Hermano Pedro

el 7 de julio 2011

We got up at 6:15, although I had been awake since 5am. I didn’t fall asleep for a long time last night, either. When I first got here, I was sleeping so well. I guess it’s time to move to a new location! We got ready and I wrote my blog from yesterday. Before breakfast, Dorothy and Lara were taking lots of pictures of everyone. We had fruit plates arranged in a spiral with pink yogurt in the middle, a sweet crunchy tostada, and tea/coffee. After breakfast, we came back to Amber and my room to make plans for the day. We decided to go to some ruins (Convento de las Capuchinas) on the way to a café to work on school stuff (for the first time!). We stopped on the way to get info about a trip to Volcan Pacaya tomorrow. When we got to the ruins, we saw that the entrance price was 40Q, and since we had not read up on the ruins in the book, we decided to possibly return another time. Instead we went to Dona Luisa’s, which is a fantastic café. We had a very cheap snack of ½ a loaf of banana bread to share (with 10 big pieces) and drinks. I had a watermelon licuado, Lauren had a pineapple licuado, and Amber had tea. We worked on school stuff for about three hours. I read my Math Stations book by Debbie Diller and took notes. Amber also shared some ideas with Lauren and me. A bit before one, we paid and walked home for lunch.

For lunch, we had soup (broth with rice), a cooked carrot, a potato, a piece of huisquil (similar to a potato), a piece of squash, chicharrones, and a piece of watermelon for dessert. We also had a pink lemonade type drink. After lunch, we headed back to our room to prepare for the afternoon. Lara decided to come to the hospital with us.

We brought our laundry along with us to drop off at the lavanderia, but we couldn’t find it. We stopped to ask at the school, but we realized we needed to get to the hospital since it was nearly three. We went to visit Hermano Pedro hospital where Amber and Jenny would come to volunteer four years old. When we arrived, we went to the volunteer office, but it was shut. There was a big group of tourists waiting in the hallway. They asked if we were there for the tour. We weren’t originally going to go on a tour, but it worked out well. We learned a lot about the hospital from our guide, Siomara. I didn’t realize that around 320 people are permanent residents. They also have normal hospital services except there is not an emergency room and they don’t have a maternity ward. The permanent residents are housed in seven different wards: elderly women who need physical help (“the grandmas”), a ward for women with psychological/mental disorders with similar wards for the men. There were also areas for teenagers and children. They have a daycare in the hospital, too. It is a very neat place. It made me think a lot of my friends in Hong Kong. Amber and I even saw a man that reminded us of Che Kin! It was sad because the guide told us that the area for woman with mental disorders has not had any foreign volunteers since the last one left three years ago. The ward is locked so the residents don’t leave, and she said that that scares some people. We met Wendy, a woman who came up to us and wanted to know our names. After we told her our names, she would either say “Me gusta,” if she liked the name (usually a Spanish name) or, “No me gusta!” if she didn’t approve. For one person’s name, she said that it was only a little bit bad! Then she wanted us to line up so she could count us. Amber saw Mercedes, a woman that she had worked with before. Throughout the whole hospital, I saw people who reminded me of Hong Kong. I wish I had more time to volunteer there! I definitely want to come back sometime and volunteer there!

The tour ran over and it finally finished at 4:10 and Amber and Lauren’s dance class was supposed to start at 4! I made sure Lara had some people from CSA that she knew to walk back with and I went back to the school and collected our laundry. The band from Pena del Sol was playing there! We are going to go there tomorrow. I went to look for the lavanderia, which happened to be next door to the dance studio! I turned in the laundry (Lauren’s two items and my laundry together weighed 5.25 pounds and Amber’s weighed 3 pounds). We each have a coupon for three free pounds of laundry. I went upstairs and practiced during their dance class. I also watched Lauren’s lesson and practiced what she was doing. During my lesson, I mostly danced with Frank again. We practiced the cross with a turn for the majority of the lesson. I was kind of dizzy to start out with, which is not the best for doing spins. However, after probably 100 more spins, my balance just kept getting worse and worse, I felt. By the time I left, I was super dizzy. Even now, nearly an hour later, if I close my eyes, the room is spinning. I came back to the room and worked on my blog. As I walked back, I saw Amber and Lauren in the internet café near our house.

For dinner, we had Pizza Guatemalteca, a new creation of Elvira’s which consisted of Tay-yuyu (which is beans rolled up in masa) with sauce and cheese on top. We also had broccoli and smooth vegetable soup made out of the same types of vegetables as we had for lunch. After dinner we talked for a while, and then headed back to our room for a while. Amber and Lauren went to Rainbow Café with a guy named Colin that we met at the hospital. I was still feeling slightly dizzy, so I decided that I would rather stay home. I started the process of sorting my stuff in preparation for packing tomorrow. I am going to leave my big suitcase here at E&E’s and just take my backpack and bag to travel. I also finished writing my blog and now I’m going to read before bed. We need to be ready tomorrow morning at 5:50 for the volcano tour!