En la casa, hay ochos salas. (In the house, there are eight rooms.)

Posting this a few days after writing. Edits/updates are in italics.

My host family are the Hernandez'. Lizzeth is my host mom, her husband, Eduardo, daughter, Carolina and grandson, Luis Eduardo also live here as well as their dog, a little cocker spaniel whose name I hear often, but still can't make out - I think it's Peggy. Our house is quite literally around the corner from school (okay, two corners) and between there and here there are many little shops selling all sorts of stuff. This afternoon I went to the libretaria which sells school supplies to purchase a notebook for class. My transaction went much smoother than my first evening at the internet cafe across the street, mostly because I could say "yo neccessito un cuaderno" I need a notebook.

The house I am staying in has an austere-looking front door - it's metal and is flush with the sides of the building that seems to run the length of the entire block and to be one giant structure. The roof gives that impression too as it seems to be structurally continuous with all of the other roofs in the block, although apartments poke up at varying heights and angles. It's almost an entire other city up on the housetops. One or two neighbors keep chickens - the roosters woke me up around 5 or 6 my first morning. Having grown up with chickens and a roaming rooster who would crow outside my bedroom window when I was a kid, my morning wake-up call makes me quite nostaligic. It would probably annoy the heck out of most folks though.

Once you get past the harsh-looking street door, la casa es muy bonita. The entry way is actually the garage and while the car is covered above with what appears to be someone else's apartment that must have access from another side, there is a small open-air courtyard/foyer edged with planters and flowers before you come to la puerta de la casa. The front door opens up into the living room, to the left is the dining room with kitchen off of that. Ahead is a hallway with two bedrooms and the main bathroom on the right. There is hot water for the shower, although the gas to heat it is expensive and the water tank is quite small, so anything beyond a 5-10 minute shower is excessive. Just past the bathroom is a door made out of window panes that opens up to another outside space. Here there is a stairway, underneath which is the washing machine - not a common feature I'm told in most Xela homes. Up the stairs is a landing criss-crossed with clotheslines and the door to my room. It's only a little smaller than our guest room back home, 8x7 maybe? There's a twin bed, desk, and dresser. Further past my room is la pila, the traditional stone washtub for laundry, and another toilet. Beyond the washtub and toilet, this second level of the house opens up. It's technically the roof of the living quarters below - you can walk to the side and look down on the car and front entryway. The roof of our house is demarcated with a little wall on all sides, but you can easily see onto the other roofs and taller living structures surrounding us. It's a very calm place to be in the cool of the morning.

I'm still trying to figure out the details of mi familia. Lizetth told me she is a homemaker, but I haven't yet figured out what her husband does. Same for whether or not her daughter is employed and, if so, her occupation.Update: as my spanish improved this week I learned that Lizetth studied medicine, I believe, and her husband is a retired lawyer. Her daughter does work, but I still have no idea what she does. I just know she had a working breakfast this morning and she had to travel to the capital earlier this week on business. I think she does something in politics.

In addition to housing, my family also provides me with three square meals a day. Desayuno, breakfast, is at 7:30am before school starts at 8:00. Almuerzo, lunch, is at 1:30pm, after morning classes, and cena, dinner, is at 7:30pm. I was expecting traditional beans and tortillas when I first arrived, but was surprised by lasagna and eggs my first night and french toast this morning. Lunch today was more along the lines of what I think of as central american fare - meat, rice, fresh tortillas, and homemade guacamole, it was delicious! Meals are a little odd, for me, as Lizetth insists on serving me at the more formal dining room table, solo. My meals are apparently not necissarily at the same time as the family's, although everyone seems to be on a different schedule. Lizetth will sit with me for my meal, but she's not eating, and because of my limited vocabulary there's not much talking at the moment, so it's a little odd. This evening Lizetth and Eduardo were away and Rodriguo, their son (or possibly son-in-law), and his wife came to babysit their grandson Luis Eduardo (he's 7) and fix dinner. I was again served in the formal dining room while the three of them ate at the kitchen table, but after I was finished I shyly joined in as they were playing at making shadow puppets on the kitchen wall. Rodriugo actually speaks pretty decent english, which he studied in high school. He kept saying it was really bad, but his english is waaay better than my spanish. For fun he told his nephew how to call me down to eat. My homework session was interjected by a small voice yelling out from downstairs, "the dinner...is..ready!" I was amused. Rodriguo and his wife are probably close to my age, they're expecting their first child next month. Their nephew is very excited for his new cousin.