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.