5 Things I Won't Miss....

It's kind of sad thinking about leaving Xela and everyone at the school. So instead of focusing on the good things, I'm going to focus on the things I won't miss about this place...

1. The Smell. Xela does not smell very good at all. The cars and buses always give off this terrible exhaust smell and sometimes you can smell garbage burning and other gross odors, like when you walk by the meat store with all the raw meat hanging from the ceiling. I realize this is probably Guatemala in general, but San Andres isn't as big of city as Xela is so it has more fresh air, definitely looking forward to that :)

2. The Food. I'm pretty sure I've had enough scrambled eggs, black beans, and tortillas for a life time. I actually stopped eating tortillas and tomalitos a week or so ago because I just don't even like them anymore. The food at my house is so repetitive and uncreative. Sometimes its really good, but most of the time its just eggs and beans. And we hardly ever eat fruits and vegetables! Hopefully when I get to Hogar de Vida my meals will be a little bit more varied.

3. The Bugs. I realize there are bugs everywhere and when they're outside, it doesn't bother me so much. But when they're in the house, in my room, and in the shower, that freaks me out a little bit. The house that I live in has lots of areas when the only thing between the inside and the outside is a screen or nothing, so it's pretty easy for all sorts of bugs to make their way into the house. Gross.

4. Strange Sounds in the Middle of the Night. Guatemala is a noisy place. There's dogs barking and roosters roosting and fireworks going off at all hours of the night. I've gotten used to those sounds. But then every once in a while I wake up in the middle of the night and hearing banging on the roof (it's a tin roof so it's pretty loud). I just kind of ignored it but when Tim switched rooms and moved to the same part of the house as me, he heard it too. He asked Ana what it was and she said "It could be cats, dogs, or robbers. But don't worry about the robbers because there's no way they can get into the house." Remember, how I told you that there's multiple areas of the house with nothing or only a screen separating the inside of the house from the outside? Well, apparently Ana forgot about that. I've slept with my door locked ever since she said that.


5. The Weather. It is so cold here! People told me before I got here that Xela was cold, but I always thought well I'm from NY, cold in Guatemala is warm compared to cold in New York. And for the most part it is. Except that they don't have heaters in their houses, or even walls in some areas, so it feels a lot colder than it really is. There have been a few times when I've woken up in the middle of the night and was freezing and had to put more clothes on. I brought a bunch of pairs of shorts which was completely unnecessary- I've only worn them once!