Leaving Guatemala in 2 days and SO sad. I feel like I didnt get enough time in the country or at the volunteer project. But I think I will for sure be back and will continue to work with the project by raising money and sponsoring some kids.
I am really excited to be coming home to mi familia, mi novio, y mi amigos though and cant wait to hug my sister, have a nice shower with a lot of water pressure, sleep in fresh clean smelling sheets, eat lots of thai food, wear fall clothes and cute shoes (I miss my heels) and get cozy on a couch to watch a movie ;)
Also SO excited for the election and to be home when Obama wins! Muchas fiestas on election night! :)
So adios Central America, back to the real world!
----One more thing to be excited about: my dad had CLEAN scan results today! So excited to come home and celebrate "no sign of recurrent disease"! :)
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
volcano smores
I just climbed a mutha effin volcano! AMAZING.
We hiked forever and then got to a huge valley of ash and rock and could see a river of glowing lava. Crazy. We hiked to the lava and hung out and had smores and roasted hot dogs. ha.
One of the coolest things I have ever done. LOVE IT!
We hiked forever and then got to a huge valley of ash and rock and could see a river of glowing lava. Crazy. We hiked to the lava and hung out and had smores and roasted hot dogs. ha.
One of the coolest things I have ever done. LOVE IT!
Monday, October 20, 2008
¿Puedo tomar agua?
Guatemala esta fabuloso. Spanish class is great, I went to a gorgeous lake over the weekend, the volunteer project is amazing, I moved into the student house which is full of interesting people (and my room is much better) and Im going to the beach this weekend to get some sun. Muy fabuloso.
I am volunteering at a place called Los Patojos. Its a community center type place that offers a safe place for kids and offers adult education. The founder is only 25 (!) and converted his house into a huge fun place with murals, a library and classrooms. He has dedicated his life to helping children have a safe place and to learn to express themselves creatively. Talking to him is really inspiring. Check out the website and you can even sponsor one of the adorable niños I am working with!
http://www.lospatojos.org/
I did crafts with the 1st graders my first day and today I spent some one-on-one time with 10 year old Omar, who cant read or write but is really smart (he beat me at Monopoly. ha) Muy intersante. I am contiuning to learn so much about the culture. So glad I decided to come to Guatemala. LOVE IT.
Here are some pics of el mercado and pics from the weekend trip to Lago de Atitlan.
Adios.
my new zapatos. 10 bucks. muy bueno.
I am volunteering at a place called Los Patojos. Its a community center type place that offers a safe place for kids and offers adult education. The founder is only 25 (!) and converted his house into a huge fun place with murals, a library and classrooms. He has dedicated his life to helping children have a safe place and to learn to express themselves creatively. Talking to him is really inspiring. Check out the website and you can even sponsor one of the adorable niños I am working with!
http://www.lospatojos.org/
I did crafts with the 1st graders my first day and today I spent some one-on-one time with 10 year old Omar, who cant read or write but is really smart (he beat me at Monopoly. ha) Muy intersante. I am contiuning to learn so much about the culture. So glad I decided to come to Guatemala. LOVE IT.
Here are some pics of el mercado and pics from the weekend trip to Lago de Atitlan.
Adios.
my new zapatos. 10 bucks. muy bueno.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Guatemazing
In Antigua and loving it! The city is so pretty! I live with a family with 2 kids and 4 other student--volunteers from Germany, US, Spain and Italy. Its a lot of fun. My host mom is super nice, the food is delicious, they have the internet, and its right in the center of town. Perfecto.
Last nite I went with the other American to watch the debates and it was great. Johnny McCain is any angry, desperate old man and Im so glad Obama is kicking his ass. Cant wait to get home for all the excitement!
Today I had my first day of class and it was great. I know more Spanish than I thought so that feels good. My maestro´s name is Jenri (pronounced Henry) and he is really nice. I will have 5 hours of Spanish M-Sat. until 1pm and will volunteer in the afternoons. Tomorrow I am going to check out a school where I want to volunteer-- cant wait to work with the Guatemalan niños.
Today was kind of cold and rainy and I was freezing in my flip flops so I have to go the market to buy some cheap zapatos. Should be interesting to see what I will find! :) I think the weather is supposed to stay pretty rainy so I guess I wont have that ¨killer tan¨ that Lisa commented on when I get home but I guess there are bigger things to be concerned about :)
Here are some pics of the town. Love it. Its so rich in culture and I feel really safe walking around. Heading to the market now...
I hope everyone is doing well back in the U-S of A!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
I can´t Belize its over
Goodbye Belize! Such a fabulous trip!
After lounging at Caye Caulker for a while we decided to be active and head inland to San Ignacio to do some crazy ¨ATM¨ tour that neither of us knew much about, but were told by his friend that we had to do it. Peer pressure. So we signed up for the ¨Actun Tunichil Muknil¨ tour. It was the craziest, funnest thing ever.
We hiked into the jungle and crossed a river 3 times until we got to a giant cave where we donned our helments with head lamps and jumped in the river and swam into the cave. I went to the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana when I was little, and it was like that times 1000. I think I looked back at Nate as we were swimming in the dark water and holding onto the wall of the cave and said ¨this is insane¨ about 20 times. We swam-waded-climbed in the cave for about 2 miles until we got to our destination: a huge room where the Mayas had cermonies with sacrifices. There were tons of skeletons and pottery in their original place since thousands of years ago. So crazy. It was like Indiana Jones-The Goonies-a ride at Disneyland-a bad horror movie. It was the coolest thing I have done and Im so happy that we got our lazy asses off the beach to do the tour ;)
After the crazy cave adventure, we wanted more beach so we took a bus (an old American schoolbus) to Placencia, a cute village with a long white sand beach and more hammocks. We woke up one night to crazy wind and rain and were once again convinced a hurricane was coming but in the morning it was nice and sunny again. When we were leaving today the guy at the airport said that a tropical storm was coming that might turn into a hurricane. Scary.
Today we flew back to Belize city (a gorgeous plane ride) and said goodbye after a great ¨trial honeymoon¨ :)
I then set out on my long journey to get a taxi to take a bus to take a taxi to the border to take a taxi to the bus stop to get to Flores, Guatemala, where I am right now. So tired. But I LOVE Guatemala so far.
Tomorrow I fly to Guatemala City and then head to the city of Antigua where I´ll be taking Spanish classes and volunteering. So excited!
Here are pics of Placencia and the crazy cave.
After lounging at Caye Caulker for a while we decided to be active and head inland to San Ignacio to do some crazy ¨ATM¨ tour that neither of us knew much about, but were told by his friend that we had to do it. Peer pressure. So we signed up for the ¨Actun Tunichil Muknil¨ tour. It was the craziest, funnest thing ever.
We hiked into the jungle and crossed a river 3 times until we got to a giant cave where we donned our helments with head lamps and jumped in the river and swam into the cave. I went to the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana when I was little, and it was like that times 1000. I think I looked back at Nate as we were swimming in the dark water and holding onto the wall of the cave and said ¨this is insane¨ about 20 times. We swam-waded-climbed in the cave for about 2 miles until we got to our destination: a huge room where the Mayas had cermonies with sacrifices. There were tons of skeletons and pottery in their original place since thousands of years ago. So crazy. It was like Indiana Jones-The Goonies-a ride at Disneyland-a bad horror movie. It was the coolest thing I have done and Im so happy that we got our lazy asses off the beach to do the tour ;)
After the crazy cave adventure, we wanted more beach so we took a bus (an old American schoolbus) to Placencia, a cute village with a long white sand beach and more hammocks. We woke up one night to crazy wind and rain and were once again convinced a hurricane was coming but in the morning it was nice and sunny again. When we were leaving today the guy at the airport said that a tropical storm was coming that might turn into a hurricane. Scary.
Today we flew back to Belize city (a gorgeous plane ride) and said goodbye after a great ¨trial honeymoon¨ :)
I then set out on my long journey to get a taxi to take a bus to take a taxi to the border to take a taxi to the bus stop to get to Flores, Guatemala, where I am right now. So tired. But I LOVE Guatemala so far.
Tomorrow I fly to Guatemala City and then head to the city of Antigua where I´ll be taking Spanish classes and volunteering. So excited!
Here are pics of Placencia and the crazy cave.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
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