This is about a week old...and my pictures wont load.

Transitions, transitions, transitions...

All I can say is that at this point, I feel like a pro at this whole transitioning thing. Friday we had our last Spanish class; transition #1. To wrap up my teacher and I shared a cup of coffee (French vanilla flavored; thanks Mom!), panito dulce, conversation and made friendship bracelets. We have been making friendship bracelets together over the past two weeks and while not intentional, doing this craft together really did bring us closer together, beyond the teacher/student dynamic. I really appreciated her willingness to be real and engage in genuine dialogue and quite honestly, all the Spanish we practiced during our conversations helped me way more than any workbook could ever have. Everything is just easier when there is real life application…and a little fun. I’m going to miss her for real.

I also had to pack up all my belongings and leave my host family; transition #2. Thursday I was up late packing up of course. The next morning, like most every other morning, my host dad and I sat at the table and ate breakfast together. While a little awkward at first, I really learned to appreciate our daily morning conversation. Whether about Spanish grammar, politics, cultural differences or religion, there was never a dull moment. That night, Paige and I went back for dinner (delicious minestrone soup, fettuccini alfredo, tomato and corn salad and baguette). The whole family was there and in true form we laughed and laughed and laughed. And although at times it feels like such a small thing, laughter really is a powerful thing. If you haven’t done it lately, I suggest you try it. Smile.


And transition #3 (and #4, #5, #6 and #7), we are off to our placements. This means 1) new tierra, 2) new families, 3) new jobs, 4) new culture… Yikes! Luke left early yesterday morning on a bus to Coban. Paige and I leave tomorrow. Anthony, our jefe (boss), will be accompanying us. We’ll drop Paige off first in Santiago Atitlan then head up into the mountains of Quiche to my new home in Nebaj by Tuesday. Since our arrival, we three SALTers have spent a lot of time together and it is going to be weird to not see each other on a daily basis. They have been such a great support; we’ve become our own little family. But once again we must move away from comfort into the unknown. This seems to be a common thread that is persistently weaving its way through our experiences so far as volunteers…hum. Tal vez asi es la vida? Saber.

And finally by “blogly” shout out to modern technology (blogly like weekly, hourly, monthly…yes I know I’m a dork for making up my own words but i love to do it. ha). Yesterday two friends got married and although I couldn’t be with them in person on their big day, I was able to make a phone call and congratulate the bride and groom voice to voice. And…I got to say hello’s to a handful of good friends who were all there celebrating together. Nothing like a little love from afar.
And this is where I’ll leave you. I’m not sure what my schedule will be like in the next week or so and when I’ll be able to access the internet again in that time. Hope this tides you over.

Love you all. Abrazos y besitos. Blog update from Nebaj to come.

lost and found; hot and cold.

Hello again all... Sorry it has been so long. I wrote the first half of this post about two weeks ago, then proceeded to lose (temporarily, ptl) my USB until today. As the amount of time that has lapsed has doubled, so has the length of this blog post. My apologies… :) Three big things happened that I thought were worth sharing. Number one: our first MCC retreat; two: Guatemala’s Independence Day; and three: a quick little trip to the beach!!! I’ll begin with the first.

Thursday (Sept 10) all of us MCCer’s in Guat met up took a bus down to El Salvador. It was a Greyhound type bus and was quite comfortable, AC and all. The ride was about 4 hours after all was said and done. Three hours in we crossed the border into El Salvador, requiring us to get off the bus to make our way through immigration. Once we were all back in the bus a flood of venders filled the isle, all yelling out what they had to offer. We shared some pupusas. I must say, they do taste better in their motherland. Yum. Before too long we were in Santa Ana and transferring from our “Greyhound” to a microbus. This is where we intercepted another MCCer who is working in El Salvador. And off we went to Cerro Verde. I don’t know all the details but what I can tell you is that Cerro Verde is a beautiful park, surrounded by volcanoes and lots of green. I also heard that it is in a cloud forest which made it absolutely gorgeous…and unexpectedly frigid! At times, due to the high altitude we were actually above the clouds, looking down onto a blanket of white. Quite surreal. At other times, it was so socked in we could hardly see past 20ft in front of us. And…we saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen in a long time. And…we also saw one of the most perfectly cone-shaped volcanoes. Words, nor pictures, can really do justice to the beauty we were surrounded by, but just so you have an idea…

We spent our evenings chatting, singing, laughing and playing…our days defrosting, getting acquainted and down to business. To finish off the weekend, we got to visit the newest member of the MCC Guatemala/El Salvador team, just 13 days old, and his parents who are volunteers in Metapan, El Salvador. It is amazing how entertaining and therapeutic babies can be. Despite being human icicles, the weekend was great. I’m thrilled to be part of such a dynamic team of people.

On to Independence Day, September 15th. I took the following excerpt in quotes directly from my journal entry from the night before. “What a day. Today is the eve of the day of independence for Guatemala. As I write I can still hear the horns honking, the whistles blowing…the rhythm of a city that has come alive. We went down to the Obelisco to celebrate. As we drove down the Roosevelt to get there, we rode along side entorches, parades of people running with the person in front holding a torch, in celebration of their country. My host mom told me some of these people run all the way to Antigua (which is a 35 minute mountainous car ride, imagine that). Once we arrived we dove into the sea of people, shoulder to shoulder, all dawning their best Guate garb. As I was surrounded by such patriotism, I found myself feeling slightly uncomfortable. In all honesty, I tend to be skeptical of US Americans who are deeply patriotic, as I tend not to be. As I absorbed the energy, I was brought back to the feelings of pride that I had for my country when Obama won the presidential election. I’ll never forget how overwhelming it was to feel proud to be a US American for the 1st time ever. And with that, I joined in the celebration.” Just a thought.

As for the beach, we went to Monte Rico on the Pacific side. It was a quick trip yet very recharging. We left early Saturday morning and came back yesterday; just a little over 24hrs. Unfortunately the sun didn’t really shine at all the first day. We spent a good chunk of time sitting on a balcony overlooking the grandeur of the ocean and the black sand leading up to it, enjoying the breeze and chatting about life. The cool thing about the three of us was that we all have very different stories and are in different chapters of life. One woman is 35 and has two daughters ages 14 and 4. The other is about to turn 28, single, lived in Canada for a year about 5 years ago and is now settled into a work routine, and then there’s me. One thing is for certain, I love to hear people’s stories. We never know where someone has come from and what they can teach us about life. Sunday morning we woke up early to a shining sun, strolled around town, and floated in the pool. I often forget how comforting it is to be in the water. Sometimes I think I should just live at the beach. Why not, right?

And so begins our last week of Spanish classes. Although it is a bit nerve wracking to think about not having a personal Spanish tutor any longer, it feels like the right time for me to be pushed out of the nest. I’ll let you know how it goes. And next Monday, I’m off to Nebaj! It’s game time.

I’ll leave you with just a bit of miscellany:
*Shout out to modern technology. In two days I received two international phone calls, one from Germany and one from Korea. I love Skype.
*I have eaten more fried chicken in the last week or so than I’ve ever eaten before in my life. I never thought I liked it that much and am wondering now what the heck I was thinking! :)
*I’ve officially re-addicted myself to caffeine. It is nearly impossible to avoid drinking coffee here. Que lastima, verdad?
*Live soccer games in Guate are a total hoot. Fanaticism has officially been taken to a whole other level.

That’s all for now friends. I’d love to hear what is going on in your life. Quidense mucho!

It's about time, hey?

Here goes blog #2 from Guate. It’s been about 2 weeks since I last wrote so I am thinking this might be a long one. Enter in if you dare… :)

First of all, here is a picture of my host family, minus Martin whose picture you’ll see a bit later in the blog. From left to right: Caleb, Noel, Jimena and Norma. My mom makes professional style cakes. What she is holding she made for someone’s 90th birthday celebration.
Back to the weekend of the 28th of August. That Friday was my host brother Martin’s 35th birthday. After we hosted the monthly neighborhood block party, as a family we cleaned up and before we knew it the music was blaring and we were all in the living room dancing to music of all types. Salsa, hip hop, bachata, blues, punta, pop…in Spanish, English, Creole…and the list goes on! At one point someone was dancing on the coffee table in the living room. I’m going to leave it up to you to figure out who! :) Let’s just say we burned off all the yummy calories we had consumed that night. Then the next day we had a lovely birthday lunch of Marmaon (still not sure what it was but it was tasty) and Gallina (hen) which is a delicacy here. Check out the picture of Martin and his birthday food below. As a family we definitely bonded that weekend. Again, for these people I am very grateful.

I also got the chance to go visit my host sister’s from the time I spent here in 2007, Alva and Elvia. They are both beauticians so Paige (the other female SALTer here) and I went to La Brigada (my old neighborhood) to get our nails and toes done. What an afternoon we had! We laughed, joked, reminisced and talked about boys…the usual girl stuff. They are doing so well despite the fact that their father died just about a year ago, officially leaving them without any parents. So sad and yet they are such great role-models for the power of a positive attitude and the willingness to share their grief in order to heal. I was overwhelmed with nostalgia that afternoon and enjoyed every moment of it.
This last weekend my host Mom’s sister and brother-in-law came into town from Honduras and from the moment they stepped foot into our house…a good time was had by all! Apparently they only get to visit once a year and I was fortunate enough to be here to get to know them. Just a brief recap: Friday night we went to a restaurant/bar called Goody’s and listened to live music and danced. Saturday we had a big party in the evening to watch the Honduras soccer game (which didn’t turn out to be on tv, but the USA game was. GO USA!). My host sister and I dressed up as twins for the party from our shoes up to our banana clips (see photo to the right; and yes we were wearing banana clips which are in style here right now if you can believe it!). I ate fresh ceviche with soda crackers and, for the first time, totally enjoyed it! This night ended in dancing as well. One of their family friends is an incredible dancer. He has to be about 50ish and danced circles around the rest of us younger’s. To bring the weekend festivities to a close, we all went out for tapas and enjoyed a nice glass of red wine. The place, Tapas y Tintos, was so quaint and romantic and the food was incredible! “Champiñones al Ajillo” was the favored dish. Yum, yum and yum.

Odds and Ends:
*This past Sunday Michelle, Luke and I went to Antigua. It was drizzly and perfect. A day to just blend in, shop, sight see and enjoy speaking English.
*I have been watching a bunch of movies. Of the 8 I have watched, I recommend that everyone sees Australia, Sin Nombre and Ratatouille.
*My sister’s birthday was the 7th of Sept, officially marking the first of many missed important days that I won’t be able to spend with family and friends this year. Boo.
*I officially survived my first funk (meaning bad mood due to being out of my comfort zone). It wasn’t so bad, only lasted about 2 days, and to be honest it’s nice to have the first one out of the way.
*Things I am looking forward too: MCC retreat this weekend and going to the beach the next weekend with a group of girls my age. Details to follow.
*I haven’t really been able, or maybe rather willing, to take my camera with me anywhere due to the risk of someone seeing that I have it and mugging me! I miss taking pictures. However, I have been able to snap a few. Check them out.


I hope this finds each and every one of you in fall bliss. Please step on a crunchy leaf for me. Lots of love from Guatemala.