letter to family

as much as i am joking, this is no joke; i am renting a guatamalan family here in san pedro.
i just moved in today. im living, eating, breathing spanish with descendents of the ancient mayan civilization.
i am really out of my element right now, but my spanish is sky rocketing. beyond the family stay, im doing 4 hours of class per day for 5 days a week. this whole program cost 120$ USD per week, probably the cheapest in the world.

the house is very minimalistic and rustic. its a bit worrysome at first but after the lunch maria (mom) made for us, my nerves settled down a bit. its a family of 4: father, mother, 14 yearold brother and 2 year old sister (and a young girl the hire as slave kinda?¿). they all call me Juan. yikes. in the family s spare time they sew backpacks (mochillas) for Jansport. what the hell, right?

if you want to see some pictures and read some commentary of my trip so far, visit.. www.jonandcolin.blogspot.com
it starts from the bottem and works its way up (so my newest postings will be at the top).

i have a really cool picture to send all of you, but i forgot my chord, so i will send it later.

take care.
i still love you all. this new family of mine is only for the experience.

- Juan

kings of the court in Gtown

today.
colin and i paired off against two young girls in a good ol game of AMERICAN BASKETBALL. needless to say, we slaughtered em.

this picture is a very accurate discription of the match. even an average 5 ten-er like myself has skysraper advantage in this part of the world - feel my rath.

"in-yo face sucka!"

San Pedro...we have new familes

Yo.
Were in San Pedro. Still on the same Lake...only better.
tried to bargian for a cheap boat here but only recevied a smile of silver teeth and a no.
We now directly beside the volcano...and there are almost no cars..mostly because there arent really streets...a lot of navigation is done through little alleys about 5 feet wide...however some people still rip through on their motorbikes.
there is also coffee trees growing everywhere...which is good for colin (me).
on the newsfront.
Jon and I have new familes....we are staying with familes as we attempt to learn the spanish language. theyre pretty tight...they cook us food and talk to us..ive got a personal rooftop terrace..and a crazy white dog named terry.
more news on this as it becomes more awkward..

impressions on guatemala
positives
1) lots of cofee
2) pretty cheap
3)incredibly beautiful
4)50 cent rum and cokes
5)dope traditonal clothing
6)lots of basketball ( at least in our town)

negatives
1) everyone tries to sell me weed (should be good but i dont trust anyone)
2) everyone tries to sell me prostitutes after i say i dont want weed
3) a large majority of guatemalans are eveangelical christians ( same religion as Geroge W and the southern USA)
4)falafels are expensive