I arrived at Yaxha Café Arqueologico in Flores at 6pm last night. That was a long day of traveling from Livingston back up the river to Rio Dulce and then by bus on to Flores. The owner of the school and some students and travelers greeted me. We sat talking and listening to live Spanish music by an Argentinean couple. The food at the café is excellent, consisting of vegetables, fruits and whole-grain goodness with a Mayan twist. I met a young married couple from Washington state who are traveling and volunteering. Hopefully, I’ll get to visit them when I’m in WA this August. The 21 year-old, Michelle, is finding herself spiritually after being admittedly brain-washed by an organized religion group. She radiates giving and loving energy and I enjoyed finding someone to talk to about spiritual things, empaths and emotional stability. She said that being far away in Guatemala has given her the distance and new insight necessary to tap into her own beliefs. Traveling is so good for people. I wish more could and would be able to.
My family was not able to host me that first night, so I stayed in a comfortable room at the school. The next afternoon, I took a 2 minute boat ride, from the island of Flores, where Dos Mundos school is located, to the tranquil and happy little town of San Miguel. The house sits right near the water! This is the nicest place I’ve stayed yet and the family is the best. Marta and Oscar are the grand-parents and house owners. Marta’s 32 year-old daughter (I can’t believe she is only 4 years older than me as we look ages apart) and her two sons, Andre and Oscar – ages 10 and 11, live here too. Andre and Oscar are fantastic and easy to talk to. An albino rabbit named Melanie can be found in the kitchen. A beagle mix dog lives in the other part of the large hotel-like house (which actually does include a few rooms Marta rents out to tourists).
San Miguel, is a quiet and community oriented place. No tourism here; its all locals. Their loose ponies, pigs and goats wander about the island. Oscar or Andre happily drive me across to Flores when I head to the docks. I can swim right in front of their house, walk around on dirt roads at night and see a game of futbol happening at the school.
My room is upstairs in its own enclave with my own bath room and pretty much my own den looking out to the water and the island of Flores. Magical! Apricot walls and lavender ceilings. A very necessary fan. A comfortable bed. Cold water shower, but who needs a hot one here? This is the hottest, most humid location I’ve lived in Guatemala. Its very different from Mountainous Xela where I wore hat, legwarmers and scarf in the morning chill.
My first day of class went great. I have my first maestra after 4 maestros! (I would say the same thing if I’d had 4 female teachers and was finally having a male one). Irma is an excellent teacher. She’s probably in her late 30’s/early 40’s, fashionable, motherly, and interested in life. I find her accent the most difficult to understand of all my teachers so far. She pronounces the double LL’s in Spanish very J-like, while my other teachers pronounced them very Y-like.
I’m tired. Some birds are talking outside the pitch blackness of my window. The fan is going. All is quiet. The family sleeps at 10pm. No loud thumping music here. No crying babies. This is a relaxed and happy family that has enough to live on. I notice these changes and am grateful for them since I haven’t had such a serene living arrangement in Guatemalan family stays until now.
