Guatemala Fuentes Georginas

My hair is still whiplashed from the ever so safe bed of the truck I just
rode in from the most beautiful volcano and hot springs. We were the only
ones there with the entire pool the length of a regular swimming pool all
heated from the volcano. A natural spring! I forgot a towel which just meant
that I would have to drip dry while drinking a Gallo beer (which I have a
picture for you to see but realized that I forgot the connection to add to
the computer so as to email the pictures!)
As the fog started to roll in over the tree tops and into our little crater
of a dream, I waited patiently for the nonexistent monkeys to start coming
out of the woodworks...still waiting. It was magnificent. The water becomes
so hot near the mountainous wall that you could almost cook pasta in it.

It has been only two days but am amazed at the world I have already seen.

More about my Maestra.
Her name is Ingrid. She has been the most amazing influence and has already
opened me up to a world I was so naive about. She of course does this
between our present tense verbs using Yo, Tu, El, Nosotros, Ellos, etc. I
contruct a sentence..."Si, Yo quiero ir a la escuela". and while I write she
continues a story whether it be the amount of children that are left in the
streets of Guatemala because the government accept abortion, or the machismo
influence where women have no rights in Guatemala, or the government and
corruptions. I soak it up like a sponge returning words of the US
government. She asks me what makes me happy, what makes Amy sad, What are my
thoughts on our government...and as I reply she corrects the many words I
make up so that one day I can speak with confidence that I am using
everything correctly.

La Clinica
Today, she rode with me to a medical clinic outside of Xela. There I met one
canadian, a floridan, two minnesotans, and a texan...all volunteering time
to provide health care to mayan community. They begged me to stay, observe,
maybe take my own room and prescribe medication (not sure of my confidence
level with that...but hell, how else you gonna learn). I've decided that
next week I will travel with them to a place outside of Chichi where they
will be doing surgery all week (my curiousity has gotten me how the heck
they perform surgery in Guatemala). And of course will assist in any little
way I can. I'll tell more when I actually do the stuff.
But Ingrid has provided me the opportunity to expand my wings and test the
waters of learning. Tomorrow we will attend a conference about the politcal
situation of Guatemala. I don't even attend conferences about the US history
or our current situation, and here this guatemalan who stands 4ft 5 inches
is empowering me with an education opportunity I cannot refuse. My host
mother also is 4 ft 5 inches and demands that we pray before meals and not
say "estoy llena" after a meal because the proper term is "estoy
satisfecha"....so of course I say the nonproper term to tease her and she
gets a laugh out of it all the time. She is a fabulous cook. Today was curry
with garlic rice and a vegetable stew! YES...I am eating and I am eating
well.

The tell me that I am a Guatemateca, because I can speak but that is it. So
there you have it!