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.

July 7, 2013

Today we got up at 7:30 and got ready. We packed our stuff and checked out. We walked to Deli Jasmin for breakfast. The restaurant is surrounded by a garden. We ate outside under a lime tree. I had two grain pancakes with honey and fruit salad (including pitaya which is a juicy purple fruit with black seeds) and Christiana had a quesadilla. We then headed out to shop along Calle Santander which has tons of little shops and stalls selling souvenirs. I would have liked to go to Jenny's church, but it doesn't meet until 4 and we had to head back before then. We bought what we wanted and then went back to the restaurant from the morning for Christiana to buy bread for the dogs and to use the restroom. Then we set off on our chicken bus journey. Our four bus rides were fairly crowded but uneventful. We got back around 3. We had left Pana at 12:15 so we made good time. I bought a tank top at a stall on out way home. We dumped our stuff and unpacked a bit before heading to the grocery store (La Bodegona). I got my first ice cream cone here at McDonalds. It was delicious. We stopped at several tiendas on our way home so Christiana could buy a few more things. Then we came back home and organized ourselves before heading out to look for dinner. We went to La Merced to have pupusas, but all the vendors were touching both the money and the food so we opted for a taco restaurant instead. I had a quesadilla and Christiana had chicken soup and chips. Then we went back to La Merced to get atol de elote which is a hot corn drink. I needed Amber to share it with me because it is so rich that I could not finish it all. Christiana bought some sort of a roll with meat in it for a stray dog she saw. We walked home. I journaled while Christiana showered and then I did. We were super dirty after all of our traveling on buses and walking around in the hot sun. I got slightly sunburnt today when we were shopping this morning.