Watch out for the buscarbikepersondogfoodhole....yeah, that thing!

This weekend we visited one of the most beautiful places in Guatemala, Santiago Atitlan and Lake Atitlan. We stayed at hotel close to the lake, with a great view from the roof. We visited the main church, along with a memorial for a priest from Oklahoma, Stan Rother, who was killed in 1981 because of a study he was conducting and how he was attempting to help the people have a better life. It is truly sad how many people have been killed by the Guatemalan government simply because they are a threat to the unfair systems of wealth and structure. We also visited a peace park that was the site of a peaceful protest where several were killed by and many injured by soldiers. Justice was finally served when the soldiers occupying the community were forced to leave. The townspeople dismantled the garrison and used the stones to build monuments in the park. We also visited a cooperative set up after Hurricane Stan (in 2005) took over 2,000 lives and left many more homeless. The cooperative is called ANADESA and that was set up by MCC and provides support for women now, who are able to recieve emotional support and produce beadwork for income. They also have literacy programs in Spanish and T´zutuhil. One of the most crazy things was viewing an old hospital that was abandoned after the hurricane. There was a stain from the mudslide that was 4 feet high!

The more relaxing parts of our trip included 2 different wonderful markets, walking around by the lake, group bonding time, 2 five-hour bus rides and a wonderful trip across the lake in a boat! :) We also had free evenings to walk around and we got to witness a interesting parade for Lent. The local people were all dressed very vibrantly and held candles. They carried several large almost life-sized dolls to represent Biblical figures, including a large Jesus figure on a cross. I think we agreed that the Jesus figure looked a little strange, but it was a good experience to watch a little bit of the parade. The streets are always an interesting place to be, and we constantly find ourselves pulling each other to the side and saying ¨watch out!! there´s a car coming!!¨ Although, sometimes the car isn´t a car, but a bus, a huge grain truck, a dog, a person, a bike, a motorcycle, a hole in the ground, smashed food or something else unknown that you don´t want to step in! Everyday is something new, but you are never bored walking the streets of Guatemala! :)

As we are wrapping up the last couple weeks here, we have many projects and assignments to do. Today, I have to write a 2 page composition in Spanish along with my normal homework. I am also brainstorming ideas for the presentation we (my classmate Alex and I) are doing next week. It has to be 10 minutes long, completely in Spanish and include almost everything we have learned so far. On the bright side, I have really started loving speaking Spanish! On our weekend trips, we always eat as a group and most times we are required to speak just Spanish. While this can be very frustrating at times, I sometimes find myself speaking Spanish after the meal when we are allowed to speak English again. My friends often say ¨why are you still speaking Spanish??¨ but I just tell them that I like it (mostly because now I can actually say more than just one or two words) and it´s good practice! Our group leader commented that I speak a lot in Spanish for being at the level I am at. :)

Goooooal!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, it´s been a while since I´ve updated my blog. It´s hard to share 4 computers with more than 20 people when we all have similar schedules and time to use them. Last Saturday, we left for Coban, which is beautiful and about 5 hours from here (Guatemala City). We left in the morning and arrived at our destination in the late afternoon. Our destination was Bezaleel, which is a Kekchi Mennonite School (junior high and high school age). The kids there speak Kekchi (a traditional Mayan language) and Spanish, although some barely  know any Spanish. We had supper with 2 Mennonite Central Committee volunteers who have been working here for over 20 years with the Kekchi communities. On Sunday, we visited the Kekchi Mennonite Church. We were late from the beginning because of a flat tire and I´m  pretty sure our drivers of the vans wanted to make up for lost time. I have to say that that trip to the church was the bumpiest ride I have ever experienced in my life. But we survived. :) The service was over 3 hours long, and it was partially in Kekchi and partially in Spanish. During the service, many kids were smiling at us and playing with us. The music was very loud, which didn´t bother me that much but other people got headaches. We sang a few songs for them, which they absolutely loved. After church, we split up to eat at the houses of a few families from the church.

In the afternoon, we played a game of futbol (soccer) against the boys at the school. We didn´t win, but we didn´t get crushed either and everyone had a lot of fun! :) On Monday, we bought paint and painted one of their buildings for them. We were able to sit in on a couple of classes for a little bit, which was very interesting. We visited a coffee finca in the afternoon. We got to learn about the different coffee plants, see how the process works, try some coffee and purchase some. The evenings at the school were always filled with singing. Sunday evening we went to their chapels, and I went to the boys (girls and boys are seperate most of the time) and we sang a song or 2 for them there. We sang ¨How Great Thou Art¨ in English and they sang with us in Spansih. Wow, it was incredible. We also went to the girls chapel another night and sang for them and they sang for us. We even sang a few songs together! It is amazing what happens when you combine the powers of music and something as simple as a smile. I can say without a doubt that we were all feeling God´s presence after that night. :) While we were at the school, every meal included beans and tortillas. Although our group was expecting worse from what Profe told us, we were all feeling very grateful to be back to our regular meals and humbled by the extreme poverty that 60% of Guatemala suffers from.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, so we had a hymn sing and that was really fun. We also had a surprise baby shower for Christy, one of the staff members here at CASAS. She is someone that we are all in close contact with and she has a special place in our hearts. We celebrated with chocolate pudding cake and ice cream. :) Tomorrow, we leave again and this time we are going to Lake Atitlan, which I hear is beautiful. If you feel so led, you could say a prayer for the health of our group. So far, we have been very healthy, but this weekend one person got sick with what we think is a cold and it has already spread to several others. It is getting more and more hard to believe that we only have a couple weeks left in the beautiful country. I think we are all trying to make the most of our time and not think about saying goodbye just yet. All I can say is that we are so blessed to have this experience and enjoy the love and friendships here that God has given us! :)

Vegetarian crocodiles

This last weekend, we went as a group to Tikal! :) We flew in a small plane to Tikal and went straight from the airport to the park. We walked through the jungle and it was so hot and humid! We saw a bird similar to the quetzal (the national bird), lots of monkeys and some other unidentified birds. In addition, a few people from the group saw a huge tarantula. They showed me later, and I freaked out just from looking at the picture!
The temples were so large and grand! It´s incredible that they have been there for so long! We were able to climb a few of the pyramids, and the view was really amazing! We felt like we were in a movie looking down from them. In fact, they filmed part of one of the Star Wars movies there. (Don´t ask me which one, because I´m not a Star Wars fan). The site includes pyramids, palaces, residences, stone monuments, sacrificial sites (still used today by the Maya) and 7 courts for playing the Mesoamerican ballgame. By late afternoon on Friday, we arrived at our hotel, Gringo Perdido) which means ¨lost white person¨, haha. Our hotel was really nothing like a hotel at all. It was more like a bungalo, with a large open-air dining area, hammocks and a lake with 2 docks for hanging out and swimming! :) We had some great bonding time as a group and even though it rained, we all enjoyed the sun a lot! We played games, read, swam, rode in kayaks, slept and relaxed. It was a great weekend for all of us! We even got to hear a few stories from Profe and Ester (our amazing leaders) about how they met and got engaged. :) Good times!

We arrived back in Guatemala City at around 7pm on Sunday and went home with our host families. Yesterday I got my midterm exam back with good results, and today we have been celebrating Valentines Day! :) Each of our Spanish classes made a Valentine to share with the group. It was a contest, so some people sang, wrote poems and had actions to go along with their Valentines cards. We also (as a group) exchanged names and gave each other little gifts. Feliz dia del Cariño!! :)

Si se puede! Si se puede! :)

The title of this blog, for those of you who don´t know Spanish, means ¨yes you can, yes you can!¨. We just finished our first midterm exam for our Spanish classes. That included a written test and an oral portion, where we were asked questions by 2 teachers and had to respond with long answers. I think my test went ok, but I talked to Alex, my classmate, about one of the questions on the oral part later and I was totally lost and rambling about something! Oops! Oh well, I think overall it went ok, though. :) Tomorrow morning, we leave at 4:45am for the airport for our trip to Tikal. Do I need to repeat that for all of you morning people?? Yes, I do mean 4:45am in the morning! Ugh! On the bright side, we are going to Tikal and we get to relax the whole weekend! Tikal is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. Tikal was home to one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Mayan civilizations. As well as enjoying the natural beauty there, we are staying at a hotel with a lake right across from it. There have been rumors that it will be warm enough to swim and I hope it is! Yesterday, during worship, our group talked about how we were all feeling tired and a few people have colds. I think we are all ready for a break, so bring on the sunshine in Tikal!! :)

S´mores on a Volcano!

Today, we hiked an active volcano called Pacaya! The hike was pretty nice going up, even though it was a little steep and rocky. The view was incredible! Partway up to the top, we roasted marshmallows using the heat coming from the rocks on the volcano, and they were delicious! The whole time, we could see smoke coming from the top of the volcano which was pretty cool in itself. On the way back down, some of us ran down a slope which was a little dangerous but toally worth it! We all came back with black legs from the dirt.

Our group has had kind-of a stressful week due to some different things but this weeks worship service as a group was really great! I´m on the music team so I get to help plan and lead the services and that´s been really fun for me. (Side note: our group is very rarely without a song. We have many people in our group who love music, and especially in car rides we will burst into song!) Along with our typical scripture, singing and prayer we took communion together which was a very special bonding experience for all of us. On Friday, we had a debriefing session with the CASAS staff and talked about our most favorite and least favorite parts of the trip so far, and how we are feeling. It was really cool to hear everyone share. Most of us could not narrow our favorite part down to just one thing! :) Tomorrow, we are visiting Casa de Dios, the biggest fastly growing churches here in Guatemala. We just talked with a professor from CASAS about the religions and churches in Guatemala so it should be an interesting experience. Tomorrow is also the superbowl...yes, I do know that even though I´m in Guatemala. I probably won´t be watching but I hope all of you have fun! :)