Estoy Aqui!

Thank you for your prayers as I travelled on Friday! I made it safely, on time, and with all my (very heavy) luggage to Guate City where I received a very warm welcome from the director (Michael), principal (Josh), and other new teachers of the school. It was almost overwhelming how kind and joyful they were, considering the other teachers had only arrived hours earlier. (I myself was pretty exhausted.) Immediately we began building great community and it felt a bit like being amongst a group of Asburians. I can't say I enjoyed the ride back to Xela--you see, they're blasting through the mountains/volcanoes to create (more) roadway and well, the rocks and some landslide mess is still all over the road--but I did enjoy the conversation in the bus. I finally arrived at my host family's house around 11 PM. 

Yesterday, was the "Xela Shuffle".  Josh and Michael took us all around the city, showing us all the important places, including the Wendy's with free Wi-Fi from which I am writing this and enjoying an authentic Guatemala Frosty. Haha. Josh and Michael helped us to change over money and get cell phones so we were all set. We had lunch at Josh's house where everyone was initiated into IAS by an attempt at Guitar Hero! We had some free time in the afternoon and then last night was the big immersion into the culture...we went to a Xela soccer match!!! It was a blast! I didn't watch the game so much but enjoyed watching the crowd and getting to know the other teachers as we chatted throughout the game. It ended with a 0-0 tie. I have some pics and video of the game I hope to upload soon, but I forgot to bring my camera cord to Wendy's...and it's an awful long trek back home. 

Today all the teacher's went to the Fuentes Gorginas. The Fuentes are natural hot springs up in the mountains. They're beautiful and VERY warm...ok, hot! It was beautiful and so relaxing. And since several of us have not had the chance to shower since arriving, myself included, it was a welcome substitute. 

Tomorrow work starts. I'll catch the bus to school at 7:20 AM (which is going to be hard since I'm not sleeping well), and arrive around 7:30. We have a full day of training scheduled, including a tour of the school. I finally get to see my classroom!!! Michael said that I'll have a full class-15 students. 

I think that's about it. It really is beautiful here and the staff that I've met are great! We've really hit it off well. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. Thanks for your continued prayers as I prepare to meet my students in about 2 weeks!!!