The greatest pleasures in life are silent.: 2009

Time Flies

This year went by so quickly (I'm counting from May to May). I've already been to Guatemala and back and now I'm going back again! I finished applying to graduate school, I finished waiting to hear back, and now I accepted my offer at Temple's Counseling Psychology program! Philly here I come!

9/15-9/22

9.15

Happy Independence Day!! should be call day of the marching bands
central park to watch the bands bands bands

damn the advil and the ants. note to self- never leave a bag of anything edible open...unless you want thousands of ants crawling around your room.

9.16

work with the shoes- club de madres...had to match their old shoe (most of the time very small shoe) to the donated shoes in a pile (mostly large shoes) oyeee
mmm i love platanos chips
tv. hw.

9.17

mas zapatos!
chocolate milk and fiesta planning with Dinora
Los personnes with Juan- listened to lots of stories about his childhood. He could write a very interesting book.

9.18

such heavy rain today!
afternoon= sunny
helped make balloon dogs for the classes at the school
curb talks
Nora's sister is sooo sweet
La cucaracha...

9.19

"fun day" at the project... we were monkeys. i fell on mi trasero because of the rain- markers on my face, whipped cream on my face, paint everywhere
San Juan for Lisette's birthday and discotech after
no smoking please.

9.20

Panajachel!
beautiful.
hotel pasado- gorgeous- tons of hammocks- great lemonades mmmmm....
some shopping
cute restaurant for dinner- great band

9.21

off to chichicastanango
looots of shopping!
lunch at a pretty hotel with lots of tropical birds
<3>
nice drive back to Antigua...
dinner with Juans parents and cousins...tube mucho nerviosa antes! pero esta bien!

9.22

packed. i hate packing
mercado para mas regalos
bought food for the party with Nora and Dinora- pastel, globos, spa gift certificate
decorated for the party! woo!

lots of fun, food, friends, and wine
lots of tears goodbye.

Week 2 9/7-9/14

Tuesday I met Sergio (my "Godchild") for his 9th birthday. We went to Pollo Comprano, had a shopping spree, took a tuctuc with Rodolfo back to the Dreamer center. It was an emotional day.

Worked with the social workers collecting information from the members of the club de madres. What a test/challenge of my spanish especially when a lot of the women were missing teeth!
My first partido - Guatemala vs. Cuba. Juan helped me find the ingredients for a dip in the grocery store. Guate wins.

Thursday- Fredy, my teacher, takes me to the market. I don't like the meat section- heads of cows, pigs, the smell..ah! I bought a blanket and some strawberries.
I looove the feeling of the air when riding on the moto.

Friday no class because Xetelul with the God's Child Project employees. So hot! roller-coasters were fun.
ran in the entorcha for the independence day....aprox 3 km!!! My legs are killing! Yo no puedo caminar.

The weekend...

Liz in Antigua!!

<3>
central park for mucho marching bands
beers at the disco techa with the boys.

catching up.

I'm back in New Jersey for the moment. I came home on Tuesday for my cousin's wedding in Toronto last weekend. I'm feeling guilty for not posting in my blog while in Guatemala, but I had some trouble transferring my writing from my Mac to the internet cafe computer, so I gave up and wrote bullet points by hand in my journal.

I only have time to go to the internet cafe during my 30 minute break from school!

Anyway, i'm going to copy my "list" of highlights from each day now. Excuse the spanglish- I can't help it!

Enjoy!

9.6.08

Zacapa HOT HOT HOT
pistols!!
shower in the hotel- agua frio!! bbrrr. every person squeeling during his/her shower

quinze anos como a boda (like a wedding)

9.7.08

in the pool all morning

I love the mornings best

9/4/08

I find my days here so full that I do not have much time to write in the blog. I wake up at 6:15, take a shower, quickly eat dinner, then walk with Lalo to the bus and then to the school. After school I find a place to eat and then walk to the dreamer center. I help out at the dreamer center until 5 and then walk to the casa with Juan. I am so tired by the end of the day! I have homework, dinner, and sometimes we go out or watch a movie. Last night Juan, Anibal, Victor, Dinora, another Victor, and I went to a restaurant/bar. It was mojitos night- only 6 queztal, only $0.82! Anyway we sat at the table from 8:30-12:30 drinking the mojitos. I don’t know who kept telling the waiter to bring more rounds, but I think I had about six. It was really hard for me to understand the conversation. The jokes are different here and everyone was speaking so fast. I would have to ask Victor to translate or Juan would help me. All in all I had a great time. Everyone is so funny and its great to laugh a lot. Tomorrow I think I am going out dancing.

Angel is my supervisor for volunteering. He wants me to teach English 3 times a week to the children at the gods child project. At first I was nervous but now that I am thinking about ideas I feel better. Any suggestions? (Revision- i'm doing a little bit of everything at the center)

So far I’ve been eating a lot of black beans and bread. My stomach has been okay good thing! Today is a lazy day. You all know how I need my 8 hours of sleep!

My first day at the dreamer center I saw on of the little girls whose house I helped build. I cannot explain the feeling I felt when she said Amanda!!!! And then gave me a huge hug. Later on in the day she found her mom and again it was just amazing to see her. This time I could actually communicate with her and as we walked around the courtyard she had her arm in mine and keyli had her hand in my other hand. I was so happy I could have cried.
Okay well its time for lunch! Thanks everyone for your messages!!

Calle como un rio

9/1/08

I have arrived safe and soundly in Guatemala! Juan picked me up at the airport. The taxi was not there but Juan quickly found us another. We both were so excited to see each other. The taxi ride was surreal. I could not believe that I am actually here!! It was raining and some streets in San Felipe (the town next to Antigua) were flooded. It looked like we were driving through a river. The taxi dropped us off on the corner of a street because the street to casa de Anbial was flooded as well. So Juan and I stood on the corner, in the rain, with three suitcases looking around to think about our next move. I am thankful to God for Juan. I would have been lost without him. Juan called Anibal and he came to get us with his sister Dinora.

From the moment I saw Dinora I knew that I liked her. She did not mind smushing in the back seat of Anibal’s car because my suitcases were too big for all of them to fit in the car. She is so friendly and we get along very well- bonding through jokes- it did not take us long to become friends. When I walked into the house Nora, Anibal’s mom said to me welcome to the family. The house is beautiful. High ceilings, pretty paintings, and a quaint small courtyard in the middle. My room is larger than I imaged. The size of my bed is similar to my own and my pillow is muy suave! The first few hours in the house were spending chatting and laughing a lot. Anibal has a younger brother- Rafael, but his nickname is Lalo. He’s shy but already starting to talk more.

In the evening Juan, Anibal, and I went into Antigua. We had a drink in Mono Loco and then walked around the city. It was nice to reminisce. It began to rain again and I was tired so we went back to Jocotenango. Nora, Dinora, and I talked for a while at the dining room table. I feel comfortable here. I am not embarrassed to speak Spanish and I actually surprised myself with how well I am doing with it. Nora is great to talk to because she is very understanding and open.

Today after breakfast Juan and I went into Antigua to buy some things I needed. He showed me the streets I should take and the location of the bus stop. Afterwards we sat in central park and then ate lunch at Fridas. We walked around more and visited places like churches, La Union (the school I will be going to) and the CMP. Again it started to rain so Juan took me back to Jocotenango. Dinora, Lalo, and I watched TV and relaxed. I did a lot of walking. We had black beans, cheese, plantains, and bread. The plantains were soooo good. I am nervous about starting school- I have to wake up at 6AM!! As I’m writing this I’m still thinking in Spanish- already my brain is in Spanish mode.

Well I’m looking forward to going to the Dreamer center tomorrow to see the rest of my friends and to meet new people!! I have been telling everyone here about all of you and the great stories we have. The family loves my pictures!