1410 Really didn't want to get up this morning, felt cold. School OK. Someone was touting a "trip" to some university an hour away to have English (only) conversation with some Mayan university students on Friday (leave 2, get back 7). I decided to go, it will be an experience.
This prompted me to ask some other students about language exchanges here and there is apparently at least one. I found it myself (on Facebook but via Google) once I had the clue. Today it's at Tacorazon (taco place which isn't ideal but I hope I can just get a coffee) at 3 so heading over there shortly.
Mixture of impressed/shamed/inspired/appalled by one student telling me stuff about how she goes running at 5am then has Spanish classes til 1 then does salsa in the afternoons etc. I really don't want to live like that but OTOH I could do more and perhaps have got into bad habits. OT3H I have struggled a bit for things to actually do, formally, here though have been going out for walks. (FWIW she told me this *after* I signed up for that thing Friday and after I had more-or-less decided I'd go to the language exchange, so that was not an inspiration.)
No idea WTF I might do about hiking at weekend, either with teacher or organised tour. To some extent I need to stop putting pressure on myself, I don't have to do *everything* this visit (or indeed, ever) and barring an actual major health incident occurring I am not really bumping up against any "nearly too old" limits. I just need to do *some* things. I think the school has a formal trip to the Georgina (sp) hot springs this weekend, which I won't go on. I don't know if I can or should propose this possible
trip with my teacher to IIRC Lake Ch-something (Chicabal?) to any other students. I am frankly not clear exactly how much it would cost me, I feel awkward asking for clarification when he's saying something personal and/or selling to me.
I have booked another week at this apartment, though haven't done anything to arrange payment yet.
I think teacher said his Mayan calendar seminary thing the other day had been cancelled by the school, though I don't know why and it may have been something else which was cancelled. Again, I don't like to ask for clarification when personal-ish topics come up.
With regard to the hiking, I will let the issue float for another day and just maybe I will ask my teacher about his proposed trip this weekend on Thursday if nothing else seems to be coming up. I should probably also check eg Adrenalina Tours website and a flyer I think I have somewhere to see if they offer the same sort of trip at a better price.
Tomorrow afternoon I think I will walk over to El Terminal market myself and buy some mixed chopped vegetables (I saw these yesterday but didn't want to buy them two days early or be stuck lugging them round), a lime and some oregano and chilli powder and attempt to cook something like I would in London. I will get vegetable oil, rice and tuna from the supermarket tonight after the language exchange. Teacher warned me some of these things have people expecting you to buy them a drink or a meal (!) and/or that some local women go to attempt to pick up a saccharine-daddy (insofar as I get the right picture from him). I suspect nothing like this will happen but writing it down FWIW. It's a shame it's not at a more cafe-ish place but I will assume as already said I can just buy a coffee. I don't want to eat today if I can help it, and I can't eat tacos anyway as they generally come with mystery sauces.
Someone at school did incidentally explain difference between burritos and fajitas and so forth the other day, but I can never remember what's what. Since I never dare eat these things I never really get the named associated with the things, it's purely academic. I *think* I can eat fajitas as they are self-assembly so I can leave the shit out, but far from sure the self-assembly is an integral part of them. This is entirely by the by, word-associating from tacos, not that I think Tacorazon sell fajitas or that I would want to order one even if they did.
But thinking about it, would anyone really want to be eating tacos while in the middle of a language exchange? I guess they would, most people seem to like talking over a meal after all. Me, I'd rather eat then talk.
1852 Back at flat. That went rather better than I expected. We were pretty much the only people in Tacorazon and (I gather) the owner knows the guy who runs the language exchange so we were not at all pressured to buy anything - I paid Q10 for a diet coke part way through partly because I wanted it and also partly to support the place for letting us be there. Bit nervous at first but there was a group (the only group) sitting at a table so I went and asked about the exchange and I was in, so to speak. We started off with a game of "stop"/"basta" which I had not played before but was simple enough, host said a letter and you had to write a name, a last name, an animal, a fruit/vegetable and a colour beginning with that letter, stopping when the first person had written all of them. You then got 10 points for each unique answer and 5 points for each shared answer. We alternated English and Spanish, 6 goes and I won (!) with 230 points out of a possible 360, even though one turn I forgot to write in Spanish so got no points for some of my answers. We then split up into two groups (there were maybe 8-10 of us in total; I think I was the only foreigner) to alternate 15 mins of English with 15 mins of Spanish. People drifted off after maybe 2h but I stayed til end. Decent enough chaps, no one seemed to be eyeing me up to buy them anything and I do feel a bit more confident about my ability to have a conversation in Spanish now.
It is on again on Friday but I can't go to that as will be on that school English thing, but apparently it is also on at La Luna on Thursday at 3pm so said I would probably go to that and if not a week today.
Was dark when I left with last two, came home via Dispensa Familiar, bought some supplies for cooking (rice, oil, tuna) and some bread and ham to have sandwiches with tomorrow morning. As I think I said earlier will buy some more bits and pieces at market tomorrow after class.
Plan for tonight is to do homework and go to bed relatively early.
Oh, one of the guys recommended Lake Chicabal - said you get a pickup then it's about an hour's walk. I don't think I'd risk it on my own but he said it's safe as the area is closed off and you have to pay to enter. He seemed a tiny bit concerned about altitude effects and having to be helicoptered out, the things I said about a) having acclimatised and b) just going down if you feel bad didn't seem to entirely reassure him. I think this aspect would discourage me from going alone just in case I did feel sick. He said better to go now rather than in a month due to it getting colder. I don't know if this would be an issue hiking round Lake Atitlan when I am back in Panajachel; just have to wait and see, I guess. I should probably not wait *too* long before I try to do some of this hikingy stuff anyway. He said the walk at Lake Chicabal was medium difficulty; *if* it's the same system that is same as Pacaya so probably be a good place to start.
Also learnt word "puchicas" which I believe functions much like "damn" in English, e.g. to say when you drop something. Apparently you could say it in front of your mother, it's not rude.
2209 Bed
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