First few days with the family

The first few days with my host family have been good and interesting. My host family consists of a couple, and the Senor’s “Brothers.” When I first arrived, they were introduced as his brothers and it took me a few days to understand their relationship. The Senor seems much older than the Senora, and that I haven’t quite figured out. They are both indigenous, (a distinction people in Xela make). He is 100% Maya, but was raised in Guatemala City so doesn’t speak K’iche and isn’t close to his Mayan roots. She is closer to her roots, as she understand K’iche, but was never forced to speak it as child and therefore, doesn’t. She also has pictures all over the kitchen of different ceremonies and her family in traditional Mayan clothing. I hope to learn more about this as the weeks go on, as well as starting to dive into Guatemalan history.

Here are a few tidbits from the last few days that you all might enjoy or hopefully find interesting.

1) They are Jehovah’s Witnesses. According to a teacher at the school, 60% of Guatemalans are Protestant, 30% Catholic, and 10% other. I guess my family falls into the “Other” category. When I told my teacher my recent discovery, she said “Oh” and then nodded her head. That’s the reaction people in the states generally have too, I guess. Having studied Jehovah’s Witnesses in college, it’s fascinating to find them here in Guatemala. I first suspected it when I saw typical JW literature on the kitchen table (“Questions for Adolescents”. How to fight peer pressure, improper relationships, etc…) They go to meetings twice a week and just tell me that they follow the bible literally. While I haven’t quite been comfortable enough to ask them how and when they converted, I plan to at some point.

2) These “Brothers” are the Senors “Spiritual Brothers.” The parents of the Brothers asked my host family to take them in. One lives there all the time and works at a bakery, Oscar, the other goes home Fri –Sun, and studies in Xela during the week, Guillermo. Oscar is about 28, and one evening while I was up in my room reading I heard him reading the bible out loud to himself (very loudly). He would then stop to take breaks where all I would hear from my room were noises of much exertion (“Huh, huh, ah, ah etc…”). As this continued for about 45 min, I peaked out the window to see that he was doing pushups in between his bible reading breaks. I was a little relieved that he was just working out.

3) A few days ago, my Senor announced to me that the door to the house was not adequate. The entrance to the house is a large steel wall that had a steel door, with a door. For some reason, he didn’t think it was safe. So, yesterday, construction started. And now, we don’t have a door at all. We have two large makeshift panels made of roofing steel that are locked by a pad lock at night and a giant piece of wood that leans against the door from the inside. There is also a rope that holds it shut. Now, someone always has to be home to let people in and out, because there is no way to lock the door from the outside. The Senor has changed his work schedule and says he will now do the cooking during the day for a week, while he waits for the new door to arrive. I find the whole situation amusing, and as soon as I get a camera, I will try to send a picture.