Two Weeks!

Today marks the beginning of my two week countdown to departure. I bought my ticket what seems like such a long time ago and the time has passed so quickly. I began a list of things to take with me this week, as a way of further avoiding homework. I've been doing that quite successfully this week. As much as I am excited to be there, I've also had the beginning feelings of fear and nervousness. The plans with being in an English classroom haven't fallen into place yet and the longer I wait for those to happen, the more convinced I am that I'll probably end up setting that up when I arrive in Guatemala.

I was in contact quite a bit with my host family in Guatemala this week. It appears that I will not be able to stay with them so will instead live with another host family through CASAS. Though I am very saddened by this, I also know it will introduce me to a whole different set of experiences and that is exciting, too. I look forward to getting to know a new family, a new church, and a whole new set of Guatemalan vocabulary :)

Two weeks ago I met with Pablo and Grazia, friends of mine from the Spanish church I attend. They return to Honduras this Friday for three months to be with family and friends. Grazia used to be a counselor at the bilingual school in Honduras, Academia Pinares, where I am interested in teaching after university. Because of that handy connection I am planning a long weekend trip to visit them while I'm in Central America! It looks like it'll be the last weekend of May and I'll take the long bus ride there and stay with them for the weekend. We're hoping to make it work at a time when I can visit the school when the students are actually still in classes. I'm very excited for those plans to be working out. It will be great to see them in their home culture and have them show me around their city.

I would appreciate prayers for my host uncle and grandma who were in a serious car accident this last week. They both survived with minor injuries but the grandma is quite old and is very sore from the accident. It is a miracle that the both survived but the car is completely totaled. I would also appreciate prayers as I continue to make lists of things to take, buy last minute supplies, and pack my bags to travel to Guatemala. I look forward to passing my blog onto more people right before I go and look forward to writing more entries from Guatemala!