July 26, 2006

My Spanish has already improved a lot since I have been here, especially because there are many people I want to talk to who only, or mostly, speak Spanish. Everyone is so nice, in our group, at the hotel, and at the house. There are still many times when I cannot understand what people are saying to me. It can be frustrating, but seems like a normal part of learning another language.

The food here is so good, I'm pretty sure I am gaining weight instead of losing it, as was my plan. Also, I've been snoring horribly and it's disturbed my roommate, Tyler, quite a bit. I will try to eat less tomorrow. My headache is gone, which is good, but now I seem to have a cold. This does nothing to improve my snoring, I'm sure. Anyway, I shouldn't complain as I am having a wonderful time here. This is one of the best vacations I've had.

We played soccer with the kids from Chimaltenango today. Most of them, no matter what age, seem to be really good at the sport. Some of us got beat several times by these kids, who could not have been more than 8. We have all been telling a lot of riddles. They are fun to think about, but sometimes they can drive you crazy.

A lady at the site who lives in the house is named Iris and she is really outgoing and friendly. Today, we talked with her about The DaVinci Code. She has read it and liked a lot of it but she didn't like some of it because she is "very Catholic". But, it sounds like she still kept an open mind. She gave Karen and Jessie necklaces today, and they were really pretty.

Also today, John and I went into town and he got a haircut. It was cool to see all of the stores there. Everything looks so much different than in the US. There are a lot of wild dogs running around, which seems strange to me. John said it was the best haircut he'd ever had, and I said I hate haircut places in the US and that's why I cut my own hair now. I've rambled on for 2.5 pages now so I'm going to give it a rest for now.