Xela!!

I arrived in Xela a few days ago and it is a really cool city. It is a lot bigger and more modern than Antigua. For some reason there are a lot of spanish schools in this city and therefore a lot of different types of people. Yesterday I met a few people from Spain, France, England, and of course Guatemala. All of them are staying in my hostel and they are all very nice. I'm glad to have met people that I can spend my time with outside of the radio station. It was getting a little bit lonely here without people to casually talk to. Right now I am in the middle of digitalizing some historical tapes for the radio station. The information in these tapes is very interesting and I have been listening to them for about an hour. Tonight there is going to be a class here for people who work in radio all over the region. I am going to be able to sit in on it and get some ideas for how my own classes might run. I have a lot of pictures to share but unfortunately the chord I need for uploading them is back in my hostel. I will post those as soon as I can, or remember to.

Antigua (Part 2)

These are just a few of the highlights from my exploration of Antigua. It is definitely the most beautiful city I have ever been to...and the oldest. The beginnings of city were built in the early 17th century and it used to be the capital of the spanish colonies in the "new world". Most of the buildings in the center of town are still standing from when they were built between two and four hundred years ago. Okay, here is the history nerd in me coming out. The arch in the first picture below was built so that nuns in the 18th century could pass from one side of the street to the other without being seen. Pretty cool eh! Because of its beauty and history Antigua is now a major tourist destination in Guatemala. This certainly helped to ease my transition into the country. a lot of the city was designed to help tourists get around, some of the signs were even in English. I'm glad I went but I'm also glad to be on my way to a larger city where I can fully immerse myself in the culture and language of this country.  

Antigua (Part 1)

I arrived in Antigua Guatemala today for the first leg of my trip. I will be staying in the Casa Sito Volunteer House tonight and tomorrow while I get settled in the country. Casa Sito is an organization which works closely with the local community through teaching computer skills among many other things. As you probably already figured out Casa Sito also has some cheap housing for international volunteers. Although I am not working directly with Casa Sito they have agreed to allow me to stay in one of their rooms for a few days before my hostal in Xela is ready for me. In the mean time I have put some credits on my new Guatemalan cell phone, scheduled a ride to Xela on Wednesday, and started to explore. I was worried that I might be lonely being here all by myself. I thought it might be hard to make friends at first but it looks like I already have. I didn't catch his name but we both agreed that my backpack was great for soothing the teething pains. 

Getting Started

This is my first blog posting for my project in Guatemala. Over the next few weeks, before my departure, I will be finishing up my project details. Several months ago I received the Wallenberg Grant in order to work on a cultural exchange project with a series of Guatemalan radio stations. The last few weeks has been a struggle to figure out exactly how that will take place. Once I have completed the plans I will post them to this blog but right now here is a little sneak peek. I will be leading a series of workshops devoted to story telling and cultural preservation specifically with regards to radio production. Each of these workshops will build on the last and by the end participants in the workshop should be able to demonstrate a their skills through small story production assignments. Although I will be administering these workshops I fully expect to learn as much from the experience as my own students. Stay tuned for more information regarding my project details.