So hey guys! Thought it was about time for a little update. Yesterday was a pretty cool day, in the morning we were met from the hotel by the people who run GVI and they showed us around Antigua, where the bank is, the coffee shop, our Spanish school etc etc and took us to our host families. My host mum is called Maria Elena and she is soooooo sweet, I love her! All Guatemalans seem to be pretty small and she is no exception, she is much smaller than Verity and Hayley, mus be about 4'8" at a guess! Another of the volunteers called Chelsea is also living with the same host family, she comes from Maine in the US and we get on so so well. She is awesome, one of those people who you just immediately click with, we are always laughing and taking the mick out of each others accents and stuff. We are sharing a bedroom which is nice because otherwise I think I'd feel a little bit lonely. Maria has two sons, one who is 20 called Misael, one who is 14 called Jose, and a daughter who is 17 called Andrea, but we don't see much of them as we seem to be coming and going at different times. I haven't met the dad yet, but they have a little black poodle called Blackie. Anyway, then we had a presentation by the GVI people about the projects that we are going on. I'm going to be teaching Spanish and maths (pretty simple, pretty much how to read and write) to kids at San Andres Itzapa, and I'm starting that a week today. It's 25 mins or half an hour in a bus and it is a really impoverished area, also we have to cover our knees and shoulders otherwise it's considered rude. We have to be careful to be humble there as there are many problems in the community, it is very different to Antigua so I hear, and I am looking forward to going on Monday and getting stuck into the project properly, although I am sure it will be a big culture shock for me. After the presentation Chelsea and I were pretty zonked so we walked back to our house (about a 15 minute walk from the centre of town) for a power nap, then we went out in the evening for a bite to eat and a drink. We were so tired though that we left at about 9pm. We went to a bar called Rainbow Cafe which is pretty cool, has live music there pretty often so I'm guessing I'll be going there fairly frequently.

Our house is two story but la familia Maria Elena live on the ground floor and Chelsea and I (and another woman who is 36 from the states but leaving at the weekend) live above. It's so cool because we have our own kind of private balcony with a gorgeous view of Antigua and of the volcanos. Volcan de Agua is the biggest and is dormant, apparently it is full of water (hence the name). We can also see Volcan de Fuego which is active, it is smaller, but apparently some mornings you can wake up and see smoke coming out of the top of it which is kind of exciting! I haven't seen it yet but then I've only been here two mornings so far - I have plenty of opportunity for that. Maria told us to say "buenos dias" or "hola" to most people that we walk past as it is part of the Guatemalan culture, and most people seem pretty friendly. We actually got lost walking back in the afternoon yesterday but managed to ask some sweet old guy for directions and I surprised myself at how much Spanish I remembered.

Today was the first day of Spanish lessons and golly gosh was it intense! We woke up at 6.15am and I went for a shower. It was cold. I wasn't happy. By the end I'd got used to it, but Chelsea just came out of the shower and said hers was hot so I am jealous! Maria made us breakfast at 7am, cereal, bread, tea, coffee, PAPAYA! it was so cool :) then she gave us a sandwich for lunch and we strolled down to the Spanish school for our lessons which began at 8am. I think my feet are going to be constantly dirty here as it is too hot for trainers and the streets are always dusty. Antigua is so so pretty, it's a colonial town so the streets are cobbled and all the buildings are gorgeous, different colours etc - I'm uploading some photos onto facebook as I'm writing this but I don't have that many yet. It's also like a grid pattern so it's not too difficult to find your way around. Anyway, Spanish classes were from 8 til 10, my teacher is called Lluvia (like Rain i think) and she is really nice and friendly, most of the time we just had a chat. We then had half an hour's break, then from 10.30 til 12, then lunch, then from 1 til 3. Brain ache much!? So helpful though, like you have no idea how much you can learn in a day. It is all in my head somewhere as I did it for GCSE for 3 years, it's just getting it back! We did so much though, went through pretty much every irregular verb we could think of in the present tense, I think tomorrow we are going to go over other tenses. As I said, brain ache! I kept reverting back to French - I love French so much, had the best teacher ever, but it's confusing when trying to learn Spanish. Well, confusing and helpful - anyone who has learnt both will understand.

Chelsea and I get on really well with a guy called Andrew from New York (another volunteer) Chels calls him Drew and I call him Andres, so we spend a lot of our time with him and Jane. She is another English girl from Reading who also lives with his host family. Jane is quieter than the rest of us, chels andres and I get on really well and have done from the start. So after the lessons we went to the bank to exchange my US dollars for Guatemalan Quetzales, and there was a guard with a gun inside the bank, which I found slightly worrying! We also went to a market where I bought a cute little Guatemalan bag. Everyone was trying to sell us everything, it was chaos! We then met the volunteers who are already at the schools for a coffee when they got back, then walked back home for dinner, which was rice and beans, with salad and bread. Simple but very tasty. Maria told us not to eat any strawberries here as they contain the most bacteria out of any fruit in Guatemala and tourists get really ill all the time from them. Anyone who knows me at all will know that I almost had a heart attack at this news - ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE - I LOVE STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!! This evening Chelsea and I decided to stay in and just chill with a book or something and we did our homework as we are both pertty tired. So I thought it would be a good opportunity to update my blog and add some photos to facebook as I know some of you have been wanting to picture where I am. Anyway I am so exhausted now I'm going to go to bed. I hope I haven't missed anything out, but if I have then I will include it in the next episode de la historia! OH YEAH I hear it is still freezing in England and about to snow again or whatever, thought I'd just let you know that I am slightly sunburnt! HAAAAAAAAAA LOSERRRSSSS!!! Missing you but having the time of my life, hasta la proxima vez mis amigos xxxxxxx

p.s. so far in Guatemala I've had the best pineapple ever (was never a big fan until now), the best coffee ever and the best margarita ever!

p.p.s. MAMMOTH BLOG!