Ever since my sister Deb was an exchange student in Mexico when I was little, I've wanted to have a similar adventure. I never could figure out how to make it work while I was in college or since. But now that I'm unemployed, I've got the time and (barely) the means. So, I’m going to spend a couple of months in Guatemala to work on my Spanish and experience the culture. While I’ll still use Facebook for occasional updates and to keep up with my friends, I’m going to use La Vida de Pepe to get a little more in-depth, discussing my observations about life there. I hope to document the process well enough, so I'm going for a couple of posts a week. We'll see. As for the name, somehow while Jose means “Joseph” in Spanish, Pepe means “Joe” in English. I don’t really get it. But Pepe was the name I chose for myself in Spanish 1 my freshmen year of high school. It feels terribly appropriate for me 24 years later.
There are tons of Spanish-teaching schools in Central and South America. I chose Guatemala because the nickname for people from there is Chapin. Seriously. Yo soy Chapin. I mean, maybe it’s a little narcissistic of me to chose based on that, but I’d prefer to say it’s a calling! So off I go to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala this Sunday, August 8th. I took Spanish in school for four years and I’m not sure how to pronounce “Quetzaltenango.” Sure, I can syll-a-ble it out, but I have no idea how to say that word with any grace at all. Fortunately, it has a nickname: Xela. Pronounced “SHAY-la.” I already like Guatemala for making their names easier for me! Xela looks like a nice city, about four hours by bus from the capital, which I fly into. I will be staying with a family, but I don’t know any details about them and won’t know until I get there. I pay $160 per week to get Spanish lessons for four hours a day (lunes a viernes), the home stay, three meals a day, “safe” drinking water, and a hot shower. At least that’s what they say on the internet, so it’s gotta be true, right? In spite of my rejection of organized religion, I’m a person with great faith. And the folks at my school, Pop Wuj, look like they’re trying to make the world a better place, so I chose them.
I’ve always wanted to be fluent in Spanish and those four years of classes didn’t quite do it. I just hope that two months will be enough. I can barely afford the plane ticket home. Still, the sociologist in me cannot wait to see what life is like there. Since I’m a numbers guy, here’s the current breakdown of my feelings about this adventure:
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But what’s La Vida without some uncertainty? Oh, and if anyone has a job waiting for me when I get back to LA on October 9th, I’ll take it.
¡Si se puede!
