Mi familia de Guatemala, Navidad, y mi Cumpleanos!

My family in Antigua, Guatemala is amazing! From day one, I have felt like this is my home away from home. William is the father and Lolita the mother and their son Willy lives with them and will be a lawyer come April of next year. Maria, who works within the home for the family, is also an angel. She and Lolita make the best food and I am fed well here! Food consists of rice, black bean paste, very fresh fruit: pineapples, oranges, bananas, papaya, mango, watermelon, etc. We also eat tortillas, beef, chicken, soups, sweet bread which is a staple, and the cooking is done with many different spices. I like my food spicy now apparently and use a sauce called picante and many things! More about the family, Don William is a retired banker and Lolita a retired school teacher and principal. I speak a lot with both of them in Spanish and we make each other laugh. Don William is always dancing or making funny comments about us or Lolita that make everyone laugh. I will really miss my family when I leave and also miss my roommate Fiona from Ireland. She has been a true inspiration for me and will remain a friend forever. The family celebrated my birthday on December 15th. The celebration was complete with a wonderful birthday cake and of course, Guatemalan rum! We had a very fun night and my friends from GVI also bought me a Gallo shirt (the Guatemalan beer), ice cream and made me cards for my birthday! They are all very supportive and it has been an amazing time with them in Guatemala. For Christmas, I printed off some of the pictures I took of the family and Antigua for my host family as a gift. Don William and the family really loved the pictures and hung the pictures I had framed in the house immediately. I also bought them some chocolates and bought Maria some chocolates as well! A small thanks for everything they have done for me. Christmas eve was a huge celebration with the family. We ate a traditional dinner of tamales and ponche (fruit punch with the fruit boiled in the punch) at 6:00p.m. and then Fiona and I attended mass at La Merced. Then, we returned home in time for fireworks and another dinner at midnight. While Lolita was praying in front of the altar Willy had made in the home, Don William set off fireworks in the front of the house on the street. He reminded me of a little boy and had a huge smile on his face. He motioned for me to come outside and I hesitantly left the prayer and he set off another round of deafening fireworks. Then, Don William told me to follow him and he burst upstairs to the top of the roof. I have never seen him move this fast. Right at midnight, the entire city of Antigua and surrounding cities erupted with huge fireworks. Don William and I watched in wonder as the skies lit up in a circle around us. It was if the show was for us and it was a very special moment that I will always remembering sharing with Don William. The pride he has in his country and faith is amazing! We even saw fireworks go off in Santa Maria in the distance and it was very nice to think the kids I helped teach were enjoying the same fireworks that I was seeing! After the fireworks we feasted on turkey, a potato dish, fruit salad, and champagne. It was a great night and a Christmas I will always remember. We went to bed at 2:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. I have included some pictures of the festivities and of my family!

Volcan de Fuego y Acetenango

On Saturday morning at about 8:00 a.m. Aviv, Maya, and myself departed with our guide Juan for Volcan Acetenango. Acetenango is the third highest peak in Central America and the volcano has a perfect vantage point of Volcan Fuego, one of the world's most consistent and longest active volcanoes. With packs laden with camping gear we began our descent with our Juan and our local guide Santos who lives at the base of the volcano with his family. The descent was arduous and tiring but it was worth the pain. We talked with locals who help to maintain and provide security on the volcano and saw other hikers as well. On our way up, we summited through five climate zones including corn fields, the jungle portion with bamboo and other interesting flowers and plants, forest with pine trees, and volcanic sand and rock. We waited to summit to the peak until the next morning and Juan guided us to our camping spot directly in front of Volcan de Fuego. Fuego erupted twice in the night and we could see the huge amount of lava shoot out of the top of the volcano and then see it run down the sides and illuminate the entire mountainside. The two explosions rank right up there with two of the most amazing events I have experienced from mother earth. It was quite cold where we camped and we were warmed up by the pasta Juan prepared and the fire Santos started. The next morning, we summitted Acetanango (3900 meters) and we could see into El Salvador, Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean. The view was amazing and we could also see at least 13 other volcanoes including Pacaya which we had hiked a few weeks ago. As we summitted Acetenango, Fuego erupted right before our eyes and I have included pictures of this. After summitting, we ran down the side of the mountain as the loose sand and rock allowed you to almost sprint, it was a lot of fun! On our way home, we listened to music of La Raiz, Juan's band that performs in Antigua. He is the lead singer and their band is awesome! Today my hips are very sore and my legs are spent but what a great trip. Enjoy the pictures!

Santa Claus and Heartbreak!!

So...it has been way too long since I posted a substantial blog update! Things in Guatemala have been very busy and everything taking place has been amazing! I want to focus this blog around the kids at Santa Maria de Jesus and give everyone an update! Over the past few weeks I have been teaching two separate classes; a morning class filled with around fifteen 7-8 year olds and an afternoon class comprised of fifteen 10-11 year olds. Each morning as we pull into our stopping point in Santa Maria we are greeted by five or six kids who want to carry our backpacks and give us hugs. The amount of love and energy these kids possess is extraordinary! We have been working on multiplication, addition/subtraction, reading a clock, vowels/consonant sounds, writing, geography, etc. We have seen a lot of progress within the two classes and kids who seemed to be withdrawn and behind have made some good gains. I think this can be attributed to giving the kids some positive feedback and spending extra time with individual kiddos who are struggling. My fellow teacher, Aviv, has done a great job with this and together I think we did make a difference during our time in Santa Maria. Kids like Edwin, Maynor, Marta Julia, Adda, Mayra, and Wendy who were not understanding material began to realize that they could do the math problem or they could create something without having to copy, etc. The kids have been a blessing to me and have helped me to put many things in perspective. Many of the children live in multi-family settings with multiple siblings. Further, many of them work with their families in the fields and must work around their work schedule to attend school. Also, many of them have lost family members to death including a parent(s). Yet, not one child goes without brandishing a smile each day and school seems to be the place they can be a child and reach into their creative and fun sensibilities and mentalities. For me, I have realized that kids have the same traits and characteristics wherever one goes. You see the bullies, the shy kids, the daredevils, those boys with their shiteating grins, girls and boys who have crushes on one another, girls and boys intentionally segregating themselves from one another, the whiz kids, the kids that struggle, on and on. The big difference here though is that these children were born in Guatemala and have less opportunities than kids in the UK, or Canada, or the United States. Some of these kids are overwhelmingly intelligent or instinctual yet I wonder how far they can really go in a country where upward mobility is a painfully slow realization. Yet, these kids come from families where education is a privilege, not a right. In Santa Maria, more and more girls are receiving an education and GVI and the community are making this a priority. I hope the minds and hearts of all these children can one day be honored the way the should be and deserve to be. Today, we celebrated December birthdays and Christmas with all of the kids from the morning and afternoon classes. This included some of the older children who are taking English classes and doing remarkably well! Well, I was asked to be Santa Claus and I happily obliged. I left the fiesta a bit early and Santiago helped me dress up as Santa Claus. When I entered the party as Santa, the kids all shouted and looked at me in astonishment as I carried bags of gifts purchased by GVI. I hugged every child today and gave them their gift and the kids were so happy. The gifts were simple, a spiderman figurine or a notebook with a pen, or a small plastic play set for the girls, but the kids loved each of them and coveted them. It was a wonderful day rounded out by the traditional Christmas food of tamales, ponche (fruit punch), bread, and a dessert (doughnuts today). But...today was the last day of classes in Santa Maria before the break and our group heads to Honduras on December 27th! I said some goodbyes to many of the kids but it has been a bittersweet day as we were hit in the face with the fact that our time at Santa Maria has come to a close. I feel so blessed to have been a part of this community and this school and the memory and legacy of these kids will forever be engrained in my memory. The last child I said goodbye to was Hennri. He is about 10 years old and is hands down the smartest kids in the afternoon class. Hennri has big dimples and makes me laugh with his slyness and dancing. For these reasons and others he is one of my favorites. Anyway, I told Hennri that I think he is very intelligent and that I think he will be president of Guatemala one day and that the future is his. He did not thank me but simply smiled and said yes as if he was agreeing with me and had already planned this. Then, he gave me a hug and told me he did not want me to go! Just one example of how neat this place is. Driving away from Santa Maria de Jesus I could not help but put my sunglasses over my eyes and try to hide the tears that were falling from my face. I guess that just makes me human and I hope to return here someday.

The Quirks of Central America

Hola! I'm back again, it has been a long time since I posted anything. We have been very busy at our school and I am still really enjoying every minute of this experience. Wanted to include a post with some of my observations of the interesting/unusual things that occur in Central America on a daily basis. I will annotate these through a listing:
-After wiping one's bum one deposits the toilet paper in a waste basket, never in the actual toilet
-Fire works or "bombas" going off at anytime day or night-They scare the hell out of you and you would think you are in a warzone if you didn't know better.
-Police officers cat calling at women
-Shuttle or bus rides whose conductors make it a goal to squeeze as many people in to the shuttle or bus at one time, who knew that many could fit
-The amounts of trash on the sides of the road in Santa Maria where our school is...trash combined with take your breath away views, quite a dichotomy
-Showers with exposed wires to heat the water at the faucet head, I haven't got eloctrocuted yet!
-The myriad times I have been offered marijuana by locals handing out fliers for restaurants/stores...I don't know what it is about me
-Everyone saying hello to you in Santa Maria
-The amount of tourists in Antigua
-Police officers on the corners with shotguns
-The homes where are kids live;often multiple family set ups with very little room and open exposed fire pits for cooking. GVI helps families in the community with the stove building project-more about that in the future
-The amount of violence in Guatemala;murders everyday related to gang violence and drugs
-Public Displays of Affection aka making out in the parks. PDA is not a problem here apparently
-McDonalds and Burger Kings housed in buildings that were contstructed before the US of A was a country
-This funny hand action Guatemalans do when they are excited or something is funny! It is like packing a can of chew without the can in your hand. I'm getting better at it-this is a "you had to be there" situation.
-Holes on the sidewalk and in the streets in which people trip or fall completely. No liability laws here so if you fall or trip, tough luck. Not an overly litigous country
-The coolest bars with the best ambience: who knew?
-Really fast driving and passing of other vehicles when the Gringo believes there will be a head on collision occurring. Somehow, it never does.
That's my list for now, I'll think of some more as time flys by. Having a great time and can't wait to update everyone soon.

Pacaya and School Begins

Finally, I'm updating the blog! So much happening and not enough time to access the Internet and keep everyone up to date. My pictures are placed on this post a bit random as I'm still trying to figure out the best way to post. Anyway...Life is great here in Guatemala and I am having a magical time. Last weekend I hiked the Pacaya Volcano with Maya, Aviv, and Alice. It was a great hike and the views were brilliant. Near the top of the Volcano we stood right next to a steady stream of moving lava and the heat emitted from the flow was unreal. Our guide was a terrific man and said he hikes the volcano 14 times a week, meaning two times a day, seven days a week! After the hike, we went to a concert from which proceeds went to a non-profit group that helps the children in Guatemala. The music was great and included bands from Honduras and Belize: they played Caribbean, African, Latin American music. I also have a picture posted of many of the volunteers here in Guatemala. We have since lost Susanah, Brom, Emily, Juliana, Aubrey, Simon and Brian. All great people that I was just getting to know. I will have a new housemate from Scotland tomorrow. Her name is Fiona and she will be here for four to six weeks I think. Ok, to the best part of this entire experience, the kids in the school! The pictures do not even speak to how cute they are and how much enthusiasm they carry each day. I wake up each day excited to see the little buggers and they greet us each morning as soon as we step off the shuttle van. The school at Santa Maria has four classrooms, three of which are located in one large room. There are no walls separating the classrooms, only waist high partitions made of corn stalk. But, we make it work and despite some major chaos, things do get accomplished. I am teaching 8-10 year old children and my friend Aviv and I take over the class on Monday-lesson planning this weekend! Last week, I spent most of my time assisting individual kids and making funny faces at the kids. Every single kid here smiles when they see you and the kids are extra tough: no crying when they fall or get punched or don't get their way. This stems from children having to be much more self reliant than children in more affluent countries: big families and not much individual attention, extremely poor, children must work in the fields/markets to help support their family, etc. Open sores, poor teeth and runny noses are very typical here but you would never know the children are afflicted by these things given their beautiful smiles and energy. Not only am I a "profe" or teacher, but I seem to be a climbing tree as well. The kids always want to be picked up and thrown in the air, held, or simply hugged. This individual attention to each child is considered a major component of our program. We have around 15 kids in our morning class and around the same number in the afternoon class. I am quickly needing to learn names like Marta Julia, Maynor, Ana Victoria and Jeremias! I'm getting there. There is a picture of a boy named Miguel Angel (he has a blue shirt on and his hands are in his pockets). He was immediately drawn to me and each morning he puts his feet on mine and we go for our walk around the school, this is our ritual. Doreen, who is from Guatemala and is the director of the school at Santa Maria, told me that Miguel's father passed away and that he is very happy to see a male teacher, I am the only one at Santa Maria. I feel blessed to be able to spend time with Miguel and provide him with attention he eats up. His sister, Daisy Paulo, is in my class and is a brain. I will need to come up with some ideas to challenge her each day! Yesterday was a great day at the school. Each Friday is sports day, where the kids play futbol or engage in other activities. Yesterday was special though because it was Birthday Friday! This consists of each child owning a birthday in that month sitting in a chair in the middle of the entire group and having Happy Birthday sang to them in English and Spanish and then a procession follows. This involves each child and teacher hugging each kiddo and then the whole crowd will chant "Beso, Beso..." when a teacher or child come face to face with a child of the opposite sex. Beso means kiss in Spanish and a few kids would actual give another child a kiss and it was the funniest thing in the world to watch. If a kiss was delivered both girl and boy would become embarrassed and give each other the funniest looks after said kiss delivery. The crowd would go nuts when a little boy would kiss a girl or vice versa! Then, Doreen would pass out gifts to the children! Toy trucks, dolls, colored pencils, and jewelry for the older girls! The kids loved their gifts and you just knew that these are probably the only gifts the children will receive for their birthdays. Rufus, a GVI staffer, told me that many of the kids' birthdays are not acknowledged in their homes so it makes the whole event that more meaningful and this is why GVI includes this in their school program. Another special event in the day was the monthly delivery of food packages and supplies to the grandparents of the children in our school in Santa Maria de Jesus. Around 50 people came to the English school and we were greeted with smiles and kind words from the grandparents. Santiago, who helps run the school and whose family provides us with the best lunches each day, would call out each grandparent's name and who his/her grandson/granddaughter is and then the volunteers would hand them a package with much needed food and cooking supplies. The grandparents were so grateful and would each greet us afterwords with huge smiles and words of thanks. It was great to see our kid's grandparents and to see the weathered and distinct faces of people who have worked finger to the bone their whole lives and who have helped set up their children and their children for better futures. Last, after our birthday celebrations, the kids had two pinatas and the kids celebrating their birthdays got to knock the crap out of the pinatas. Then, we danced and danced some more and then some more. I discovered that there are two things that induce me into a dance like state: alcohol and kids! I danced the entire time and the music consisted of salsa, merengue, pop, and reggatone! Many of the boys would not dance but some were swayed into dancing with a girl and it was a sight to see. I usually danced with three or four girls in a little circle and we made up some new dance moves and we all laughed for much of the time, probably laughter aimed at me given my dancing abilities. Many of the little girls wanted to dance with the Gringo Giant, I wish women would pay this type of attention to me :) So, this has been an extremely long post, but I felt it necessary to convey as much as possible before I forgot something. Last night, we said our goodbyes to the volunteers who are leaving and we went out afterwards. Each Friday we have a staff BBQ at the GVI house and it is so much fun. By the way, I am picking up new phrases and words given I am embedded in the field with people from Scotland, England, and Australia. Juliana and Aubry, my housemates from California, left today and I hate to see them go. Juliana is Aubrey's grandmother and Aubrey is 14 years old. They decided to take a "vacation" to Guatemala and help teach in the school. What a great way to spend a thanksgiving week and I hope we can stay in touch. Well...until next time and I hope everyone is doing great. Happy Thanksgiving belated and I have so much to be thankful for today!! By the way, my host mother, Lolita prepared Chow Mein on Thanksgiving night. I will never forget Thanksgiving 2008, Chow Mein in Guatemala!!