Sunday morning muffins

This morning Megan and I sat down in the hotel cafe to eat breakfast and the wonderful people who work here brought us the most delicious homemade banana bread muffins with chocolate chips inside. They said it was a special treat for Sunday morning. I couldn't contain my enthusiasm once I took a bite, they were just that good! 

Living in Antigua, Guatemala

It is nearly the end of our first week in Antigua, Guatemala. I cannot believe how much we have done in just this week. There are no words to perfectly describe the city of Antigua. Antigua's buildings are  so beautiful, a perfect juxtaposition of old and new. The people we have met have been so kind. Tonight we went to a little restaurant on the next block, it was so delicious. Their tamales were exceptional. The family who served us were so kind and so accomodating. They absolutely love Barbara! My mom always says "it tastes like more", and these tamales certainly do. So far, I have been assigned to work in Casa Jackson. It will break your heart when you see the sweet babies who we find out are sometimes in abusive homes, just left abandoned on the street, or have mothers who do not want to take care of them. Our responsibilites vary each day but I like to think the most important job when we are there is to love the children. The sign outside Casa Jackson says, "El amor es para el nino lo que el sol es para las flores... no le basta pan. Necicita caricias para ser bueno y fuerte". My interpretation is that all they need is love. There is no doubt in my mind that we are making a difference here. In the Afternoons we all go to Spanish class at Maximo Nivel. Mara and I are in a small class with Sandra. We spend too much time talking about boyfriends and drinking sangria mostly. My stomach typically aches from laughing so hard and for so long. It is a wonderful thing when even with misunderstandings and mispronunciations we can communicate with our friends in Antigua. Although, I cannot stres the importance of context and gestures enough. Everyday has been an adventure, there is something magical about Antigua that we just wont be able to express through pictures and words alone. You just have to be here.  There must be something about Antigua, because they say no one ever leaves!

Casa Jackson

Exhaustion. The weekend couldn't come soon enough and my bed could not have been more comfy. I got the wonderful honor to volunteer in Casa Jackson this past week which is a clinic for malnourished children just outside of Antigua. There are about 18 babies in the clinic all suffering from various levels of malnourishment. In the morning when we arrive we start with the chores that need to be done. My chores though out the week have consisted if folding mounds of clothes, disinfecting cribs, and scrubbing the roof terrace with bleach. Though the chores are not so fun, afterwards we just get to feed and play with kiddos which makes you forget the labor of the morning. To my shock and awe most of the kids are about 2 years old and look as though they are just turning one. It is so sad.

Personally in reflection of working there you can't help yourself from just thinking how many more kids need help an how many struggle daily with getting enough food. I feel like my efforts are not enough, when in reality helping every child I can is what will make the difference. Good lessons being learned about the power of helping one at a time and what those small acts of service can produce. Here are some pictures of some of the kids, smiling and fighting for their lives.

Mucho gusto! Faith

Volcan Agua!

Weekend Update

We have been very busy this week, working long and hard at the Asociacion Nuestros Ahijados and with our nose in the books for Spanish classes. We finally have some time to rest and reflect this weekend so expect to see more photos and stories from others in the group. Some highlights from this week include free salsa lessons with a hilariously charismatic instructor (pictured below with Jamie), lots of games, math and hair braiding with kids at the ANA school, and intensive cleaning at the Casa Jackson center for malnourished children.

We have been making very good use of our raincoats like the honest to goodness PNWesterners that we are. It's the winter season here (summer starts around October) and it pours rain  for about half the day, every day. As I am writing, there is a wild storm outside with the loudest thunder I have ever experienced. Every time it rains the cobbled streets become rivers, but a few hours post storm, the water has all gone and there's hardly a sign of rain at all. Apparently all the streets are slightly sloped to the middle of the city where there are huge drains to collect it all.

La tormenta enfrente de nuestro hotel

La clase de salsa y bachata

Our daily commute to ANA with the impressive mountainous backdrop

Fatima, Pamela and Abigail, my new friends!

A typical day at recess for Megan with her 1st graders

Rachel gets a great arm workout

Week One

After a few days of confusion and heavy reliance on hand gestures  to communicate, I have finally tapped into that obscure part of my brain that stashed away my three years of high school spanish and things are beginning to make a lot more sense.  Being placed in a sixth grade classroom at the middle school that is located at Nuestros Ahijados was also a very big test of my spanish speaking abilities.  The second day I was asked to take attendance and as I went down the list, every child had to ask me a question (in spanish).  I am sure my answers were very humorous to the kids, and I am fairly positive at one point that I answered "purple' in response to the question "what do you like to eat".  And yet, they still grabbed my hands and the end of class and brought me out to the field to play soccer with them during recess.  It just amazes me that they are so accepting and affectionate.  It only took about 5 minutes for the first kid to come up and play with my hair, give me hugs, and want to look at my earrings. They dont care what I look like or what language I speak. I am also very impressed by the teacher in this class.  She seems to have a strong connection with the students ans can motivate them to learn while still keeping a light mood in the classroom that allows them to have fun and be silly.
This week we also took a salsa class,  celebrated July 4th with an order of burgers and beer, and took a walking tour of La Antigua.
Below is a picture taken from the terrace of our hotel.  The giant mountain is Volcanagua which lies to the south of the Antigua.
Hasta luego!

The First Supper

Starving and worn out after a long day of travel, we finally arrived at our temporary hotel  in Antigua(one different from our original plan due to an unknown "event"). The four of us went to the hotel restaurant and tried our hand at speaking Spanish. We were able to successfully request to look at a menu and if they accepted credit cards--go team! Fortunately, the menu was in both Spanish and English which made ordering a bit easier. The vegetarians were able to substitute veggies for carne and what we got was pretty wonderful. Guacamole, fried plantains, squash, zucchini, tamales, rice, pepián (a traditional meat stew), queso fresco and best of all, handmade tortillas. We all agreed we'll never again be able to eat packaged ones from the grocery store.

Plato Chapín sin carne

El restaurante del Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo