life is good

hey
yea, i´m doing well. first off, i am going to pass on the message that we all miss everyone who is still in spokane and we (that is all 26 of us) would LOVE to hear from people. basically, we aren´t going to ever come back if you we don´t hear from people that we care about.

that being said, i am doing well. we only have 2 more days of language school. today was salsa lessons in the afternoon and we have lectures about liberation theology, free trade and the like quite often. last week we watched a mayan priest preform a ceremony (yea, they didn´t sacrifice though). we enjoyed a three day weekend. on friday we hiked up to a sacred mayan lake in the mountains here. it was really beautiful. when we got down the mountain, our bus was really late in coming to pick us up and so we played soccer with local kids for an hour and a half. in the evening we all went out (students, TA´s, and professors) to a discoteca. it was hilarious to see 30 americans take over the dance floor with our uncoordinated (or at least my) dancing. on saturday morning we headed up to some hot springs and basically enjoyed our first time to really relax on the trip. in the evening we all went to a futbol game. it was amazing. it was the rivalry game between the home team (xela) and one of the teams from the capital (municipal). the fans were incredible. the entire time the had songs going. most of them included lots of cuss words which just made it that much better. before the game started, the fans lit off hundreds of fireworks (guatemala LOVES their fireworks, we hear them every day) and lit a paper mache repleca of municipal´s mascot on fire. it was rediculous. the game itself ended in a tie but it was a brutal game. the opposing goalie got a red card for kicking one of the xela players in the juevos. so yea, one of my life goals is now checked off. on sunday we went to one of the biggest markets in guatemala in a city called chichicastenango. it was cool, but we are gettting to be very put off by the whole tourism thing because we are studying all the affects and can see the negatives that it brings to the whole situation. we all agree that everyone fells a little less human when we are in one of these markets. but they did have some good ice cream. so, that is basically all i have. I would love prayer for the upcoming weekend in which we are going to be heading off in small groups all across guatemala to practice our spanish and our ability to survive in the society. i could also use some prayer that we will make it across the boarder to honduras next week and that we have a great home stay. probably by next saturday, i will be no longer be able to be in consistant contact with you all. so, if you have any questions, comments, etc. make sure they are in before then. i´ll try to send another update before we peace out. so, that being said, i love you all and i´ll leave with the statement that the liberation theology speaker said on monday

indifference is the worst sin of the society.

don´t let that be you, everyone is counting on it.
in the one who made a perfect world that we´re all trying to help to fix
joe