a while.
He went to school in the US for a while and knew kaqchikel and
English. The people here are so
great. Then back home, where I used my
new internet and attempted to review the day.
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