La Princesa de Guatemala

I am happy to announce that I am the newly crowned princess of Guatemala! Bet you never thought you knew a princess. The local senoras at my school recently made the discovery and crowned me (unofficially of course) as La Princesa de Guatemala.

Here's the backstory: As you probably know my name is Shayla Livingston. Xela (spelled differently but pronounced the same) is the city I live in and Livingston is a city in the north of Guatemala near the Belize border. It's weird enough being here with such an odd name. People give me the funniest stares when I answer the question of what is my name. To add to the curiosity that is me I am also African America or a negrita to the locals. To saw that I am getting lots of attention is an understatement...people are loving me here! I won't quote all of the quite flattering comments I get from the chicos and the ladies just want to caress my face.

Anyway, in Livingston the main population consists of a tribe called the Garifuni. To put it simply they are Guatemalans of African descent but their full history includes slaves from the Caribbean (check them out on Wikipedia for more info). In Xela and other parts of Guatemala it is believed that seeing a Garifuni person outside of the city of Livingston is a sign of good luck and other possibilities. So I am now one of the most interesting people in Xela and since my name is easy enough to remember for everyone I have made a lot of friends quick.

So you can now join the group of senoras at my school and call me La Princesa!

Shayla es en Xela!

Shayla is in Xela (pronounced shay-la) get it! I finally, I repeat FINALLY, made it to Guatemala. After way to many obstacles I am sitting in La Cafetera.net and sipping a chocolate con leche (chocolate with milk).

This has already been an amazing experience. I rode a 4 hour bus from Guatemala City to Quetzaltenango aka Xela which was quite the re-immersion in cross-cultural driving. And for the last 24 hours I have only understood 21% of any conversation I have had. Literally, the little old lady who is my family here speaks no English! It is great! I have no where to go but up plus my brain hurts from 5 hours of class this morning so I must be learning something already.

Well this is all of the English I am allowing myself and will spend the evening making flash cards and remembering/learning as many vocabulary words and verbs as I can.

¡Hasta luego!

Where in the world am I?

How does one update a blog after 6 months of silence? I will give you a two word answer that hopefully explains everything: grad school. Really I should say it was the end of grad school that has kept me very busy and at times holding onto a sliver of sanity. Since my program is an accelerated program in which we take all of our academic courses in one year this Spring semester has felt like my final year. I have taken 44 graduate level credits in 2 semesters, whereas some of my friends in traditional grad school programs have take 9 credits per semester.

The reason my program operates this way is to allow us to use our second year to participate in a practicum or professional internship. As academically complete graduate students, with international experience under our belts, we get to join organizations and work alongside staff members instead of being interns who fetch coffee and send mail. I haven't secured my practicum opportunity yet (not from a lack of trying) but am hopeful that an opportunity I am interviewing for in Honduras works out. I'll keep you all updated.

The real news in my overdue update is that I am heading off on a summer adventure! I will be leaving for Guatemala in 5 days! I really love my life!! I booked a ticket yesterday to go to Guatemala on Sunday. Who does that? I have been planning on going to study Spanish since last summer but was slightly delayed in making that a reality. But now I am off to study Espanol inQuetzaltenango, which is commonly called Xela (pronounced Shay-la). That's right, I am going to live in a city that has the same name as myself! When I first contacted the school there they asked me how I got a Mayan name. I had to explain that my name was spelled differently but pronounced the same. They really got a kick out of this and I have been told by everyone familiar with the city that the local people are going to love it.

Hopefully, this will be the beginning of regular blogging on my part once again. I'll try to update on my experience and any travel opportunities that show themselves.

Hasta luego!