Sunday, February 11, 2007
Still in Guatemala
It has been a fun and busy week. The inauguration for the new Early Childhood Center was on Thursday afternoon and it was a bittersweet event without Hanley there. The building, which is right across from the dump, is absolutely beautiful and has a large grass field for the children. The space is also large enough for additional children so 60 more babies and young children will be accepted to the project over the next few months. A floor plan for a new building for high school students was also unveiled at the inauguration. I'm not sure how long it will take to raise the money necessary to start the building, but I'm excited about what this means for the many students who will be entering high school within the next few years.
Yesterday we went to the zoo in Guatemala City. The plan had been to go with all of our sponsor families, but unfortunately my sponsor kid and his two brothers did not show up so we went with just Leah and Rachel's sponsor kids and their families. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to spending time with Hector outside of the project, but we still had a really nice time. Two of the younger boys ran in front the whole time pointing excitedly at each exhibit. I'll never forget one of them yelling out "look look, a squirrel!"
This morning we went out to a delicious brunch with Arnie (Leah's dad) and then spent a long time wandering around the market in Antigua. For about $3 we filled two backpacks full of vegetables and tonight we are going to make a big soup that we'll have for dinner every night this week. We're always way too tired when we get back from the project to even think about cooking.
xoxo
Yesterday we went to the zoo in Guatemala City. The plan had been to go with all of our sponsor families, but unfortunately my sponsor kid and his two brothers did not show up so we went with just Leah and Rachel's sponsor kids and their families. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to spending time with Hector outside of the project, but we still had a really nice time. Two of the younger boys ran in front the whole time pointing excitedly at each exhibit. I'll never forget one of them yelling out "look look, a squirrel!"
This morning we went out to a delicious brunch with Arnie (Leah's dad) and then spent a long time wandering around the market in Antigua. For about $3 we filled two backpacks full of vegetables and tonight we are going to make a big soup that we'll have for dinner every night this week. We're always way too tired when we get back from the project to even think about cooking.
xoxo
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
One month!
Today marks excactly one month since we started our adventure and we're settling into Antigua for another two months. Last week we moved into a three bedroom apartment and spent the better part of the weekend making it feel like home. We printed a bunch of photos and put them up as well as some pictures the kids at the project made for us. We also bought a hammock at the market and put it up in our little courtyard. Now if only we didn't also have to share our apt. with a ton of bugs that resemble cockroaches... On Saturday night we had a housewarming party and further decorated our walls by inviting our guests to draw on them (the walls are already have lots of scribbles on them from the previous tenants so the guy we rent from said we could feel free to be as artistic as we like).
Our days at the project have been rewarding and long. We have to be at the bus station by 7am and usually don't get back until after 6pm. On Friday night it took three hours to get home and at one point, after standing still in traffic for a long time, our bus driver decided to take a short cut. We drove through a tiny town on a road that was obviously not made for buses and after successfully driving over two large piles of gravel, we got stuck on top of a huge mound of sand. The bus tipped precariously as two men tried to dig us out and lots of people from the town gathered around to watch the event. After a while the bus lurched forward and we continued on to Antigua and once we arrived everyone on the bus started cheering.
Last night I experienced my first earthquake! I was sitting at the kitchen table when everything started shaking and I looked up at the ceiling half expecting it to fall down. Luckily, it only lasted about 20 seconds (though it felt a lot longer) and nothing was damaged. Today in the newspaper I saw that it registered 4.5 on the Richter Scale. I hope we don't have anymore anytime soon.
Some of you have asked me how the volunteer is doing that was injured in the car accident a few weeks ago and from what I've heard, she is doing much better. She came out of the ICU late last week and is expected to fly back to the US tomorrow. She will recover there and have another operation in three months and then is planning on coming back to the project. I wish her the best and hope to see her in Guatemala when we come back through here towards the end of our trip.
Leah's dad, who is on the Safe Passage board, is flying to Guatemala tomorrow and he will be here for about 10 days. We're looking forward to seeing him and are planning an outing to the zoo next weekend with him and our sponsor kids and their families. If I'm on top of things I'll add some more photos next weekend of the zoo and my class at the project.
xoxo
p.s. keep the comments coming!
Our days at the project have been rewarding and long. We have to be at the bus station by 7am and usually don't get back until after 6pm. On Friday night it took three hours to get home and at one point, after standing still in traffic for a long time, our bus driver decided to take a short cut. We drove through a tiny town on a road that was obviously not made for buses and after successfully driving over two large piles of gravel, we got stuck on top of a huge mound of sand. The bus tipped precariously as two men tried to dig us out and lots of people from the town gathered around to watch the event. After a while the bus lurched forward and we continued on to Antigua and once we arrived everyone on the bus started cheering.
Last night I experienced my first earthquake! I was sitting at the kitchen table when everything started shaking and I looked up at the ceiling half expecting it to fall down. Luckily, it only lasted about 20 seconds (though it felt a lot longer) and nothing was damaged. Today in the newspaper I saw that it registered 4.5 on the Richter Scale. I hope we don't have anymore anytime soon.
Some of you have asked me how the volunteer is doing that was injured in the car accident a few weeks ago and from what I've heard, she is doing much better. She came out of the ICU late last week and is expected to fly back to the US tomorrow. She will recover there and have another operation in three months and then is planning on coming back to the project. I wish her the best and hope to see her in Guatemala when we come back through here towards the end of our trip.
Leah's dad, who is on the Safe Passage board, is flying to Guatemala tomorrow and he will be here for about 10 days. We're looking forward to seeing him and are planning an outing to the zoo next weekend with him and our sponsor kids and their families. If I'm on top of things I'll add some more photos next weekend of the zoo and my class at the project.
xoxo
p.s. keep the comments coming!
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