In Florida...But thinking about Guatemala

It's a couple days late...but here was the update from my last day and night in Guatemala. I made it safely to Florida after a few delays and have already enjoyed a couple relaxing days on the beach!!

The last day wasn’t exactly the most perfect way to end the experience at Hogar Temporal, but the rest of the month definitely overshadowed the rough day. Since the kids aren’t in school all 16 or so of the kids were in the nursery. The president’s wife didn’t come on Thursday, but she was for sure coming Friday afternoon. I walked in and it looked like a completely different orphanage. The paint was fresh, new blue and green and white instead of the chipped yellow and cream paint that had been there the past month. They were patching up all of the cracks in the floor, there were new curtains on the windows, the floor was washed at least 3 times while I was at work, and they were converting crammed classrooms into much more spacious rooms with bunk single beds instead of the bunk beds that are upstairs. They must have worked all night to get the place looking like it did, but it was definitely worth the effort. The place looked inviting instead of bland and sad and slightly run down as it had looked only days before. They had the Guatemala flag set up and other posters on stands around the entrance, they brought in plants, and they power-washed the front sidewalk. The military/police/guards came into the home to inspect and several were stationed outside of the home. The interesting thing about all of the guards in Guatemala (even if they are in Hiper Pais) is that they all carry huge guns. So imagine maybe 8 of these guards walking into the orphanage. The kids saw them coming through the glass window that overlooks the hallway across the way and they all yelled “ la policia” and hid under the beds. It was really funny and cute. When the one guy walked in I was standing there holding Maria, and slowly all of the kids crawled out from under the bed and went over to talk to him and shake his hand. I’m sure that experience will be one that the kids don’t soon forget!

Because everyone was scrambling trying to get ready for the first lady to come, no one was paying any attention to the kids, and they seemed to undo all of the cleaning that the workers had just finished. They left all of the kids in their pajamas until about 12:30. That was the last thing that I did before I got picked up. I changed Maria’s diaper and put on a new outfit, tied her shoes and put her back in her crib to throw away the diaper when Paola came up to tell me that Nayo was here to pick me up. All of the kids had new matching outfits in different colors. They were fleece like material with a long sleeved sweatshirt like shirt and a sleeveless vest to go on top and matching fleece pants.

Because I was the only one in the nursery with 16 kids, there were a lot of things that went unnoticed, or I was only able to console the tears after the pain had been inflicted. At one point I had been talking to one of the other kids and my back was turned to the older kids. I turned around to the screams of Maybeline. She was lying on her back on the floor and two of the older girls were repeatedly kicking her as hard as they could. I yelled for the girls to stop and went over to pick up Maybeline. It was a sad and painful experience to watch. In the other dormitory where the older girls were staying I witnessed several different fights, all of which eventually got broken up. It was hard because there was nothing for the kids to do. I asked if I could bring down the toys, and Antonita said no because it was going to be too much to clean up. So the kids were expected to sit on the carpet not doing anything for 5 hours…that definitely didn’t happen.

There was a new family of girls in the orphanage as well. There were 5 girls. The oldest was 20 and the youngest was about 4. It was so sad to see as well. The oldest girl, Jessica, came in and started talking with me asking me how old I was, where I was from, and telling me repeatedly that she didn’t want to be here, that she wanted to leave but couldn’t. She didn’t have any papers, which I’m assuming meant she couldn’t leave, she couldn’t be adopted, and she couldn’t work. It was such a helpless feeling. I couldn’t do anything for her. She came in a couple times to the nursery to cry and I asked her if she wanted a hug, she said yes. She was saying how the other girls were punching them when they came in and that the older ones were beating up the younger girls. The youngest sister, Isabel was in the nursery. She looked terrified and I can’t imagine what was going through her head. She kept going out into the dormitory to make sure her sister’s were still there. At one point they had gone downstairs for something and she started screaming. We looked out the window and found them and she calmed down and so I just held her for a while.

Each day had a level of sadness mixed in with all of the laughs, but I think today was a little more sad because it was my last day and there was just a feeling of helplessness to help these kids. I know that my time in the orphanage did make a difference and for the days I was there and able to make them laugh I’m so thankful. Obviously I got extremely attached to the kids and so leaving work on Friday was so difficult. I said goodbye like I usually do not making a big deal that it was my last day. I gave big hugs all around and walked out of the nursery with Paola. One of the secretaries of the orphanage came out to talk with me, Paola, and Willy (one of the CCS staff). She started to cry as she thanked me for the time I had spent in the orphanage. She said that the doors are always open for me to come back when I want, that it was a joy to have me around the orphanage. Paola was such an unexpected surprise on my last day! We got another photo together, although not on my camera. She got teary as she gave me another big hug and a kiss and held my hand as I walked down the stairs. I got teary as they thanked me but I managed to control myself until I got to the van. I cried the whole way home.

Lunch was quick because I had to finish packing. I said more rounds of goodbyes. Gabby and Angelica cried when I gave them a hug and said goodbye and told me they were going to miss having me around the house. I’m always welcome back there as well and I hope to stay in touch with them. It was a bittersweet goodbye. I was ready to end this little trip but the connections and relationships that I established in a months time will have lasting effects on me.

Here are a few pictures of the staff of CCS Xela!

Gaby and I. I'm really going to miss her smiles each morning!

Angelica and I. Angelica is the head director of the program in Xela.

Dona Eva, Maria Luisa, Betty, Willy, Me, and Don Renee around the dining room table.

We got on a van and drove the 4 hours to Antigua, a small town in Guatemala. We walked around to find a hostel, dropped our stuff off and headed out for one last dinner together as a group. It was a really nice last night in Guatemala and I got to go to sleep listening to the rain pounding on the roof. It was a short night for me. I went to bed around 11:30 and got up at 4:20 to catch the shuttle to the airport. It was a relaxing day of travel. Emily came with me to the airport which was nice because my flight was delayed an hour, so we got to spend 3 hours together. I was able to change my later flight from Miami to Tampa so I didn’t have to rush through customs. I would have missed my other flight, and other people who didn’t switch theirs are flying standby and are waiting to see if they have enough room.

So I made it Miami and am waiting for my Tampa flight. It was so different to fly into Miami and see the huge buildings and the blue water. To have people rushing around, to be able to flush the toilet paper down the toilet and fill my water bottle up with water from the water fountain. It wouldn’t say I’m having culture shock. Haha. It’s different to be back, but at the same time it’s nice to be back.

So this ends the Guatemala portion of the blog. Stay tuned for more sporadic updates from the rest of the summer!

Salsa Dancing Pros!

This is just going to be a short recap...more will come when I have a little more time. Between going salsa dancing, going out to eat, and packing I didn't get much time to write last night.

Work yesterday (Thursday) was really wonderful! I got there and as soon as I walked into the nursery Jenny and Luis started screaming my name, and then all of the other kids ran over and gave me big hugs and were yelling my name. The nurse was in the room checking in on Luis and she said that the other day they were asking who the volunteer in the nursery was, and she said that Luis remembered my name and was telling all of the other kids. It was really really cute! Because school is out, all of the younger kids were in the nursery yesterday, so I had about 15 of the kids in the room by myself for a little while. It was interesting! Another volunteer came in a little bit later, which was extremely helpful so then I could go help Paola in the kitchen. (I realized yesterday that I was probably spelling her name wrong!)

Paula and I in the kitchen before I left! I'm going to miss working with her and hearing her laugh!

Paula was extremely happy to have me in the kitchen, and I got several wonderful hugs from her...and a picture! I was able to write her a letter and have Eva, one of the newer volunteers at the house, check my translation!

The president's wife was coming to check in on the orphanage because she is the one that oversees all of the government run orphanages. That is why on Wednesday they had major cleaning and de-licing, and yesterday they were repainting the walls, scraping off all of the paper and gum from the walls, changing classrooms into rooms with beds, and fixing cracks and other problems around the house. I didn't get to see her, but I'm sure it was exciting for all of the kids and the workers despite the stress of getting prepared.

After work we had lunch and I finished up some more packing and had our last feedback meeting before we headed to salsa lessons. I cried at the feedback meeting thinking about the possibility that I may never see any of these kids again, and remembering the wonderful time I have had here at the house and with the kids. It's definitely bittersweet to leave. Only 4 of us went because the other interns needed to present their projects. It was a lot of fun! We were there for an hour and a half and so we firts learned the basic steps, and then later we got to practice with a guy that came in and he taught us how to do some of the spinny moves and we did two different dips. It was extremely entertaining to watch, and a lot of fun to do!

Dancing!

We all went out to dinner (all 10 of us) at a Mexican restaurant near Central Park. A few of the girls went out for coffee afterwards and enjoyed walking around the city at night. It was beautiful and a nice way to end the trip.

I'm up early again finishing letters and make sure that I have everything!

Things I forgot to mention on Wednesday:
-It was Father's Day here. It is a really big holiday with flowers lining the streets, festivals in central park, fireworks, and confetti. Very interesting!
-I thought I had figured Jenny's family out...but I hadn't. She has 3 sisters and 1 brother. The one sister, who she did not want to leave on Tuesday, just came to the orphanage this week after Jenny had her court appearance. It all makes a lot more sense now! I'm glad I finally got that solved!

We leave right after work, so my next blog update will be done in Florida! Crazy!

A Major Undertaking

I was greeted today with screams from Jenny and Luis went I went into the nursery. It was pretty cute! I changed a couple of poopy diapers today, and luckily someone, I think from the other volunteer groups, had gone out and bought wet wipes! It made things a lot easier and cleaner! Nelzo was still sick today and in bed. It worries me that he never smiles and is constantly on the verge of tears. School has not been good for him. He’s a different kid than when I started.

A couple other volunteers came in for a while, but mostly talked amongst themselves instead of playing with the kids. There's definitely a divide among the volunteers, those in the Christian organizations, and the others. It's unfortunate, and I know it is hard to coordinate with people outside of your own group, but things would be a lot more effective if there was respect on both ends. I think that the other volunteers feel like they don't have anything to do and are frustrated because they paid for the experience and are being jipped in their mind. I can empathize, but I'm thankful that I'm in the nursery. The other volunteers are working with the school age kids and there are definitely a more hands in the orphanage than before. It's a shame that there is a divide.

I was talking to one of the girls about Oliver and the way that his legs just give out from under him and how he never wants to try and stand up. He's completely content with rocking back and forth on his knees and sitting all day. She was wondering if malnutrion/rickets could be a possible cause. I don't think that I'll ever get an answer on that one!

Luis and Oliver got a major buzz haircut today because of the lice that is going around the place. They look pretty cute with their new haircuts. After Luis got his, he came into the nuresry and kept looking in the mirror hanging on the side of one of the cribs. It was pretty cute. I think he realy liked it! The girls in the orphanage, all 40 of them (give or take) were given the lice treatment today using the really strong shampoo. It was quite a process that was really hard to watch. I helped with the younger ones getting them changed and ready to go through the line. They had to get their hair wet, then they came back a little later and were given the treatment shampoo, then sent back into the room where a movie was playing, and after a certain amount of time brought back in to have the shampoo rinsed off, and then they washed their hair and changed their clothes. The sad part was when almost all of the girls got the soap in their eyes and were screaming. One of the workers must have seen the look on my face and commented that I looked sad. I'm not exactly sure how effective the whole treatment was considering the kids came back and used the same brushes they had been using before.

Luis and his new buzz cut!

All shampooed.

We went to the gym again today, I ran 4 miles again! We made cookies again as well, although this time we got oatmeal chocolate chip. They were delicious, although the second batch came out a little burnt.

I also got to skype with Gina, one of the girls that was here my first week, today. It was really great to catch up and here about life back in NYC. I'm looking forward to the trips that I'm going to have to make to visit the friends I made here. Hannah and I were already talking about when I am able to come down to Gerogia! That would be a lot of fun!

I got teary again today thinking about leaving. Gabby, one of the staff, commented on how sad she was going to be when I left, that I was such a positive and kind person and that it was a pleasure having me around. The staff has been so wonderful and have really done a wonderful job investing in us. A month is a long time, but it's gone by so fast! I set up my rides today to Antigua and then to the airport on Saturday. Another girl, Emily, is coming in the 5am shuttle from Antigua to the airport with me, so that's nice I won't have to travel alone.

Two more nights of sleep here! Tomorrow we're going to work as usual, we have salsa lessons, and then we're going out to eat as a group as sort of a celebration. 7 of us are done this week and when we leave a new gruop of 16 people are going to come in. The house is definitely going to be very different.

New Discoveries and a Mayan Sauna

Today was another good day. I was the only one in the nursery so I couldn’t leave and help Paula. I think that she was sad I wasn’t able to help. She gave me a big hug when I left today and reminded me to bring my camera so we could get a picture on Thursday!

One of the girls associated with Buckner, Melissa, came up to the nursery and she was able to clarify some more things for me. Maria was left at the side of the road, but she is currently up for adoption and the paper work for her adoption is already underway…she thinks. There had been a previous attempt to adopt Luis, but he was found in a garbage can at the side of the road and has no papers, and so the adoption could not go through. They still don’t have the papers for him. I found out that he’s 2 ½ and so is Jenny. Jenny has 3 siblings in the orphanage, although not the ones that I originally thought. She was gone yesterday for what Melissa thought to be a judge hearing with her parents. The kids were abused and I think that the court was deciding what to do. These are all speculations that would make more sense after Melissa translated the sign posted in the nursery.

Jenny was back today and full of smiles and laughter...before her sad afternoon.

Rosita left and Antonita came in at first but I didn’t see her all day. After Nelzo, Marita, and Oliver fell asleep I took Luis and Jenny out to play with the other kids on the playground. They really enjoyed being outside and playing on the playground with the other kids. Jenny got to play with one of her sisters and Luis got to play in the water, climb up the slide, and hobble around. They both are too cute! When it was time to go in though, Jenny screamed and screamed and screamed uncontrollably because she didn’t want to leave her sister. It seems silly, but I had such a huge and sad realization that I can never completely understand the sadness and pain of abandonment that she was feeling. It was so sad!

I got picked up late at work today so I was there for all of lunch. They were thankful for my help. Some other things I figured out today, there are two groups from Buckner. One is an internship program that is down in Guatemala for a month and the other is just volunteers here for a week. One of the girls in the week long volunteer program came up to the nursery. She was enjoyable to talk to, and now I know that I'll be able to have someone up in the nursery so I can help Paula on my last day with her. It was a pretty uneventful day, but a good one.

We went to some traditional Mayan saunas today. It was a long drive for only a little bit of time in the sauna. The surrounding area was absolutely beautiful, but the saunas were a little over rated. The attraction is that they are naturally heated by the surrounding mountains, the same mountains where the hot springs are.

We're all showered and ready for dinner. I'm tired today. I stayed up late last night to finish reading, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's about a little boy with autism who's dad died in 9/11. It was a sad book, I cried at the end, but I had a hard time putting it down. I'm excited for a good night's sleep! :)

Last Week in Guatemala!

Today was my last Monday here in Xela, Guatemala. It is crazy how fast the time has gone. I cried a little at work today because I was sad thinking about leaving the kids.

Another Christian group came into the orphanage today to do a dance performance for the kids. It seemed a little long for the kids to stay focused, but they did really enjoy it, and it was really nice to be outside in the sunshine.

Jenny wasn't there today. There was a sign on the door, that I meant to take a picture of, (if it's there tomorrow I will) saying to have her things ready and that she would be picked up at 6am this morning and would be in front of an audience (or at least I think that's what it said). I am wondering if she is up for adoption or what the audience is for. Hopefully I can ask more questions tomorrow.

Luis got his cast off, and so it was really wonderful to see him walking around again, although they want him to stay sitting and not work it too much in one day. That doesn't go over very well considering he's a 4 year old boy who wants to get into everything!

The kids are all back from their weekend adventure while the orphanage was fumigated. I think that all of the kids are more sick now, but maybe that's just me. They did put up new drapes and got new sheets on all of the beds, but I couldn't tell much of a difference. I'm still not quite sure where they stayed, but it was about an hour away and they must have taken a bus. The workers looked tired again, probably because the travel threw off all of the kids's sleep schedule and daily routine. That was quite an undertaking that produced a lot of laundry. I helped Rosita fold laundry today which she was extremely grateful for. I don't fold the clothes the same way, so it was funny because Marta would laugh at what I folded, show me the correct way, watch me do it, and shake her head that it was still wrong. Maybe I wasn't as much help as I thought, but Rosita still was appreciative. I don't know what conversations took place but she came back into the nursery crying today talking about people with bad hearts that were mean to the kids and her, and she was very upset. She cried a little, so I was able to give her a hug and let her cry and rub her back. I think that the other workers don't treat her very nicely and I'm sure that it's very difficult to come back to a job each day with very little respect and very little compensation. She really does love the kids though and is a very dear person who offers such a large portion of her life.

The kids didn't go to school today, so Marta, Maybelene, Iris, and Nelzo were in the nursery today. They all played very nicely with the lego blocks and helped to take care of a stuffed baby. It was really cute to watch! They all got to go outside to watch the performance while Oliver and Marita were sleeping. Nelzo fell asleep in my arms right before I left! :)

Luis showing everyone the wonderful house he built.

After lunch Hannah and I went down town to the coffee shop that has an amazing view. We tried to sit outside but it was little cold so we ended up sitting inside. I got a vanilla cappuccino that was excellent and Hannah got the chocolate con leche. I wrote in my journal while Hannah finished writing postcards, and I read my book. We went to the post office and took the bus back home. The bus rides are one of my favorite things about Xela. On the way home we had a fun experience of seeing how many people we could cram in. We got into a friendly conversation with the guy sitting next to us saying we needed at least 4 more people to break yesterday's record of 23 people in one bus! He was laughing and saying it was all about getting more money...then he got off. We only got up to 19. A little later a mom, daughter, and another girl got on the bus. The girl was very interested in Hannah and I and had the cutest smile as she got off the bus and waved to us. They all seemed to know the driver's assistant (the one who yells out the open door of the bus) and he kept trying to come back and put his arm around her and she kept hitting him and telling him things. Everyone thought it was extremely amusing, and although we didn't know exactly what was going on, it was comical! I'm so glad we figured out how to take the bus back!

My delicious cappuccino!

Hannah and I went to the gym after going into town. I ran 4 miles which was really exciting, and now we're ready for dinner. It was an excellent last Monday!

28 Hours and 4 Buses Later

We're back from Tikal as of 1:30 this afternoon. It ended up being a little more expensive than I thought it was going to be, but I'm very glad that we made it to Tikal!

Thursday was a good day at work. It was nice to cut out a day early after an interesting week. The orphanage was actually going to be fumigated and they were clearing all of the children out of the orphanage for a couple of days. Apparently there has been a lot of sickness (including lice) going around and they haven't been able to get rid of it so they finally are doing something about it. The local schools normally have a week off right this month, but because of other circumstances and talk of the swine flu the schools closed early, so the kids are out for a couple weeks. That affects some of the volunteers who are placed in schools or are in medical placements that work with children in health education. I'm not quite sure what they are going to do for this last week.

Thursday was chaos at work because the family was leaving. They brought in more candy and toys and the workers had a hard time cleaning up all the wrappers. I couldn't tell if the workers were happy or sad that the other volunteers were leaving. There had been difficulty in getting the kids to bed and eating their food and all of the workers looked tired.

It was kind of a free for all at the orphanage because the schools shut down and so the kids that normally go to school were hanging around the orphanage. The boys and girls were split up and watching videos in different sections of the upstairs. We got to take the little ones out to play while the older kids were watching the video. When I was heading down stairs with Marita I stopped to talk with one of the other volunteers about the trip to Tikal. She was telling me some other helpful tips about the trip. Belkis came over and told me that Marita and I look alike. It was pretty cute. I'm not sure I see the resemblence though. Haha.

I got into another conversation with another volunteer about the school system that was set up in the orphanage about what the kids would really need to be able to effectively teach and prepare these kids for something different or better, and most importantly life after the home. It's a lot easier to point out things that are wrong or that should be changed, but I think that it's very worth sitting down and thinking about what realistically could be changed and provided for these kids. I do think that there is a great opportunity to teach the kids there, but they don't have enough hands, textbooks, or a curriculum/plan for these kids of what they want them to learn. In fact I don't know that they expect a lot of them to learn anything. I was in the classroom the other day and talking to Sarah and she said that it would be better if one of the boys just played because he didn't understand anything about numbers. It was really sad. I asked the little boy Jonny if he wanted to work on his numbers, and he didn't, and with that he kept on playing and hiding in the corner, and he will continue to do that until someone expects something different of him. Those were the highlights of work on Thursday.

After lunch I quickly finished packing ans we got dropped off at the bus station at 2:15. The bus pulled out of Xela at 2:30 and we got to Guatemala City around 7:30. We had packed peanut butter and bread and fruit and granola bars, so we had a picnic of sorts in the bus terminal as we waited for our next bus to leave at 9:15. It was a coach bus, but the seats in front of Hannah and I were pushed all the way back so I could barely move. My legs felt very clostraphobic because there wasn't much room to go anywhere. I can't tell if I actually slept on the overnight part of the trip, but I was rested enough. The coach bus stopped at the side of the road and the 7 of us had to get out to get on another smaller shuttle that took us to Flores where our hostel was. Being woken abruptly at 6:30 without having a full night's sleep was a little rough and we were all a little groggy and unsure of this seemingly random switch in buses. They did drop us off at our hostel (Los Amigos) without extra charge (which there shouldn't have been) and we set up a time for them to pick us up to drive us to Tikal. The hostel cost 30 Q for the one night we were there. We stayed in a dormitory with bunk beds. It was a cool atmosphere, filled with hikers and backpackers, many of them on their way to Belize or Mexico. We left our stuff and got on the bus to Tikal. It cost 70 Q per person roundtrip. It was supposed to be a private bus, but we picked up strangers along the way and dropped them off at points along our hour and a half drive.

Once we got to Tikal, we debated getting a guide or not. The girls (Chloe, Hannah, and I) decided it would be worth the extra cost to have someon walk us through and tell us things as we saw them. The boys bought a map and went their own way. We were able to meet up in the Gran Plaza at the end after we had eaten our packed lunches. I'm really glad we got a guide and that we split up. Seven people is a lot of people to coordinate especially in a hot place that requires a lot of walking and has attractions that people wanted to spend differing amounts of time on!

We got to climb up 4 pyramids as well as climb on the other parts in the Gran Plaza. Most of what we saw was restored, but you could see the back side of the restored parts and how things looked before restoration. It was amazing to think of 80,000-1000,000 living in this area and what a typical day with bustling people would have looked like. The view from the tops of the pyramids was absolutely amazing. We got to see a cellar that was still hollowed out and we got to climb inside. The difference in temperature was amazing! We saw spider monkeys, howler monkeys, a tarantula, different birds, and some other weird animal similar to raccoons. The pictures don't do the place justice, as usual, but they're a neat remembrance, and it's amazing how small we are compared to the pyramids!

The back of one of the pyramids that wasn't restored.

Looking out from Pyramid IV. The view was amazing, especially of the couple other pyramids poking through the trees. When the Pyramids were actually being used the trees were all cleared out...I can't quite imagine what that must have looked like!

Climbing up the vines of one of the trees. The guide suggested this excellent picture spot!
(Chloe, Hannah, Me)

Climbing out of the cellar. There were about 5 different rooms linked to this one entrance. It was a good thing I had my flashlight in my bag, or we probably wouldn't have gotten to go in. The guide went down first to make sure there wasn't anything in there, and another group walked past and they didn't get to climb down...we were lucky!

A room at the top of one of the pyramids we climbed. This was one of the pyramids that we got to climb the stone steps instead of a set of ladder like stairs on the side.

Another pyramid...I can't remember the name/number.

One of the views of the Gran Plaza. The Gran Plaza was by far the most impressive because of the amount of structures in a smaller space. They had other carvings and faces in the rocks which were also amazing to see because I think they are the originals.
(I have pictures of those too!)

Looking across the field of the Gran Plaza. The building in the background is on almost all of the Tikal postcards.

On our way out we stopped to get our picture taken. This is 6 of the 7 of us that went...the other one (Jason) is taking the picture. We had fun, and I'm so glad that 7 of us went, because originally it was just going to be me and Hannah.
(Guillaume, Me, Justin, Chloe, Kevin, Hannah)

The heat was almost unbearable and overpowering, and definitely different than Xela. We we would take a cold shower which would feel wonderful but as soon as I got out, I started sweating again. It felt so nice tot take a hot shower when we got back to Xela this afternoon! The bugs weren't too bad, at least not as bad as I thought they were going to be.

We stayed on the Island of Flores. It was an extremely small town that looked a lot bigger on the map. It definitely catered to tourists and because of the economy and because it was the off season, there seemed to be very little going on. Our hostel was really neat with a swing inside and hammocks to read in. The food was amazing, and so we ate there last night before heading back on the bus. We found a couple of other good restaurants/coffee shops, with excellent views of the surrounding lake. We tried to find a place to swim in the lake, but it we never ended up finding a good spot. Two of the guys we went with wanted to stay in a hotel, so we were actually able to use the pool there which was extremely nice. We walked around the deserted and unfinished streets. It was a beautiful but weird little town, but it was nice to spend a lazy saturday there.

We got back on the bus at 9:15 pm in front of the Gran Hotel. We were a little skeptical that the tour bus was actually going to come to Flores and pick us up, but it came. We picked up people from different points along the way again. We got into Guatemala City at 5:00 am and waited around until our second bus left at 8:00 am. We finally got back to Xela in the afternoon after a total of 28 hours on 4 different buses, plus some layover time! I enjoyed a nap and a hot shower before Hannah and I went to XelaPan, the most declicious bakery down the street. It's a chain in Xela, but it has amazing fresh breads and desserts for extremely cheap and delicious hot chocolate.

I'm definitely ready for bed and ready for my last week at work! I can't believe how fast it has gone. I'm sure I'll think of other detials tomorrow, but I think I made a good dent in the events of the weekend!

I'm so thankful for this opportunity to serve in Guatemala, and the friendships that I have made. I'm thankful for the safety that I have had in travels and with my possessions. I'm thankful for the ways I have been challenged and the conversations I have had with people. I'm thankful for the reminder how big of a world we live in.

A Rainy Wednesday

Today was the first day it has rained since Saturday. It's looked like it's going to rain every day but then then it passes. The rain for a much colder evening. Chloe, Hannah, and I went to watch game two of the soccer match. We didn't play today, but it was really nice to get out of the house for a little and to have some good laughs. The CCS team lost again, but they've definitely improved.

Work went well today. I spent the couple hours in the morning with the kids in the nursery. There was another girl, Iris, in the nursery today. She's been in there a couple times before, but she's been going to school in the morning lately. She's always a challenge though! I don't know if there is a possibility of special needs involved or if she just has more emotional baggage that leads to more outbursts than the other kids. I was thankful for my special ed classes and the protective physical intervention classes I had last year because today I was trying to avoid being bitten multiple times. Iris calmed down after being held for awhile, but I don't know what set her off any of the times she had an outburst.

I finally figured out that Nelzo is going to school in the morning with a couple of the other kids. Apparently he and Oliver had not been in the same orphanage until recently. The other volunteers were telling me that he had been in an orphanage in Guatemala City and it's only within the last couple months that he was transferred here.

I only have a couple more times in the kitchen with Paula. I asked her today if I could bring my camera in on Tuesday and get a picture with her because it will be my last week, and she gladly agreed. I washed about 2 hours worth of dishes today, grated carrots, and helped unwrap the tamales.

After work I was able to take a little nap, I went to the gym, and some of us stopped at Hiper Pais (Wal-Mart) to get bread, peanut butter, apples, and granola bars for our overnight trip. We got the tickets today so we'll be all packed and ready to go at 2pm tomorrow. We get into Guatemala City around 7pm and leave at 9:15 pm to arrive in Tikal at 6 am Friday morning.

Church Tours and Machine Weaving

Two days down and two more to go before we head to Tikal! Today was another interesting day because Paula wasn't in the kitchen and the other two didn't need help in the kitchen. When I walked in another volunteer Gabe asked me if I was going to the nursery and I told him about the extra set of hands in the nursery and how they didn't need help in the kitchen so he suggested helping in the classrooms. After the family came in I headed to the classroom and another volunteer was there with 2 kids. I played memory and name games with them and started talking to Sarah about her placement in the orphanage, and places she visited. She was telling me about how she had taken the overnight bus to Tikal and she told me where she stayed and some other insights into walking to the hostel instead of taking the "free" taxi, because the hostel would charge us later. All of our money is ready to give to Nayo who's going to buy our roundtrip tickets tomorrow...and we now have a place to stay!

We went on a tour of old churches today and watched another weaving demonstration, this one was machine weaving though. It was also complicated, but in a different way. There were a lot more parts to the machine to make the intricate design on the fabric used for traditional skirts. i got to try this machine weaving as well!

The inside of an old church. The front is original and unchanged...pretty interesting.

Me trying to machine weave.

Mayan women in front of an old catholic church that incorporated Spanish and Mayan (mainly the use of bright colors) cultures into the design.

A closer look at the traditional style of dress. You can see the fabric used for the skirt that the weaver was in the process of making!

It was a pretty uneventful afternoon after the church tour. We picked up our laundry, stopped at a bakery on the way home, enjoyed some dinner, and watched some more of a different movie. I'm ready for bed, and ready for another day at work!

The cookies last night were a huge hit too!

New Faces in the Orphanage

Today was the first emotionally hard day I've had here. I went to work as normal, but about 30 minutes later 15 new Americans came into the orphanage. One group of students are a part of Buckner, a Christian internship, and the other group was a family that came to Guatemala to volunteer together. After touring the orphanage, the family decided to come back to the nursery and literally took the kids out of my hands. It was hard for me. I knew that I was attached to the kids, but I didn't realize how much! It was just a very interesting situation. None of the new volunteers speak any Spanish at all, not that mine is that great, but it was frustrating that none of them really tried. I could see looks of anxiousness in the other workers faces of not knowing how to handle so many unfamiliar people all at one time and not being able to communicate at all. Another thing that through me off was the mom came and and started saying that a friend of hers should adopt one of the children because she was cute, without knowing that the little girl still has a family here in Guatemala. I was torn as I was thinking which situation would be better, being with family in an orphanage or being adopted into a family that can provide more opportunities.

I'm still not quite sure what was so weird about the day, but it probably boils down to the fact that I didn't feel needed any more. So, it was a hard day because I was emotionally torn between being excited for the kids that there were more hands free to play and take care of the kids, and at the same time feeling useless, like everything I have established with the kids over the past 2 weeks was suddenly snatched away. I was talking to Hannah about my day, and she very helpfully told me that I'm not working in the orphanage to feel needed but to help the kids, which I needed to hear!

So on that note, I was thankful once again to have Paula in the kitchen. I was able to go to the kitchen were I was very much needed to wash all of the dishes, silverware, and cups from breakfast...that's a lot of dishes! I so much enjoy being in the kitchen with her and exchanging smiles. She has so much joy and it is amazing to see her maneuver with ease as she cooks for 80 kids! And...helping in the kitchen really does affect every single child in the orphanage, so that was a helpful reminder as well.

On a lighter note, I was talking to Paula and telling her that we are going to have salsa lessons this week or next and that I wanted to learn how to salsa...later the director came in and started salsa dancing and said that he would teach me...but not today, another day. Paula thought it was really funny. We'll see if he actually keeps his promise. Also, another little boy David saw Helen and my handshake and so we made up a slightly different one...I'm up to 2 secret handshakes!

Tomorrow's another day and I think it will be easier to remind myself of why I am at the orphanage and to be excited about the extra help and attention the kids will get. Hannah and I are headed to the gym, and we got some ingredients to make some chocolate chip cookies later! Yay for a little taste of home. :)

A Weekend In Xela

I can't believe that the weekend is already over. It has definitely been a mix of busy and uneventful, but I'm glad that I was able to experience a weekend in Xela.

After my hike, I tried to nap but figured that I wouldn't be able to sleep later if I took a nap too late, so I took some ibuprofen for my headache, drank some water and coffee, and talked with the other volunteers that got back from the day trip. A couple of the volunteers went to the Olmec ruin site a couple hours from here. The Olmecs are said to have predated the Mayans. The pictures that they have are really neat, and it got all of us excited for Tikal this weekend! (We're up to 5 people going to Tikal, and possibly more, if the new volunteers are able to take off work on their first week) The other volunteers went to a water park, Xocomil, for the day and enjoyed the slides.

Five of us went out to dinner after the new volunteers arrived. I don't know the name of the place, but it was a cute restaurant that was on the upper level of a building with windows that overlooked the street and a balcony and candles on each table. I had a delicious sandwhich. I'm not sure of all it contained but it was toasted bread with olive oil and oregono, tomatoes and different kind of cheeses in kind of a hot panini style. It was absolutely delicious...possibly because I was so hungry after the long day's hike. We thought we were going dancing after, but one of the girls wasn't feeling well, and I was eager to go home, so the other three decided to return home as well.

I didn't sleep well again last night, again. I went to sleep fine, but was up at 6 and could not go back to sleep, so it did make for a short night. I hope tonight's a little better. I was able to read and journal though which was really helpful and it was really fun to reflect on some of the things that I've learned so far! The two new girl volunteers were up early as well so I ended up getting to drink coffee and chat with them. They seem to add to the dynamic of the group, and so it is really nice to have more people in the house! The one girl, Chloe, is only staying 2 weeks, and the other two volunteers, Eva and Justin, are staying for a month. Chloe and Justin may try to come to Tikal this weekend.

Hannah and I had talked about going to church before, and so at breakfast we were able to ask Nayo where we could/should go. He called Angelica, the director, and we found a service that started at 9. Nayo dropped us off and we walked the 20 minutes home after the service. I understood absolutely nothing of the service. In part because I couldn't hear the priest, and mostly because I didn't understand the Spanish. I'm still glad we went though. It was an absolutely beautful church that was semi-open. The back doors were stain glass with really large pieces of colored glass in geometric shapes. Te doors were open and the windows at the front were open so there was a nice breeze throughout the church. It was definitely an experience, but I'm glad that Hannah was interested in going as well. I continue to enjoy the time that I spend with her and am really thankful that she is here!

After church we went downtown to the market and walked around a bit. I felt very accomplished because I am finally able to figure out where I am when we drive around town. We took the bus to Central Park, and back home again, which is something new. Normally we take a taxi home because it is easier, but it is a lot more expensive! I'm excited to know that taking the bus is possible! A bus ride is 1.25 Q (about 15 cents) compared to the 40 Q taxi ride (about $5). If you're in a group the taxi isn't horrible, but it definitely adds up a lot quicker than the bus ride.

The buses are so funny to me. They're a bunch of vans with a driver and then a side kick who stands with the door open hanging out as the van drives by yelling the route. They pack in about 17 people into the vans, which are really supposed to be for 13.

This is an example of the vans, although the buses that run through the city don't typically have the roof rack and don't have Turismo on the front.

After the market I enjoyed a relaxing day of movie watching and eating, and am now ready for bed and ready for another week at work. I'm excited because tomorrow I get to work in the kitchen with Paula!

I Conquered Santa Maria!!

I did it, I climbed Santa Maria! Santa Maria is 12,375 ft tall and has the most magnificent views of the smaller volcano Santiaguito which is said to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of its regular eruptions! (Santiaguito stands at 8235 ft.) Santa Maria is currently dorment but has had a couple of eruptions, one in 1902 that is categorized as among the three largest eruptions of the 20th century and another in 1922. We made it to the top with about 5 minutes to spare before Santiaguito erupted. Santiaguito erupts multiple times a day, almost every hour, but it is often difficult to see because of the high altitude the rapid movement of nearby clouds that cover your view. I did see a little bit of lava, but you could distinctly here the sound of the eruption and see the clouds of smoke multiply above the opening of the volcano. It was pretty amazing! Pictures can't do the hike justice even though it felt like I was looking at a postcard as I sat on top of Santa Maria.

Hannah and I woke up at 4:30 had some granola and finished packing our bags before we met our driver and hiking guide. They say that it is dangerous to go alone because robberies have happened and so that you don't get lost on the many twisted paths along the steep side of the volcano. Because of those recommendations, we had a hiking guide, Adolfus, who hikes up the volcano once or twice a week and is familiar with the terrain. Hannah and I got into the truck a little after 5 and reached the start of the path at about 5:30. We started hiking, but as I mentioned before Hannah's stomach had been hurting the last couple days, so she ended up deciding to turn back after a little ways and go home because her stomach wasn't cooperating. I would have been a little hesitant to go alone with the two men that picked us up and to hike alone with our hiking guide, but after traveling with Hannah to the beginning of the trail and hiking some with our guide, I decided to continue climbing. She ended up having a good day at the water park that a couple of the other volunteers went to today, so it all worked out!

The morning view as we started our hike!

At a resting point, facing the top of Santa Maria...that's where we had to go!

Adolfus and I kept on hiking and reached the top of the volcanoe in exactly 3 hours. It was a long hike, but it wasn't too terrible. The only tricky part was watching out for random rocks and the slippery mud as a result of yesterday's rain. I twisted my knee at one point when my foot slipped and was nervous it was going to bother me for the rest of the hike up, but after stretching it out and walking a little longer, I didn't feel anything. I'm so thankful that I have been exercising here and that the altitude was not a factor in my hike. It was a really pleasant hike and I enjoyed the time I was able to spend practicing my Spanish. Adolfus is learning English and so he was able to ask questions, and between the little Spanish I know, and the little English that he knows we were able to talk for most of the 7 hour hike!

Stopping for a picture with the view on our way up Santa Maria. At this point we were higher than most of the clouds!

At the top, we watched Santiaguito erupt and then a weird cloud/fog haze set in around us so you really couldn't see much of anything at all. Adolfus explained that Mayans still come to the top to do different prayers and other religious ceremonies, and we did see some indigenous Mayans, who came from Chichi, climbing up the hill with bushels of flowers on their back. I'm not quite sure what they were going to do with the flowers but they were hiking Santa Maria for the first time they all said. It was a funny encounter with them because I could tell that the two younger girls were talking about me, but I had no idea what they were saying. They both were pointing to their cheeks and rubbing them and I don't know if I had something on my face or what they were fascinated by. They had genuine and beautful smiles to offer though. After we sat at the top for an hour and little more, we started our way back down. This was the part that scared me the most. I don't have a problem going up things, but coming down scares me, especially when the ground is muddy and there are random rocks and roots sticking out of the ground. We went slow and stopped to talk in lots of places. I was able to show him pictures on my camera of my family and trips I had taken and other important people in my life, which he appreciated. I only semi-wiped out once, meaning I slipped but caught myself with my hands and stood right up and kept on walking! I was pleased. With the slow pace and many stops we made it down in a little under 3 hours, so in total, the trip took 7 hours.

The view of Santiaguito from the top of Santa Maria. The smoke coming out of the crater is part of the aftermath of the first eruption. (We were there for 2!)

Me with Adolfus. You can see the cloud/fog haze surrounding us at the top of Santa Maria.

We hiked down to the beginning of the trail where our driver let us off, but he didn't show up for another 30 minutes, so we sat and talked and watched the local children make up their own games to play in the street, the cows being hearded along, and the little chuchos (street dogs without a home) follow random strangers down the street. I made it home in time for the end of lunch with the workers at the house, as everyone else had gone to either an ancient ruins site, or the water park. It was a relaxing lunch and I enjoyed my time talking more with Angelica, the director, about her life and how she ended up here in Xela. She has had a difficult life and I thoroughly appreciated her comments on how the group that I came down with had a natural connection that is fun to have around the house. She told some stories of other volunteer groups that weren't so much fun for her to have, and even commented on the group of people that just left, saying how nice it is for everyone in the house that there are divisions and cliques of people with the group that came in 2 weeks ago. She is a lovely lady who loves the Mayan culture and gave me more reasons why I am so thankful I'm in Xela.

The day's not over, but it has been a wonderful day! Tonight I'm going out to eat at an Indian Restaurant and the volunteers at the house are going dancing. It should be interesting! The new group of volunteers come in around 7:00 pm tonight! More things to look forward too! :)

Creation is so amazing, and I am still in awe at the beauty that I witnessed today. I'm so excited and proud to say that I hiked the fourth tallest point in Central America.

All Geared Up For Tomorrow

Hannah and I went to Hiper Pais today which is the equivalent of Wal-Mart. They had the GV brand that is in Wal-Mart so I'm pretty sure that it's one and the same. We loaded up on water, granola bars, gummy bears, and Gatorade. We're leaving at 5 in the morning to get to the bottom of the volcano and should be home around 1pm! She isn't feeling well at the moment, so I'm hoping that a good night's sleep will do wonders and she'l be ready to go tomorrow. I'm excited though.

Work was good today. I had a really fun time playing with socks and pretending they were puppets. The kids really enjoyed that. I have a short video of me talking to Jenny and her laughing. :) It was so cute though because she would take the socks off my hands and imitate my sock conversations, saying, hola, hola, hola, and then she'd give them back to me. One of the most rewarding things in the placement is listening to the kids laugh. You can't help but smile! It does make me a little sad to think that at then end of the next two weeks there won't be anybody in the nursery with the kids to play with them and hold them!

Jenny and my sock puppet and silly sock puppet voice. I watched this about 5 times already and got a big smile each time! My goal each day is to get her to laugh!

Jenny giving the puppet a hug!

Oliver and Marita vying for the same 'lota' as Jenny likes to call it.

I had to laugh today because I got wet on 3 different times and had to change 3 poopy diapers. I think that's the record for the trip. Oliver had such a messy diaper we had to give him a bath. The workers weren't very happy because that meant more laundry for them. I find it amazing though that the kids don't complain about having a dirty diaper, they are simply used to it.

Nelzo wasn't there again today, and I haven't seen Helen in a couple of days. Manuel wasn't in the nursery today, he was back with the other kids and ready for school, so he must be all better!

I didn't sleep well last night, so I was ready for a nap after lunch today. It felt amazing! Emily and I ventured down town to go to the post office and walk around. We ended up going to a coffee shop for a bit and I got chocolate con leche and shared a couple of bites of Emily's crepes with nutella. The chocolate con leche is the most amazing cup of hot chocolate I have ever had. It's definitely not made from a pouch of powder!

It was a pretty uneventful day. I'm thankful that the internet is back up again, and I'm ready for dinner and bed!

It's been officially two weeks since I left for Guatemala! Time has flown, and I am excited that I have another two weeks to go.

Mayan Weaving

The internet was down all day...so here's Thursday's update!

Another day is done here. I can’t believe that this week is almost over and I’m almost half way done with my program! The time has gone really fast, this week in particular. The plans are all lined up this weekend for hiking Santa Maria. It’s just Hannah and I and the guide that will pick us up and take us to the start of the trail and make sure that we’re on the right path and we don’t get lost. I think that most everyone is sticking around here this weekend, which will be fun. We’re getting a new group of volunteers in the house, which will be a big change from our group that has been together for 2 weeks.

I met some other English speakers in the orphanage today. One of the girls has been there for 9 weeks and has 3 more to go. She didn’t seem overly excited to be there, but it could have been just my perception. She’s in the special ed classroom. There are also two other guys that started this week. They’re also in the special ed classes, but I’m sure that all of the boys in the orphanage enjoying having guys around considering all of the workers are women. It was fun watching all of the kids play duck duck goose today in the playground.

I worked in the nursery for the first two hours. Nelzo wasn’t there again today, but as I was leaving he was walking into the orphanage. I don’t know if he goes to a preschool type of thing, because there were about 6 other kids with him, or if they were simply gone for the last couple of days. Manuel, the little boy who was sick, was still in the nursery today. He definitely changes the dynamics. He was continually climbing precariously on the cribs to reach the TV in order to change the channel to something not age appropriate and so I would change it back when he climbed down. We were finally able to agree on Shrek after I had been pinched and hit. It’s amazing how mad he was but when I gave him a hug he softened. It’s funny how short but loud their tantrums are. It’s a fine line between letting him act out and asserting myself as in control. They really have nothing to look forward to. Each day is the same for the kids. They have breakfast they sit in their cribs until snack time that’s normally brought to them, and then they wait until lunch. We had a debriefing today about how our placements are going, and Angelica, the director, said that most likely the kids will forget my name but they’ll remember that someone was excited to see them and held and played with them, and that will make a difference in their life! That was really encouraging to hear!

In the kitchen today, things seemed a little tense. I think that some inspectors were coming into the home to see how things are run and to make sure that the kids were being fed properly and that they are being appropriately taken care of. One of the workers ran into the kitchen to tell Paula that an inspector was coming and soon everyone was putting things away, wiping the counters, putting the table clothes on the table, and putting thing in the locked pantry. They did an awesome job because the kitchen cleaned up really fast. The thing is, the kitchen wasn’t dirty, it was just in use. I don’t know how the inspection went because I couldn’t hear what they were asking, but it was definitely an interesting experience.

After work and lunch we had a weaving demonstration come to the house. It was a Quiche couple (part of the indigenous tribe) who ran their own business. Dona Cat works on the weavings and then her husband sells them in markets similar to the one that I visited in Chichi. The amount of work that goes into something so small is amazing! The shirt that she was wearing typically takes about 3 months, and a table runner takes about 20-30 days depending on how much time she has to work on it and how fast she is moving. She has been weaving for about 40 years and it definitely shows in the way that she was able to just feel the threads and know how many she had. It’s really difficult to explain, but I was engrossed in watching her and just how much time and effort goes into something so small. A couple of us got to try. I was the first to go. It was so difficult and she definitely walked me through each step. I was just doing the basic weaving without the decorative aspects and that was complicated enough for me. It was really neat though!

Dona Cat showing us how the designs are made, row by row.

Me attempting to weave. I needed a lot of help!

One of Dona Cat's finished products. She was demonstrating how to weave one of the smaller designs for us.

Hannah and I went to a cycling class in preparation for our big hike on Saturday morning. It makes it a little more interesting when you can’t understand what they are telling you to do. Haha. We had tamales tonight for dinner and they were excellent! The food is absolutely amazing, and I am continuously amazed at the variety, freshness, and deliciousness of what is served! I think we’re venturing out for dinner tomorrow night though. Yay for another week!

Playing Professional Futbol Players?

Today was another great day at work. When Paula isn’t there I get to spend the whole day with the kids. One of the workers had me take a picture on my camera of Oliver and wanted me to send them to her, so I have to try and figure out if I can develop some of my pictures for her. She is so funny because she talks so incredibly fast and thinks that I understand everything perfectly. I normally can get the gist of what she is saying by her movements, but I definitely don’t understand a lot of what she says. I was able to talk with her a little more today and learned that her grandparents were from Spain and that she has a lot of family in Mexico. She’s been working in the orphanage for 14 years and has seen a lot of kids come through. The home is for kids 0-18 years of age. Marita is only 8 months old, and Oliver is 6 months old.

Yesterday I was feeling like I didn’t have enough hands to go around and that I couldn’t hold everyone at once. Today was a really wonderful day in that regard. Nelzo wasn’t there today, he was learning something, or was at school somewhere, although I couldn’t quite figure out what Rosa was telling me. Only having 4 kids made a huge difference considering they’re all around the same age! Another boy named Manuel came in to the nursery today. I think that he sleeps there at night but during the day he is in another room in the hogar. He came in today because he was sick and just sat on the floor, wouldn’t say anything or really look at anybody. I went over and started rubbing his back and asked if he liked it. He said yes, and he got a lot less tense the more that I rubbed his back. Eventually they turned the TV on in the nursery and he fell asleep lying on the floor and later got moved to his bed. After playing with Maria for a little while, it was time for her bottle, which she drank in her bed and then she fell asleep. Jenny finished her bottle, so while Luis and Oliver were drinking their bottles, I got to hold her and rock her and eventually she fell asleep on my lap as well and so I put her in the crib. Then I got to rub Luis’s back while he finished his bottle and he fell asleep as well. That left me with Oliver! I had been sad because Oliver is always in his crib and the times that I’ve taken him out he’s managed to hit his head on something and the workers put him back in the crib. He didn’t end up falling asleep but I got to hold him and play with him for over an hour until it was time for lunch. He’s got such an incredibly cute laugh!

Here's Maria Sleeping...Too Cute!

I have a video of the nursery where I spend most of my day. I was trying to think about the beds and the kids and I think there are 15 or 16 beds/cribs to sleep in.

After work and lunch we had a speaker come in to tell us about the health care system and the education system in Guatemala. Some facts that really stood out to me:

About Health Care:
-There is 1 physician for every 1,000 people in Guatemala
-The number one cause of death is Pneumonia and behind that is upper respiratory infection (a lot of the other sicknesses are preventable)
-There are 23 languages in Guatemala and often times there is a language barrier/discrimination against the indigenous people leading to even poorer experiences and health care.

About Education:
-The new president announced free education for all children but there is not enough money to allow for this.
-There are hidden fees that families can’t pay and often times they need the children to stay home and work or take care of siblings
-There are often times close to 70 students in one class with one teacher and there are no special ed programs.

There is so much need here! I don’t feel like my investment and work in this country is done when my month is up, but we’ll see where life takes me!

We just got back from playing soccer with some of the professional soccer players of Xela. One of the staff, Gabby, is engaged to an old Super Chivo, and so he and a couple of other guys came and we played a pick up game. We played the volunteers versus the Super Chivos, except I got to play on the professional team for a little while. I don’t think I contributed too much, but I didn’t mess anything up. It was a lot of fun even though.

It’s dinner time again…

Here's me trying to guard the professional player. The one with the ball is the staff member's fiance.

Fuentes Georginas

I went to work as usual again on this Tuesday. This week is already starting to fly by. Paula was back at work today and I figured out that she rotates which days she works. This week she is working Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Then the next week is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. She was glad to see me and I enjoy get the traditional hug and kiss when you greet someone and when you leave. She is the only worker that does it, but it definitely makes me feel welcome in the home. She was extremely appreciative of my dish washing and told me so many times today. I also peeled, cut, and shred carrots and chopped what smelled like parsley. I was able to ask Paula how many kids are in the home, and there are 80 total. I didn't ask how many workers, but from what I can tell there may be 15 or 20 but they come in shifts on different days. I definitely don't have enough arms to go around though. It is difficult to balance holding and playing with each one of the kids because they all crave the attention. Jenny was back today and wanted to be held a lot and got really mad when I was playing with one of the other kids. I still haven't gotten the name of this one little boy who gives me a hug every time that I come to work, but today he asked if I had a boyfriend. I think he wanted to be my boyfriend. He gave me a really long hug while I washed some dishes today. Belkis seemed a little better today. I asked her if she was sick yesterday and she said no. I asked her if she was sad yesterday and she said yes. I hugged her for awhile today as well. It's funny how her and Helen make their way into the kitchen when I'm working to get a hug and a handshake and a smile. :) I was talking with one of the other volunteers today and we agreed that smiles go a LONG way! Paula is constantly laughing and smiling in the kitchen, and it really is a joy to work with her, and I know she appreciates the extra hands.

After work we had lunch and our trip out for the day was to the Hot Springs, or Fuentes Georginas. They were deinitely different than the ones in LA. It was a lot more commercial and touristy with the bottoms of the three different pools made with sqaure rocks and a cabana shelter built next to the top two springs. At one time there was a restaurant next to them as well and so workers were rebuilding the walls of the destroyed restaurant. The temperature was much hotter than the LA hot springs and the water was a lot clearer. I'd have to say that I enjoyed the LA hot springs a little better because of the more natural appeal and the awesome river running next to the springs where you could cool off. Although there were people at the hot springs in LA, it seemed more crowded here in Guatemala. One of the neat things about the hot springs in Guatemala is the surrounding landscape which jungle like. The green surrounding the srpings is amazing, and the drive was beautiful!

I think that tonight is movie night around here. It rained really really hard today with a lot of thunder and lightening extremely close to our house. Our internet was down for a little, but it's back up again! It's a perfect night for a movie though after our relaxing time at the hot springs, and a chilly and rainy day here in Xela.

Guillaume is doing better today, still not great, but better. His platellette count was down really low and they were worried, but he was on some antibiotics and slept a lot and seems to be gaining strength. The doctors thought it was something that he ate that was a really strong bacteria which caused an infection which led to his fever as well. I'm so thankful that I did not get any of those symptoms, and that I am still healthy! We're still trying to figure out what he ate that was different from the rest of us. I have some more picture that other people took of our trip to Atitlan and some from the hot springs!

This is the whole group with Nayo (our driver), Don Renee (our gaurd), and Andres (the director's nephew). This was at the Xela soccer game that we went to last week, but four of the people in the picture left his past weekend.

This is the view from the porch at our hostel, La Iguana Perdida. It was an amazing view!

Me in los fuentes georginas! The water got increasingly hotter the closer you got to the rocks.

Hannah and I in the hot springs. I have really enjoyed my time getting to know Hannah. She's in Xela a total of 8 weeks. She's hiking Santa Maria with me this weekend! :)