Hello again everyone! Sorry for the late posting of the website, but we�ve been busy as usual. But to compensate, we are filling it with pictures this week! We had been feeling sick again, but we�re doing well now. We�re still enjoying Guatemala and the work we�re doing at Camino Seguro. Luckily we didn�t get too much rain this past, but yesterday the 1 way highway we take home from the city was hit by a massive landslide that covered the entire road and rerouted traffic onto the other 1-lane highway that comes from Antigua. At least one car was buried under the slide�.which happened a mere 10-15 minutes before we passed! The reconstruction work there and in other areas is still going on (and it will probably be happening for a while). Luckily we are spared from the new hurricane (originally they thought Guatemala might get hit again), so we are thankful. Hopefully the damage won�t be too bad elsewhere too!
On our last posting we forgot to write about our new housemate �Tim�. He�s probably in his late 20�s, from California, and he was on vacation taking Spanish and salsa classes here for 2 weeks. His time here has already come and gone as he left this morning, but he had spent 9 months here a couple years ago. We hung out with him a little these past 2 weeks, but not too much because he kept himself busy.
A couple new little Guatemalan tidbits for this week: First, we found it interesting out how our pet bird gets washed by grandma. She sets his cage on the ground, turns on the hose, and sprays him down for a few minutes. And we need to add that the hose is on full blast and this is a small bird. And she shows no mercy! We would hate to be that bird! And secondly, we have discovered another Guatemalan food that we enjoy:
Choco-Bananas
They are called �choco bananos� and they only cost Q1.50 each, which is only 20 cents! It is a frozen banana on a stick covered in chocolate and nuts. People here love them and eat them all the time, and now so do we!
And now, to what we�ve been up to. Last Friday we went to the Children�s Museum with the �Maternal� class. There were 27 kids between the ages of 3-5 and we were 2 of a total of 6 chaperones. It was CHAOS! We started off having a snack in the grass while we waited for the museum to open. We took a picture of the kids:
Us with the Maternal Class at the Children�s Museum
To show you just how crazy they can get, here�s the kids tackling one of the teachers:
This Week, On �When Children Attack�!
She was running fast with about 15 kids chasing her. She avoided them for about 15 seconds, but she had to slow down so she didn�t plow through some of the kids, then the pack tackled her. It was impressive. Once inside the museum we split into 3 groups and explored. Pat compared his 3 hours inside with the kids as playing free safety or being a cattle herder. Basically we had to keep a sharp eye on the group and if any of the kids started to stray we had to chase them down and get them back in the group. The attention spans of 3-5 year olds isn�t very long and there were lots of toys to play with, so this was a continuous task. It gets really tricky when 3 kids all try to take off in different directions at the same time. By the end of the day we were exhausted and stinky (these kids don�t bathe often!) and thankful that we deal with older kids normally. . . who knew that children so small and so cute could be so possessed!.
Saturday was a big celebration for Dia del Nino. Pat decided to get sick around 4AM, so only Alyssa got up at 5AM to go to Guate to help out. On the way there, Alyssa caught a picture of another pending natural disaster�Volcan Fuego, which erupts continuously in October-November. It was like Mt.St.Helens!
The Smoke Plume!
Almost the moment Alyssa arrived at the project, there was work to be done. With over 500 kids to attend the party and only 40 chaperones, we divided the kids into two groups�the Red team, who posed as Superheros, and the Green team, which were the Ratoncitos (mice). I made the Green team and was simultaneously tying green bracelets on 250 little arms while I was also dressed up as a mouse, complete with a nose, whiskers and ginormous purple ears, courtesy of Rodrigo, who also wore his Superman shirt so we could be Mighty Mice!
The Ratoncita with Antonio(aka Alyssa forgot to wash her face)
SuperPeople
The trip to the party at the Guatemala City Marriott (yes they have a Marriott) was uneventful but the moment we got there we were sprung into action again as 500-something kids poured off the busses and into the hotel. The kids were served popcorn and a snack while Finding Nemo played�in English� on the big screen. Obviously this held the kids attention for a total of 15 seconds before all 500 took turns having to go to the bathroom. The hotel staff mercifully realized that playing a movie in a foreign language wasn�t going to work out and we moved outside to the play structures they�d set up � great big blow-up obstacle courses, games, balls galore (one for every kid!), face painting, soccer, clowns�.between these and umpteen bathroom trips, it was actually enough to entertain the kids for a couple hours and keep us volunteers and teachers busy too. We had a great time and came in for lunch and to finish the movie (in Spanish, now), and then all the kids lined up to receive a gift. The hotel had something for each of them! It reminded me a little of the Posadas at El Programa Hispano. Unfortunately for Alyssa, she got sent for the last bathroom duty and was forgotten, along with one of the little girls! By pure coincidence another volunteer, Malte, was also left behind, and we found a ride back to the project in a van with one of the social workers. Otherwise, it was a surprisingly uneventful and fun day with 500-something kids.
Balls Galore!
Some cute little munchkins
On the way back, Alyssa got a picture overlooking Guatemala City from inside the bus:
Guatemala City
Saturday evening there was a birthday party & going-away party combination. One of our fellow volunteers just had her birthday and one of the teachers just had his last day, so we hung out with both the volunteers and some of the teachers too. Fun times were had by all until Pat�s sickness came back in full strength and we went home early. One of the highlights of the trip was cramming 7 full grown people into a tiny car to get to the party.
Traveling in the car. . . Chapin (Guatemalan) style
Sunday our host family advised us to walk to the pharmacy and get amoeba medicine because amoebas were the likely culprit, so Alyssa got the medicine for Pat. Almost as soon as Alyssa got back, she came down with the same thing. Pat was feeling a little better at this point, so he walked to the pharmacy and got some amoeba medicine for her. Monday we both were feeling better so we headed back to work. Monday started the first day of summer vacation for the kids so we�re on a new schedule. There are lots workshops/classes planned for the kids like: chess, guitar, piano, cooking, art, dance, theater, choir, girls club, carpentry, and lacrosse. The kids wouldn�t get the chance to experience most of these basic activities without Camino Seguro, so we are happy to be helping out.
Thursday was a holiday for us so we stayed in Antigua for the day. It was complete with locust sightings, an earthquake, and soccer on an L-shaped field. We got burnt playing soccer at a field nearby with some of the local kids that are on summer vacation now, and they way the park is shaped you have to make a 90 degree turn around a fence to get from one goal to the other. At lunch we celebrated the birthday of one of the volunteers, as well as an almost last day for another. Here�s us at lunch:
Hanging out in Antigua
We also met two interesting creepy crawlers on the way there and the pictures turned out good so of course we have to post them (this goes out to you, Robin! Not quite scorpions, but still�.):
Maybe a locust?
Some sort of beetle
Today, Saturday, we had Camino Seguro soccer tournament. The four teams were: the volunteers, the Guate teachers, the Casa Hogar teachers, and the administration. A fun time was had by all. We got burnt again, and now we�re sore from 4 games, but we definitely had fun. It was Alyssa�s first (and 2nd, 3rd and 4th) real soccer games, and she was impressive for a first timer! Afterwards we went and got a late lunch at �Pollo Campero�, which is Guatemala�s version of McDonalds/Starbucks because they are EVERYWHERE. The people here love it and go all the time. Basically it is an upscale KFC: They mainly serve chicken (original, crispy, or barbecued), but they also have pizza (yes, weird combo, but it works in Guatemala!). They have the fast-food counter if you want to order to go, but if you are eating there then you sit down and order just like at a normal restaurant and the food comes on real plates. . . but it is FAST! And then when we came home we were told some sad news: Our family gave Tripod away this afternoon. (Sniff, Sniff) We will miss the three-legged furball! But on the other hand we are thankful that there will be no more brown surprises waiting for us outside our door�.and we don�t mean muddy puppies.
So that leads us to now, and we should probably stop writing because it has been too long already. We doubt we will post anything next week since we were so late this week, so you can hear from us again in 1.5 weeks! Adios!
