Holy cow. This is a different country. I arrived in Xela on monday night after about 16 hours of travelling. The GC arioport and bus stations were surprisingly clean and safe, especially the bus station as there was a man pathologically sweeping the floor for the entire 1 1-2 hours I waited for the bus. I took not a chicken bus but a Pullman. On chicken buses, the ayudantes (helpers) climb up and down the bus to get the luggage on the top. Since the pullmans have undercarriage storage, his job seemed to consist of telling the driver when it was safe to cut in front of another vehcile, and yelling "Xela!" at people on the side of the road, so they could get on the bus if they wanted. I was happy to pay 35 Quetzales for my seat (about 5$) since the aisles were completely full by the end of the trip. Xela is a small, gritty but pretty town. Most of the structures are one story, tiled or tin roofs. I am staying with a fairly poor faimly. The mother is a street vendor. I"m not sure what the father does. One sister works 14 hours days in a shoe store, and the brother works as well. They rent their house. Though they are impeccably clean when it comes to food and the kitchen, there is some serious scuzz in the house. I"ve been unsuccessfully searching for Febreze, as my mattress is somewhat unpleasant, but havne{t found any. There are options to move families, but I like these people very much, and like that my money is going to people who pretty clearly need it. There is no refridgerator, so the mother and sister (Irma and BiBi) go shopping for food every day. Today I had a different teacher than yesterday. I think yesterday{s teacher might be fired because he called in sick, and I don{t think this is the first time. Instead I had the woman who does a lot of secretarial work but wants to be teaching more. I got myself in betwen a conflict between her and the ferocious owner of the school without knowing it when, at my teacher{s behest, I requrested that she teach me for the rest of the week. Okay, about enough for now. The shower is cold and lacks any sort of enclosure. The toilet is gross and lacks a lid or a seat. Any bets on how many times I{m going to throw paper in the toilet (a big no'no). This weekend I{m planning on going to a nearby town, haven{t decided which yet. The other students at the school, primarily American, are fabulous. There are a couple who are planning on staying as long as me, which is a comfort.