Friday, March 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Antigua, Guatemala
Hi everyone,
Greetings from Antigua, Guatemala. Rachel and I arrived here about a week ago and soon after arriving we met up with a friend from high school, Emily Stewart, Rachel's mom and older brother, Leah's dad, and most recently Leah (she flew in from Peru on Thursday night).
It is great to be back in Guatemala after about 8 months away and surrounded by so many wonderful people. Most of us spent this past week volunteering at Safe Passage and it was interesting to see how much the project has changed in the relatively short time since we were last here. Some of the changes are very disappointing, but there are also many positive changes as well. I wasn't able to work with the group of kids that I've worked with in the past because there was already a volunteer in that class, but I'm hoping to switch into that class in the next few weeks. For now I'm working with a fourth grade class in the morning and five and six year olds in the afternoons. The morning class is very challeging, but good and the afternoon class is very sweet, but I spend most of my time taking them to the bathroom.
Yesterday marked one year since Hanley's death (the director and founder of Safe Passage). Yesterday afternoon the project had a mass and celebration of Hanley's life and all students, parents, and friends of the project were invited. Staff and students spent days decorating the project with flowers and photos of Hanley. It was a beautiful event though very sad at the same time. After the mass, presentations by a few people who were close to Hanley, and releasing of about 30 pink balloons (Hanley's favorite color) with notes written by the kids, the documentary of Recycled Life was put on and the kids quieted down as they saw Hanley and heard her voice. Many of them also recognized themselves or their friends as the video rolled. When the video finished about 15 minutes later the five year old girl named Katy in my lap said "Quiero verla otra vez" (I want to see her again) and all I could say was "Me too Katy, me too...."
The past week was full of lots of different emotions and we all went straight to bed last night after dinner at Rainbow Cafe, one of our favorite places to eat here in Antigua. This morning Emily and I went to yoga class and then met up with Rachel and her family at the pool. Her sponsor kid and his family came to Antigua for the day and had a wonderful time playing in the water. In the afternoon Emily treated me to an hour long Mayan massage so it's been an all around relaxing day and definitely made up for a week of riding two hours a day in the packed chicken buses. Tomorrow the whole gang is heading to Lake Atitlan and we'll be there for almost a week hanging out at a beautiful hotel called La Casa del Mundo (the same place my mom and I went last March for a year). After that I'm planning to go back to Safe Passage for another three months or so.
That's all for now,
Love, Katie
To see Nicaragua photos click here.
Greetings from Antigua, Guatemala. Rachel and I arrived here about a week ago and soon after arriving we met up with a friend from high school, Emily Stewart, Rachel's mom and older brother, Leah's dad, and most recently Leah (she flew in from Peru on Thursday night).
It is great to be back in Guatemala after about 8 months away and surrounded by so many wonderful people. Most of us spent this past week volunteering at Safe Passage and it was interesting to see how much the project has changed in the relatively short time since we were last here. Some of the changes are very disappointing, but there are also many positive changes as well. I wasn't able to work with the group of kids that I've worked with in the past because there was already a volunteer in that class, but I'm hoping to switch into that class in the next few weeks. For now I'm working with a fourth grade class in the morning and five and six year olds in the afternoons. The morning class is very challeging, but good and the afternoon class is very sweet, but I spend most of my time taking them to the bathroom.
Yesterday marked one year since Hanley's death (the director and founder of Safe Passage). Yesterday afternoon the project had a mass and celebration of Hanley's life and all students, parents, and friends of the project were invited. Staff and students spent days decorating the project with flowers and photos of Hanley. It was a beautiful event though very sad at the same time. After the mass, presentations by a few people who were close to Hanley, and releasing of about 30 pink balloons (Hanley's favorite color) with notes written by the kids, the documentary of Recycled Life was put on and the kids quieted down as they saw Hanley and heard her voice. Many of them also recognized themselves or their friends as the video rolled. When the video finished about 15 minutes later the five year old girl named Katy in my lap said "Quiero verla otra vez" (I want to see her again) and all I could say was "Me too Katy, me too...."
The past week was full of lots of different emotions and we all went straight to bed last night after dinner at Rainbow Cafe, one of our favorite places to eat here in Antigua. This morning Emily and I went to yoga class and then met up with Rachel and her family at the pool. Her sponsor kid and his family came to Antigua for the day and had a wonderful time playing in the water. In the afternoon Emily treated me to an hour long Mayan massage so it's been an all around relaxing day and definitely made up for a week of riding two hours a day in the packed chicken buses. Tomorrow the whole gang is heading to Lake Atitlan and we'll be there for almost a week hanging out at a beautiful hotel called La Casa del Mundo (the same place my mom and I went last March for a year). After that I'm planning to go back to Safe Passage for another three months or so.
That's all for now,
Love, Katie
To see Nicaragua photos click here.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Managua, Nicaragua
Hi everyone!
Happy 2008!! I hope you all had a happy holiday and I wish you all the best in the year to come. January 6th marked one year since Leah, Rachel, and I boarded the bus to Mexico in NC (some say that anniversary doesn't count because we went home for a month in August but since we've been in traveling mode since then, I think it does). Rachel and I celebrated at the mall here in Managua; she drank a smoothie and I had some ice cream. It was too bad that Leah wasn't there for our special toast but she is still working in Peru and is planning to meet up with us in about a week in Guatemala.
This past year has been a wonderful year even though it has not gone according to plan. I just spent the past two and half weeks in Colombia and had a really nice time overall, even though the first few days were hard. After spending a year with my friends it was strange to all of a sudden be in an unfamiliar city all by myself. It didn't help that everyone around me on the streets was in Christmas mode and the weather was mainly cold and rainy. I went to the bus station hoping to get a bus ticket to Cartagena to spend Christmas on the beach with some friends but was told that tickets were sold out for the next week to pretty much everywhere in the entire country, so I didn't have much choice but stay in Bogota. I went back to my lonely hotel room and cried most of the afternoon and then decided to move to a nearby hostel in the hopes of having a more social atmosphere. It turned to be a good idea and I met a lot of great people. One advantage of traveling by yourself is that it is a lot easier to meet people. The hostel had special dinners on both Christmas and New Years so I spent the holidays surrounded by about 40 people from all around the world. On New Years I went out dancing with a group of about 20 people. We went to the Zona Rosa and got to the club just in time to see the ball drop on the big screen.
Even though I made some friends at the hostel I still spent a lot of time by myself. I spent most days wandering around La Candelaria, which was my neighborhood, and got to know it very well. I found a beautiful park about 15 blocks from my hostel and went there almost everyday to read and people watch.
I gotta run, but I promise I'll add another entry soon,
Katie
Happy 2008!! I hope you all had a happy holiday and I wish you all the best in the year to come. January 6th marked one year since Leah, Rachel, and I boarded the bus to Mexico in NC (some say that anniversary doesn't count because we went home for a month in August but since we've been in traveling mode since then, I think it does). Rachel and I celebrated at the mall here in Managua; she drank a smoothie and I had some ice cream. It was too bad that Leah wasn't there for our special toast but she is still working in Peru and is planning to meet up with us in about a week in Guatemala.
This past year has been a wonderful year even though it has not gone according to plan. I just spent the past two and half weeks in Colombia and had a really nice time overall, even though the first few days were hard. After spending a year with my friends it was strange to all of a sudden be in an unfamiliar city all by myself. It didn't help that everyone around me on the streets was in Christmas mode and the weather was mainly cold and rainy. I went to the bus station hoping to get a bus ticket to Cartagena to spend Christmas on the beach with some friends but was told that tickets were sold out for the next week to pretty much everywhere in the entire country, so I didn't have much choice but stay in Bogota. I went back to my lonely hotel room and cried most of the afternoon and then decided to move to a nearby hostel in the hopes of having a more social atmosphere. It turned to be a good idea and I met a lot of great people. One advantage of traveling by yourself is that it is a lot easier to meet people. The hostel had special dinners on both Christmas and New Years so I spent the holidays surrounded by about 40 people from all around the world. On New Years I went out dancing with a group of about 20 people. We went to the Zona Rosa and got to the club just in time to see the ball drop on the big screen.
Even though I made some friends at the hostel I still spent a lot of time by myself. I spent most days wandering around La Candelaria, which was my neighborhood, and got to know it very well. I found a beautiful park about 15 blocks from my hostel and went there almost everyday to read and people watch.
I gotta run, but I promise I'll add another entry soon,
Katie
Friday, December 14, 2007
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