Wednesday, November 24, 2010

October Photo Update...in Mid November

Oh goodness...I am so behind on my blog. Please forgive me. I wish I had all of the time in the world to share my experiences with you. I will just share some photos...they do most of the "talking".  Whatever is not clear in the photo is up to your beautiful imagination.
Daddio's visit to New Zealand...supporting the Kelly's gear.  I love her big eyes!  What color do you think her hair is?!  She's growing healthily, talking on the phone, smiling, picking things up,doing laundry, etc.  I cannot wait to hold her! I  don't think I will let her go.
  
Melissa is my friend from my training group that lives the closest to me.  She lives in Zaragosa, which is about 30-45 minutes away.  I went to visit her for her fair/rodeo.  It  is amazing how different two towns can be.  First off, her town is not indigenous, like Patzun; therefore, no one was wearing traje (typical Mayan wear), women were drinking, men were smoking, etc.  Zaragosa is known for being cowboys!  Nearly everyone was wearing tight jeans, boots, big belts, flannel shirts, and cowboy hats.  Two of Melissa's friends are in the photo with us.  We had a wonderful time!
October is the month of graduations!  These are the graduating students from the private school that I work with.  Don't they look so sharp?!  They are a great bunch.  I have a the opportunity to work with a few of them throughout "vacation" time.   I am working with a local NGO, which funds their school, to do a life skills camp.  So I get to see a few of them at least once or twice a week for presentations about life skills.   December 10-11 we are doing a "Life Plan" overnight camp!
 
I am playing in a basketball leauge. Our team name is "Teachers" (in English) beacuse we are all teachers.  It is such a fun group of women.  Definitely the highlight of my social life in Patzun (plus Glee nights with my site mates). Basketball is a really big deal here.  A lot of people come to watch; people are constantly talking and asking about it.  It is more "street ball" than basketball.  I have a few sausage fingers, damaged head bands and a broken toe nail to prove it. Playing basketball definitely helps my Spanish. They are always yelling stuff at me. One thing I learned early was, "aprovechen la altitud de Maggie"= "Take advantage of Maggie's height". I really did not realize how much taller I was until I saw this photo.  We've only lost one game, so hopefully we will make it to the championship!



One of my site mates, Colin, completed his PC service.  We had a lot going away celebrations for him- lunches, dinners, and brunches with his host family. We also celebrated Colin's birthday. And welcomed in our new site mate, Elliot Thomas. Never a dull moment in Patzun!


Halloween in Honduras!



It doesn’t get any better than that.  Long story short, Peace Corps Honduras organizes a big Halloween celebration ever year. They contacted us here in Guatemala.  One of my good friends from my training group coordinated everything and I went to El Copan, Honduras! El Copan is located close to the border of Guatemala. 
 


This photo is of me on top of the famous Copan Ruins!  They were beautiful. I was not prepared for the warm weather in Honduras…better to be warm than cold.  Aside from visiting the ruins in el Copan, I also enjoyed reading a book in a hammack, playing volleyball on the beach for six hours, eating lots of delicious burritos, dancing as Minnie Mouse, and shopping in the market.  It was a very fun vacation. I am fortunate for the opportunity to have these experiences (and on a PCV budget).


I made it back to PatzĂșn just in time to see the beautifully decorated cemetery for Dia de los Muertos.