The ending of week 3

This is kinda a silly picture of a girl that lives across the street. She LOVES to come talk to us.

Time feels like it is going by so quickly. It has already been 3 weeks. I know I have 7 left, but I wish I had more. Maybe I won`t by the end of trip. But I think I will. Kirst i and I have a rough plan for the rest of the trip. We will study this upcoming week. And then we are trying to find a guide to take us up to El Mirador which are ruins up near the border of Mexico. It takes 2 full days to hike into them. We plan to spend 5-6 days doing that and hopefully it will just be her and I and a guide that only speaks spanish so it will be a good time to practice speaking. Then we are thinking we will do one more week of classes here and then head to Xela for the last 4 weeks and study there. (this of course is all subject to change)
random shot of me taking down our laundry

Today is kinda a funny day. After the last trip to Tikal I decided I don`t want to take big weekend trips, but would prefer to hang out in town. SO this weekend Kirsti went with another student to some caves and pools that are about a 6hour bus ride away and I am staying here. There was supposed to be 2 weddings today at the church and a baptism so my plan was to head to the church this morning with Dalia to help decorate at about 9am. At about 8am Dalia`s daughter-in-law came over to let her know that everything was moved to next Saturday. Hmmm... OK. So there went my plans for the day and I am sin amiga. Ah yes, so I decided to travel again here to Flores to use the computer and then will study and proabably go swimming in the lake later. I miss Kirsti already!!

The picture if the dog is Cush and Dalia`s son Gerson`s and her name is French. She is so scraggly, but so happy all the time. I just love her (Kirsti thinks it is funny how much I adore her). That`s ok ... She is obsessed with the turtles living outside our room.


Frenchie





















Our Neighbors

soap making and views

sunset from Flores






















view from up the hill in San Andres










the lake is pretty clear





soap making class with a local woman who uses medicinal plants. That is my teacher at the end of the table (Julia)

Carnival

Yesterday the schools all had carnival. I went with my teacher during the school day to check it out!

The kids prepare egg shells filled with little pieces of paper which they go around smashing on people`s head. The picture of the lady with the boy in a power ranger suit is my teacher with her son.


The kids all dress up and there are prizes given for the ugliest, most original, etc....



Sarah

Cush and food

The video is of Cush playing his harmonica and singing which he LOVES to do. He sang me birthday songs for my Birthday. He´s really great and loves to kid around with Kirsti and I a lot. Like he will put a small bowl of beans on the table and tell us that that is all there is for dinner. And then he`ll get us our actual plate of food.

Family Home Evening

It`s been really sweet that on Sunday nights the family Includes us in on their Family Home Evening. Last Sunday after the lesson we attempted to sing primary songs in Spanish. I think Kirsti was more successful than me!! We had Family Home Evening in our bedroom this time. (oops if we would have know we would have cleaned up).

In the Video is Dalia (mom), her son Selvin and his wife Lupita and their son Ronaldo, and Dalia and Cush`s youngest daughter Genesis. And of course Kirsti and I.

Tikal (2nd weekend)

Kirsti and I went to Tikal for the weekend with 4 other students from the school. We got there Friday night with the plan to find a place to rent hammocks for the night and then wake up early to climb a temple to watch the sun come up.

Well, we rented hammocks right outside of the park which we thought was great. The came with bug nets and everything. Unfortunately we all thought we were going to have to carry our belongings all day so we didn´t really bring any blankets for sleeping (plus it is really hot at night in San Andres). Well it is quite a bit colder in Tikal! I did bring a small blanket and a sheet (but I loaned my sheet to another couple) I think I was the warmest, but not as cozy as I would have liked to have been. And, I think Hammocks are better for resting not sleeping the whole night... none of us slept well. Which made it kinda easy to get up at 5am to be ready to in the park at 6am.

Come to find out there was a building where re rented the hammocks to lock up our stuff for the weekend so we didn`t have to carry it!

Kirsti and I started out with a guide who sped walked the group to temple 4 which is the highest to watch sun come up. By the time we got there we realized we no longer wanted a guided tour because we were told that it would be able to be in Spanish, but since it was a large group with mostly English speakers our guide was mostly speaking English. So we negotiated a partial payment and split.















Watching the sun rise from Temple 4 was my favorite part of the. Oh and hearing the howler monkeys! The make the most incredible sound!

Howler Monkeys - you can not see, but hear

What an amazing place. To imagine a huge city of people lived there so long ago!








We headed back to San Andres that night. From Santa Elana to San Andres we took a chicken bus. I think it was the last one of the night because I have NEVER seen so many people on a bus before. We kept stopping and picking up more people. I was standing in the back surrounded by a bunch of local people I did not know, with no room, and almost nothing to hang onto, trying with all my might not to fall over on people. Not comfy. But it was kinda funny at the time, but by the end of the trip I thought I was going t have a panic attack :)

My Birthday + 1 week

Halfway through our second week! I can tell that I am talking and understanding better which is exciting, BUT it seems I can never understand when other people are talking to eachother. I think I need to know the context of the conversation and have people talk slow and clear. Well.... in time! Poco a poco!

My Birthday was a week ago and today Kirsti gave me 3 surprises for my birthday....

1) Before school she gave me a package of my favorite cookies (the have little marshmellows on them) and a cocunut drink that I love.

2)She took me to dinner at what I think is the only "nice" restaraunt in town --- we had pizza, french fries, and 2 cokes each! Yum!

3) During dinner she gave me a sweet note (written in spanish), with a note at the bottom saying she is getting me a gift certificate for a pedicure when I get back.


......it was a special day! She put a lot of thought into it and it meant a lot to me!

NOTE: I will add more pictures to these posts soon! it´s kinda slow!!!

The First Weekend

We woke up on Saturday and went to eat Breakfast at the castita. After, we went next door to the family that said we could use their conoe for the day.... BUT.. when we got there the lady who had said we could use the conoe told us that her husband didn´t know that we were going to use the conoe so he had taken for the day with a friend to go fishing. Cush and Dalia´s son Silvan then took us up and down the beach looking for conoes that were not being used and asking people if we could use them. He finally found us one! And for free. It was a lanchits not a conoe, so it´s was bigger and more sturdy than a conoe which turned out to be a good thing.

Our goal was to conoe out to this island that has a radio station and a museum of ruins. We rowed for about 45 minutes and took a break near an island for about an hour and a half to eat and just enjoy the day. We continued onto the island and went into the museum for a tour which was a lot more interesting than I thought it would be. The guy who runs the place gave Kirsti and I a pretty in depth tour of his artifacts he has and what they were all used for and where they were found.

And we got back into the conoes and started back to San Andres. All went well at first. We got about half way back or so and decided it was time to go for a swim! The waster is a perfect temperature and quite clear! We swam and tried pushing and pulling the boat for a bit while swimming but realized we were not getting very far. So we got back in and started to row again. The boat was great because it was so sturdy, BUT it was harder to row. The wind picked up and we were getting tired because we left at 11:15am and by now it was around 4:30ish.... as we got close to San Andres I started to feel like we weren´t going to make it because we were rowing against the wind and waves. It was pretty humorous and frustrating at the same time... especially since there were people watching us struggle to make it in. But we made it! Finally. Supposedly the lake can get quite dangerous when the wind picks up. People thought we were a little crazy for outr trip, but we loved it. We finally made it back at 6:15!! Did I mention how hot it is here too? Lots´O sunscreen!

We were beat but had here there were 2 dances for Valentine´s day and of course I wanted to check out. We went to our friend Nikola´s house and talked to her, bought choco banana´s and convinced her to go with us. We went to the free one at a restaraunt/hotel. which ended up being maybe 10 people there in total the whle time we were there.. and the music was so loud we couldn´t talk and I think I only saw about 6 people gt up and dace, but only for a song or 2. It was a weird night and turned out to be not worth it, but we did meet some other people volunteering here in town.

Sunday was so nice. We walked to the church which took about 20 minute (all uphill). It is a branch, but a full branch and everyone was very welcoming. And Kirsti and I were able to understand quite abit and had our dictionaries and paper out almost the whole time trying to catch new words.

Starting out

Me at 5:30am arriving in Flores

Hola a todos! I arrived without any problems! I love how everyone on the plane clapped whan we landed in Guatemala. The guy next to me told me it is because everyone was praying to God for a safe trip and are so relieved when we land. I spent a night in a little hotel (a house converted into a hotel) for the night and waited for my friend Kirsti to fly in the next day. We also met up without any problems. Phew. The night she came in we got on a bus at 9pm headed for Flores. We arrived the next day in Flores at 5:30am. We were met by a boat and one of the directors of the school and the guy who runs the boat, Cush.

Cush`s lancha

(Kirsti after we got off the bus at 5:30am in Flores)

The lake we are living on is BEAUTIFUL. Largo Peten Itza. The boat ride was about 30 minutes to the town we picked to study in, San Andres. It is a little pueblo. We were brought to our family´s house...

And we are staying with Cush´s family! It is him, his wife, and their youngest Daughter, Genesis. The wife and children are Mormon which is pretty cool since Kirsti and I are too. The wife, Dalia is pretty excited about this as she has been taking in students for 13 years and we are the first mormons.

We have had four days of classes so far! I like studying, but am already stressed that I am not going to learn enough. My teacher, Julia, tells me to relax! We are taking four hours of classe in the morning and then after do an activity organized throuh the school, eat, play with the local kids, hang out, study.... so far. Today we went to a forrest nearby to help clear trails and we heard monkeys off in the distance so the guy from the school, Ernesto, that took us then took us on a bush wack through the forrest to see the monkeys. But they heard us when we got there and stopped making noise and we never did see them.

(A view of the door to our room with our laundry)

The family we are staying with opened a little casita on the waterfront and we have eaten every meal there except for one. It´s a pretty location and there are often other people around to talk to and the playground is across the street so there are a lot of kids around.

Dalia and the casita

The people in the town are very nice. I feel very comfortable and welcomed here. And right now there are 2 other students in the school. It´s nice that there really are not too many othere Gringos here. It is definitely not a tourist town. And it is a bit more rustic than Xela is (where I studied last year) There isn´t any hot water and there is only running water from 6am to noon. But it´s perfect. The weather is really hot because we are in the lowlands and it is still "winter" here. It is supposed to get a lot hotter in the next 2 months. Already at night I only use a sheet and last night we used a fan! We have not swam in the lake yet, but it is supposedly really nice. Kirsti and I plan to take a conoe out, and then in the evening there are 2 places holding dances for Valentine´s Day.

Me studying

(Kirsti pretending she is studying) hehe

En Guatemala finalmente!

It´s funny to plan something for what feels like sooo long... and then all of a sudden... it´s here. I arrived in Guatemala yesterday. The trip in was very smooth. I am staying at a little hotel (A house set up like a little hotel) "Dos Lunas". It´s a very comfortable place with excellent food. I am hanging out waiting for Kirsti to get in around 4:15. We will then hang out and wait for our 10pm bus to take us to Flores. It´s weird to be here without a phone... and without anything really that I have to do. It´s been nice to have to be still and reflect and read. And relax! I am very happy to be here y estoy feliz estudiar mas espagnol!