Rain, rain, go away

This last week has been full of many goodbyes as my time in Guatemala is wrapping up. These two months have flown, and I can´t believe I only have a week left in Central America before I go back to the reality of a week Master´s class in mid-July.

Saturday I met up with several students from CASAS summer group and we headed to Antigua. We met up with almost everyone from the summer group in the central plaza of Antigua and then split into smaller groups for the rest of the day. I had fun adventures with Joseph and three others going to a convent, climbing to the highest point in Antigua opposite from Volcán Agua which overlooks all of Antigua, eating at Doña Louisa´s and going to the market. Eventually it was time to head home and I was proud of us for surviving a very violent trip back to the city around some nasty curves.

On Wednesday I was left in charge of several classes taking short quizzes as Ninoshka ran to ¨talk¨ with the principal or other lame excuses like that. As I was flipping through a student´s agenda I accidentally came across the note home to parents asking to send money for a surprise party for me that day. oops! Those of you who know me know it´s hard throw a surprise for me cause I usually end up finding out somehow. I must say, however, that the kids did an excellent job of keeping it a secret! They had decorated the main area of the school with banners and decorations and had tostadas with horchata for the refri. The director said a few words of thanks, then students started coming forward with gifts and cards that were either from themselves or from their classmates. I was soon loaded down with things ranging from a t-shirt, flowers, cards and a basket of traditional dulces! Ninoshka said a few things, some kids played a song for me, and then I was even asked to say a few words. Of course I started out by asking them to forgive whatever mistakes I made, and then briefly said thank you. I hate talking in front of so many people, especially in a second langauge and with a microphone! There are always more things to say...

Wednesday afternoon Ninoshka, Ana Cristina and I went to Lucky´s house to celebrate Ninoshka´s birthday together. These three ladies had quickly become my friends at Thomas Alva Edison and I will miss them dearly. They were the ones who constantly made me laugh and shared mangos with me and taught me sayings in Spanish that I don´t want to remember. We ordered pizza, took some pictures, watched a movie and I even drank some coffee! I hate coffee, and this was instant coffee that was probably stronger than usual. I chocked it down to avoid saying that I don´t drink coffee. My stomach felt pretty gross that evening but it was worth it :)

Thursday was El Dia de Los Maestros so we had yet another party. We started off by celebrating Ninoshka´s birthday with the 4th grade students. They surprised her with cake and several gifts before we celebrating El Dia de Los Maestros with the whole school. The middle school students had planned the activities which began with a meal for the teachers. I was not hungry for lunch at 10 o´clock in the morning but... such is life in Guatemala! We ate and then there was a presentation of sorts where students danced, again, and then they presented certificates to the teachers... including me. For some of the dances of the middle school students, which were actually more like aire band performances, I had the lucky priviledge of having my face stroked by a 9th grader and pretty much being FORCED to dance with another 9th grader. I was embarrassed, and I´m sure my face was beat red :) It was fun, and I was only glad it didn´t last too long.Then came the goodbyes. I planted myself by the door as the students left but managed to hold back the tears until one student who was very special to me, Nicoll, broke down and it was a domino effect from there ending with Ninoshka, Lucky and even Ana Cristina crying as we said our goodbyes and I sadly walked away with my hands full.

That afternoon the girls, Julian and I hopped on a bus to San Juan Chamelco... about 15 minutes from Coban where Henry lives. It was 3:30 when we left and sadly Mitzye was sick most of the way including throwing up on herself so that made it even more of an adventure. We finally arrived around 8:30 after convincing the bus driver that it was actually his responsibility to take us the whole way since that was what we had paid for! Henry´s family has a small tienda and a pharmacy run out of their house, and I´ve really enjoyed my time with them so far. However, most of our ¨plans¨ have been ruined by the constant rain that is quite common in Coban during invierno. It also means lots of mud outside of the house and the occasional flood inside the house.

This morning the church service was quite an adventure for me. For those of you who know, religion is something I´ve always enjoyed but struggled with in Central America. Today was another of those experiences. A pastor was visiting from Guate City and after his sermon, which was rather long and I lost his point after the first 5 minutes, there was a time of... passing the peace... or something like that. He would go around touching the heads of members of the church and often this would result in them falling down and sobbing. I really wasn´t sure what to do with this and it became worse as he slowly made his way closer to me. First he touched Mitzye and when she stayed standing, I felt reassured that at least I wouldn´t be the only heathen who hadn´t fallen with the touch of God. The pastor raised my hands and whispered ¨llena de paz, llena de paz¨ or full of peace, several times and then pushed slowly on my forehead. I was glad Henry had warned me to stand firmly before he came around! It was a very weird experience for me, and was glad to find out afterwards that this only happens when this specific pastor comes to the church and Henry doesn´t particularly like it either!

After watching the Mexico vs. Argentina game, a big deal here, we went to Grutas del Rey Marcos. It was absolutely beautiful with a tall waterfall and caves whch we couldn´t enter due to the time we arrived. We got some great pictures and enjoyed climbing to the top of the waterfall and cross bridges over the water fall at several places. At one point I let the four others walk a random path without me as I stood near the mouth of the cave. I enjoyed a light breeze that gently filled me with a peace I had been searching for over the last few days. At Henry´s house I am constantly srrounded by people and I am missing my personal space and time to myself. I needed that short time to recuperate and allow my heart to be at peace for a little while before continuing with what promises to be a full week.

En la tormenta

Today is a wet day. I am currently at my old host family´s house to celebrate Mitzye´s 16th Birthday! After CASAS today we waited for TWO HOURS FOR THE BUS! It started to pour and there was thunder and lightening... not good. We waited for a wihle longer until finally Tio Noe came to pick us up. My pants were wet past the knees and I was rather cold. I was so glad that two others were with me, and it certainly was an adventure! When we got back to the house I luckily could wear a pair of pants from my sister and stayed somewhat dry for the rest of the evening.

Another highlight of my recent activities includes making a new friend in a neighbour within the neighbourhood. Debbie had given Sonia and me a ride to La Fuente one of the first days I was in Guatemala and yesterday I was surprised when she stopped again for me shortly after I had left the house. We chatted on the way to La Fuente, mostly about soccer as that is the topic of most conversations right now, and I found out she also goes to the same church at Sonia and Julito. I almost had the guts to ask if she leaves at the same time everyday to see if I could make this a habit, but I decided to leave that up to fate. This morning I got almost to the end of the road where I take the bus before she came along as I had left a little earlier. She told me the house where she lives and invited me to visit anytime so I hope to get to know her a bit better over the next three weeks. I´ve really enjoyed experiences like this that help me gain confidence in my ability to communicate with few problems and the ease of communication.

Somehow time has flown and I am now left with three weeks. In a week from Thursday I will go to Coban with my host sisters and brother from last year to visit Henry, their cousin who used to live with them for almost a week. I´ve never been to Coban so it will be fun to get to know another place in Guatemala. I have also continued to enjoy spending time with people from CASAS´ summer group including the student who is living with the Tucubal family and Joseph Spory from EMU. It´s been great. This weekend we have hopes to go to Antigua with all the students :)

In the school I have continued to really enjoy what I´m doing. I´ve been teaching a couple times a week with both the elementary and middle school students. It´s amazing how much I don´t know about the English language. It´s much harder in Middle School where they learn more complicated grammar and are capable of understanding a lot more in English. How on earth do you explain English? I´m so used to just talking, but now I have to explain why I use certain words instead of others, or why the comparative for good is better and for bad is worse. Saber... who knows! I can´t wait to put some of these things I´m learning into action. Yesterday I saw a science lesson in fourth grade where the students were replicating the basic parts of a cell using jello and candies of different sizes and shapes. The students then had to label the parts of the cell and it was just fantastic. I´d love to try this. The kids were loving it and also applying their knowledge instead of just memorizing the parts of the cell. Yay Ana Cristina!!!!

I have two day left of Spanish classes! I can´t wait to be done. I feel like I´m at the point where I am not really benefitting from Spanish classes and just need to continue to learn vocabulary and practice the grammar I already know. This will come with continued practice and time! That´s all for now! Love to all

Comida Tipica

Where to start? Usually I have some idea of what I want to write when I sit down at a computer, but this time I`m relatively lost. It seems like a long time ago that I wrote and therefore it`s harder to know what to write. The last two weeks hav gone so quickly, and today is the date that marks a month that I`ve been here, but less than a month until I leave! I`m not really looking forward to saying goodbyes to the kids at school, nor the teachers, nor other people at CASAS or my host families. At the colegio I`ve been teaching at least once every week with both primaria and basico and I`m really enjoying it. With Basico they`re just learning that I speak Spanish so it`s been even more fun. At the beginning when Thelmy introduced me she told them I didn`t speak any Spanish as a joke, but I think they believed her...so now that they know I speak Spanish they`re more willing to ask me questions about how to say things in English. I`m so glad I have this experience now rather than a year ago when I would have really been struggling to understand what they said. It also helps my vocabulary to increase by leaps and bounds as teenagers and children use different words than adults! Today I taught all morning and my highlight was the 5th graders. We`re reading a book called Cloud Company and I asked if they wanted me to read or if they wanted to take turns reading. They opted for reading themselves cause they didn`t want to lose points and did a wonderful job. When I asked questions for comprehension or vocabulary usually I could get responses either by rewording my question or occasionally using Spanish. Their pronunciation is also spectacular, mostly, and it`s so fun to hear. 

This last weekend I slept over with my host sisters from last year and had quite a fun time with them. Saturday afternoon I returned to the Casa Rosada as we call it where Lucy and the gradnma live to help prepare tamales to celebrate Julito`s birthday! It was quite a process, and I was given the job of putting ties on the tamales. I had made a cake on Thursday night for the event with chocolate icing and reeses cups on top and it was sooo good with coconut ice cream... yum. We didn`t start eating until about 8:30 and then after eating we had a time of blessings for Julito. I was quite impressed with my little blessing, though I did make a point to keep it short and sweet as there were about 10 people still to follow me! We got home around 11 but I was wiped out! 

Sunday morning we were supposed to leave to go to Jutiapa at 5 in the morning so I set my alarm for 4, not knowing if we were going to eat breakfast before we left or not. I woke up at 5:07... oops! I threw on my clothes and went out... just as I was called! I`m not sure how but for whatever reason everyone else was a lil bit behind too so it didn`t matter. We went to Jutiapa which is about a 2 hour drive from Guate city to visit a friend of Julito`s from work. He has a dairy farm so I was expecting to see around 150 or 200 cows, not huge but medium size in the US. Well... they had 15 cows. I almost couldn`t stop my mouth from dropping open! Our breakfast consisted of totally organic products, all raised by the family from beans, eggs, milk, cheese y crema. We got to see how they make queso fresco as well as visit a couple of pueblos around Jutiapa and got within 15 minutes or so of the El Salvador border. I got a nice slight burn but it was sooo hot all day. It was fun, and Brittany, the girl staying with Lucy`s family, came along as well. 

Wednesday I made bunuelos de viento with Lucy for my class as we had gone to a museum Monday and seen an exhibit on comida tipica de Guatemala. They`re considered a dulce but are kind of just like little donuts (Except there`s no sugar in the dough) that are fried and then topped with a liquid syrup type thing. I wasn`t a huge fan but it was fun to make! Tomorrow starts la copa mundial and everyone here is crazy for it! Tomorrow at colegio we have the first two periods and then the rest of the morning will be watching the first game of the world cup. Kids get to come without uniforms and there`ll be food and drinks. I`m quite excited to have a fun morning with them and be in the middle of the youth soccer fever. Hope everyone is doing well!! Thanks again for emails and prayers. I`m off to lunch :)

Volcan Pacaya, Lluvia y Viaje a Honduras

My most recent adventures began with my departure from Guatemala City on Thursday morning at 5 to go to Tegucigalpa. the bus ride included a stop in Copan Ruinas and San Pedro Sula where I had to get off the bus as others were leaving and coming only to get back on the exact same bus every time to the exact same seat... lovely. It was a total of 14 hours on the bus, which was much more time than I would have liked! I had arranged to call Pablo and Grazia before the border when my phone still worked to let them know what time we were scheduled to arrive, but when my phone didn't work I was a little worried about arriving in Tegucigalpa with no address and no way to call them without asking someone for a phone. You can imagine my relief when I saw Pablo out of the bus window as I was entering the bus terminal! He drove me to Grazia's mom's house where they're staying and we celebrated his birthday with a couple friends who were also there. It's been really fun to see them interact with their friends here since in Harrisonburg their friends consist of family who are slightly older or people from EMU who are younger.

Friday morning Grazia took me to Academia Pinares, a bilingual school where she used to work, up in the mountains of Tegucigalpa. I met with the elementary principal there and he told me about the school and how it works and afterwards Grazia took me on a tour of the campus. It's beautiful! For those of you who don't know, I first heard about this school from the "Honduran Mafia", as we call them, who had several kids go through this school. After college I've been feeling the call to serve outside of the United States and when this school came up it immediately went high on my interests for post university. I would actually be paid there opposed to doing volunteer work but it would also be a tough transition I think. I still have a lot of time to think about it and for that I am grateful. It was fun to meet more of Grazia's friends and watch the kids playing on the playground and hearing some of them talk English with their teachers as that is required. There are, of course, things within the school that I think I wouldn't agree with but that will be anywhere I decide to teach.

Saturday afternoon we went to Valle de Angeles which is a quaint small tourist area outside of Tegucigalpa. There were lots of stores with artesian work and pottery characteristic of the area. We ate lunch at a little dinner and talked church politics and then walked around the town. The roofs are all made of the clay curved shingles that are often orange, and it was quite quaint. When the rain clouds started rolling in we cut our afternoon a little short and headed back into the city.

Sunday was a day of church, going out to eat, realxing, and church again in the evening. They have Sunday school in the morning and then church in the evening. It's kind of an interesting set up and I think I like the two together rather than separate better. It has rained constantly since I've been in Teguc. And I'm not kidding, I mean constantly! It's rainy season, but the tropical storm also hit making the rain even more... enjoyable. Plus while I was there Volcan Pacaya exploded in Guatemala showering Guatemala City with ash followed by rain. Monday morning at 5:45 I left in bus to return to Guatemala. There were reports of flooding in Guatemala and  Honduras due to the passing of Tropical Storm Agatha but the day was sunny and beautiful. After 14 more hours in the bus I was more than ready to be en casa again. I called a taxi driver who is related to my family and actually really enjoyed my taxi ride back to the house. He filled me in on the weekends activities and I was surprised at how much of Guatemala was still covered in ash. It is essentially black sand. Streets still had piles of sand and piles of plastic bags full of sand that had been cleaned out of houses and streets. Cars still had signs that they had recently been covered with black and some white buildings had a blackish tinge. This morning walking I got to see how much the sand still is around and is still blowing in the air. I was surprised to get more in my eyes while walking towards Novicentro.

This week many schools are closed in Guatemala as these schools have turned into shelters for those who lost their homes due to the volcano and massive rains. I have taken a couple pictures and hope to add some here one day when I´m using a different computer that actually has working USB ports and isn´t from 20 years ago! These week I return to partial routine and am almost thankful for that, though it was very nice to have a vacation in between!