TravelStream™ news feed for member dianaj25 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dianaj25 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:37:52 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1189989900/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1189989900/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1189989900/tpod.html Sun, 16 Sep 2007 21:37:52 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

The time has finally come, time to pack up and ship out. Two weeks ago when I moved up the date of my return I couldn´t wait to get back home. My mission seemed complete and I thought the two weeks would feel like time was standing still. But things went quickly with everything I had to wrap up.

A week and half before leaving, after class one Wednesday I walked to the house where I lived my first 10 days here. I wanted to visit with the family before leaving and give them some Iowa gifts. The mother and I chatted and she was impressed with my Spanish skills - she said it was enough, I guess enough to get by and communicate. Over coffee the father walked in from work and he had the biggest grin for me. He was so glad to see me again. I was happy I made the effort to walk to their house in the rain that day because it worked out just perfect.

That Friday was supposed to be a day of running errands, but Thursday night I sprained my ankle. Well that night I though I broke it at first because the pain was so unbearable. Then I thought it could be a fracture. So Friday morning I consulted my nurse mother and had to call in to the daycare center. There was no way I could handle two year olds when I couldn´t put any weight on my left foot and was barely limping around. I sat with my foot up and ice on it that day and my two Guatemalean roomies gave me a hard time about having bad luck and they hoped I didn´t remember Guatemala for all my incidents like the ankle, my sore toe, the finger I burned cooking dinner one night, etc. I was just thankful that my ankle was getting better throughout the day and that it looked like I would not be coming home in a cast!

My final week begins and Monday is a slow day because the daycare center is closed. I only have one class to teach this day. Sunday was the primary for the Presidential election here so Monday was a holiday for many people. I thought the week would drag on, but things got real busy leading up to my final day of volunteering. I thought I would finish the week at the daycare center, but I found out it would be closed Thursday and Friday for the celebrations leading up to Saturday´s Independence Day. So Wednesday was my big and final day.

I picked up a cake on my way to the daycare center to share with the teachers as well as the kids. The night before I wrote what I thought would go in this blog because I needed to write out some emotions. I was in tears just thinking about saying goodbye to the kids, so I was nervous I would be a wreck on Wednesday. I walked in the door and Pamela, the girl who screams if you say the word no to another kid, she said buenas dias to me and ran over and gave me a hug without being prompted. I was overwhelmed because she was the kid that took the longest to warm up to me. But the kids were cranky on Wednesday and pulling hair and biting so I wasn´t a total crying mess that morning. I took lots of photos of the kids and some are with me. But the hour had finally arrived. I hugged them all and said goodbye. The hardest part was that they didn´t know or understand that I would not be coming back. They may not remember me but I will always cherish each one of them in my heart forever.

Then I grabbed the bus to the supermarket to get a cake and supplies for the fiesta I was throwing my students that afternoon. I was getting everything ready when the students started to show up. I had no idea how many would show up, but the week before I gave my host family a list of names of my regular students so they could spread the word about the party. Since attendance had been low the last couple weeks I was afraid some of my students would not know about it and I wanted photos of as many of them as possible. As they were arriving I started the students on some sit down games with English words. I also had made little posters for them to sign their names and write a message or picture for me with markers. Then some of the women from the church showed up along with the mother of the family I lived with. They wanted to thank me for my service. The pastors were on the coast that day, but another man came to do the honors. He had us form a circle and he let the kids know that my service to them was unpaid, which I had never mentioned to them before. Then we prayed and then he performed a blessing over me. It was a very new experience for me and not the kind of thing that I am acustomed to, but I found it comforting and very peaceful. Then the women sang some songs and I recognized the tune of two even though I did not know the words in Spanish.

After that everyone in the circle worked their way towards me to give me a hug and say thank you. A few people down the line was my host mom and her words brought tears to my eyes. Then my students were hugging and thanking me. I was overwhelmed when some of them handed me gifts, souvenirs made of wood as well as a homemade card. I expected nothing from them. One of the parents showed up and she thanked me 3 or 4 times for coming and teaching her daughter. I knew I would cry at the end of the fiesta, but I wasn´t expecting it before things had really gotten started.

The women had to leave for another function and so I started some games with the kids. Then we had cake and soda while I played the cd for them of the songs they had learned in English. Some of them can sing Awesome God very, very well. Then the party was over and I started to thank all of them and I said I was going to miss all of them and my voice cracked and tears escaped. It really caught their attention when I showed so much emotion at saying goodbye to them. All of them hugged me and said thank you and goodbye. Some of the older, regulars stayed around to help clean up and postpone the goodbye for a little while. I had done a raffle giving away things I used to teach and would not be taking back home. The oldest and brightest girl, Silvia won my Spanish-English dictionary. I knew she would get good use out of it and she seemed pleased with her win. Liliom was a great student who had not been to class the last 2 or 3 weeks. I was so happy to see her show up for the fiesta. She won an Iowa bookmark in the raffle and she was emotional in her goodbye and she held that bookmark like it was worth a million dollars. But finally all the goodbyes were said and I boarded the Santa Fe bus back to Xela for the last time.

That night I said goodbye to two long term roommates. Johanna had to return to Austria. Jose was going to be gone to his home in Huehuetenango for the Independence day holiday. It was a really hard and long day and on Thursday I was exhausted. I had two days to get my bus fair and run errands in Xela. My friend Susan from England and I walked around one afternoon just taking photos of Xela. We didn´t feel comfortable walking around with our cameras out on our own so it worked out perfectly.

Saturday morning was finally here and I had to say goodbye to the roommate I was closest to. He helped me a lot with my Spanish and cooking over the 3 months we lived in the same apartment. The four of us, Johanna, Jose, Manuel and myself had become a family for each other. A family away from home. We shared things like anti-cold medicine and tea and food when there was a need or extra. We praticed Spanish and English together, shared photos of friends and family back home and laughed together. Manuel said he was very sad I was leaving and he would miss me. He hoped I would return to Guatemala in the future. I said I hope so, but I couldn´t say anymore. After he left the emotion of all the goodbyes that week hit me so hard I had to stop packing for an hour and just let the tears and sobs pour out of me. I was going out for dinner with my friend Susan that night and it would be just as hard to say goodbye to her. We become so close during our time here together and I never imagined to get so close to someone so far from home. I know that her and I will meet again in the future and stay in touch, but with the others it is very unlikely. I think that is why it was so hard to say goodbye, because it was a final goodbye.

I realized Saturday that the hardest thing I had ever done in my life was to make the committment to come to Guatemala and actually arrive here. Now the hardest thing I have ever done in my life is leave Guatemala. Yesterday I wasn´t even sure why I was leaving, when it hurt this much, but eventually the time would have come when I had to say goodbye. In the past I have been guarded with how much of my heart I gave away so I would not get hurt. But I arrived in Guatemala with a positive attitude and an open heart. I gave all I had and Guatemala gave right back with its people, culture and kids. I have received so many blessings here and been so loved for being me that I will never, ever forget this experience. I am so overjoyed that I followed God down this path and I can not imagine what my life would be like without having lived here in Guatemala for these past four months. I plan to continue practicing my Spanish and get involved in the Hispanic Ministry Outreach in the Methodist Church when I return. And someday I will come back to Guatemala on a Team Mission and maybe even be the interpreter!

Thank you so much for supporting me with your emails, prayers and donations. Even though my heart is breaking right now to be leaving my home for the last four months I would not have done anything any different. I look forward to seeing all of you again when I return home. I will be back in Iowa on Tuesday and I am excited to share all my photos and stories when I return.

Love and Blessings,
dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1188862080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1188862080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1188862080/tpod.html Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:56:50 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Hello Friends! Yes, the time is finally arriving for me to come back home. I am very ready to be back home among friends and family and my own state and country. This is the longest I have ever been away from my family, from my state and my country. As much as I like to travel and experience new things I still long for central Iowa and the people I love.

I am coming home a little sooner than originally planned. My final day for volunteering was going to be Sept. 20 with my flight leaving Oct. 3. I thought I would need the extra time to pack up, wrap up things and travel before finally coming home. But I have done all the traveling I want to do and I do not need a lot of extra time. Plus I have been very worried about my Grandma. Her heart is failing and it is only a matter of time. I am anxious to get home and see her again. I changed my plane ticket and I now arrive back home Sept. 18 in about 2 weeks. My last week of volunteering is next week. After almost 4 months of English classes my students have dropped like flies. The small groups remaining will not be sorry to have all of their afternoons free again when I leave.

It is amazing that I made it all the way from Jefferson, Iowa to Xela, Guatemala in one day when I came down here. I left home around 3am in the morning to get to the DSM airport. Then I flew to Atlanta and then from there I flew to Guatemala City. Then I drove 4 hours to arrive in Xela aroudn 6pm that same day. Coming home is going to take a lot longer. I depart Xela by bus on Sunday, Sept. 16 for Guatemala City where I have to overnight. Then I fly to Atlanta on Sept. 17, but I get in too late to catch a flight to DSM so I have to overnight in Atlanta. Than on Sept. 18 I fly from Atlanta to DSM. It will be a long 3 days.

Sometimes you just know something and I know it is time for me to go home. I was so scared before coming down here and wanted to back out 3 times leading up to my departure, but once I got here I could not believe how amazing this experience has been. It was hard adjusting in the beginning, but I never thought about returning home. Then I got into a very busy routine and I have not looked back. During my many hours in vans and buses traveling on the weekends or just to teach and back home during the week I have reflected on what led me to the point of getting here and how I want this experience to change my life for when I return. My blogs may not show or talk about God or my faith a lot, but believe me I have felt God with me every step of the way. I have had praise on my lips more times in one week here than I ever did in a month back home. I have felt protected, comforted, guided, given strength, patience and love when I needed it.

I have a friend down here who does not believe in God. I met her by living in the same apartment and when religion was brought up you could hear in her comments that by me getting defensive or starting a lecture was not going to change her mind. I decided to live my beliefs and by my actions show people that I really believe in the cross hanging around my neck. And slowly we have come to talk about my faith. She started asking me questions one night and now we have had several conversations about it. I do not know that I am changing her mind a lot, but by not being pushy she respects my faith. She knew a lot of hardships growing up and only knew of the faith where you can not question anything and where you are told you will go to hell for this, this and this. I think it amazes her when I talk about my church back home and how we are all regular people just trying to do our best and love others around us. I have never been shy about the fact that I am a Christian and I have grown in my confidence when I say this. Others have asked me about my beliefs and it has been wonderful to share my faith. I promised myself that I would be that confidant and open when I get back home.

Well I am anxiously anticipating my return and seeing all of you again. I think my body is ready to be home too. My toe is infected and has been for about a week and a half. It isnt black or green yet so I am not worried, but I want to get home and let it rest and heal before it has to be cut off. Also I can only partway hear in my right ear. I think it is from wearing ear plugs every night and the wax has built up. As many times as I have cut myself or pinched myself in the last couple days it is probably safer for me to be home. Although these things tend to happen at home too as many of you who know me well can remember. Nurse Mom better be ready for me!

Things I will miss are the fresh tomatoes and other produce here. But by far the tomatoes are almost as good as my moms home grown tomatoes. I will miss the Latin music and the friends I have made. I will definately miss some of my students and all the kids at the daycare center. There will be lots of tears in those final days. I will not miss the pollution, the bus, the cold, carrying cash around everywhere, sharing a small kitchen with 9 other people who all want to cook at the same time. When I get home I will savor having heat inside my home and in buildings, brushing my teeth using water from the faucet, not having to lug gallons of bottled water home to use for everything, and my family and friends.

I cant wait to see everyone when I get back and show you all my pictures and share the stories I forgot in my blogs.

Love and blessings,
dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187738100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187738100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187738100/tpod.html Tue, 21 Aug 2007 20:22:39 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala

Buenas tardes amigos!

Well yesterday I logged in 90 days here in Guatemala. Tomorrow I have 6 weeks left until I fly back to the states. I am very much looking forward to seeing all my friends and family again. Today after teaching I was just reflecting on things back home and I came to an interesting realization. I realized that I have my own comfy couch and reclining chair. I have my own tv and dvd player. But none of this time have I been missing any material things except for my car (for good reason). The only things I have missed are things that are not things, but people. I have missed my family, friends, my church family and my extracurricular activities at church. All the things boxed up in my parents house could stay that way forever and I would not mind. I was very happy to realize that I can live without a lot of THINGS, but not the people I love and all the friendships I have come to cherish.

Last week I felt bad about being gone all but one day to take care of my visa extension in the Capital. Yesterday I checked in with the woman who works the nursery, Senor Clemon, to see how tough her mornings were last week without me. I was sad to hear that many of the kids had been home sick at some point last week, but I was glad that she only had 4 kids each day. This week the sweet natured girl, Fernanda is now sick and not so sweet natured. She pinched me good yesterday and I have the bruise to prove it. But Danielle had been fighting a cold and ear infection the last couple weeks and this week she is the cute talkative kid I meet when I first started there. You can see how much better she feels now because she was all smiles today and talking a lot and playing and trying to gallop like a horse.

Things are a little frustrating with my English classes. 2 weeks ago barely any students showed up, apparently because they had exams to study for at school. If they had mentioned this to me I would have cancelled classes that week and gone to the Capital then. But one never knows anything down here until the minute it is happening like today I could not get off the bus in my normal place due to road construction that the driver did not even know about until he got there. We all piled off on down the road and hiked back down to the main road going into and out of La Esperanza. So last week I had to cancel classes for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to go to the Capital. I had originally thought to leave Wednesday, but I was warned it could take a few days and waiting until the end of the week was not a good idea. Turnout for my classes today was not very good. I am hoping more will show up the end of this week and get back into the routin again for just 4 more weeks. If not I guess I will need to find something else to do in the afternoon the last few weeks I am here. It is just a challenge here because of the difference in culture and I met only a few of the parents so I have no connection for motivation unless I run into some of the kids when I am walking to and from the church to the bus stop. But I trust that God has a plan whether it is to continue teaching or finish doing something else.

Okay, now for my journey from last week. So Tuesday I was ready 5 minutes before I was to be waiting for my shuttle van. 20 minutes later I was in the van ready to go. Then I found out we had to pick up 11 more people. Ummm...where are we going to fit 11 people and all there luggage. I was happy I just had my backpack. Around 8am we finally left Xela. I had no idea that the time they told me was when they start picking people up and not the actual city departure time. So then we get to Cuatro Caminos about 15 minutes into our journey and we pull into a gas station. What!?! Please tell me we do not need gas already. No we were dropping off half the people in our van. They were going to meet another van to go to San Cristobal, Mexico. On the road again...okay now we are moving along and we finally get to Los Encuentros where the rest of us switch vans, some to the lake and 2 of us to Antigua and then on to the Capital referred to as Guate here. On the road again...okay we are close I can feel it, but oh we reach Chimaltenango and no no one has to switch vehicles here, but the driver decides he wants a 10 minute break so we stop at another gas station. Finally we hit Antigua where myself and another man change vans yet again to go to Guate. I had thought this would be the most efficient way to Guate, but I did not ask enough questions before booking. It took us 5 and a half hours to make a 4 hour trip, not couting the time spent driving around Xela. Normally I would not be anxious, but I was hoping to get to the Migration office that afternoon.

At 1:30pm I am dropped off at my hotel. Okay, I have one hour to ditch my bag, get a cab and get to the Migration office before it closed at 2:30pm. Upon entering my hotel I find out they have no space for me. The housekeeper is explaining to me in Spanish what is going on. The first time I did not catch much so I asked her to repeat and the second time I caught the vast majority, but still had to ask questions. I had booked online so I am guessing they ran out of space but did not update that online. Luckily they called another nearby sister hotel to get me a room at the same price. The lady from the other hotel was coming to get me. Okay I am in a strange, big, dangerous city that I do not know. I am going to trust these people and get into a car with a stranger. Luckily she looked and acted nice and I had no other choice. Her hotel is a bed and breakfast and was actually really nice. By this time I am tired from traveling and very hungry. There is no way I am going to make it in to take care of my passport today. So I ask her if there is a restaurant nearby. No, nothing but they can order in McDonalds. Yuck!!! So in my room I am trying to use my brain that does not want to work to figure out what to do next when the phone rings. She is going to make me lunch, but she only has chicken is that okay. Yes, great, fantastic! Awhile later I went downstairs and had the most fabulous lunch of marinated chicken breasts with no bones for the first time here, tomatoes and avocadoes drizzled in a yummy dressing and a side of creamy parmesan pasta with tortillas and ice cream for dessert. Wow!

The woman who owns this hotel is very nice and speaks English after living abroad for many years. She was very friendly and always making sure I felt at home and did I need anything. I found out from her that the next day, Wednesday, August 15 was a holiday and all government offices would be closed for the Day of the Assumption (of the Virgin Mary? I do not know I am not Catholic). Great, I came to the Capital and now I am wasting 2 days because I was not smart enough to check up on anything for this trip. Back up in my room I realized this was my first trip in Guatemala alone that I had to take care of the details on my own. And I did a crap job. Nothing like my Europe trip. Finally the tears of frustration came out. I had not slept well being anxious about my passport and everything just hit me at once. But luckily through experience I knew how to let it out and then pick up the pieces in a positive mindset. I knew there was nothing I could do about it now so I would just wait until first thing Thursday morning and pray that I would have my documents in order by the end of the business day Friday.

Tuesday afternoon I relaxed and then had dinner again at my hotel. She made a wonderful Spanish omelette that is shaped like a pizza only made of eggs, potatoes and herbs and spices with a yummy salad and fresh tomatoes. I met a girl about my age from Italy also staying there and eating dinner. She let me know that they will cook meals for you if you let them know in advance you are eating there. So Wednesday morning after my free and yummy breakfast of fresh fruit and pancakes I got ready to go out. I asked for a taxi to a nearby museum of all the Guatemalean traditional textiles. She called around and none of the museums were open, but her husband could drive me to zona viva. Zona viva is where they have, you guessed it a mall. What else is open on a holiday but the mall. I went there to get out and walk around. I did not need clothes or shoes. There is a street leading from the mall about 6 blocks that you can walk up and down for other shops and restaurants. I found a little passage with about 5 shops in it with things made by artesians here in Guatemala. I found a great gift for my dad! I was very happy with how the day was turning out. I went to Applebees for lunch. I was surprised to see this chain down here and I thought what the heck let me see how a chain other than McDonalds is in a foreign country. And it is exactly the same, although the names of the dishes to order are in English the descriptions are all in Spanish. Luckily I am not a picky eater. Then I got a taxi to go back to my hotel. You always have to agree to a price beforehand and I knew this guy was overcharging me. He said it is only 6 US dollars. I wanted to say I do not care how much it is in US dollars it is the fact that you are ripping me off based on my appearance that really irritates me, but I just said fine and got in.

Thursday morning I packed up my belongings since I was moving to a hotel much closer to where I needed to be, hopefully cutting down on my taxi fares. After checking in to my new place and dropping everything except what was vitally important to process my passport I got a cab. I was dropped off at the address in my guide book forgetting that it was published 4 years prior. I walked in and found out I was at the wrong address. Luckily I was only 4 blocks away. I walked in the direction they pointed me towards and prayed I would not be robbed. I walked as fast as I could looking like I knew exactly where I was going and I had the look on my face that I have developed over the years (unconciously) that I mean business and stay away. I knew I was close, but I was confused at an intersection that was diagonal. Luckily there are security guards at every bank, store and business that deals with a lot of money or merchandise and I went up to one who seemed friendly and asked for help. He pointed me in the right direction and 2 blocks later I was there. I have learned from Europe and here that you have to learn to ask other people for help and I try my best to do this now.

I had assumed that because I would be at an office dealing with tourists that they would speak English to me. Wrong. I do not know if they knew English and would have spoken it to me if I seemed confused, but it was all in Spanish and I must have appeared to understand what was going on. Once I found the right floor and window she let me know what I needed photocopies of and she gave me a form to fill out. Then I was back at the window and she was filling out a form. I understood from her that I needed to pay 114 quetzales, but the rest was a mystery and she was out of her chair and gone. Luckily the guy behind me spoke fluent Spanish and English and he directed me to the bank teller window to the right. Oh, that is what that is for. So I got in line over there and paid and then what? I went back over to the other window and waited to ask what was next. She took the receipt in my hand stamped something and gave me a copy. Then she told me to come back at 3pm later that same day. Wow, the same day! I had seen a sign saying that if you turn in your documents by Noon you get it back the same day, but you never know. If you come in the afternoon you have to come back at 10am the following day. So even if I had gone in Tuesday I still would have had to come back Thursday. This was working out for the best in the end. I walked about 4 blocks away to hang out at yet another mall to kill the next 4 hours. Then I was back at 3pm with passport and new stamp letting me stay in Guatemala until Nov. 15. Gracias a Dios! Thank you to God!

Back at my hotel I was able to eat and relax since the most important part of my journey was over. I had talked to the front desk at the hotel for a ride to Antigua for the next day and another girl my age was also going to Antigua so that worked out to get a shuttle van together. I met her the next day and she is also from the United States. It was a blessing because we walked around Antigua together and had dinner together that night. We set a time to meet for dinner on Saturday night. It is so nice to not eat alone all the time. I did it just fine in Europe, but now I do not like it at all. It is okay in your own home, but in a restaurant it is much nicer to have someone to talk to and share your travels with. I realized how blessed I was by all my friends in Xela since I was alone for the first time and I was a little bit lonely for the first time here in Guatemala.

Antigua was a nice, safe, touristy town where you can walk everywhere you need to go. I definately prefer that. It was the Spanish Colonial Capital until major destruction by an earthquake like 200 years ago or so (do not quote me on this fact). Then the Capital was moved to Guatemala City. I finished gift shopping in the artesians market and walked around looking at all the old churches just enjoying the blue skies and sunny, warm air. But it was definately really warm here and I was happy to be going back to Xela where it is much cooler. Now that I am adjusted to the cool days here I can not take the heat elsewhere! It is in the 60s most days and cools off 10 or more degrees at night. Just perfect.

In Antigua I marveled at being able to see the moon and I missed seeing the stars at night back home. Xela has too many lights to see the night sky. And back in Xela it was really hot yesterday. I got a headache from how intense the sun was and I was craving for a cool down which we did get. But the air pollution here is really starting to bother my eyes, my lungs and nose. I am also looking forward to cleaner air back home.

Well I am back in Xela volunteering again. Time continues to fly and I made a list of the things I still have to do here in Xela before time runs out. I miss you all and think of you often. Please pray for the people in Peru suffering from the earthquake, the people affected by Hurrican Dean. Also pray for a friend of mine suffering with gallstones and a friend who is an alcoholic and drinking again but trying to quit again.

dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187046480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187046480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1187046480/tpod.html Mon, 13 Aug 2007 20:13:56 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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San Pedro La Laguna, Guatemala

Happy State Fair and Hot Weather to all you Iowans!

We have once again gotten a break from constant rain lately and it was really warm the end of last week and Saturday. The weather here makes me feel right at home because you can never predict what it will be like tomorrow or even later the same day. This morning it was chilly so I dressed a bit warm and then of course it warmed up and I was roasting. But like normal it cooled off around 2pm with some light rain and it has been cloudy since. But not cold. It is perfect in a t-shirt and pants. Lots of times it is almost too chilly for sandals, but I am stubborn since it is summer right now in my brain and I love wearing sandals. I don{t want to miss that shoe season!

Saturday night I felt my first earthquake related tremor. It was definately scary and I hope to experience no more. It is not comforting that I live in a cement building with another floor above mine. I had gone out to dinner with 2 friends to celebrate one friends birthday. We had the greatest Thai food ever! Much later I was back at home and getting ready to go to bed around midnight when it seemed like a wind tunnel went through the apartment. At least at first that is what I thought because the glass in the windows and the blinds were shaking, but then I caught a glimpse of my water bottle next to my bed and the water was sloshing. I also realized the whole building was shaking. I do not know how long it lasted but 10 seconds might be stretching it. I panicked a little not sure if I should run outside in my pajamas or what. Luckily it was over before I could decide.

Tomorrow I leave Xela to head to Guatemala City. Yes, friends I have been here 90 days next Monday and my time allowed in Guatemala will expire. So I have to go to the Capital to get a new stamp issuing me 90 more days in Guatemala. It is standard procedure, but the Capital is a very dangerous place. I am taking a tour company private van to the Capitol, not because the chicken buses are unsafe, but arriving alone in Guatemala at their huge bus terminal would not be safe at all. I would not have a clue where to go and also looking young, female and American I would be an instant target. This van will drop me off at the hostal I am staying at. Zone 1 in downtown has the cheapest places to stay, but it again is the most dangerous part of town. So my next choice was next to the airport. But my hostal has a restuarant so I will not have to venture out after dark alone. I really hate not being able to come and go as I please and not have to hide my id and money in different pockets, a hidden money belt and other places. I miss safe Iowa!!! So please keep my safety in your prayers this week. I am going to be as cautious as possible, but I still worry a little. It could take 2 days or 3 days one never knows so I guess I will wait and find out. Unfortunately to do this I had to cancel my classes for the rest of this week. But I think I really need this break to store up some strength for my final 5 weeks of volunteering. I am starting to get worn down and very anxious to return home. I know I can make it through, but I want to finish doing a good job and enjoy the rest of my time here too. On the way home I have to travel through Antigua, a colonial Spanish city that was once the Capital of Central America. I have heard it is very beautiful and safe so it will be a nice place to spend the weekend before returning back to Xela on Sunday.

Now for my latest adventure. A few weekends ago I went back to Lago Atitlan with 2 friends. Susan, from London, who lived on the lake in 2 different towns for 4 months before coming to Xela. And Rikke from Denmark. Susan wanted to visit old friends, Rikke had never been to the lake, and I wanted to see a different town than my last trip and experience the lake while not being on tour group itinerary. At a decent time in the morning we went to the bus terminal and hopped a chicken bus for the lake. We had to first go to Los Encuentros and change buses there. We got there early enough to get seats, but it filled up fast and we were piled 3 in each seat with people straddling aisles and whatever space they could find. Once we hit the road the other man working on the bus besides the driver made his way through the aisle to collect money from all the passengers. Susan knew the correct price, but was waiting to see if he would make us pay extra like many gringos have to. He got to me first and I told him where I was heading. He said doce, 12, and that was the correct price. Susan was in disbelief that he did not try to make us pay extra. I looked down and realized my cross necklace was standing out and proud and I thought maybe he saw it and maybe he is a religious man and decided to not overcharge us. Or maybe he was just being fair. I will never know, but I like to think it helped.

We got off at Los Encuentros and then boarded another chicken bus for Solola. Then in Solola we walked through a beautiful square to catch a third bus to Panajachel. We had to climb down the mountain to get to Panajachel on the lake. All I can say about the chicken buses is that at least we were in the back and could not see when he was passing right before a curve, etc. It was very bumpy and our backs were very sore by the end of the trip. We arrived in Panajachel and walked through the market on our way to the docks. We had thought about eating here before getting the lancher (boat) across the lake to San Pedro, but the weather was changing and the lake was getting choppy so we decided to get to San Pedro ASAP. After a short bathroom break paying both for the use of the toilet and for the paper we boarded the lancher to San Pedro. On the day we went there are no direct buses to San Pedro therefore the 3 buses and one boat to get to our destination.

Susan and Rikke boarded the back and the guy yelled to me something about en frente. I questioned what he said, did you say I need to go in the front while gesturing. Some rude American guy said, yes that is right he told you to go in the front. So my Spanish is not close to fluent, but the boat was loud and the guy had his back turned to me. So what if I wanted to make sure I understood. Okay, my big pet peeve here is people who are from the States or Europe and either live here now or have been traveling so long that they no longer feel like a tourist. These people think they know everything about the country there are in and they have no problem making fun of those of us travelers who are not as well seasoned. They forget that at one time they too were green in the ways of living in Guatemala. Now that I have been here awhile I try to remember that and when I encounter new visitors I help them without being condescending and annoyed with their questions.

Okay so I climb into the front of the lancher, but where is there a seat? Two guys make some room in the very front but I squeeze past them to the next row and sit by an American woman with a local man and child beside her. Boy am I glad I did not sit in the front row!!!! We took off on choppy waters with sprinking rain. We had to go straight across the lake. Time is money so we of course went full speed ahead. Water was gushing in from the front and the three travelers in the front were soaked by the time we reached San Pedro. I had picked the perfect location because the wind was not blowing in my direction so I did not get very wet. But I was getting very seasick. And of course the motor went out when we were halfway across the lake. Susan said, so I guess we get out and swim now. We all laughed but deep down I was really hoping it would not come to that. And soon the engine was going again and we were in San Pedro in about 30 minutes total.

We arrived in San Pedro and the boat guy did want to rip us off. The normal price is 15Q but he said it was 20Q. Susan argued with him that she lived there and knew the price was 15Q. After arguing awhile he said she could pay 15 but since we did not live there we had to pay 20. She was not happy, but I said I was fine paying 20Q which is not more than $3. It was not worth arguing about. So then we were headed to our hostal. It is a nice, small place with clean rooms of cement walls, tile floors and no spiders. We each had a single room and we had our own shower and toilet in our room. It was great to have this but it was funny because you step up into a closet type door and the shower is just a nozzle out of the wall beside the toilet. No shower curtain or anything, but it was all tiled. The only crap things was that the toilet gets wet when you shower. But this hostal was cheap for the nice accommadations and it even had a nice courtyard restaurant. We had lunch there and then Rikke and I ventured out while Susan reconnected with old friends.

Rikke and I both wanted to go horseback riding so we went down near the dock to Big Foot the local travel agency. We paid about $10 each for a 3 hour horseback ride with a guide for the next morning. Then we ventured around town and tried to find our way back to our hostel and got totally lost. We called Susan and then felt stupid because we had just passed it and were basically standing right outside the door. In these lake towns you have to understand that the streets are basically dirt paths going here and there and they are not real streets that cars can drive on. There are some bigger streets, but not were our hostel was.

The next morning bright and early we were getting onto our horses. I definately picked the wrong one. I got the wild one who wanted to run like crazy. I used to ride horses when I was younger and a girl scout and I liked to cantor and trot. But I do not remember it being like the running this horse was doing. I kept pulling back the reins and telling him to stop or go slow, but this horse would not be controlled. Luckily we got on a skinny path at the base of San Pedro volcano and I was behind Rikke and her calm, slow horse so we could not go fast. But there were steep places to go up or down where my horse would start to go fast and I would be leaning way back in the saddle praying I would not go flying off my horse.

We got to the halfway point and got off an rested for a bit. The guide was giving me lessons on how to handle my horse. I paid close attention and my horse seemed calmer so we took off back towards town. But after a little bit of time my horse was wild and crazy again and I could not control him. The guide kept saying in Spanish you have to control him. If only I knew how to say in Spanish that this horse has a mind of his own and can not be controlled! We were back almost to town when my horse was getting wild and uncontrolled again. I said I wanted off and I would walk the rest of the way. The guide says no, no, no and we kept going, but I swore to myself I would never, ever ride a horse ever again. I was extremely relived when it was time to say goodbye to the horses. I did laugh however because it seems like every activity I do down here is somewhat life endangering. On the horse I was upset for a minute at myself. Have I become a total chicken in my old age? But then I realized I was in Guatemala volunteering for 4 months and lots of people would be chicken to do that. So I guess I may be a chicken when it comes to climbing waterfalls, swimming through caves, big spiders and horses, but that I am brave in other things.

The rest of our time in San Pedro was spent relaxing, meeting Susan{s friends and eating great food. It was very refreshing to get away from Xela for a weekend. It is nice to have warm, sunny weather now and again. And the lake is so beautiful it just makes you feel closer to God. Guatemala is such a beautiful country that you can not doubt God{s hand in creating something this incredible. It was not cloudy or rainy the whole time we were there so we got to enjoy the sun glimmering on the lake with the green, lush volcanic hills surrounding the whole area.

The morning came when it was time to leave. We walked into the part of town where the locals actually live (closer to the lake is filled with Americans and Europeans who now live here permanently). We got to board a chicken bus that was direct to Xela. And it was not that full so we were not jampacked like sardines. But by the time I got home I was so sore from the horseback riding and the bus riding I did not think I could walk. In fact I was hurting for 2 days, but the trip was worth it. But coming back into the cold climate of Xela brought on a bad cold for the rest of the week. You could never imagine how cold it can get here in Xela even though I am in Guatemala much farther south than back home. I will fit perfectly into the fall weather when I return.

Well I need to go pack for my next excursion, my official business visit to Guate. I will let you know all about very soon.

dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1186531320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1186531320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1186531320/tpod.html Tue, 07 Aug 2007 20:47:45 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Hi and Happy August to all!

In my last blog I failed to wish the West Des Moines Methodist Mission Possible Team best of luck and to have a hard working and rewarding experience. I was thinking about all of you last week!

Last week I got my third cold here and this one was much worse than before. Both a head and chest cold complete with coughing and I think fever although I do not have a thermometer with me. I had to stay home sick on Friday but luckily by the end of the weekend I was recovered. I told one of my roommates that I rarely get sick back home, but he commented that at least in the states we have heaters in our homes and offices. Here we do not and believe it or not folks here in Guatemala in the mountains it is COLD. This morning I could have sworn I could almost see my breath in my room, but not quite!

So I decided to let you know what my typical day is even though I may have written some of this before. So here we go...

I get up around 7am and many days I wake up before the alarm even goes off. Now I know those of you that know me really well can not believe this, especially my mother because I am not a morning person and the snooze button is my best friend. But I do get up and get ready and even get to eat breakfast before leaving my apartment. Today I was especially thankful for a shower since yesterday we had no water in our building or actually the area of town I live in. But I felt blessed because not having water only once in 2 1/2 months is great for here!

Shortly after 8am I am off. I walk 20 minutes to the daycare center. It is great exercise and I get to walk through the main market called the Democracia while women and men scurry around setting up their tables and baskets of vegetables, fruits, housewares, clothes, cds and anything else you could possibly sell.

I arrive at the daycare center and greet all the kids in the nursery with a Buenas dias. Usually 3 or 4 arrive before me and the rest trickle in during the next hour. Every morning Fernanda gives me a big smile to my greeting and Pamela continues to say, No, No every day. It always makes me laugh. Danielle just looks at me with her big eyes and turns away, she is obviously not a morning person either and not fully awake just yet.

So while the kids are arriving I make them all bottles and they feast away in their cribs while I sweep and mop the floor. Then I go and wash by hand the towel I used as the mop head. I really long for mops with disposable heads and washing machines at this point. Unfortunately I am a clean freak and I can never get the towels completely clean with my hands rubbing the towel across a washboard sink. Then I play with the kids in the nursery until around 10am when they get to walk across the courtyard to the kitchen for pan or bread as it is called back home. They are good on the trip to get the food, but then bringing them all back is always a challenge. They want to venture into different rooms with the other kids or go out on the muddy playground. It is too cold for them to play outside right now but they don{t understand that. Usually I have to pick Pamela up and listen to her cry and kick her feet back to the nursery. But back inside we play with balls and I started the game where you cover your face with your hands and then say boo when you pull your hands away. It always makes Pamela laugh but today for the first time she said boo back. I am sure boo is not a word in Spanish but it couldn{t hurt, right?

All the kids love to look at my watch. Most people here do not wear watches, which I figured out rather quickly because everyone sees mine and asks me the time. At least I know my numbers in Spanish! It has been amazing to watch these kids grow in the short month I have volunteered at the daycare center. The youngest baby can now hold her own bottle and her legs are going all the time now and I know we will have her in a walker very soon. Lucia now recognizes me and today she cried when she saw I was leaving. Oops. But she is very close to walking all on her own.

Around Noon we feed all the kids and that proves to be a big task. Usually they, us and the highchairs and floors are messy. I have gotten better at getting the food in the little ones mouths and not just on their faces. After lunch they get a bottle and it is nap time. That is when I make my escape for the day.

Then I am off to the Democracia to find some lunch before catching the bus in the park to go to La Esperanza. Most days I pack into the bus and try to squeeze myself down to half my size without even thinking, but yesterday I wanted to kill our bus driver. He was such a jerk. When you have 10-15 more passengers than you should it takes awhile for people to squeeze through to get off the bus. He was yelling at people to hurry up and get off the bus fast. I am not sure he even saw how jampacked we were. As soon as people were off and then new ones on he gunned it and we were off. People would yell baja for the next stop and he would just keep driving and everyone would have to yell baja, baja, baja. Although I have definately had more kamikaze drivers than him. I prayed a lot on that bus!

I arrive in La Esperanza close to 2pm. The lady who lives at the church with her son and possibly husband is usually out cooking, feeding the chickens or doing laundry. I think I first mentioned awhile ago that when I would greet her she did not really respond to me. Well all that has now changed through my charm! I say Buenas Tardes and ask her how she is. Of course we talk about the weather and then about classes and the students. I think I have grown on her after all my time here. Yeah!

My classes go very fast and they are a lot of fun since my students and I have really bonded. We laugh and I try to make learning as enjoyable as possible for them. But you never know what they are going to like and what they do not like. The girls really like the songs I have taught them. We played a version of Jepardy last week for review and they really enjoyed that. The attendance for my classes has gone down again. The rowdy boys that pushed at my patience quit attending. Even though they drove me crazy sometimes I still enjoyed them and I did not want them to stop coming. But I have heard this is a trend here. When the material gets harder or learning English is not as easy as they thought they quit showing up. Their parents do not encourage their attendance, in fact they discourage it in a way because they ask their kids to do chores or run to the market or other work or family related things they need to do instead of go to class. But the ones that still come really want to learn and they seem to catch on the quickest. Hopefully they keep coming the next 6 weeks.

At 5:15 I catch the bus back to Parque Central. Usually I have an errand to run like use the internet or go to the store for water or pasta or go buy vegetables. Then it is home to cook dinner and perpare for the next days classes. I am always tired at night.

Some nights are special because we have dinner together, either all of us in my apartment like 2 weeks ago when I made lasagna and others chipped in what they had, broccoli, bread whatever. Or like last week when my neighbor grilled (not sure how fire safe his makeshift grill is...). He grilled steak and we made guacamole, garlic mashed potatoes with real garlic roasted in the oven, and green beans with bacon. I told him this was the best meal I had had in Guatemala. It is always nice to eat dinner with friends to talk and share our experiences.

Fridays I do not teach so after I leave the daycare center at 12:30 I am free to run errands. Friday is laundry day and here you take your laundry to the lavanderia and drop it off. They wash and dry it for you and you pick it up later. It was amazing because my laundry guy knows the church I teach at and he knows the family I stayed with upon first arriving. What a small world. So he always remembers my name, especially since it is a Latin/Spanish name. We have a good visit every week. Last week he gave me best wishes for getting over my cold.

If I do not travel on the weekends they are a time to relax, shop for groceries, practice Spanish and prepare for the next weeks classes. It is also time to hang out with friends and I really enjoy a lot of the friends I have made here. I try to journal a few times a week and I have the best journal to capture my thoughts. My womens church covenant group gave me a journal with scripture on every page and I love writing in it and I really enjoy finding their thoughtful notes to me every now and then. I also have a devotion book with me to keep me on track with my mission. It is amazing how on a certain day a certain devotion just fits me perfectly. This past weekend I was so happy with my experience here and me and just being free to follow God{s will for my life this year. I could not imagine being anywhere else. I had thought most of my prayers here would be asking for strength and endurance to make it through my time here. But I have found that more times than not I am just thanking God for my time here and this experience. Praise is so often on my lips and the tears of happiness have almost burst forth many times over these past few months. Before I could not wait to drive my car again and today I was trying to imagine what it would be like to not ride the buses here anymore and my mind could not picture it. So I guess that is a good thing.

I am counting down the weeks though because I do miss all my friends and family back home. In 7 weeks I will be done with my volunteer work here. I can not believe how fast the time has gone. I still have a lot left to do so do not worry I will continue to stay busy.

Today I read some sad emails from friends back home and I was sorry I could not be there to comfort them. So I am asking for prayers for an unborn baby who has very serious medical problems, this baby is a grandchild of a friend of mine. I also ask for prayers for a woman who is undergoing a masectomy later this week.

God Bless and Enjoy the rest of your summer,
dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185495720/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185495720/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185495720/tpod.html Thu, 26 Jul 2007 21:24:33 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Coban, Guatemala

Hello once again!

Let me see what do I need to update you on...

I am crossing my fingers right now as I write this, but my bed bugs seem to have died or disappeared since my bed was fumigated on Monday. No new bites the last few days! They even sprayed my suitcase for me and I took piece of clothing to the lavanderia to be washed. On Sunday I researched their habits, where they live and how to get rid of them. Before I knew they were there but could tolerate the coexistence. After seeing what they look like and knowing how and when they feed on my blood I was really creeped out. It was challenging to fall asleep Sunday night. And Monday night I knew I was sleeping with dead bugs. Yuck!!!! I have fully appreciated my clean sheets and bug free bed the last couple nights.

Working mornings in the daycare center has been going well. I grow to love each child everyday even Pamela who constantly throws a tantrum when you say no even if it isn{t directed towards her! But I can safely say I never want to ever have 6 children, especially not 3 or 4 the same age. Wow! All I can say is the terrible twos.

My English classes are going okay. More kids have stopped showing up. Apparently this is normal behavior here. I did see a few girls in the street walking to and from class Monday and asked them to come back to class. It worked for this week. It is easier to teach with a smaller group, but one class only has a few students show up and I think a few more would help with the activities. I have 8 weeks left of classes. I am not going to go to a new city for my last month, but stick it out here in Xela. Time is going both fast and slow.

I have been really anxious to be back home the last week. My homesickness is manageable and I get through each day just fine. But I do miss the people and other things from my normal life. I guess I have been trying to figure out what I want my next job to be when I get back and I still can{t figure that one out. But I do know all the other things I want in my life when I return so I guess that is why I am anxious. When I was in Mexico for one summer in college I was really homesick and miserable for a couple weeks. Thank goodness I am enjoying my time enough here that I am not miserable. But I have grown up since then and I know how to not be miserable. This past year has taught me so much about myself and that your weaknesses follow you everywhere you go. There is no escape from yourself so you either have to learn to accept and love yourself or I guess be miserable until you die. That won{t be me!

Now I need to update you on my last trip from almost 2 weeks ago to Semuc Champey and Coban. Yes I was dumb enough to get in a van for a trip to travel 10 hours each way after only having returned 4 days earlier from a similar trip. The good news is we left at 1pm and not 5am in the morning. We brought food with us to eat lunch en route. We had to again travel east 4 hours to Guatemala City. There are not a lot of highways here so because the jungles and mountains in the north are difficult so you always have to travel east to go just about anywhere. We hit the Capital and then went north. We were to arrive at our hotel in Coban around 9pm and then we would have dinner.

Well with all trips I have been on it takes longer to get there than planned. Traffic was horrible in the Capital since it was rush hour. We zoomed past the Presidents house and the Capitol building, but we could not get out for photos since we were in the most dangerous part of the city.

About one to two hours from our destination our van broke down. Some of us heard the noise in the engine and others were oblivious. I heard it and before we even pulled off to the side of the road I was praying that it could be fixed and we would not be suck here sleeping in this hot van all night. After a donation of some centavos the engine was fixed. Yes they used coins to jimmy rig the engine. We were off again. But sometime in the next hour we broke down again. Oh no, two times is really bad. This one may not be fixable. But more coins were fitted in the engine and we were up and running once again.

Finally at 11:30pm we arrived at our hotel in Coban. They could not wait for us so we had so dinner ready, but none of us felt like eating. We were ready for bed. A girl Sarah and I decided to share a room and grabbed our key. I opened the door cautiously keeping my eyes peeled for any spiders or other unwanted visitors in our room. Yes, our room was solid cement block and no spiders. We quickly passed out for the night.

After breakfast the next morning we were off again. I had not clearly read the itinerary before signing up for the trip. We still had 2 hours to go to get to Semuc Champey. And knowing our tour guide it was likely to be longer. After 90 minutes of winding roads we arrived at a gravel road. Our guide Josue said it was 40 minutes on this road until our hotel. All we went is down and around for about an hour. But we made it to our hostel and got checked in.

We were off to see Semuc Champey. We walked about 15 minutes to get to the park. We saw beautiful aqua lagoons in pools separated by limestone. We walked across one pool to see the head of the pools where the river rushes down through a limestone carved cavern. It was really beautiful, but maybe not the most beautiful place I have seen in my life. I guess I have seen more places in the world and United States than the people who made this statement.

But it was definately worth seeing and I was happy to be there. But before swimming in the pools our guide said there was a hike to a mirador, look out, above. I wanted to stay, but no one else did. Of course most of us worth flip flops for the swimming and the hike was extremely dangerous without the proper footwear. The trail was up or down, made of mud and rocks and very few handrails. Of course I was at the very back of the pack. Our bus driver caught up to us and he helped me on all the slippery parts. I finally made it to the mirador. Josue clapped when I showed up and I was a bit insulted. I can do anything I want to I am just slower than most other people especially without tennis shoes.

The view was worth it but the rest was short before we had to go back down. Again our bus driver helped me and I thanked him profusely for his help. His Spanish was hard to understand so our conversations were very limited. We all then made it back down to the pools to swim in clear blue water with little fish nipping at our feet.

As we were leaving the sky opened up buckets of water on us. It was raining so hard I could not even see because water was running into my eyes. Of course it stopped by the time we reached our hotel, but the force of the storm hatched the eggs of hundreds of ant like creatures with wings. Back in clean clothes and relaxing at our hostel we were attacked by swarms of these bugs flying up our noses, down our shirts and up our pants. They do not bite but things flying at you and into your clothes and drinks was very annoying. We did not even want to open our mouths to talk. Luckily when our dinner arrived they had pretty much all died. According to the hostel owner they live about 6 hours.

Later that night back in my shared room with one of my two roommates we were getting ready for bed. My roommate was in the bathroom for a minute when the door came flying open and she came out screaming. We had a spider by the toilet. I was feeling brave so I opened the door and had a look. This one was a baby compared to the spiders I had seen the last 2 trips. She wanted it dead so I took my sandal and killed it. I felt very proud of myself, but I was nervous that the mom or dad of this one was lurking nearby.

We had a peaceful nights sleep in the jungle without anymore mishaps. The next morning was supposed to be going through a cave. What we were not told in advance was that the cave has water running through it and you have to swim part way and even climb a rope ladder where there is a waterfall. I kept trying to decide if I would go. I did not want to miss the fun and be a chicken but at the same time I am not an adrenaline adventure junkie. I do not call risking your safety and possibly your life fun and thrilling. I am claustrophobic and am afraid of water. The night before I decided I should face my fears and I would go. But the next morning I woke up and I just did not want to be scared and struggling physically for 2 hours. Josue asked me and only me at breakfast if I was going. I said no. He seemed satisfied with my answer. My roommate said she wasn{t going and he tried to talk her into it. She isn{t a strong swimmer and just wanted to relax with me for a couple hours. One other girl also did not go because she did not trust the judgement of our guide. It had rained all night and the river was running much faster than the previous day. We knew the cave could be very full of fast moving water and dangerous. She had fallen 3 times the day before and did not want to get injured again. We asked our guide if the cave was dangerous and in Spanish he said more or less. Whatever that is supposed to mean.

I do not feel bad about my decision. I should not have to prove I can do everything. I know if I want to I can do it. But if I do not want to do something I should not cave into peer pressure. We had a nice conversation enjoying the tropical weather and I did not miss the adrenaline from fear from previous experiences on my trips.

After the others were cleaned up from the cave experience, which they said was difficult, scary and intense, we were back in the van to go back to Coban. We arrived at a lovely hotel where we could all shower and feel clean. Then we went to find a good meal after missing lunch that day and the day before. After I had some pasta I wondered around the square with some of the other girls. There was a long line of tables with handicrafts on it and I was able to purchase some gifts for people back home. I love how cheap this great stuff is!

That night it was raining, but we were not ready to sleep just yet. We went out dancing. I actually figured out how to dance salsa without any formal lessons. It amazes me how the guys here are never afraid to ask a girl to dance, unlike back home. Although there are cons to that because when you say no they think that by pestering you for 5 to 10 minutes you will change your mind. It was fun because we had live music and we were the only foreigners in this small, cozy town. Much different than Xela.

After a good nights sleep and a huge breakfast we were off for Xela. Another long 10 hour drive to look forward to. I was feeling a bit carsick so I sat in the front with the driver and another girl. What a difference that made. I was not sick when we arrived in Xela. The trip was definately worth it just with the friendships I made. I am glad I went and I have some amazing pictures. But no more big trips for awhile. I am happy to have some time relaxing at my apartment on the weekends.

Take care and hope to hear from you soon!

dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185143820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185143820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1185143820/tpod.html Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:39:14 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Livingston, Guatemala

Sorry I have had so few blogs lately. I have 2 trips to share with you and lots of great pictures.

It has been really nice to relax this weekend and get recharged. Traveling 2 weekends in a row was very tiring, but I enjoyed every minute. Earlier this week I hit my first real wave of homesickness. Everything piled down on me and my frustration and irritation grew. I reached my apartment just as the tears started flowing. After shedding some tears I knew I had to call my parents and talk. After our phone call I felt lots better. I think I was just at a point where I feel like I{ve gained enough knowledge that I am ready to return home and start my regular life again. I really miss my church and singing in the church choir. I miss all my regular activities, my family and my friends. I don{t miss driving or the food or any of the material things, just the people and the social activities.

I have some made some really great friends here and there are at least 2 people I know I will remain in touch with after leaving Guatemala. I came here to help the people here, but I think what is changing the most is me. I have rediscovered who I am and what I want when I return home. I am becoming more and more confident about myself and finding that it is okay to give your heart to people. Yes, you may get hurt or be sad when you have to say goodbye, but the caring and sharing of love gives you the greatest feeling. I was so happy on Friday I think I was walking on air. I just felt so good about me and the choices I{ve made this year that it was radiating through me to the outside and a friend commented on how I looked radiant.

The downside to this week is that I have bedbugs. It took a little while to discover them especially with traveling so much the last couple weeks but they are now worse. Everyday I wake up with new red, itchy spots. I have cream to stop the itching but halfway through the day I am scratching like crazy. It just plain sucks! This week the cleaning ladies will fumigate my bed and change all the linens, but I guess that may not entirely get rid of them. I will be washing everything I own and finding some bug killer spray for my suitcase and things. Hopefully they will go away!

Now for my trip to Rio Dulce, the Sweet River. We left at 5am on a Friday morning. There were about 14 of us in the van. Not too far into the trip our van was stopped by the police. They were looking for something wrong with the van or the driver so they could make us give them money. But nothing wrong was found and we were again on our way. We drove east to Guatemala City and then northeast from there. On the very curvy road between Xela and the Capitol we were all feeling a little queasy. Luckily I had remembered my dramamine and took it right before we left. A mother and her 2 daughters were a part of our group and the youngest girl was feeling very sick. I shared my dramamine and we moved her to the front.

After passing the Capitol we were driving through lush green hills with a definate increase in temperature and humidity. We arrived at our destination about 90 minutes behind schedule. We couldn{t wait to get out of that van after 10 hours of driving. Our hotel was right on the river and in the jungle. We had to take a boat to reach it. The lobby and restaurant are open buildings with thatched roofs. There is a boardwalk connecting all the cabins to the bathrooms and the restaurant. It had a pool and looked just perfect. We sat down to eat lunch ready to relax a little.

After a quick lunch we boarded our private boat and went to San Felipe Castle. Our tourguide was very nice and funny. Our tour was in English, but the questions had to be in Spanish because he doesn{t know English! After our tour and lots of photos we boarded our boat for a tour of Lake Izabel. It was great to feel the wind on your face and watch the sun go down on the Lake.

We were back at our hotel to relax, swim and have dinner. Kelly and I shared a cabin with 2 twin beds each with a mosquito net over the beds. The planks covering the walls had small gaps and we worried about having extra guests staying in our room, but luckily no spiders like some of the other cabins.

Saturday we had a breakfast buffet of pancakes and fresh fruit. Yummy! Then we were off. We toured the Rio Dulce river by our private boat again. Stopping occasionally for commentary in Spanish by our guide. We pulled up to riverfront tienda for bathrooms, water and we had a great time. Boys in wooden boats showed us the fish and crabs they had caught.

We went through a lush green canyon for 20 minutes and then arrived in the Atlantic Ocean. We went past the town of Livingston to the 7 alters. I am a naive traveler in an undeveloped country. To me when the trip itinerary says that you will see the 7 alters I envisioned walking along a path beside the waterfalls. Not so in Guatemala. We went up a rough path and down some wooden stairs so I was encouraged by this. But then we had to cross the river to the other side by walking through the river holding on to a wire strung across. The scary part was that we crossed on top of a small waterfall so if you fell you would cascade over rocks. We went up the river through pools walking in the river on slippery rocks. Of course I was wearing flip flops so I was worried about slipping and falling. I took my shoes off and tried barefoot. But it{s slow going barefoot because the rocks are also sharp. I have terrible balance and I needed something to hold onto so I crawled over some of the rocks. I{m sure it was a site!

I decided maybe shoes would be better but Kelly was carrying my backpack with our things in it and she was way ahead of me. A Guatemalan tour guide was escorting 3 guys to the same place as us and he ended up giving me a hand the last way through the rocks and river. It{s hard for me to ask for help but I was very glad for his help. Part way to the final waterfall I was frustrated and wanted to give up. I was about ready to cry when I slipped and I fell rear first into a pool of water that was very cold. And I just laughed and laughed. The tension was broken and I finally made it to our destination. It was worth the effort to get there although I did worry about going back down. I was mostly concerned if I fell and broke something or had a head injury how would they get me out of there and to a hospital. There are no helicopters to come whisk you away.

So we swam in this deep pool below a fairly tall waterfall with lots of cold water cascading down over you. Some people climbed up the side of the waterfall and jumped off it into the pool below. It looked extremely scary and dangerous. I don{t know how they did it!

It was time to head back and our guide Josue told me that I should get a head start. I was insulted even though he was right. We slowly made our way down through the river again. This time I had my shoes and knew the best route so it went faster. I did fall on one rock but luckily fell on my side and my padding kept me safe.

We took our boat to Livingston to eat lunch and tour the town. There are Guatemalans who are the descendents of Africans here in Livingston. They speak a language I believe is called Carife and not Spanish. A few woman in our group got there hair braided by ladies there while we waited for our lunch. We walked the main strip looking for gifts and then it was time to go back to our hotel.

This time there were spiders in my room. We had our guide kill it. It was even larger than the spider I saw at Lago Atitlan. With it{s legs it was the size of my hand. Gross! After dinner back in our room we had 2 more big spiders. It was pouring rain outside but I couldn{t sleep with those things in there. We went to the lobby and got the guy there to come and kill our unwanted guests. I didn{t sleep well that night thinking about spiders crawling all over the walls and my bed. The next morning when the light was coming out I peeked out of my netting and was relieved to see no more spiders!

Then it was time to board the van for our long journey home. It was a long ride home but the trek there and back was definately worth the adventure!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1184719440/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1184719440/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1184719440/tpod.html Tue, 17 Jul 2007 21:12:55 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it´s been so long. I went on a trip 2 weekends ago to Rio Dulce and then I was in town for 4 days before leaving again on another trip. I wasn´t going to travel again but the timing was perfect and I couldn´t pass it up. I´ll explain more later about the trips. I want to let you know about what´s going on in Xela for me.

Last Monday I began working at a daycare center for children up to age 6 in the mornings now that I no longer have Spanish classes. I work in the nursery for the littlest ones. They barely know Spanish same as me so we do a lot of gesturing together. Last week we had 4 to 5 kids each day. There are 3 right around age 2 and then one close to age 1 and another more like 6 months. It is challenging to watch all of them all the time. They don´t like to share and they think they can hit each other when I tell one of them no for doing something they shouldn´t. I worked there 3 days last week and it was very exhausting. I like the kids but I wasn´t sure I wanted to watch them 5 days a week for 2 months. But this week they are growing on me and I love quirks about each of them.

Danielle is the oldest so of course she is bossy and everything is hers. But she has the cutest look when she doesn´t like what you are telling her. Fernanda is adorable and very good natured with a big smile. Carlos is always willing to share and he likes to touch the babies even though we tell him not to because they don´t like it. This week Pamela showed up and she doesn´t like to listen or follow directions. She´s quick and you have to keep an eye on her at the playground. Aldolpho also wasn´t there last week. He was home sick. He likes to walk and bounce in his walker. Lucia is a sweet smiling baby wanting to walk so bad she cries when the others are running around playing and she can´t join. The littlest is Shirley and she is soo cute. I think I screwed up last week because I picked her up every time she cried just because I liked to hold her and couldn´t listen to her cry. I am sure the other woman I work with and her mother dislike me for picking her up so much because now she´ll cry more to be held.

I love giving the little ones attention and affection and they are now getting to know me and reciprocate back. Today they all wanted to be held or sit on my lap. Even after a couple days last week they were getting to know me. Some friends of other volunteers there were visiting and these new people wanted to play with the kids. The little ones didn´t know who they were and they ran to me to hide from the strangers. It was comforting to know they had already accepted me.

I did forget one thing. Kids come with germs. They all had colds last week passing it around and I didn´t really think much about it until I came down with a cold late last week. Luckily it went away quickly.

I really like working at the daycare center. The Rotary Club helped them remodel the building and provided a lot of what they have there. It is a wonderful place for these children who have single working moms. The moms pay what they can for the childcare or nothing at all. I am happy to give my time to these little ones.

Okay now for the big surprise last week. I arrived at the church to teach English last Monday and all these young Americans were hanging out and playing frisbee. No one really said much to me so I approached who appeared to be an adult leader of the group. It was a youth mission trip group from North Carolina. They were to lead Vacation Bible School classes for the week in the afternoon. I explained that I taught English classes to the kids in the afternoons. I was introduced to the group leader, the youth leader of their church. She hadn´t been told about me and I hadn´t been told about them which is normal for Guatemala. I told her I thought the kids would benefit greatly from attending the Vacation Bible School so I would not hold classes while they were here.

The first fews kids started trickling into the church. And some of my students arrived. I explained to them there wouldn´t be English classes but they should attend the Vacation Bible School because it would be fun with games, activities and crafts. They looked very hesitant, but I got them playing games and ushered them in the church. When my second group came I convinced them to join also. When they were leaving for the day I asked them if they had fun and they said Si, Si, Si while jumping up and down. They said they would come back the next day.

The next day I convinced my Tuesday students to join in even the teenagers who reluctantly agreed to participate. It was fun to help my students with games and crafts and sing songs in English that I learned growing up in church. A few of the youth could speak Spanish but I came in handy with my Spanish speaking during these 2 days. I know the youth really wanted to bond with these kids and I think they did, but it takes time. This kids really wait to see who you are and how you act before they warm up to you. I was so overwhelmed when they all left Tuesday and they came running up to me to show me what they had made that afternoon. Senor, Senor look, look. Then we kissed checks, the traditional greeting here, and they left so excited.

In just 2 days I could see everything this group did that I did wrong when I began teaching here. I felt bad, but experience is experience. You don´t know until you´ve done it and I had no guidance whatsoever for my volunteer work here. I still have time to make adjustments and I was so happy this group was here. It gave the kids and me energy in the Lord. Maybe someday the youth group at church will be able to do this same thing abroad. This group helped with repair construction work in the morning at the VIM Volunteer Center. They really had quite an experience.

Wednesday I traveled to Mazantenango with a woman from the VIM Office here. She had to meet up with a medical team working near that city for paperwork. I went along because it´s possible I might volunteer in a different town for my last month here. I felt like I could spend time elsewhere and I want to be more immersed to understand the culture outside of tourist town Xela and to improve my Spanish. It was amazing to watch the doctors and nurses heal the long line of Guatemaleans patiently waiting for their first medical first in a year or ever. They also had people teaching songs in the schools to the children. I got to hear dialogue between the head school teacher and the group leaders. They talked about purpose and God´s love bringing them together. Each group was soo thankful for the other and how they had touched each others lives. It will be much hotter in Mazantenango and there are lots of mosquitos. I will be the only gringa and have no friends. Please pray for me as I try to decide to move there in September or stay in Xela.

I hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying a vacation this summer. Keep me posted on what is going on back home. I won´t be traveling for awhile so look forward to more upcoming blogs!!!!

dianaj25

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183654380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183654380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183654380/tpod.html Thu, 05 Jul 2007 13:55:14 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Chichicastenango, Guatemala

Buenas dias Amigos!

It is a beautiful day here in Xela and it has been a beautiful week. For the past 2 weeks we have had lots of warm, sunny days with little rain. I am enjoying not being cold in the afternoons and nights.

My classes have been fun this week. My students and I are bonding more and can actually converse in Spanish. We don´t always understand one another, but we figure it out.

Laughing is one of those things that everyone does, but some people more than others. Sometimes I am my serious self and I forget to really laugh for a long time. But when that laugh, the kind where your whole body feels the ripples of laughter, finally erupts it feels fantastic and you wonder why you it took so long. So I have been laughing with my students and enjoying my experience to the fullest.

When I first arrived here I had really high expectations for myself. I really wanted to help the people here so I guess I expected that I would teach these kids how to fluently speak English. In the last 2 weeks I have come to realize that this is an impossible goal. You can´t teach fluency in a foreign language in 4 months, especially when they are starting from scratch. This has helped me to focus better on using activities that will at least help them remember the basics so when they take English in the future they will better understand it. It amazes me what they do and don´t remember.

Next week I start volunteering in a daycare center in the mornings. This daycare center watches children up to age 6 for free for single, poor mothers who need to work during they day. The Volunteer Office here used to send volunteers to the local orphanage, but the care there was poor and after trying for years they have decided not to send more volunteers there. They have recently looked into this daycare center, so I am the guinea pig who will let them know about this place. Next week I will be helping watch the really little ones. I hope I remember how to change a diaper properly. It´s been a long time since those babysitting days. Then in a couple weeks they have an open spot to work with the older children. We´ll see how this progresses.

My Spanish continues to improve. Thank you to everyone who sent me a congratulations on my graduation. I am trying to speak Spanish as much as possible with my roommates. My friend Johanna from Austria and I always speak in Spanish because her English isn´t fantastic but her Spanish is great and I am trying to get better. Her sister is here visiting right now and last night she was asking me questions in English and apparently I was responding in Spanish without realizing it until she said something to me about it. That was great news to me!

Sunday I went to Chichicastenango with my Spanish school. I was sure I was going to launch my breakfast before we arrived, but I made it. We went a lot higher in altitude and I had a headache most of the day. It didn´t help that I had assumed it would be colder and cloudy so I only wore sunscreen on my face. My arms were toasty red by the time we got back to Xela.

We arrived and walked through the packed market with the streets so full of vendors and people that it was near impossible to stay together as a group. Most of us followed our guide up a hill to see the Mayan religious ceremonies. Wow, I was out of breath right away and my heart was racing. From past experience I knew it was the altitude and not my lack of exercise. It was interesting to see the religious rites performed by the Mayan priest. But what was of more comic interest to me was the fact that pagan Mayan ceremonies are performed on the front steps of the Cathedral in Chichi. In fact to convert the indigenous years ago the Catholic Missionaries incorporated lots of the indigenous rituals into the catholicism they were teaching.

After the hike back down we went to find lunch. The whole group of us filled a long table in the center of a tiny restaurant. There menu was way too Americanized and the food was probably the worst I´ve had here. But while we were waiting for our food the children started pouring in. Each child had something different to sell. They would go around and ask each of us to buy from them. Once a sale was made the children milling around the doorway would notice and then more and more kept coming. The couple sitting across from me bought a few things and the children noticed and they all crowded around this couple trying to coerce them into buying from all of them. Soon enough the women came in trying to sell the scarves and cloths they were selling. It was almost too much.

We quickly ate and then got out to the market to shop for gifts to take to family and friends back home. I couldn´t believe how high they start with their prices. I am not good at bartering and I didn´t have to. If you look just a little too long at something they are hot on your tail. They continue to go down in price until they either reach a price you will pay or you are tired of them at your heels harassing you. I bought two things I wasn´t sure I wanted to get as gifts just to get them to leave me alone. I don´t mind paying a reasonable price, but there is no way to now what that price is. They start high so they can go down or to sucker you. If you quote them a price then they say no that´s too low for 6 months of work by my own hand and not a machine. Just by saying no gracias doesn´t register for them. When I truly didn´t want something I had to say I don´t want it in Spanish. I didn´t know how to say I don´t want that for any price.

But it was a great experience and I felt bad that their demand for money and our demand for cheap gifts has resulted in two cultures being annoyed with each other. It would be nice if you could look and buy and pay them what it´s worth. To not feel guilty that you are paying too little when you have the money. The little English they know is their selling technique and many of them asked for American dollars. As we were preparing to leave we were waiting for the rest of the group on the church steps. A little girl was begging for money. She looked so sad and serious for such a little girl. She allowed me to take her picture for 2 Quetzales.

Another week has flown by and the next few weeks should be just as busy. Tomorrow I am going on another trip with the Spanish school I attended. I am going to Rio Dulce and Livingston along the Carribbean Coast. They have waterfalls, a castle and the beach. The town of Livingston was founded by escaped, shipwrecked slaves so the culture there is completely different than Xela. It will be great to see a different side of Guatemala. And I am prepared for the mosquitos with my Malaria medicine. Guatemala is roughly the size of the state of Louisianna according to my guidebook. This will probably be my last trip for awhile, but I am enjoying traveling in the safety of numbers and exploring during my free weekends. I´m sure I will have lots of stories when I get back and hopefully none of those stories involve spiders, snakes or other large insects and bugs!

Take care and I hope everyone enjoyed the 4th of July holiday.

dianaj25
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183144380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183144380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dianaj25/guatemala2007/1183144380/tpod.html Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:34:08 -0400 Mission Guatemala

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Quetzaltenango, Guatemala

Hi everyone,
I just have a short update today. I uploaded 4 photos to my entry for Lago Atitlan if you want to go back to that entry to see them.

For the last week it has barely rained here. It has been sunny but chilly. Cold enough at night that my throat has been sore and my hands have been really dry. I never thought it was possible to be this cold in June!

My students have been good this week. We have had lots of activities to help them learn and I was very impressed the last 2 days that most of the students in all 4 groups are remembering most of the vocabulary. It always makes me laugh to hear them say pineapple because they pronounce it peen ap ley. Some kids are better than others pronouncing things in English. They can all read and write and they seem to enjoy learning English. It took me awhile to get them to respond with Good Afternoon or Goodbye after I would say these words to them. Now they are saying Good Afternoon or Goodbye before I even prompt them.

I think the biggest challenge for me in the last week was learning that I may have to embarass myself and let them laugh at me to help them learn. They wanted to learn songs in English and so we have been doing that. So sometimes I have to sing and let them laugh at me. It is nice to hear them laugh even if they are laughing at me! They also like to laugh at my poor Spanish. It is so much different with the adults here because they appreciate it when foreigners are trying to learn their language whereas kids just make fun. I enjoy keeping the kids engaged and they understand simple sentences so far. I am truly enjoying my time spent with these young boys and girls who will hopefully make a better future for themselves and their fellow Guatemaltecos.

The church here is very different from back home. I am used to seeing worker bees coming and going during the day and evening at church. There was always someone around to ask a question or say hi to. Here there is no one working at the church a part from two men and a woman who appear to live in an apartment attached to the church. They take care of the grounds of the church and feed the chickens and cows who hang out in the front yard of the church property. They seem very wary of me still, but hopefully by saying Buenas Tardes every afternoon I will someday get a smile in return. It is challenging that they do not have a secretary or pastor around and no phone or photocopy machine. But I get by and just pray that none of the kids get hurt before, during or after the classes with no one but me around. I was a little concerned the first 2 weeks that I could not properly control or handle my largest and oldest group of students. But they do listen to me and respect my authority even though they constantly test the limit by chatting a lot while I am talking. But I am impressed when they do fully pay attention.

One girl who was in my largest class always looked confused. I knew she was not understanding everything, but in a large class it is not easy to give a lot of attention to one student. I was happy to see her show up for a different class one day and I let her know it was fine for her to switch classes. She is now understanding a lot more and is smiling a lot more during classes and participating more. I had asked a few of the other girls if they could join a different, smaller class but they can not get home from school, eat lunch and get to the church in time to attend an earlier class.

Tomorrow I finally get to tour the city I am living in with a friend from my Spanish class. We are going to visit the local market called the Democracia and hopefully taste some authentic food. I have been amazed at the variety of food here - Middle Eastern, Italian, American, Mexican and even Chinese. I love Chinese food and I thought I would have to go without for 4 months! There are more types of food, but I can not remember them right now.

Well enjoy your weekend and the upcoming 4th of July holiday. I hope some Americans here want to celebrate a little on the 4th to make it feel more like home!

dianaj25
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