bailamos mucho

It feels like it has been a month since we arrived. Everyday is so different, and every day we wake up feeling different about this place, the school, our Spanish skills, our travel plans. Here are a few disjointed thoughts:

On the second day of class, I felt like I could no longer speak any Spanish. I was just frustrated (one of my friends here cried in her first lesson - talk about frustrated, but then again she had what we called la maestra stricta) and my brain was too full of different words and tenses. Breakfasts and lunches with mi familia are the hardest part because no matter what I have no idea what my host mother is saying. In the mornings, I am tired and dreading slurping down another bowl of corn flakes and she starts talking to me right away, words I don't know coming at me way to fast. And lunch is the big meal of the day, so we all sit around the dining room table and I struggle to keep up.

This morning we went to the Mayan ruins, about a kilometer away from the town. It was a beautiul, sunny, humid morning, and the ruins were breathtaking. See, the Mayans apparently predicted that something big will happen in 2012 - the end of the world or something similar. Well at first I was ready to buy this, seeing their massive structures, intricate writings and traces of the society. Then I am told they also believed that we all lived on a giant turtle, hovering above the underworld and below the heavens. Hmmm, a turtle. Now I am not so sure I will be rushing to prepare for 2012. But that aside, the ruins were spectacular. We had a great tour guide who loves what he does and told animated stories.

And last night, we danced. We went to the discoteque with the director of the school, his friends, a few teachers and a couple other students. Surprisingly, we have been speaking Spanish most of the time. Sure, conversation is limited, but we have been learning so much - including malas palabras, courtesy the silly 23-year-old teaches - and are able to hold our own and keep laughing. But before the dance party, we sat out in the street, in front of the liquor store, drinking rum and sprite from plastic cups. It was amazing. We laughed and talked and drank. Once again, everyone here is incredibly nice and open.

Other observations: Here, you can't put toilet paper in the toilet. That's right. You use the bathroom, then use the toilet paper and then discard it in the garbage can. That's hard to get used to. Also, what they say is a warm shower is something just above ice water. And to get said "warm" shower, there is a water heater mounted on the shower head, plugged in an electric outlet just above the shower. It's seems a little death defying, but I am not sure there is much of a choice here.

We are still not sure what our plans are after the classes, which may be for two weeks, maybe three. Maybe Guatemala, maybe Belize, maybe the coast of Honduras. As I said, we are learning a lot, and using a lot of our Spanish - which when it's just the four of us, quickly becomes disjointed Spanglish - and soaking in the laid back lifestyle of Copan. It's a sleepy town, and I am gathering that our families and teachers think we are a little loca, because we laugh a lot, like having fun and drinking cervezas and of course, dancing.