October 2011

Chuchuca girls graduating from middle school!

GLOW Camp about Healthy Relationships with a group of nine females and Mother Norma from the orphanage.

Not only did we talk about the physical , social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of a healthy relationship; we also made time to play soccer, swim, and play basketball!

We celebrated Halloween in Antigua. Hector helped sew my dress. Raquel helped dye my clothes.  Two weeks later Christina and I were in the local newspaper.

GuateMMMMOOOOOLLLLLLLYYYYYYY

21 days after Mum, Maura and Jimmy left, which was super sad, Molly came!! Yes, she left her 14 month old baby at home with Mums. I am the luckiest sister, daughter and step-daughter. It means so much to me that my family came to visit!!

At the fountain in the central park of Antigua

Not the best photo, but this is Molly and I semi-close to the infamous arch of Antigua. We spent less than 12 hours in Antigua. We were rushing to catch our shuttle to Panajachel.

After an adventurous boat ride (where an American male saved an indigenous woman with a baby on her back, but suffered a fall into the lake between the boat and the dock) Molly and I arrived safely at our beautiful room at Casa del Mundo.

Yes, we had a hammock IN our room! It was awesome. This photo is especially for Daddio. Molly and I enjoyed catching up, LAUGHING, wine, swimming, lots of good food, and relaxing together.

THE Leisurely Kayak (Arran)

Molly was super excited to ride in a Tuk-Tuk

This is a photo with some of the children at the orphanage when we went to visit. Molly’s favorite part of the trip was when we read a bilingual book to a small group of children at the Teacher Resource Center.

Where’s Anderson?! (haha, sorry Bee…and Anacleto and Mary)

I don’t know how she did it, but she left her precious daughter! Addison is walking!!

Love you BSF!

Family Visit!!

This entry deserves a page of its own. Mum, Maura and Jimmy came to visit me! It was the best visit ever. It was so wonderful being able to share my life with them. It meant so much to me that they were able to meet important people in my life here, see where I work, and know how I live. Mum came a few days early. We were able to get some quality one-on-one time in, catching up, laughing on chicken buses, eating delicious home-made food, and enjoying each other’s company.

When Maura arrived she was probably the first, young, All-American, blonde-hair, blue-eyed little girl to visit Patzún. Some people just wanted to listen to her speak English, others touched her hair, the female students just wanted to play with her, and EVERYONE starred. Oh, Raquel and Hector spoiled her rotten! Maura simply stated her "favorite part of her trip" as, "Raquel and Hector".
It was such a special visit. I almost forgot how affectionate my family is and how non-affectionate this culture is (i.e. the Guatemalan side arm greet verses the American six second bear hug). It was so nice just spending time with my family- Jimmy answering my silly questions, singing with Maura, laughing with Mums. I wish I would have done a better job capturing the visit; the photos hardly do justice to the amazing experience we had together.

Mum finally got to see all three of my schools! This photo is her with a group of sixth grade students from the private school I work in.

All three grade levels in Chuchucá, the village I work in, prepared a “Welcoming” for Mum. It was very sweet. They each decorated their classroom.

Mum and I in Chuchuca. This was her favorite part of her visit.

I love this photo of Maura and Hector. It's my current backdrop for my computer.

Jimmy’s favorite part was our hike around Patzún. This is the sacred tree of Patzún.

Maura loved washing her hands in the pila.

Her favorite was swinging in the hammock.  She laughed really hard when Raquel and Hector pushed her. Her extensive Spanish consisted of, “Hector, hamaca por favor”.

Maura was mesmerized by the chickens.

The first morning in Patzún Maura and I got up early for my routinely walk with Raquel to school. When we got back to my house to get dressed for the day she asked if she could wear Guatemalan clothes. Unfortunately, I do not have traje in her size. However, when we went to visit Anacleto and family she was able to borrow some. She loved it! She also enjoyed playing with the kids.  It was neat watching how they communicated and played together even though they didn’t speak the same language.

My eyes filled with tears once I finally realized what the students of Telesecundaria (the public school) had prepared to welcome my family to Patzún. This same afternoon we enjoyed fresh ears of corn with these students!

Mum, Maura, and Jimmy (not pictured) learned how to make tortillas with Doña Anastasia. 

We attempted to play a basketball game, but only got about 10 minutes with all of the rain. An adorable picture of Maura and Anderson at the game!

Maura and my neighbor, Lizzy (4) playing with hair accessories.

My favorite photo- shopping in the market! I love the colors of the vegetables and Don Justo’s cheerful face. He got tears in his eyes when I gifted him this photo the following week.

My family’s visit made me love Patzún even more. It helped me realize how fortunate I am to be here, surrounded by so many wonderful, loving people. The community is super friendly and welcoming. It took us triple the time to get anywhere because we were greeted or greeted everyone. Everyone wanted to know my family.  SO many people showered my family with gifts- typical napkins, dolls, hair accessories, FOOD, purses, welcome signs, balloons, cologne, etc. I am so blessed to be here!

If you’re still reading…funny notes: in every photo that Maura is not wearing a typical Guatemalan blouse, she is borrowing my clothes. Ah! She is so big! Our family has a tradition during our last meal at the end of a vacation we all share our “favorite part”. Did you pick out everyone’s favorite part throughout the entry? Mine’s not included, so I have to share now. Maggie’s favorite part was all four of us laying in my bed watching Glee!

September

I started off the month running a half marathon in Totonicipan with a group of Peace Corps volunteers. The course was pretty hard...and hot! But we all had a great time.

Me carrying Christina on my back to cross the finish line together! It was her BIRTHDAY!! So afterwards, we had a fun birthday celebration.

Anacleto and family came over for lunch...then we played Phase 10 for five hours! I just had to include this picture because it was so much fun and I don't want to forget the special afternoon/evening.

As a precautionary measure I was “evacuated” from Patzún due to potential violence during the Political Elections.  Fortunately nothing happened, as most of my Patzún friends/family/co-workers suggested, but there were some threats.  However, I took full advantage of this opportunity to go visit my friend, Callie, in Aguacatán, Huehuetenango (about eight hours away).  It was so wonderful seeing another part of the country, experiencing a different culture, and spending time with a good friend. This photo is us hiking to the birth of the river. It was breath taking!

One afternoon we went to the pools! Yes, she has pools at her site. She could swim every day (if she wanted to). We didn't just swim and hike, we actually got quite a bit of work done for the Curriculum Committee.  We are working on revising our Youth Development Curriculum and developing the Teacher Training manual and Parent Training manual.

Best trip ever! Raquel and Hector invited me to their nephew’s first communion. We took a day trip to Mixco.  It was my first time traveling on the chicken buses with them. They are super sweet. I had a wonderful time at the service and lunch.  Their family is very welcoming. When I am with them I don’t feel like some freak of nature or some wildly different person. They accept me for who I am and don’t question everything I do or stare. I feel very comfortable around them.

The infamous 15K in Patzún! This year we decided to each be our own superhero.  I was going to print a photo of Dad on my shirt, but didn’t have the funds or the time. So I decided to be “La Mujer Maravilla” or Wonder Woman. By the end of the race I really just looked like a pathetic attempt to dress up as an American flag.  But it was all in good fun. Can you guess what super heroes everyone else is? We had lots of group training runs; a costume decorating/healthy snack party; and pre-race pasta dinner.  It was a fun group!

This was right after the HUGE climb! Ah! It was super hard, but very motivating because there were hundreds of people cheering me on, handing me bags of water and other colored liquids (possibly Gatorade).  I was really happy with my time (1:26)!  The best part of the race was the finish. I found Raquel and Hector. I could feel their proud-ness as we hugged at the finish line. It meant a lot to me that they were there.

We were invited to march in the parade with the Mayor and lots of other important people.  I felt unworthy of this honor, mostly because I knew all of the hard work my best friend, Mary, had put into it. She was on the committee that planned everything, yet I marched in front of her…I think just because I’m an American female.  Not to mention all of the students behind us who spent hours upon hours rehearsing.  In the photo I am wearing the typical dress from Huehuetenango. Laura is supporting green. Do you recognize what Lydia is wearing?! Patzún traje! She got her wepeil (blouse) custom made. Mary is rocking formal traje.

A few months back I mentioned a most-at-risk HIV/AIDS training. Well, I’ve been collaborating with the social worker at the health center and the students at the night school, doing follow up activities from the training.  The students invited me to a tamalera.  This is a special Patzún tradition where you go and pick the corn early in the morning, then cook the corn in giant pots for a couple of hours, and EAT it!  It is the best corn ever! I will never forget this tradition.  I will probably plan my return visits around this particular activity.

August

Max made it to Guatemala!! We spent the first night at the Earth Lodge just outside of Antigua.  It was super relaxing with wonderful views.

We hiked Tajumulco in San Marcos! It is the tallest point in Central America.  We hike about three and a half hours, pitched our tents (without the tent sticks) and slept for a little bit with some rain.  The next morning around 3 am, we got up and hiked to the summit to watch the sunrise.  It was absolutely FREEZING!!  On the way down we got lost in the dense fog.  It was such a refreshing, amazing, once in a lifetime experience.

The shadow of the volcano. Amazing photo!

We celebrated Raquel's Birthday!!  It was such a fun dinner...lots of laughs. I forgot to translate and let Max know that the salsa was very spicy.  Look how colorful my room is! And how cute Raquel and Hector are.  Their son, Hector Hugo is in the photo, as well.

Panoramic photo of the Lake Atitlán.

We stayed at Casa del Mundo, a beautiful hotel with a great overlook of the lake, super relaxing, family style dinner, kayaking and swimming in the lake!!



My FAVORITE photo! Look at the colors and the volcanoes.



Our basketball team was invited to the "Grand Champions Dinner" with a bunch of other athletes.  I enjoyed the social event with my teammates.

We celebrated Geovani and Lilian's son's first birthday. He was born two days after Addison.

I got to go back to the field with Anacleto and Family! We checked to see how my corn and beans were growing.  Anacelto explained how this is one of the best seasons ever. After eating two ears of corn I couldn't agree more.  I had such a wonderful time with their loving family...such special kids...and they are growing so fast. Ah!

Raquel and I made pineapple pie! We ate one and I gave the other one to the teachers in Chuchuca to say thanks for all of their help with the Career Fair!

Ah! I can't figure out how to rotate the photo. Addison is ONE year old!! Can you believe it?!  She is precious.  She just started taking her first steps. Her first word was "-aggie", short for Auntie M. Just kidding...that's a lie. Her first word was dog. I miss her and want cuddles!