July 22, 2013

It is hard to believe that I am already to the final day of my trip. I enjoyed all of my trip, but being here at the school with Amber, living in the community of La Esperanza, and getting to know the volunteers has exceeded my expectations.

Today was Lukas' birthday. Someone thought it would be fun to wake Lukas up in the morning with fireworks. We all got up at 5:45 for the experience. They were the kind that make a lot of smoke and loud pops like gunfire. Natonia was the one who wanted to light them. Fireworks scare me, so Laura and I stayed far away by the stairs. The first one scared Natonia when it started going off and she kind of threw it. It burned her hands a little but not badly. The second one would not light. It was kind of windy and so Natonia took the firework inside the door of the kitchen to light it. Laura and I thought she was crazy and wanted her to abandon the task, but she was determined. She went in the kitchen and got olive oil to put on the fuse. It still was difficult to light but finally can't and went off with the characteristic POP, POP, POP, POP, POP that sounds like gunfire. Lukas still did. It appear so we started singing happy birthday. He finally came out, sleepy, confused, and slightly annoyed. Happy birthday! Some people had made cake the night before with bananas, oats, a little bit of Belgium chocolate, and the usual cake ingredients. It was decorated with red, white, and blue star sprinkles. We showed it to him and got a cup of coffee before heading down to the English office to work on curriculum for a while. We used the big dry erase board from the prepa classroom and Amber drew a grid on it with a column for each subject and rows for each month. We then placed the post-it notes in a sensible progression. We worked until 8:30 or so and then went down to the bakery to get fresh bread. By the time we arrived, though, they did not have any French bread (which we needed for dinner) or muffins or sweet bread. We bought polvocitos or something like that. They were crumbly tostada-like cookies with a dollop of jam baked on them. We then went to the sad lady across the street and bought 3 pounds of tomatoes for the soup and to the man to buy 2 pounds of onions. We went upstairs and got ready. Then we went back to the English office to do a bit more work and then reviewed our plans for the day.

We read The Little Red Hen in preschool. We had all the kids together again. They were very talkative. It is difficult to control twenty preschoolers when you are not their teacher. The funniest part of preschool today was when Amber told them that it was my last day. She said, "Let's all wave goodbye to Seno Carolyn" and proceeded to wave enthusiastically at me while all of the kids looked on. She said, "Or just Seno Amber will wave to her." It was really funny. We had a few minutes before lunch so we just waited downstairs and talked about our plans for the rest of the day. Then we picked up the lunch and went upstairs. Unfortunately the lunch was soupy black beans and rice with shredded carrots, radishes, and lettuce salad with lime juice on it, and tamarind juice. This was unfortunate because we had already planned to make three bean chili for dinner and the beans were already soaking upstairs. We dished up our food and went to prepa. It was a pretty good day with the kiddos. They read The Little Red Hen also and decorated the bodies of their animals. We waited until the last minute to get a picture with them, so we got a crazy one with the kids ready to go with their backpacks on. I talked to Jazmin and she wrote down my name to add me on Facebook. We then went to the English office to start working on brainstorming sample activities. Soon, we went down to buy bread. The line was long, so Amber decided to go upstairs and turn on the beans. I wasn't feeling great. I almost felt a little feverish and my stomach was a bit queasy. I felt better within a few hours, so that was good. I really didn't want to be sick on the plane. I told the lady that I wanted 9Q of French bread. She looked at me with a concerned expression on her face and asked me if I realized that that would be 27 pieces. I told her we were cooking dinner for all the volunteers on the roof. I also bought galletas (cookies) for Katie and two chocolate soy ice creams for Amber and me. I went back inside through the security doors. They have a camera outside, so if the UPAVIM office is open, all you have to do is stand in front of it and the secretary will see you and let you in. Amber had to go help with sign-ups for community English classes, so I stayed and washed the onions and tomatoes and chopped all 3 pounds of tomatoes. Amber came back and started on the onions. Rachel had cleaned the green beans during her lunch break, so they were ready. We needed tomato sauce (all we had was tomato paste) and cilantro. Laura wanted one tomato, as well I offered to go buy the items. I went to the man first and asked for tomato sauce. they tried to give me tomato paste and did not understand what I was wanting. Finally a teenager who was working there handed me Ranchero sauce. It was not quite what I wanted , but I thought it might be wrong (too runny) in the right direction since we also had tomato paste. i bought two instead of the requested three in case it was not what they wanted. I went to the sad vegetable lady across the street and asked if she had cilantro. She said she did and pulled it out from under a pile of veggies. It was brown and wilted and covered with gnats. She looked at it and said no, no then asked me if I still wanted the cilantro with a sheepish look on her face. I said no thanks and walked up the road to the two vegetable stands and bought cilantro from the two ladies who work at the first stand. It wasn't the greatest cilantro either, but it was much better than the sad lady's. I let myself in the preschool door and ran into Natonia who was leaving to spend the night close to the airport since her flight was first thing on the morning.

I went back up and helped a bit more with dinner. Amber said we were going to go to the English office, but since she was on the computer, I decided to go ahead and take my shower. When I finished, I went downstairs to meet her and work for a bit. Then we went back up for dinner. The white beans were not as cooked as the black and red ones, but the chili had good flavor. I like cooking for the roof dwellers because they are not picky and like vegetarian dishes. We all sat around the kitchen and ate together and talked afterward. We had Lukas' cake that people had been nibbling on all day and he blew out twos used tea light candles since he was turning twenty. I wrote down people's names so I could find them on Facebook. Some of us decided to play games. Sanne is so adorable. She is quite the social coordinator. She made out a "fun week" schedule. Sadly, I was only able to participate in Lukas' birthday celebration. We played Psychiatrist with first Sanne and then Barb (who was in bed) as the psychiatrist. It was hysterical. Amber and Darlene were hilarious and I was told that I did a good impression of Sanne. Afterward, they wanted to play more games, but it was already 8:30 and I still needed to pack. Amber brought out her list of standards she wanted to brainstorm and then we discussed them as I packed. We were going to give each other massages, but I took too long packing and Amber was too sleepy. Katie came in and we three talked for a while as Amber was drifting in and out of sleep. She went to bed for real and we turned off the Christmas lights that give our room such a homey feel. Katie and I continued using the Internet which had unexpectedly started working in our room again. I decided I did not need to write the whole blog post right then since I would have so much time on the plane the next day. I did check email and add a few people as friends on Facebook. I think I turned off my iPad around 12:30. I couldn't fall asleep very quickly because I was thinking about all the things I wanted to make sure I did in the morning. I did not sleep in my earplugs because I wanted to wake up at 5 when Amber got up to exercise. I was freezing and kept waking up all night. I am not ready to leave Guatemala!

July 21, 2013

We woke up at 8:15. The house was still dark and quiet. Unfortunately, Jess, Kasper, and Linda were still sleeping when Amber and I left. Kasper and Linda are staying in Antigua for another day and then going to Lake Atitlan so I won't get to say goodbye to them. We also did not get a group picture. Amber and I found a place to eat breakfast called Cafe Colonial. I think it was on seventh avenue (if not, it was on sixth). We both got huevos rancheros that came with coffee, beans, plantains, crema, a thin slice of strawberry, and bread. It only cost 25Q ($3). We then headed to Dona Luisa's to buy bread. They were having a half marathon in Antigua. As each runner passed by, all the people on the street clapped. The finish line was on the north side of Central Park. Of course, that is exactly where we had to walk. We had to weave our way through hordes of people clamping to congratulate their friends and relatives. We finally bought our bread and headed to the bus terminal by means of a different route. We found the bus to Chimaltenango as it was leaving. We hopped aboard and found a place for use to sit together. We were the second and third people on the seat so it was not like we had the seat to ourselves, but we were happy to get a seat together. At Chimaltenango, we got off and were searching for the bus that goes through Patzicia on its way to Patzun. Amber found a different bus that was going to Patzicia, so we took that one instead. That turned out to be a bad idea because unbeknownst to us, this bus did not take the same route through Patzicia. Because the bus stop was not the one Amber knew, we rode too far and were chatting away when the cobrador (person who collects the fare) came over to us and asked if we were going to Patzicia. We said yes and he told us that we had already passed Patzicia. We were annoyed that we had missed it, so we got off the next place we could and crossed over the highway on a huge bridge with ramps that went over the road. We had to wait at least twenty minutes for the bus to arrive. We climbed aboard and had to pay 5Q each which was an awful lot to go just a few miles. When we got to Patzicia, we were not sure where to get off. Amber did not think any of it looked familiar. She thought Patzicia was a small town and this was a large town. We asked where the buses go to Patzun and decided to get off near there. We didn't want to ride too far out of the city the other direction. Amber did not know how to describe where Bernabe lives. The biggest clue she had was that they live kind of near a water park of sorts. We asked a man on the street for help and he did not know. All he could tell us was that the buses to Patzun passed in the street we were on. We asked a group of older men sitting on a step and it was the same story. Amber did not remember going through Patzicia so we decided to start walking toward the outskirts of town on the Chimaltenango side. We followed a parade of horses and continued walking out of Patzicia. We walked for 30-40 minutes until we came to the realization that we were not going to find it. Amber had called Bernabe earlier in the week and left a voicemail and she had also sent him a Facebook message, but she never heard back. We decided to wait for a bus to Guate. We had been walking along the highway this while time. Amber decided to try Bernabe's phone one more time. She called him and he answered. She said, "Bernabe!" and then the call dropped. Se looked at the phone and realized that it did not have any saldo (credit) on it. Fortunately, Bernabe called her back and he said that he was on his way home from Chimaltenango and would be there in 20 minutes. We crossed to the opposite side of the road and waited there with a woman wearing a green traje (traditional outit). We though Bernabe was on the bus, but he surprised us by pulling off the road in a red pick-up. We rode with him to where they live, which was on the other side of Patzicia. It was pretty far outside the city (5-10 minutes driving time). He went to park the truck and we went up to the house to surprise Nirma. She was very surprised. We greeted all the family and were given two chairs to sit in. We gave Nirma the photo. Sadly, the picture frame broke on the journey. Three of the pegs that held the picture in fell off and the frame cracked. They liked the picture a lot. Amber showed it to Bernabe when he came in. We saw Kayla and Anderson and the extended family. We could only stay about two hours because the last bus heads back to Guate at 4pm. Nirma walked us to the bus stop. We got to see their church, too. The bus came soon and we got on. Amber and I had some good deep conversations on the bus ride. It was nice on the way back that we only had to take one bus to Guate and then the usual two home from there. There were a lot of people at Trebol trying to get on the bus, but the line at Cenma was not bad. The entire journey took just under three hours. We bought some tomatoes and bananas and then walked with Rachel to buy beans to make chili for dinner tomorrow. It is Lucas' birthday tomorrow, too. We came inside and scrounged around for dinner. I had a bit of leftover rice, tomatoes, and basil with a piece of toast. I washed dishes while Amber washed and soaked the beans. Then we finished up writing the standard on post-it notes. Tomorrow we begin the more fun job of manipulating all the standards into the correct month for the curriculum map. I wish Amber and I lived closer together so we could continue to work on it. We were working on the stairs because the Internet signal is not very strong right now, although it is working. I took a shower and then sat outside Barb's door and checked my email. I then started typing my two blog entries which I had already written out highlights on the bus ride. Katie, Amber, and I talked and then I finished typing. I went to bed about 11:30.

July 20, 2013

I slept in until

8:30

which kind of surprised and annoyed me. I got up, took a shower, got ready, and ate breakfast. By the time we had done all this and talked to people who were sitting in the kitchen, it was already 10. I had the rice and lentil mixture with refried black beans, avocado, and a mango. We went down to the prepa classroom and worked on writing out all of the standards for Amber's curriculum project. We used a different color post-it note for each subject. We are using the Guatemalan standards for math and science, the Arizona English Language Proficiency standards for language, speaking and listening, writing, and reading, and supplementing with the Common Core math and reading standards. We got a lot done, but we decided to take a break to go to Cenma (pronounced SEG-muh) to cash Amber's check. It had been raining while we worked on standards, but it began to rain in earnest when we got ready to leave. I decided to change into a different skirt so I wouldn't get my salsa dancing skirt wet. While we were in Cenma, we went to La Torre, which is a supermarket, to enlarge a photo for Bernabe and Nirma. We then went next door to a store called El Mismo Precio. Each item in the store has two prices. If you buy at least six items, you pay the lower price. We bought a picture frame to go with the picture and some strawberry nougat candy and a surprise souvenir for my family. There was a very long line for the Cenma bus. We got home just in time to quickly finish the Guatemalan science and math standards. We packed quickly and left about

4:45

with Kasper, Linda, and Jess. It was pouring down rain. I decided that I really need to get a decent raincoat for traveling since my favorite one died. We had to take 3 buses to get to Antigua. It was an uneventful trip until we arrived on Antigua.  Jess knew a hostel called La Casa Amarilla that they had stayed in before where breakfast is included. She thought it was at the southernmost street in Antigua so we walked all the way down there in the sprinkling rain just to find out that it actually was in the northern part of Antigua (which is where we had just come from). We found a few other hostels, all of which were full. We went to OnVisa II which was also full, but the man (named Byron) said he might know a place to stay. He called a family he knows right down the street (first street west of seventh avenue) and they did have space. We were not sure what we were getting into, but we went to see. It was a family's house and they rent out three rooms, which was perfect for our group. Linda and Kasper shared a room, Amber and I shared a room, and Jess had a single room to herself. It was nice and looked clean, but we were concerned with how much it was going to cost because we did have private rooms. We were shocked and pleased to find out they were still charging the hostel price which was 50 quetzals a person ($6). We got ready for the evening and went to find food. I was really hungry. We found a restaurant near the house called Los Nazarenos. We ordered nachos as an appetizer. I had grilled eggplant, and veggies and a pineapple licuado which only cost 10Q. We went to Central Park to find an ATM for Jess and then we went to Las Palmas to salsa dance

at 9:45. I really liked the atmosphere of the place. It was all salsa with a bit of merengue, bachata, and one song of cha cha. The majority of the time, the live band played. when they took breaks and near the end, they played CDs. Amber and Jess were picked to dance right away. I was surprised when a guy came up right after and asked me to dance. His name was Jorge. I felt horribly out of practice since I had not salsa danced since the last time in Guatemala. I do enjoy dancing so much, even though I am not very good. I don't really know why, but Jorge continued dancing with me the entire evening. He was a really good dancer. We only stopped for a few minutes at a time and when we weren't dancing, we were speaking Spanish, so that was good practice, too. Altogether it was a very fun evening. We went back to where we were staying when Las Palmas closed
at 1am

. Amber and I stayed up and talked I until

2:30

. Amber was going to sleep in the twin bed, but she was freezing so we decided to share the big bed. I wore a most unusual assortment of clothing to bed: socks, capri pajama pants, tank top, and water resistant jacket which got really hot and sweaty in the night. 

July 19, 2013

Last night after I went to bed, Sahne, a volunteer from Belgium who was here last year, arrived. She was the one who got the Rufinos started coming up here to shower and have breakfast. Everyone was eager to see how excited they were going to be when they saw Sahne since they did not know she was coming. I got up

at 6:15

to see their reaction. I met Sahne and talked to her for a few minutes. However, the Rufinos' reaction was kind of anti-climactic. They were not sure who she was, but they were happy when they realized it was her. They were actually calmer and quieter than usual. The kitchen was overflowing with people so Amber and I ate outside with the Belgian couple who also arrived last night (Linda and Kasper). We had toast with avocado on it, leftover rice with lentils, and coffee. I also drank some of my cinnamon soy milk. We got ready and headed downstairs before 9. I realized yesterday that we are actually on the fourth floor, not the fifth. The tricky thing about the building is that it actually has two parts that connect. Therefore, we sometimes have to go downstairs to go upstairs in the other part. It sounds confusing, but suffice it to say that we do a lot of stairs! I decided to count each stair today that I went up or down and the grand total was 390 and I think I did fewer stairs today than other days! Crazy! I think I know why my leg muscles are sore.

Amber and I worked in the English office, planning and preparing the lessons for today. Then we went down to the Montessori preschool. We had the whole group again today. I taught them 5 Green and Speckled Frogs. We did the usual weather, emotions, and questions. We also read Somebody and the 3 Bears. We got done early since we only taught the lesson once so we sat downstairs and worked on planning tomorrow and part of next week while we waited for lunch to be ready to carry upstairs. For lunch we had carne asada that was grilled outside and smelled delicious all during the preschool lesson, salad with cucumbers and avocados, rice, and oatmeal juice (which sounds nasty but is really quite delicious). While we were still dishing up our lunches, the kindergarten (preparatoria) teacher came out and said they were ready in a circle. We hurried in and got started. I pulled kids in pairs to practice sorting animal picture cards by the type of covering they have. It worked really well for the most part because the rest of the kids were eating. We read the Goldilocks shape book and did new stations. I helped with an ending sound sorting station. I think it is really good for the native Spanish speakers to work on ending sounds because I have noticed that they often to do say the ending sound in a word. Mauricio did not want to come with me so I just worked with Nicole and Josue for most of the time. During recess the kids ran and played on the concrete patio. It is amazing to me that more of them do not hurt themselves because there is loose wire covering the windows of the other building and rusty loose chain link fencing that has holes in some places that the children reach through. There is also a small step in the middle of the patio and a metal screw that sticks out of the cement in another place. It is less than ideal but certainly better than nothing. The other grades spend the whole day in their classrooms (including recess and lunch). We started making animals (real or pretend) out of toilet paper tubes. Today we just did the eyes, cut out of scrap paper and glued to a circle that I cut out earlier. There were lots of behavior problems during the day, especially from a few students. We watched about ten minutes of Magic English, which is a Disney video that is made for students learning English. They use scenes from Disney movies and use simple repetitive phrases with the video clips. There are also songs to go with the theme. The one we watched was about cooking. Next they had another recess and then it was time to go home. There were two boys who did not want to put their shoes back on and get ready to go home. Today for some reasons, many children kept sneaking back in the classroom and tried not to leave. We eventually got them all out and Amber had to talk to one boy's mother. He will. It be allowed to goto the park with his class tomorrow morning as a punishment for his behavior. He did not appear to care about this consequence because Amber reminded him multiple times that he needed to change his behavior or he would not be able to go to the park. Jazmin and I cleaned up the classroom together. She is Amber's Guatemalan bilingual assistant. She is a very interesting person. She has been to the U.S. ten times! 

Then Amber and I took her stuff to the English office amped got ready to work on curriculum. The Internet was not working well there, so we moved back to the prepa classroom. We sat on the kids' tiny tables and tried to look up the Guatemalan academic standards. We were still having trouble getting it to download which may have been Amber's computer. She is going to curriculum map English conversation (speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary), English reading, math, and science because those are the subjects the English-speaking teacher will teach next year. The Spanish-speaking teacher will teach Spanish reading, social studies, and probably reinforce math. We decided to quit for the day and go walk over to the trash dump. However, just as we were about to,eave, Lukas came and told us that dinner was ready. Sanne had made guacamole, pico de gallo, and refried black beans in addition to heating up leftovers. We put all of this on tostadas. Dina (the Guatemalan preschool teacher) and her daughter came up to eat with us. Linda is very close with Dina. Dina was sharing Guatemalan traditions surrounding marriage since Linda brought her boyfriend with her. One of the traditions involves the bride-to-be having to do all the in-laws laundry for two weeks. Linda and Kasper shared delicious Belgian chocolate that they brought to share. it was Carrefour chocolate, dear father who sometimes travels to Belgium for business. After dinner, we put on jackets because it was getting cool and headed to see the trash dump with Lukas and Darlene. I thought we were going to the one we can see from the English office, but the one we went to was much smaller and much closer to the school. It was right down the street. We walked through the neighborhood and saw lots of children out. It was getting dark so we did not go far. We walked over to see where the Rufinos live. We saw Hilda. She was wearing a different outfit and smelled like she had just showered. Linda showed her a picture of Hilda's older brother from when she was here 6 or 7 years ago. I ate a few jelly beans and started working on my blog. Then Amber suggested foot massages so I washed my feet and we lay on my mattress and talked for a long time. I really enjoy Amber! She is such a insightful, positive, and encouraging presence in my life! Amber went to bed and I got ready for bed and finished writing my blog. Katie was still downstairs. I went to bed about 11:30.

July 18, 2013

Last night after I went to bed, Sahne, a volunteer from Belgium who was here last year, arrived. She was the one who got the Rufinos started coming up here to shower and have breakfast. Everyone was eager to see how excited they were going to be when they saw Sahne since they did not know she was coming. I got up

at 6:15

to see their reaction. I met Sahne and talked to her for a few minutes. However, the Rufinos' reaction was kind of anti-climactic. They were not sure who she was, but they were happy when they realized it was her. They were actually calmer and quieter than usual. The kitchen was overflowing with people so Amber and I ate outside with the Belgian couple who also arrived last night (Linda and Kasper). We had toast with avocado on it, leftover rice with lentils, and coffee. I also drank some of my cinnamon soy milk. We got ready and headed downstairs before 9. I realized yesterday that we are actually on the fourth floor, not the fifth. The tricky thing about the building is that it actually has two parts that connect. Therefore, we sometimes have to go downstairs to go upstairs in the other part. It sounds confusing, but suffice it to say that we do a lot of stairs! I decided to count each stair today that I went up or down and the grand total was 390 and I think I did fewer stairs today than other days! Crazy! I think I know why my leg muscles are sore.

Amber and I worked in the English office, planning and preparing the lessons for today. Then we went down to the Montessori preschool. We had the whole group again today. I taught them 5 Green and Speckled Frogs. We did the usual weather, emotions, and questions. We also read Somebody and the 3 Bears. We got done early since we only taught the lesson once so we sat downstairs and worked on planning tomorrow and part of next week while we waited for lunch to be ready to carry upstairs. For lunch we had carne asada that was grilled outside and smelled delicious all during the preschool lesson, salad with cucumbers and avocados, rice, and oatmeal juice (which sounds nasty but is really quite delicious). While we were still dishing up our lunches, the kindergarten (preparatoria) teacher came out and said they were ready in a circle. We hurried in and got started. I pulled kids in pairs to practice sorting animal picture cards by the type of covering they have. It worked really well for the most part because the rest of the kids were eating. We read the Goldilocks shape book and did new stations. I helped with an ending sound sorting station. I think it is really good for the native Spanish speakers to work on ending sounds because I have noticed that they often to do say the ending sound in a word. Mauricio did not want to come with me so I just worked with Nicole and Josue for most of the time. During recess the kids ran and played on the concrete patio. It is amazing to me that more of them do not hurt themselves because there is loose wire covering the windows of the other building and rusty loose chain link fencing that has holes in some places that the children reach through. There is also a small step in the middle of the patio and a metal screw that sticks out of the cement in another place. It is less than ideal but certainly better than nothing. The other grades spend the whole day in their classrooms (including recess and lunch). We started making animals (real or pretend) out of toilet paper tubes. Today we just did the eyes, cut out of scrap paper and glued to a circle that I cut out earlier. There were lots of behavior problems during the day, especially from a few students. We watched about ten minutes of Magic English, which is a Disney video that is made for students learning English. They use scenes from Disney movies and use simple repetitive phrases with the video clips. There are also songs to go with the theme. The one we watched was about cooking. Next they had another recess and then it was time to go home. There were two boys who did not want to put their shoes back on and get ready to go home. Today for some reasons, many children kept sneaking back in the classroom and tried not to leave. We eventually got them all out and Amber had to talk to one boy's mother. He will. It be allowed to goto the park with his class tomorrow morning as a punishment for his behavior. He did not appear to care about this consequence because Amber reminded him multiple times that he needed to change his behavior or he would not be able to go to the park. Jazmin and I cleaned up the classroom together. She is Amber's Guatemalan bilingual assistant. She is a very interesting person. She has been to the U.S. ten times! 

Then Amber and I took her stuff to the English office amped got ready to work on curriculum. The Internet was not working well there, so we moved back to the prepa classroom. We sat on the kids' tiny tables and tried to look up the Guatemalan academic standards. We were still having trouble getting it to download which may have been Amber's computer. She is going to curriculum map English conversation (speaking, listening, grammar, and vocabulary), English reading, math, and science because those are the subjects the English-speaking teacher will teach next year. The Spanish-speaking teacher will teach Spanish reading, social studies, and probably reinforce math. We decided to quit for the day and go walk over to the trash dump. However, just as we were about to,eave, Lukas came and told us that dinner was ready. Sanne had made guacamole, pico de gallo, and refried black beans in addition to heating up leftovers. We put all of this on tostadas. Dina (the Guatemalan preschool teacher) and her daughter came up to eat with us. Linda is very close with Dina. Dina was sharing Guatemalan traditions surrounding marriage since Linda brought her boyfriend with her. One of the traditions involves the bride-to-be having to do all the in-laws laundry for two weeks. Linda and Kasper shared delicious Belgian chocolate that they brought to share. it was Carrefour chocolate, dear father who sometimes travels to Belgium for business. After dinner, we put on jackets because it was getting cool and headed to see the trash dump with Lukas and Darlene. I thought we were going to the one we can see from the English office, but the one we went to was much smaller and much closer to the school. It was right down the street. We walked through the neighborhood and saw lots of children out. It was getting dark so we did not go far. We walked over to see where the Rufinos live. We saw Hilda. She was wearing a different outfit and smelled like she had just showered. Linda showed her a picture of Hilda's older brother from when she was here 6 or 7 years ago. I ate a few jelly beans and started working on my blog. Then Amber suggested foot massages so I washed my feet and we lay on my mattress and talked for a long time. I really enjoy Amber! She is such a insightful, positive, and encouraging presence in my life! Amber went to bed and I got ready for bed and finished writing my blog. Katie was still downstairs. I went to bed about 11:30.

July 17, 2013

I slept better with my earplugs in last night. I woke up

at 6:15

and made it to the bathroom before the Rufinos showed up. The littlest one who comes here (Mario) ran in and lay on my bed. Katie got him off as fast as she could and we sprayed some lice spray on my bed. Amber made me oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. I rinsed out my laundry and hung it out to dry. I got ready and read for a while and checked my email. Then we headed out to take the bus to the market. We waited in front of the school for 15-20 minutes until the free trans-urban bus arrived. We pushed our way onto the bus. I got to sit down soon after getting on. I held Amber's bag since she was standing. The woman next to me was nursing her baby and picking through the baby's hair and her toddler's hair for lice. The bus stopped in front of the market and we piled out. We walked into a large indoor market and walked around between vendors buying products. We bought all sorts of produce for dinner tonight. Then we walked around the corner to Sennma and went to a grocery store inside. We bought tomato sauce in little bags, some larger zucchini (or "suchini" in Spanish), milk, and cheese. Then we walked out to thatch the bus home. It was already there waiting and we found a spot to stand near the back. The ride home seemed short. We put the produce away and went to the English office to get ready for class. We then went down to the Montessori preschool. We had all the kids at the same time and they were incredibly good. Then we borrowed a baby shoe from the daycare for comparing sizes and got the lunch to bring up. We had rice, black beans, cold cooked veggies, and chocolate soy milk. We got our kindergarten materials and dished up our lunch. We got the kids seated in a circle and did a few quick things before it was time for lunch. Today went better than yesterday. They had brought their stuffed animals for "Bear Day," and were very excited. It helped to be able to put any misbehaving animals in time out rather than having to discipline the children. Most of the children responded pretty well to this. We retold/reread Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We also sorted bears by size. We had the baby shoe, a kindergartner's shoe, and a volunteer's shoe and talked about "too small, too big, and perfect." During recess the jump ropes were not out which was good because they were not trying to tie people up. Instead they played with their stuffed animals. I was impressed that all but one of the children brought a stuffed animal! Way to read the note in your child's backpack, Parents! I helped with matching numerals and dot cards during centers. Amber started having two shorter recesses rather than one longer recess. This way she has the option of taking away minutes from the second recess, which did help improve behavior. After school, I talked to Katie who teaches science in English to grades 1-6. Then I helped clean up the classroom and headed upstairs to start working on dinner. Each person has to cook one night a week with a partner. Amber's partner is named Rachel and of course I helped, too. We made ratatouille bake, couscous, and flan with strawberries. For this meal, we had to clean and cut carrots, tomatoes, onions, red onions, zucchini, strawberries, garlic, parsley, cilantro, basil, thyme, jalapeños, leeks, red peppers, and a squash-like vegetable called huiI cut my finger while trying to slice a gigantic carrot. My finger was bleeding too much for me to dig out my band aids, so Amber gave me one of hers. The cut was not that bad, thankfully. When Rachel was cutting the strawberries, she tried to put one in my mouth to try. Somehow she missed my mouth and the strawberry fell and stained my shirt. When the food was done, we took a picture and ate. It was delicious! Afterward, we helped clean up the dishes and Darlene the board member did the dishes. I took a shower, replied to emails, and wrote my blog while people talked in our room. I washed my strawberry-stained shirt in the sink, but there was not a laundry bowl to soak it in overnight. I finished my blog and read a bit before bed around

10:30

.

July 16, 2013

Today was my first full day in Guatemala City. I did not sleep much last night because of all the city noises. We are living on the roof of the school, which is four stories tall. We would technically be the fifth floor. However we live in rooms that open out onto the roof. Each room is separate. There is a bathroom, a kitchen, and a laundry area. They also have created a garden that is quite impressive given that it only has dirt as deep as a cinder block. They have many herbs, some flowers, and a few trees growing, including a mango tree! Too bad mangos are not in season! I will definitely take pictures to post later. Right now there are ten people living on the roof in four rooms, sharing one bathroom. 

I awoke about five and my legs were really cold. I huddled in my blanket until people started getting up at 6:20 when the Rafinos arrived. They are a family with six children, four of which come upstairs to shower and eat breakfast everyday befo school. They do not go to the school where Amber works (UPAVIM) but a Guatemalan school nearby. I have heard that the children all have lice. All the people who live here have had lice except Amber. Hopefully, since I am here such a short time, I will likewise escape. I threw on a jacket and met the boys. I met Hilda when she came to say hi before I was even out of bed. After ey left, Amber and I decided to go down to the bakery and buy fresh bread for breakfast. I put on my skirt and away we went down four flights of stairs. We bought a variety of bread and soy milk flavored cinnamon and returned upstairs. We shared the bread with people and ate that and coffee for breakfast. We sat around and talked to people and made plans for the day. We watched a video about the school that they are making. It looks really good so far! We got ready and went downstairs to the English office to plan for the day/week. We are going to start with the story Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. After we planned, we went to make a copy of a note for the parents about a modified "Bear Day" that we are doing tomorrow. Then we went down to the Montessori English lesson. Aber sees two groups of preschoolers for 15 minutes each. The first group is younger 4ish and it is clear that their attention spans are much shorter and they do not know as much English even though they have had the same lessons as the group of students who are 5ish. We worked on positional words, numbers, and saying "My name is ..." Amber read them part of Goldilocks and worked on the word "perfect" for describing Baby Bear's oatmeal, chair, and bed. We also talked about the words rough, smooth, and soft, as well as singing five short songs. They are trying to keep the class really quiet so we had to speak and sing in whispers. The Montessori preschool takes place between 11:15 and 12:15. 

Next we stopped by the kitchen which is also on the ground floor and picked up lunch for the teachers and volunteers. I carried a pot that had orange sauce dripped on the side. I did not realize this until after I had already held it against my light blue shirt to open a door. Oh, well! This is why I did not pack my Sunday best! We got the cart that Amber uses in her kindergarten class and then dished up our own lunches. We eat in the classroom while supervising the kids' lunch. I met Jazmin, Amber's Guatemalan English-speaking aide. I had heard so many wonderful things about her that it was nice to finally meet. We had a cauliflower egg creation in a triangle shape with the infamous orange sauce over it, salad with tomato, onion, radishes, and lemon juice squeezed on it, rice, and some sort of fruit refresco drink. 

Amber's kids are high-maintenance. Many of them come from really difficult situations. There is a cycle of poverty and gang violence around La Esperanza (Amber's neighborhood). One of the other teachers showed us an elaborate architectural drawing that a fifth grader has made of a "druglord's house." UPAVIM also employs women to make crafts to sell in the states as well as here. There is also the bakery and a health clinic in addition to tutoring that is done in Spanish or kids who do not attend this school. It is a really neat organization. There is daycare for kids from newborn to preschool. UPAVIM employs 100 women from the community.

The afternoon was a little crazier than I had anticipated. It would be hard to share your class half day with another teacher who teaches very differently from you. We did circle time, conversation, songs, Goldilocks, and recess on a small concrete patio that is connected to the classroom. I played I Spy with a girl and then danced and galloped with Karla. The boys were tying people up with jump ropes. It was chaotic with not enough room to get their energy out. At the end of the day, Amber had them play a game using what they know about fur, scales, and feathers. Then it was time to line up and go home. 

After they all had left, we went back upstairs and leaned up the classroom with Jazmin. Then she left and Amber and I talked about the rest of the day. Tomorrow is our turn to cook so we went down the road to buy vegetables from some ladies. The produce looked good and was very cheap. We bought tomatoes, red peppers, cilantro, parsley, four huge carrots, and five limes for $1.25! We then walked back and put the produce in the kitchen before heading to the English office to talk about Amber's independent study. She is going to work on mapping out the English portion of the curriculum to better help the teacher next year. We talked through the entire proposal in detail before heading up for dinner.

We had a delicious meal of rice mixed with lentils with stir-fried veggies and a curry sauce over it. It made my mouth burn, but it was really good. The cleanliness of the kitchen leaves much to be desired, but the food I have eaten has been good. After dinner a Spanish-speaking friend came by and we all helped him practice his English by giving examples of things we can do, could do, will do, etc. I left on "have to" by saying, " I have to wash my cup." I then got ready to get in the shower. The shower was good again. I started my laundry soaking in a bowl to hopefully get out he stain. I then checked my email. Amber shared a peppermint patty with Katie and I. Next, Amber and I attempted to watch a TED talk while giving each other massages. I got ready for bed and typed my blog entry. I went to bed (with earplugs) at 11.

July 15, 2013

We got up at 7 for breakfast at 7:15. We had pancakes and lemongrass tea for breakfast. We talked for a long time with Elvira and Enrique. We gave them our gifts. I had brought a framed picture of Elvira and Enrique with Amber, Lauren, and me from two years ago. Christiana gave them Chicago sports-themed gifts. They knew more about the teams than I do (not that I know a lot). I paid them. When they found out that Amber was coming to get me and would be in Antigua for lunch, they told me to invite her. After we got done talking, I packed up my toiletries, pajamas, and a few other things. Then we headed to the Internet cafe so I could call Amber to make sure our plan was still on. The Internet cafe was closed still, so we walked to our Spanish school so Christiana could pay for her transportation to the airport tomorrow. I asked Katy, the director, if she knew where I could us the telephone because I wanted to catch Amber before she left since I did not know if it was a cell or school number. She said I could use her phone as long as it was a local call (not international). I called and left a message for Amber. Then I asked to use the computer. I tried to transfer Christiana's pictures to my flash drive, but the school computers were old and did not have an SD card slot. I checked my email and uploaded my blog entries to the Evernote cloud. I tried to then post them to my actual blog, but the school computer would not let me find my blog site. I next tried to download more digital library books, but I could not remember my library card number. I ran home to get it (luckily the school is only three blocks from our house) and then came back. It took me a while, but I finally returned the books I was done with and downloaded six new books. Christiana went to feed dogs while I did this. We then met up at the school and went to the Internet cafe to try doing the pictures there. We did not find any computers with working SD card slots which was weird because that is how I always post my pictures in Antigua. I was able to upload my blog posts and write a note on my blog saying that I might be MIA for a while if Amber's Internet was not fixed. A gang cut the Internet line the end of May and it was supposed to be fixed this past Friday, but I did not know if it actually was. We then ran back to the house to go to the bathroom and drop off my iPad. We then walked to the bank. However, the line was super long and we had to meet Amber at 11:45 at Fernando's near our house. We decided to try the fancy Internet cafe near Central Park. We stopped and asked about using an SD card and they said that they did not have a cable to connect it. I asked if they knew another place I could do it and she suggested across the street at another Internet cafe. We went there and asked and the lady did have a special cable to put the SD card in a USB port. I transferred the pictures in just a few minutes and then we headed out to meet Amber. She was already there, drinking tea in the back. She was ready to go and we headed out. We went directly back to the bank and waited a long time for two people upstairs and then forever in the downstairs line. It seemed to be moving extra slowly. It took so long, in fact, that it was time for lunch. We sent Amber back to the house to let them know that we would be late and to catch up with Elvira and Enrique. Christiana offered to stay with me, which was very nice. I really do not know how much money I will need when I am with Amber, but I would rather have too much than not enough. I decided that since I am planning on returning to Guatemala in the next few years that it would be okay to have some quetzals left over. 

Christiana and I rushed home. We were a little more than 15 minutes late. We had fish for lunch. It was shredded and mixed with lots of vegetables. We also had potatoes and cucumbers and guanabana juice. We sat around and talked a long time. Jemletta, our housemate from Colorado, had changed her schedule so that her afternoons are free. It was nice to have her talk more instead of rushing off to class. I packed a few souvenirs that did not fit in my bag in a bag Amber had brought with her. Then Aber took her load and headed off to Central Park to meet a friend. Jemletta, Christiana, and I walked with her. They stopped at the homemade Popsicle place and each got one. I was tempted to get the strawberry, but I decided to hold out for my McDonalds ice cream cone. Amber went on her way and we continued to McDonalds. I decided to splurge and got the large waffle cone for less than a dollar. It was twice the price of the small size, but it was not twice as big. We walked around a pretty courtyard and then to La Merced. We then went home. I sat around and talked with Christiana. I got ready to leave right as it started to rain. I put the rain cover on my backpack and headed to Pollo Campero to meet Amber. 

I left the house at 4:10 and got to Pollo Campero a little early. My backpack was heavy and I was carrying another bag. I sat in Pollo Campero for ten minutes. All of a sudden, I realized that Amber probably meant the other Pollo Campero close to the bus terminal. I quickly walked over there, but I did not see her. I looked inside and waited outside for 5-10 minutes and then wondered if she was at the other Pollo Campero. I walked over there, keeping a close eye out for her. However, when I got back to the first Pollo Campero, she was not there. By this time, I was really tired, sweaty, and worried that I would never find her. The hostess invited me to sit inside and wait for my friend. I waited for another 5-10 minutes and then decided that I probably should go check the other Pollo Campero. I asked the hostess to do me a favor and if Amber showed up to that she could tell her I was at the other Pollo Campero. I described Amber and headed out the door only to spot Amber and her friend heading toward me. She had meant the Pol Campero by the bus station, but she was running late and when she arrived there, she did not see me, so she went to the other one. She walked on the next street over which was how we missed each other. We started our trek to Guatemala City about a half hour later than she had wanted to leave. She said goodbye to her friend, went to the bathroom in Cafe Condesa, and then we went to catch the bus. The sky looked ominous and I hoped it would not rain. As we approached the corner to catch the bus to Guatemala City, we saw the bus pass us by. Amber hoped we could catch it, but with my backpack on my back, it was not possible. We waited for the next bus to come and only had to wait a few minutes. The bus helper took my backpack and tied it to the top of the bus. We got on a crowded bus. Within minutes it started to rain. I hoped that the man had put my backpack with the rain cover on top. It rained for about ten minutes and then it stopped. There were so many people on the bus that there were about eight in each row (2 seats) of the former school bus! I finally got a seat and the woman next to me had a huge bouquet of roses. i made small talk with her ans said that I thought her flowers were beautiful . she gave me one of her roses. her name was Hermalinda. As we drove into Guatemala City, people started getting off at a faster rate than they got on. Finally, Amber told me we were at our stop. We got off and the bus helper gave me my backpack. I struggled to get it on and Amber had to help me. We then had to climb up a steep dirt hill. I was worried I was going to fall over backward. I gave Amber my other bag and had to use my hands to keep my balance as I scrambled up the hill. When I got close to the top, a man came and grabbed my hand and helped me up the rest of the way. I said thanks and we crossed through a park, crossed two busy streets, and went up and over the road on one of the pedestrian overpasses. We paid a one quetzal coin at a bus station and entered what reminded me of a subway station. We stood in line for a bus. The first bus came and we did not make it on. The second bus to come was completely empty and we made it on. A double seat became available and Amber went in first closest to the window. I tried to sit down, but I could not bend my knees enough to fit in the seat with my giant backpack. I half stood in the seat, supporting my backpack against the seat. We soon reached our stop and got off to look for the next bus which was free! The line for the bus was unlike any line I have ever seen. It extended forever, probably close to a quarter mile. We stood in the line for 15 minutes or so and it barely moved forward. A woman came up to us and told us she would take us to a car because the line would probably take 2 hours. We started following this lady and I did not know if Amber even knew her. Finally she introduced me to the woman. It was one of her students' mothers. I immediately felt better. I thought she was trying to take us to a taxi or something. We walked with her to a street corner and waited for her husband to come with the car. I listened while she and Amber chatted. The man arrived with the car. They opened the empty, clean trunk and I tossed my backpack in. We drove for a short distance to get to Amber's school. She lives right down the road from the second most notorious slum in Guatemala City. Apparently lots of bad things happen there. We thanked them for dropping us off and I gave the woman my rose. We walked up a hill to the school. Amber let us in and we walked through the quiet, dark building. It smelled delicious, like fresh bread because the front part of the building holds a bakery. I dropped my stuff in her room and headed for the kitchen. Everyone was eating dinner. They take turns cooking here. We had some egg dishes with mushrooms and cheese and pineapple and pancakes. Then I took a shower and unpacked/repacked my backpack so I could find things. I am sharing a very small room with Amber and Katie. They have a bunk bed and I have an air mattress on the floor. My backpack full of clothes is under the desk in the room. My other things are under the hanging clothes. The shower was good, pretty hot with decent water pressure. I then brushed my teeth and wrote my very long blog post. Amber came in and went to bed. They have Christmas lights in their room and it reminds me of the dorm. Katie was not in bed yet, so we had just the Christmas lights on. I finished my blog post and went to bed at 10:30.

July 14, 2013

We got up at 7:45 to get ready for church. I ate a granola bar and dried fruit in our room. We headed to Iglesia del Camino (The Way Church) for the service at 9. They were passing out adhesive nametags as we walked in. I noticed that the package had a boxtop on it, so I quickly asked if I could peel it off. Unfortunately it was the kind that does not really come off. The lady saw this and said I could take the whole package! Woohoo! Even in Guatemala, I am collecting boxtops! Well, only one so far, but you never know. This is the super cool bilingual church that I went to when I was here a few years ago. There were lots of people, as before, with a mix of gringos and Guatemalans. We sang songs in English and Spanish. The sermon was about the scripture that says Take my yoke. We had the bright idea of adding all of our coins to our offering to lighten the load in our wallets. We got our offering ready early and put it in the provided envelopes. We were supposed to put the offering in a box with a slot as we went out the door. However, we had put so many coins in the envelopes that they could not fit through the slot and we had to take them out and put them in a few at a time, holding up the whole line. Oops! The church is in the process of building a large building for a new feeding program. That would be really fun to help with in the future.

After church we headed to Personajes, a restaurant with an amazing breakfast brunch. They had real fruit juice that was delicious. I had two glasses of watermelon juice, one of cantelope, and one of orange. I also had coffee with cream and sugar. For food, I had an omelette with mushrooms, cheese, onions, and tomato. I also ate black beans, refried black beans, plantains, watermelon, cantelope, and pineapple. The refried beans were extremely salty. Everything else was fantastic! We were very full. The bathroom was nice with automatic soap and paper towels.

Next, we headed to the bank. I tried to take out money with my debit card, but that bank was not open. We went to the other bank and Christiana exchanged more money. Then we went back to the house and I got my dress. We saw Elvira and took pictures with her because she was all dressed up from church. We went back to the dress shop and the owner was very nice. She told me that the fabric was preshrunk, but she asked if I would like a different size anyway. I tried on a pink dress that was a medium and decided to trade.

We went back to the Carmen market so Christiana could buy another necklace for her aunt. We walked around by Central Park looking for dogs to feed. we found two mother dogs and Christiana gave them most of the bread she had. Then we went to a bakery so Christiana could buy more bread for the dogs. Next we went to the Internet cafe so I could check for a message from Amber so I could see what the plans were for going back with her. On the way there, it started to sprinkle and the sky looked dark. When we got to the Internet cafe, it was not quite 2:30 so we stood outside and talked for a few minutes. I did have a message from Amber saying that she would come tomorrow at 11:45 and we would leave around 4:30 for Guatemala City. We walked to the massage place down the street to see if we could get massages sometime today.

The lady told us to sit down and she would check. She then told us to come upstairs, so we ended up getting our massages right then. I wanted a deep tissue massage and Christiana got the Swedish massage. The spa is beautiful. Our room had a fountain and music playing (rather loudly to try to drown out the sounds of the street below). The massage table had rose petals scattered around on it. My massage was interesting. It certainly was not as good as what I get in the States, but it was a whole lot cheaper. I had to tell the lady to massage harder two different times. Even when she did it a little harder, it still did not feel like she was massaging me very hard. I actually preferred the shoulder massage Christiana gave me one day when my shoulder was hurting. The most unusual part of my massage was when she massaged my stomach. That was the only part of the massage that I felt like she was doing hard. It was kind of like the Heimlich maneuver. What the experience was lacking in the enjoyment level of the massage was made up by the shower. There was a bathroom attached to the massage room and they had a shower with shampoo and conditioner and, most importantly, HOT water! Plus fantastic water pressure. It was the best shower I have ever taken in Guatemala. Usually the shower is lukewarm and the water pressure is pretty low. This was amazing! I never wanted to come out, but I did. 

We went back to the house to dry our hair and drop off a few things. We saw Elvira's grandson. He has gotten really big! We grabbed our sweaters and headed out to go to the candy shop so we could try huevos chimbos which are a traditional Guatemalan candy. When we were at Dona Maria's candy shop,  we were standing in line outside and I heard someone talking about Austin, Texas. I turned around and it was Steffi and her husband, Ben! They showed us the candy they had bought and gave us a huevos chimbos to split. It tasted like the filling in a pecan pie, sort of. Christiana decided she wanted to buy candy at another candy store instead. We walked across the street and looked at the Choco Museum where you can make your own chocolate. It smelled heavenly, but it was very expensive. We went to Sombreron, which is another candy store west of Central Park. Christiana bought candy as a souvenir and a few pieces to eat tonight. We headed home to drop off the candy, stopping at a bakery to buy more bread for the dogs because she had already fed two more. We tried Christiana's candy: coconut ball, crisp cookie made with eggs and flour, and a coffee milk candy. We then headed out to look for food. I had bought a croissant with cheese and black beans inside at the second place Christiana bought dog bread. I wanted to stop by Burger King and McDonalds to make sure I was not missing out on any unusual food options. I showed Christiana how fancy McDonalds is on the inside, complete with a courtyard with a fountain and many trees. Nothing unusual to try, so we headed to Pollo Campero where Christiana got fried chicken. Then we went on a search for a tienda so she could buy a pop. We had to walk several blocks to find one and when we did, it was filled with cigarette smoke from another customer. I waited outside with the chicken. We walked back to Central Park where a group was playing music with the flute and panpipes. It was pleasant to listen to and the temperature was also. The sun was setting as we ate our picnic in the park. I had packed several items from the house, as well as my croissant. After dinner, we took a lap around the park looking for dogs to feed (we did not find any) and then we went to get ice cream. I decided to get ice cream at Sarita because they were having the extra scoop for one quetzal more special again. I got a waffle cone with green apple/watermelon on the bottom and mango/vanilla on the top. The guy tried to charge me too much and I had to argue politely with him so he would give me the correct price, which he finally did. Christiana got two scoops of piña colada in a dish. We walked up fifth avenue eating our ice cream. There was a man acting out scenes with a marionette. We looked for dogs near La Merced before turning up our street. I stopped at the Internet cafe to ask when they open tomorrow (9am) so I can call Amber tomorrow morning to make sure our plan is on. Christiana wanted to catch up on the news via Internet so I started writing my blog from today because it is much easier to type on a computer. We then went home and I packed my stuff while Christiana read and then her dad called. We talked for a while and split our last piece of chocolate-covered pineapple. Then we got ready for bed and turned out the light. I finished this blog post and was in bed at 11.

July 13, 2013

We got up at 7 to get ready for breakfast at 7:30, we had a concoction of eggs, tortillas, and ham and also papaya. We went back to our room and did a few things before heading out to Hotel Santo Domingo. When we got to the hotel, we asked where we had to go to get the free ride to El Tenedor, the restaurant associated with the hotel that is on a hill overlooking Antigua. We walked with Carl's to the entrance of the hotel where a vehicle waited to take us up. It is hard o explain, but the best I can do is say that it looked like an over-sized, heavy-duty golf cart. We rode up with a worker who was headed up to work. The hill was just outside of Antigua and was quite steep. There were some good views on the way up. When we got to the top, we walked over to the overlooks. We could see all three volcanoes and Antigua. I spotted the arch, La Merced, Central Park, and the market. We bought some chocolate-covered dried pineapple which was quite delicious. It was in long pieces with one end IDE in white chocolate and the other end in dark chocolate. Then we walked around more. There were many works of art everywhere and an aviary with many birds. We found a deserted overlook and took pictures. When we had finished seeing everything, we waited for the transportation back to the hotel. As we drove down the giant steep hill, we saw a helicopter that was horizontal to where we were on the hill. Then the helicopter landed in a grassy place on the hill. We saw that some people were going to get in and go for a ride. That would be incredibly cool to fly between mountains and over volcanoes!

When we got back to the hotel, we went inside and walked around. We saw some of the ruins of e former convent that stood on the site before the earthquake. We also saw the guacamayos (parrots). We walked back toward the house and I wanted to stop at the little market by the ruins of Carmen. I bought a traditional percussion instrument that plays three notes for my class. I forget its name, but I need to ask before I leave here. Christiana saw some necklaces she liked and wanted to come back later. We headed back home and got there around noon. Christiana needed to exchange a few more dollars for quetzals so we decided to go to the bank before lunch. Tere was a long line, however, and I has not brought my debit card so we decided o come back later and do it all at once because there were so many people in line that we probably would have been late for lunch. 

We had chicken in a white sauce with celery and locoro which is a kind of flower. We also had curry rice and a little salad of lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Steffi and her husband Ben had come for lunch and the new woman, Ruth, was there, too. We talked in English the whole meal because Ruth and Ben do not know much Spanish. Ben was very friendly. He runs a small publishing company. I had already suggested that Elvira write a cookbook and Ben really liked the idea. We talked for a long time. 

Then we headed out with Ruth to go to the bank and then to the Carmen market. However, when we orto the bank (Banco Industrial) it was already closed. I asked the armed guards in front of the ATM if there were any other banks still open. They told us another branch of the same bank is open until five. We walked into that branch just a block and a half away. There was a line and so Ruth decided to go off on her own for a while. I waited with Christiana for a while and then we decided that it made more sense for me to head to the Internet cafe so I cold see when Amber is coming. Ruth was going to come back to the bank in 15 minutes. I stopped by the cafe church and found out that services are at 9:00 and10:45. I did hear from Amber that she will either be coming Sunday afternoon or Monday afternoon. I went back to the house and read my book for a while. Christiana showed up without Ruth who had never returned. She seemed pretty independent and had decided that she wanted to shop in the textile market I pointed out off of the Park. As we walked to the Carmen market, Christiana told me her story about the bank. She waited in line and when she finally got to the front, she was told that she had to have her actual passport to change dollars and not just a copy like the other bank had accepted. She had been chatting with some other travelers as she waited and she asked a girl if she would exchange her money for her. The girl gladly agreed and Christiana was able to get her money that way. We want to the Carmen market. I bought some jewelry made out of seeds and beans and Christiana bought some beautiful necklaces. It started to rain as we headed back. We stopped at the Sarita ice cream shop across from La Merced. They were having a special where you could get an extra scoop of ice cream for only one quetzal more! I had watermelon/green apple for my first scoop and cheesecake for my extra scoop. Christiana had pistachio and piña colada. We ate them in the shop at a tiny table. Another group of tourists came in and I translated the flavors for them. One of the girls was really loud and kind of rude so we decided to go ahead and leave and walk as we ate. I finished mine just as we got to our door. It was5:30. I took a shower and dried my hair with Christiana's hair dryer. Then we read in bed until dinner.

We had paches (I think) for dinner. They were similar to tamales. Mine had a hot pepper inside. We also had lemongrass tea and bread. After dinner, we had a souvenir show. We spread our purchases out on the table and on the backs of the chairs. When Elvira saw the dress I had purchased the other day, she warned me that that kind of fabric will shrink a lot. I am going to try to exchange it for a larger size, maybe tomorrow. We packed up our souvenirs and came back to our room and read some more. It is raining again and sounds super peaceful. The problem is that I wear earplugs to bed so I do not wake p with the birds at 5:20, so I will not be able to fall asleep to the rhythmic sound of the rain. I finished my book, wrote my blog post, and went to bed before 11:30.

July 12, 2013

I got up this morning at 6:45 and got ready. It was cold and rainy. I wore a long skirt which was slightly warmer than a short one. We had pancakes with strawberries and bananas for breakfast. When we go to Hermano Pedro, I do not wear my jacket because HP is kind of dirty between doing the dishes, feeding people, and getting coughed and sneezed on. We helped fold laundry when we got there and then did our usual dish duty when we got kicked out of the bedroom so they could change people. When that was finished there was not much to do so we took pictures with some of the ladies. It quickly became a popular thing to do. We gave the nail polish to Matilde and Gladis and told them to share with the other ladies and ask volunteers to paint their nails. Gladis was not feeling well which was sad for our last day. Christiana had bought marshmallows to roast at the volcano but since she decided that she did not want to go, we asked Juliana if the ladies can eat marshmallows. We said yes so we left to walk home and get the marshmallows and use the bathroom. On the way back, we stopped and got ice cream at Pollo Campero. We switched flavored and today I got strawberry and Christiana got caramel. We found a dry bench in Central Park (it had stopped raining during breakfast) and ate our ice cream. Then we returned to HP and helped wipe the mattresses with cleaner and put new sheets on them. Then we helped in the escuelita. Christiana talked with Oscar the whole time. I got spit on by my friend that I play a bead game with. We brought them back and helped with lunch. I got angry because I was feeding a woman with no teeth and a worker came up and started adding food off the tray into her soup. Rosalie had told me that she did not want tortilla in her soup so I did not put any in. The worker however tried to force her to eat the meat patty from the tray and laughed when the woman clamped her mouth shut. She has trouble swallowing soup let alone a meat patty! The worker threatened to put a tube in her nose if she did not eat. She then added all the rice off the tray, two tortillas ripped into pieces, and the meat patties to her soup. It became very thick mush which she had trouble eating. The worker then walked away. I felt really sorry for Rosalia. We gave the ladies marshmallows and said goodbye. I returned our lanyards and got two of the HP magazines for us to take home. We walked quickly back home.

For lunch we ate a soup with vegetables and beef with a side of rice. We had crepes for dessert. They had meringue and pears inside and a fruit that is similar to tiny grapes and looks like blackberries. Elvira said it grows in Guatemala, but it is hard to find and very expensive. After lunch we got ready and headed out. We went to the Popsicle store and we each bought two, one for us and one for our teacher as a thank you/goodbye treat. I bought coconut and avocado. My teacher chose avocado, so I ate the coconut. School was kind of frustrating. I felt like my teacher had kind of checked out and did not want to be teaching on Friday afternoon. We talked about nothing for an hour even though I kept obviously touching my homework. When we finally started working, she had me translate a paragraph from a book into Spanish. When I read my translation aloud to her, she checked it in the back of the book and laughed at me when I phrased things differently from the book. I got frustrated because there was too much for me to correct. She laughed at me and said that I did not use the correct words. I said that I did not think she would use the exact words from the book if she translated it. She took a 10-15 minute bathroom break, leaving me with nothing to do. It was freezing in the garden, even though I was wearing jeans, socks, tennis shoes, and the heaviest jacket I brought. It started raining and we moved to a different table under the roof. A the school they have an after-school program for poor children. It is cool that they do that. There are about ten children who come every day after school. They are there when we arrive at 2 and stay until 5ish. After school, I checked my email and we walked to the bakery where Christiana went yesterday. Christiana bought a blackberry little pie and two tiny sugar cookies. I got a large cinnamon roll with icing. We took them back to the house and had a little snack as it was still an hour before dinner and we were hungry. We lay on our beds and talked until dinner.

At dinner, it was just us, Dan, Elvira, and Enrique. I enjoyed having a smaller group. We had a good conversation about lots of different things. We ate boiled plantains, hot tea made from the water that the plantains were boiled in, refried black beans, and eggplant and bread, of course. We came back to our room and talked. I ate the rest of my cinnamon roll and wrote my blog post for the day. We got ready for bed and I read for a while.

July 11, 2013

I woke up today at 6. I had to go to the bathroom and it was so cold outside that I was wide awake afterward. I lay in my bed and tried to finish my blog entry from the night before. I was able to get quite a bit done but not all before the alarm went off and I started getting ready in earnest. My stomach was not feeling so great, but it felt better after breakfast. Christiana decided to sleep in a little more instead of going to breakfast. There was a new girl at the table who actually turned out to be someone who had stayed with Elvira and Enrique about a month ago. Her name is Mary Beth and she is from Tennessee. She is in college studying to be a nurse. She did some clinicals near Chichicastenango this past month. She got to do ultrasounds on pregnant women and treat parasites. For breakfast we had an elaborate display of fruit including strawberries, bananas, papaya, and pineapple. We also had apple tea and bread. 

We got to Hermano Pedro at the usual time (time for dishes). We did the dishes, swept the floor, and wiped the tables, and then we painted a few ladies' fingernails that we did not do the day before. Next we folded clothes for about 45 minutes. After all of this it was still less than 10am. We sat around and talked to the ladies for a while. It is strange because they are less women in the ward now than at the beginning of the week. However we do not know who is missing, yet when they are lined up for lunch against the wall. It is pretty obvious that there are not as many. Because today was Thursday, they had mass instead of school. There was nothing for us to do, so we asked if we could leave and go for a walk for a while and return before lunch to help. Ana gladly agreed and we decided to head home and grab our umbrellas because it looked like rain. We have not had rain in Antigua since Saturday and we were not even here then! We got the umbrellas, went to the bathroom, and headed back out. Christiana bought a Popsicle at the little shop down the road (Delicias Guatemaltecas), and the owner who makes the Popsicles was very cute. She spoke to us in English and she said the word "Popsicles" about ten times during the conversation. She told us that it is a new word for her. We headed back toward Central Park and we stopped in the shop that has a dressing room where you can try on clothes (a rarity here). I wanted to try on a woven cotton dress. I tried on two different ones and ended up getting a red dress. It is very fun and I will wear it to school. We walked to Pollo Campero and I got a vanilla cone with a caramel swirl and Christiana got a vanilla cone with a strawberry swirl. We sat on a bench on Central Park and ate them before heading back to HP. We sat around some more and talked and then we helped serve lunch. I was assigned Eudelia to feed and they brought me a tray so I started feeding her very small bites but she refused to eat any food. After a few minutes the same nurse who had given me the tray brought me a bowl of the thick soup and told me that she cannot eat solid food because she cannot chew (as if I should have known better). I do not understand why the nurses do not seem to know who eats what. Se ate all the soup and some jello. We helped clear and rinse the dishes and then it was time to go.

We walked home and got ready for lunch. We had frijoles blancos which was a soup made of pinto beans, chicken, rice, and a tomato-based broth. We also had a dish of strawberries with crema, we talked more with Mary Beth and then we got ready for school and left. On the way out the door, Christiana knocked a pot with a small bonsai tree off a stand. the tree was okay but the qpot broke. i felt really bad for Christiana. School was a bit disappointing today. I did lots of mindless verb conjugations that I already knew. I read three stories, only one of which I enjoyed. It was a true story of three men who were executed in Guatemala City for a crime they did not commit. It was very sad but a good story. After class, I Skyped my mom and Natalie for about a half hour before I had to head home. Christiana had already left with the keys so I had to ring the doorbell. They got a new doorbell with an intercom and a video camera. We tried it out and then I took a shower before dinner. Elvira and Enrique went to the market during the afternoon to look for a new pot for the bonsai tree, but as it has to be a special pot, they could not find what they needed. they will have to go to Guatemala City to get one. Christiana gave them money to buy a new pot. We had tostadas with chicken and cabbage and sauce on top and bread. We talked a long time. Mary Beth told us about her work in Chichi. It sounded really interesting. We came back to our room and I did my homework, wrote a thank you card for my teacher, and wrote my blog entry for today. Then we got ready for bed and read for awhile in bed.

July 10, 2013

We got up at 6:45 and had cinnamon tea, papaya, and a tortilla with an egg and slice of ham cooked on it for breakfast. We went to Hermano Pedro and helped with the dishes. Then we painted some of the ladies's nails. Some of their hands are folded up into a fist so it made it difficult to paint the nails. We helped give a few of the oldest, most toothless ones bottles of special formula. The first lady I fed was really easy. The second was harder because Clara can't raise her head by herself. After that, it was time to take them to school. We wheeled them there and then did the usual activities with them. I met Juventino who is 80 years old. He told me his wife had died but his next wife is going to look like me. The he asked how old I am, and when I told him, he said that his next wife is going to be 28 but she is going to look 17 like me. Then he asked what my name was, and when I told him, he said that his next wife will be named Carolina. Then he said that there is a song with my name in it. I asked him to sing it for me and he told me he would sing it to me every night when we are married! I met a man named Oskar who is 55 years old. He lost his vision and one of his legs to diabetes. He lived on Fort Worth, TX for 29 years but had to return to Guatemsla because of his health. Before he left for the United States, he was put in jail by the police "for no reason" and then tortured. All of his family is dead so he lives T HP. His English is really good. I told Christiana that she needs o talk to him the next time they go to school. We took them back after activity time and folded clothes. Then we helped feed people lunch. I was confused because the nurse brought me a regular tray for Clar? I had only veen feeding her for one day, but all I had seen them give her was thick broth and formula. All the ladies around Clara started protesting that she could not eat that. The nurse said she could Nd ripped up tortilla to put in her soup. I was really.sure that the other ladies were right so I started feeding Clara just the broth o he soup. Before long, the nurse came over with Clara's special soup and told me to feed it to her. Christiana was told to feed Agustina and when she did not want to eat, several ladies including Gladis started shouting instructions. They said to put the tray out of her reach because whatever she doesn't want to eat, she'll throw on the floor. We finished feeding people and headed home. We had a few minutes before lunch to freshen up and talk with the other students. 

Elvira had made breaded eggplant, tomatoes and cucumbers, mashed potatoes, and bananas with chocolate sauce on top for lunch. After lunch, I had to go to the post office because it is usually closed by the time I actually have time to go. I walked there quickly and took care of business. It was already late, so I had to run back to the house to grab my backpack and Christiana. We walked quickly to school. It was a good day at school. The time went quickly and I felt like it was worthwhile practice. After class, I quickly checked my email and then we headed home. I did my homework before dinner and put on more clothes. It has been colder here than I remember, at least lately. I have been freezing at dinner in a jacket and also at school because we have classes in a beautiful yet shady garden. I learned an important word in class today: friolenta. It means a person like me (or Tammy) who is cold all the time. 

For dinner we had chilaquiles which are hard to explain and time-consuming to make. The ingredients of the ones we ate we're green beans, a green leaf that is a relative of spinach, tortilla and cheese, egg, and flour. This was covered in a special chicken broth. We also had bread. 

After dinner we ate snacks, got ready for bed, and talked for many hours. We finally went to bed around 11:30.

July 9, 2013

I got up at 6:40, although I had already been awake for a while. The earplugs are helping a lot with the birds in the morning. We had oatmeal with bananas for breakfast and lemongrass tea. We got ready and headed to Hermano Pedro. When we got there, they were cleaning up from breakfast. We helped clear the dishes and then we dried them with Gladis after Ana the nurse washed them. When the breakfast commotion had wound down, we asked if we could paint the ladies' nails and if they had nail polish or nail polish remover there. The answers were yes, no, and no., so we asked if we could leave to go get the supplies. We went to the supermarket because that is where Elvira had told us we could find nail polish. We did find it and bought two colors and nail polish remover. We decided to quickly look at the outdoor market for a new watch because my trusty orange and black watch that I bought in Hong Kong 7 years ago is not doing so well. The band ripped in two places on this trip and it sometimes does not keep the correct time. We have been carrying around my alarm clock so we can know what time it is. However, the only watches we could find in the market were children's watches with pictures from Card or with the Disney princesses. As Christiana pointed out, wearing one of those watches would be more embarrassing than having to discreetly check the time on our alarm clock! We decided to keep looking later. We did see nail polish for much cheaper than we had bought it for in the supermarket. We bought one more because it was a prettier color and super cheap.

We returned to HP and helped dry the pitchers. Then we asked Ana to give us some cotton to remove their old nail polish (which she had already said he would give us), but she never brought it to us and then it was time to take the ladies to escuelita. We went with them and walked around interacting with them. There was a group of about 8 people who came in with big fancy cameras and started taking big group pictures with some of the residents and everything else. It was a bit excessive. Some of the people were introducing others to the residents as if it was their first time there. It was very strange. After escuelita, we brought them back to their ward and helped serve lunch. I fed Lita who ate the regular lunch, she just needed it to be cut into small bites because she does not have many, if any, teeth. We helped clear the dishes and then it was time to go. We left at 12:40 so we had time to walk home for lunch.

We had chicken soup with vegetables (which I helped serve) and flautas which were like chicken tacos and quite delicious. We had juice made with pineapple, orange, and lemon. We got ready and headed to school. I felt like it was warmer in the garden today. There was a big lunch at the school and people were still eating. I was glad that Christiana had opted to eat with Elvira instead of at the school. The students were very loud which made it a bit difficult to start class. We began by chatting about what I had been up to since class the day before and then we learned some more idiomatic expressions with verbs. I read some children's stories that were not very good and a short biography of Rigoberta Menchu which I enjoyed. We also did some oral drills with verb conjugations. We finished class at 5:30 and I quickly checked my email. Then we headed back. It was cooler than earlier but I jumped in the shower so my hair would have time to dry before bed. Christiana let me use her hair dryer which also helped. I did my homework and started my blog post.

For dinner, we had black bean soup with feta cheese on top, scrambled eggs with tomato, and fried plantains. The tea was cinnamon. After dinner, I finished my blog entry and read for a while.

July 8, 2013

I have several blog posts written about our weekend, but they are typed on my iPad and I can´t get them to sync with the computer. I am going to try again tomorrow when we are at school and have wifi. The short story is that we had a good trip!

Today we got up at 6:40. I slept better because I wore earplugs so the birds wouldn´t wake me at 5. We had omelettes and papaya for breakfast. Afterward, we walked quickly to Obras Sociales Hermano Pedro where we are going to volunteer. We went to the volunteer office and got our badges with our pictures on them, and then we were escorted to the ward for the older women. We chatted with the women and helped dry the dishes and put them away. There was another English speaking volunteer there and we talked a lot with her. She moved here from the US and doesn´t speak much Spanish. Her name is Diane. We sat around a lot and talked to the women who live in the ward. I have two favorite friends so far. One of the women, named Florencia, reminds me a lot of Fung Tai from Hong Kong. She doesn´t talk but she makes noises sometimes. She has a baby doll that carries around like a real baby and wants people to hold it. My other friend is Gladis. She is only there because of her physical limitations. I feel sorry for her because she doesn´t have many people to talk with. She told me all about her life (she was an orphan) and about the other women in the unit (She´s crazy, she talks to herself all day, etc.). She likes to feed the birds pieces of bread that she saves from her meals. We helped take some of the women to the ¨school¨ that they have there. The people in the school do crafts and other activities to help them with their fine motor skills. Not all of the women go. Then I helped bring them back to their ward and folded laundry while we waited for lunch to arrive. I spoonfed a woman named Clara a bowl of soup. She didn´t really want to eat it and she kept spitting it out. Eventually, Juliana, the woman in charge of the unit, came over and took the bowl from me. She proceeded to quickly spoon the soup into her mouth and choked poor Clara three times so badly that Clara´s face turned red. When they had finished eating, we helped wash the dishes and then realized that it was one already. We said we had to go, and we walked quickly all the way home. My watch had broken this morning so we didn´t know what time it was. We had to speed walk home and we were still 20 minutes late for lunch, which they hadn´t served yet (I hope it was not because of us!). We had little meat patties with gravy, lettuce salad with radishes and tomatoes and lime juice, white rice, and apples with cinnamon. Christiana went to lie down for a few minutes before class. We left for class at 1:50.

Spanish School went fairly well. I spent some time chatting with my teacher whose name is Cesy (SAY see). Then I read some pretty easy stories about the sun. Then we had a half hour break. I was freezing and had not brought a jacket so I decided to walk home and get one. Christiana came with me. It is nice to go to school so close to the house. For the second part of the afternoon, I studied phrases using the verbs dar and haber. It was a good thing to study. I would like to get the book that she is using, but I don´t know if it is still in print. After class, Christiana and I walked to the internet cafe near our house and checked our email and I tried to upload the blog posts I had written on my iPad. No luck, but I will try again tomorrow.