My Adventure of a Lifetime (or so it seemed)

This morning I went to La U again to observe the teacher training I will start teaching next week. As always, la lancha was wonderful, and I stopped for breakfast in Pana and met a lovely Swiss woman. I got on a chicken bus for Sololá and quickly decided that the driver either had a serious death wish or a great longing to be a race car driver. He approached every hairpin turn as though it was his worst enemy, and at one point the bus swung so hard that someone fell out of his seat. I was pretty concvinced that my life was going to end on that bus, and I proceeded to prapare myslef to die quietly and with some grace. It was really frightening. It is now seven hours later, and my stomach still hurts from the fear. Being at the training and talking with Kate, the director and teacher of the day, was good, but it was all a little dreamlike after my ride.

When I got back to the bus stop at La U, there was a microbus (minivan) across the road going to San Pedro for 17 quetzales (Last I checked, there were about 7.5 quetzales in a dollar.) instead of the 25 quetzales it would cost to take two buses and la lancha back to San Pedro.

As usual when I travel back and forth to La U, I was the only gringo. As it turned out, the man next to me, Juan, who was very friendly, is a cousin of Rosa. He and I talked for all of the hour that we were heading (we thought) to San Pedro. He suggested that I learn T'sutuhil and taught me a few words which I can't remember but which I taped.

We got to Santa Clara (I think) where we were informed that the van would not be going to San Pedro after all. Juan said, when I asked, that it's always a crap shoot (my words). He then arranged for us to ride in the back of a pickup to San Pedro. After I got over my shock, I honestly really enjoyed the ride through the mountains above Atitlán, which included many more hairpin turns, though at a more sane speed, and traveling through some beautiful farmland. I saw women carrying loads of kindling on their heads and men leading pack horses, as well as fields of healthy, high corn.

The pickup took us to San Juan (I think) where Juan said the trip ended. We then took a took took to San Pedro, during which time he told me he was studying English at La U. We decided to set up a language exchange, and I discovered later that I lost his phone number immediately after he gave it to me. However, he obviously knows where I live.

By the time I got back home, I was pretty wobbly and, I realize, a little shocky. Rosa is sick, so Felipe was waiting to serve me lunch. He sat with me while I told him about my morning and had my first good cry. It was partly the tension of the trip, but I realized through talking with him that memories of my car accident six years ago were triggered, as well as feelings about selling my house, how painful last semester was, and how dreamlike (and nightmarelike today) this experience is. He was wonderful and give me support to let my feelings out as well as words of encouragement.

After lunch, which I barely got down, I went over to the school and ended up talking Ramón, the director, for almost an hour about teaching and language acquisition and many other topics at the school. He told me he wanted to make sure I was happy with our exchange, and we talked about the balance. We also agreed to set up a language exchange, and I am going to attend his French class with him as well, at least to see how it goes. It might be too much, duh.

I am so happy here and so satisfied with the school that I realized I had already tentatively decided that I wanted to stay or come back. I also remembered about myself that when I find a good situation, or even a bad one I try to make into a good one, I tend to lock in rather than waiting and exploring options. My experience on the bus seemed to shake loose many feelings and thoughts that had been building up. In addition, the wonderful interactions with students at La U today helped me see that there are many terrific possibilities here and elsewhere and that, rather than deciding, I can (try to) just enjoy the experience here and see what unfolds.