Copan, Honduras!

So another month...another long weekend!

This time, as I promised after our resort trip...I was going to go and do something educational! So I did. We went to Copan, Honduras to see the Mayan ruins there.

So Thursday morning at 4:20 am I dragged myself out of bed and went to Zone 10 to get on a shuttle bus. The bus arrived we hopped on and I promptly fell asleep.

After a long and bumpy ride we arrived at the border and then 20 minutes later arroved in the cute little town of Copan. Right when we got off the bus we met Jesus Ramirez. He would, from that moment on, be part of our daily lives (for 3 days). He took us to the hotel and promised to come back to get us in a couple of hours to go horse back riding!

(Jacqui and Brett on the horses, they are new teachers at the school this year from BC)

We rode up to an Hacienda and saw some cocoa plants, coffee plants (both firsts for Jacqui) and a lime tree. At the Hacienda we stopped for a glass of wine. Walter, Jesus' friend who owns the horses, was with us and had some lemonade. He was great and chitchatted with us. Well with me, as the other 2 speak no spanish...so I got to use TONS this weekend :)

The following day Jesus took us up the mountain to some hot springs. The TukTuk ride was ridiculously long and bumpy! When we got there we walked up the jungle like path to see the 11 different baths. The top was the "source" , where the hot water emerges. Jesus was trying to explain how hot it was and as he was telling me this, Brett stuck his whole foot in and burned himself. Aparently, we could have boiled an egg in it , had we wanted to:)

One of the baths.

We also found a GIANT leaf...which we all took turns wearing.

Don't worry..I have a bathing suit on!

Ok. So next day we went to the ruins! (which was kind of the point of the trip!)

We walked to the site...but halfway there, guess who drove by us? JESUS! He picked us up and drove us the rest of the way:)

Once we got to the ruins, we climbed them, read the plagues and climbed some more. I met 2 men vacationing from Bordeaux and chitchatted with them for a while.

On our walk out of the national park type place we found a bunch of Macaws. They are wonderfully colourful parrots which they breed in captivity at the park and then slowly release into the wild (from what I understand).

back to life...back to reality

Happy Saturday everyone!

This weekend seems extremely anticlimatic and extremely short compared to the adventures we have had of late.

Last weekend was a 4 day weekend due to Independence day (Guate, San Salvador and Mexico signed their independence on Sept. 15th, 1821) and they threw in the Friday for good measure. So off to El Salvador to the beach we went! Now... maybe you sense a theme in my get aways...the hotter the better! El Salvador definitely kept up its end of the deal!

A group of us from the school went in a mini school bus... but more like a huge van. We got to San Salvador at aroun 1230 (we only went into town because we can't check into the hotel until 3) and I had lunch with the Acostas. For those who do not know them, Esther is the social events coordinator at the church in San Salvador and she and her family are good friends. I stayed with them for a weekend last year.

Fernando, Esthercita and I at lunch

Anyway, I had lunch with them...it was wonderful! Fernando was very pleased that i could speak more spanish and understand what on earth he was saying! (the fact that he is almost 4 now and uses real words helped a little! ) We had lunch..then went for little walk and then i had to be on my way. The visit was much to short, but I will try to make it back before the end of the calendar year.. we shall see. there is SO much to visit in Central America before I leave...more on that later, perhaps.

So from the city we took the 40 minute (hour and half) drive to the beach. We were definitely ready to get out of the bus and onto the beach! We checked in and rendez-voused at the pool. From there the usual beach type things ensued. Won't bore you with the details.

My balancing act on the edge of the salt water pool (when the tide is low there is NO water around it...when it is high the ocean water flows in and out...)

Lindsey and I surfing a turtle!

Sunset

Brian and I - thats the most exercise we got in all weekend :(

We left Sunday, more people sunburnt (not me), everyone happy, noone ready for school the next day.

On Monday we had a prefessional development day (so, for those counting, the kids had a 5 day weekend and took full advantage: one of my students went to NYC to see Mary Poppins). As I mentioned in my quick blog earlier this week...the day was interrupted by 6 earthquakes...well 1 real one (5.8) and 5 tremors (4.6-4.8). During the first tremor I was alone in my classroom and was kind of paralyzed by it..but it was over before I knew it and everyone was like: did you feel that? did that really happen? it was my first Guatemalan earthquake...well that I actually felt! The second one, I was in a meeting and we did leave the classroom, as it did last a good minute, I would say. But we were all fine... after the third one we were told to go home as some disaster had struck outside of the city. woo hoo short day!

The last one I felt was around 10:30, while I was lying in bed. That one freaked me out the most, since I worried there would be more over night and I would be trapped in my bedroom! Luckily non of that ensued...and the kids were thrilled to tell me where they were during the quakes the following day at school.

That about sums up my life. Next week is finals...and then report card writing hits... enhance the title of this blog! But it can't be all fun and games... or can it???

Next long weekend...after much debate, we are thinking of going to the Ruins in COpan Honduras. It's about 5 hours by shuttle and supposed to be super nice and educational (also did I mention it's in the jungle= heat= suitable destination for Camille!)

the day Guatemala shook...and shook...and shook some more

Good afternoon friends,
This is a quick entry and not about my AWESOME long weekend in El Salvador...but rather just to let everyone know that I am a-ok after the 6 tremors/quakes yesterday here in Guate. The first was minor and I was excited to feel it... the second was much bigger and made me and my team (we had a pro-d day and were in grade level meetings) take cover... the others were all minor and kind of felt. The last one was around 10:30 at night and made me nervous..I had trouble sleeping due to the fear that I would not wake up if things started to shatter around me (you know it's true...I love to sleep!). But got a few hours in.

The kids were excited to tell me where they were during the shakes and I was just relieved that they were NOT at school...Americano had 4 evacuations in one day...talk about disturbances!

More to follow about El Salvador!
Thanks for the emails, bbms and texts about my safety!

elections elections elections!

Wow, I have been a busy bee of late!
Aubrey (another 2nd grade teacher at Inter) and I had a big hand in organizing an mock presidential election for the elementary school. (Guatemala goes to the polls tomorrow). The kids all made ID cards and had to register them last week over their lunch time. On Friday , the Highschool students in Political Science came and made presentations to the kids on 8 of the 9 candidates (there were 3 groups of presenters). Then later that day the kids, in elementary, all wen to the polls.

Wow, typing it in a few sentences here makes it seem very simple... but it was quite the ordeal. Totally worth it, as the kids were thrilled, but consumes my life for the past 3 weeks. We had parents (moms) run the registration stations last week and run the election booths on Friday. I thought I had made the whole thing idiot proof, with labels, written instructions etc. Apparently not. It took alot of explaining and standing my ground to convince these ladies that it would work the way I planned it and that their way would not. (ok, that sounds arrogant, but hey, it's true!) Anyway the day was HECTIC yesterday! But you know me, I love a well organized event, even more so when I organized it! Definitely something I am good at :)

That has been my life in a nutshell for the past 3 weeks. This weekend, we are hanging around Guatemala city, staying close to home due to the potential of road blocks tomorrow on election day...maybe a riot or two as well!

Next week is a 3 day week, as the country celebrates their independence day on the 15th! (as do many central american countries). A group of us are headed to the Beach in El Salvador. I hope to meet up with Esther and her family on Thursday afternoon in the city (we are stopping there for lunch).

I took some pictures of the whole election process, but have to find my camera cord etc. Will do at some point. ALso need to see about blurring people's faces... not sure about putting kids photos on here...illegal and stuff.

All in all its been a great first month of school! We are already starting to put together first reports!!!!! Our new principal is slowly getting the hang of things...kind of. but, he did compliment me...in his twisted non complimentary way about the elections: he said i think that went well. I don't think it could have gone better. what do you think. and then walked away. but hey...i take what I can get...and really the kids smiles and excitement was MORE than enough thanks! THough I did need a long nap when I get home from it all!

buses, sailboat and lanchas!

Our first long weekend has come and gone (this is just the beginning folks…we are blesses with a load of long weekends this year!).

Brian, Maggie and I decided to go to Rio Dulce this weekend, as it was Maggie's last weekend in Guatemala and she hadn't been and neither had I! We were all to take the bus Friday afternoon and arrive late on Friday...around noon, Maggie messages me: see you in Rio...my friend is going by helicopter...and invited me. haha, so we were down to 2 for our bus adventure.

After some phone calls and lots of help from Hilda, Brian and I were on the world's oldest Greyhound type bus, bound for Rio Dulce. We were both open to this being our final hours of life... but made it through alive and well!

Once there we got to our hotel for the night, a cute little floating hotel called Backpackers. It's actually quite a neat place and sponsors something called Casa Guatemala. From what I gather, it is an orphanage of sorts.

Saturday morning we called our parent's to let them know that we were indeed still alive and then set out on our Sailboat adventure. Maggie had decided she wanted to sleep on a sailboat…so we did. Mike..our best friend for the following 36hours, picked us up at the grocery store and took us to his boat...we sailed around, swam, went to Livingston- a Caribbean style town, played cards read etc. Mike's secret: he LOVES romantic comedies! haha so we settled in to watch Ever After (I made it about 20 minutes in).

The next day we went to some hot springs and to visit some nearby caves.

Then we stopped at Texan Bay...a marina owned by this Texan man...hilarious! His accent... his everything was just so out of the blue...he was perfectly crude yet charming...not really. Anyway, we had lunch and waited out a storm. From there we went to a hotel called Hacienda Tijax where we had a little cabana dna said goodbye to our friend Mike (after we ordered pizza and ate it by the pool, of course). We also met this mother/daughter duo. Amber, who is nine, was born in Zimbabwe, lived in England and is now travelling... she was glad to whisk Brian away and be entertained. Finally I joined them in the pool and saved Polly pocket from an untimely death!

Monday morning we hung around the hotel then boated into town to buy our bus tickets home...we took a much better, less sketchy bus and had air-conditioning and a movie for our 6hour ride... yet still only paid 60Q- about 7.50$. Oh Guatemala, how I love thee!

Anyway, back at school now, must go plan some stuff and, you know...do my job. Enjoy the pictures!

Beach Weekend!!!

photos of my class!

Surf house, games and sunshine

So we made it triumphantly through our first week of classes! the kids were great,I was EXHAUSTED come Friday night, but in good spirits. We had a calm night with some chinese take out and a movie.

On Saturday morning, my alarm went off at 645...(which is an hour and 15minutes later than it goes off Mon-Fri.) and I dressed for the beach!!!! My favourite thing in the world to do! So we (Brian, Amy, Ryan, tom and I) drove up to the surf house- i have posted pictures of this place before). We arrived slightly past nine... the other 2 car loads of people werent too far behind.

It was a great time! We hung out in the pool and hamaks. Did some school work (we really did...it's shocking really). The owners of the place are awesome people and also surfers. We watched them and Tom and Ryan (teachers at Inter) surf. One of the owners lives in the UK most of the time now, he and his daughter and ex-wife were there (the still work together and vacation with Casey but are not together... they are AMAZING is what they are-- Becky, the mom is English and she moved back so James went to be close to his baby). Anyway... they were all there as well so we had a full house. Dinner is served family style there and it was BBQ, a big hit with all of these North Americans! we were pretty happy! We played the celebrity game at night and it was loads of fun...some pretty random stuff got put in the basket but we made a go of it!

We came back on Sunday afternoon and went to Pricemart to get some supplies. Brian and I tried to plug in our new stove but to no avail..we were pretty bumed that we couldn
We also have no hot water...and I am quite annoyed with that...cause cold showerd SUCK and if I am getting up at 530am and plan on showering it WILL NOT BE COLD! It just wouldn
I know I promised pictures..but again, I do not have my camera here at school and so can not upload them. I will try to remember tomorrow...if not whenever we get the internet at home it will be much easier!

Anyway. my kids are in spanish class and I have some copies etc. to do to get ready for my afternoon.

Hope all is well oxox

Day one of year two...done!

Well the first day of school has come and gone again... it was very busy but not too chaotic. Only 17 of my 22 kids showed up, so that was nice to ease them in and manage ALL of the stuff they brought. They have all these supplies which need to be given to the art teacher to me and to the spanish teacher...makes for ALOT of bags of kids stuff. The kids who don't put their name on it make me mad! but that only happened to 2 kids...and I caught them coming out of their school bags...phew!

Other than that the day went well. The new principle wasn't aware of how LONG the Guatemalan national anthem...so his 20 minutes assembly went a little long as the anthem itself is close to 8. But it worked out!

My kiddos from last year were thrilled to see me on yard duty and told me all about their summers. THey were happy that I did not stay in Canada for ever! They also say hello to my parents- say hello to your fathers Miss. (in spanish the word for parents is the same as for father...padres... so yes.)

After school Brian and I went to the grocery store, I developed some pictures for my Star of the Week poster...when i told the kids that I was start of the week this week they were NOT happy and felt very robbed of the experience. But I need to show them how it's done...no? Silly children!

After the grocery store we went to (re)join the gym.

All in all it was a good day! I have some pictures of my class- it's pretty!!! but they aren't uploaded yet so I will try to post them another day.

Hope all is well! xo

getting back...

As most of you know I was to leave Syracuse on July 25th to start my second year of teaching in Guatemala... it is July 25th but I have yet to leave Syracuse. FOr those who followed my Facebook updates through out the day...feel free to skip this part, as I will copy paste them for everyone else (mom).

(last night, before crawling into bed):in Syracuse... getting ready to fly in the morning! Guate here I come! year 2...I'm so ready!

(this morning, still optimistic about my day):STILL in Syracuse...delayed going on 4 hours... no Guate today folks... tomorrow morning I hope!

(this afternoon...):update: still in Syracuse... yup believe it! Have been abandoned by the 2 little kids and their mom who I befriended to pass the time...they gave up and are trying in the morning..the 3.5 year old was in great spirits...so I figured it wouldn't be appropriate for ME to cry... but now...all bets are off. Mom says to go to the bar and get a glass of wine...hmm DONE!

(this evening);update: flight cancelled... houston hotel reservation is now cancelled... SYR hotel is being booked... I will line up in a minute to get myself to Guate at SOME point...

(glimmer of hope...) :another update: apparently the nice man behind the desk had already put my name on the later flight to Newark...so even though it's full...I am one of the names on the list. So the later flight Newark is delayed and is to leave at 8pm... landing in Newark around 9. Leaving me plenty of time to get onto the delayed 850 flight to Houston...which is now set to leave at 1050! The man at the hotel in Syracuse which I booked when I thought all hope was gone...was very nice and cancelled the non cancellable reservation I made! the plus side of disasters in travelling: people are, deep down, very kind!

(calling it quits):‎12 hours and im calling it quits. Syracuase airport hotel tonight beong rerouted through DC tomorrow...guate by130 they said: guy at the counter said: well shea got to go teach little kids tey need to learn man so i used my mad skills to hook her up!- when talking to his coworker!

Quite a day! But surprisingly I am totally okay with it. Yes I would rather be in Guatemala with Brian ready to go into the school tomorrow etc. But Ive actually had a lovely day...I know..how have I had a lovely day in a tiny airport for 12 hours... well let me tell you ALL about it!

This morning, Mom and Dad dropped me off, they lingered until i got into the security line up, then I watched them, together, tackle the ticket machine to pay for their parking...I laughed at the teamwork it seemed to take. I went through security without a hitch and bought my magazine for the ride. Found a good seat, tried to get free wifi, which wasn't working... so I took out my travel Australia book to continue to plan my trip at Christmas.

The couple next to me saw the book and asked about it. They too are going, though have already been so we talked about that for a while. Not sure if they found it more fascinating that I was Canadian or that I was going to Guatemala.

Anyway they had run into some people they seemed to know as well, one of his grad student's (was his student) wife and 2 kids and were chatting so I read my book. and then the delays started. I bought some coffee... got onto the internet (woo hoo) and realized I was not getting to Guate, they saw me in line and realized that I wasn't making such an exotic(hehe) connection, so talked to me... well the lady and her little kids, really just the 3 yr old thought I was pretty cool and offered to show me her IPAD...I got my first IPAD lesson from a 3yr old...NBD!

I chatted with these lovely people and kept looking when Caitlin, the 3yr old, would yell Look Camille, look at this! So a couple of hours turned into 5... and Caitlin just kept saying: Mommy, can we get on the plane now? hehe. The mom would go check on the flight while we stayed with the kids, then , what surely secured Caitlin's love for me...i bought a fruit cup..fresh fruit at the airport: delicioso! When I brought it back to my seat and my things ,which they gratefully watched for me, she gets beside me on my chair...puts her head in my lap and looks at me and says: it's nice to share you know! " would you like some fruit Caitlin?" I asked... she stuck her hand in the fruit cup, took the watermelon and exclaimed: I LOVE WATERMELON! who could refuse...so I ate all the other fruit, she ate the watermelon. Her mom, who was on the phone during this exchange saw her kid stick her hand into, basically a strangers lunch and was quite embarrassed...i told her it was quite alright and that Caitlin had let me know that it was nice to share and that I agreed. Well that just made Nicole's (the mom's) day! she laughed... told her kid NOT to beg for food and that they would buy a fruit cup if she wanted on...(which they did, Caitlin still ate all of my watermelon).

Anyway... we moved back to our original gate to be in the heat of the action... so they stood in line...trying to figure it all out... i was sitting with the kids...oh Caitlin has a big sister, Alyssa, shes playing my DS at this point. Caitlin is mad about their being only one DS...like come on why wouldn't I have 2. but then I remember that my carry on is FULL of kids books for my class...so I whip a couple out and offer to read her a story (her mom at this point, I assume isnt sure if I am a FREAK or a God send...) so Caitlin is basically sitting on me, reading stories, NIcole is trying to decide: to bail or not to bail, the older couple has called it quits and I JUST WANT TO GET TO GUATEMALA!

Finally, the family decides enough is enough and they are going to try again in the morning. So they pack up, Caitlin hugs me good bye, Alyssa reluctantly gives me back my DS and hugs me as well. Then, Nicole (the mom, for those of you who are confused) comes, hands me a power bar and an apple and wishes me good luck and gives me a hug.

So all in all...good day. I am just humbled by the inner beauty and kindness of people. Perfect strangers coming together because, well lemons and all that!

I am now in at an airport hotel that I got for a distressed passenger charge hehe, went for a run, am skyping and writing to all of you! I should probably get to sleep as I am on the 4am shuttle back to my favourite place!

I'm pretty amazed actually...I thought I would be in a much worse mood right now (considering I never did get my wine!!!) but, really... it could be worse...they could have taken off and we could have been electrocuted in the storm... or whatever... so Im safe and sound, in a nice warm bed...life is good!

More from Guate... whenever I arrive

much love xo

Semana Santa con los padres!

Hello hello... it is friday evening, around 7 and I have just returned from a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese's. Who knew I would move to Guatemala and go to my first Chuck E Cheese birthday party. I shamelessly beat a string of 8 year olds at air hockey... it was great fun!

Last week was my spring break from school. MOm and Dad came for the occasion and we torn this country apart. Well not really, be we sure did see lots of it!

We started off in Antigua (ease them into the chaos of Guate) . We went to the market there and to see some ruins. At night we went to a veneration of an idol that would be processed around the city on Good Friday. This church grounds were FULL of people and stalls and things to buy. It looked like a fair grounds. We go there just in time to hear the band tune up. Dad was shocked at the number of tubas in it! We listened to them for a little bit and then went on our way. But it was quite a site to see and hear!

From Antigua we went to Coban which is in the North of the country. It is about an 6 hour bus ride or well, shuttle ride. We were quite tight in the shuttle, but we made good time. There isnt all that much to do in Coban itself. We tried to go to a museum but it is no more! to translate directly. So, since it was raining, there wasn't much to do...we went on a search for a coffee place or a bar... found a weird mix of the two.

We decided to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner. We were shocked when we discovered they did not serve wine (mom was ready to leave) but we decided to have some good ol' Gallos instead. (Guatemala's fav beer!) The next morning we got into another shuttle and went to Semuc CHampey... a natural park. There we hiked a mountain (it was like straight up, but mom and dad trooped to the top...even I made it! haha) to a gorgeous mirador. The view was of the natural pools that are on, what is basically, a natural limstone bridge. Under these baths, a river rushes by...when we were down by the pools and peering over to see the river and the rapids our guide looked at the and said: 2 ppl die here, if you fall in..no life for you! I laughed... probably not the reaction he was looking for! After lunch we swam the pools. So they are on a downward slant. So you get to the edge of pool one and jump into pool 2... and you keep going down. between pools 3 and 4 jumping doesn't work and you must instead slide on your bum down... fun times! when we got to the bottom..or well pool 6 we had another view of the lake...just about a mile down stream, since it was under us the whole time! We looked around for a way out of the pools when our guide started climbing up the waterfall... (whaaaaa?). We climbed back towards pool 1. It was nuts but so much fun and I cant wait to go again..but I think I will skip the hike! haha

From there we were supposed to go visit some bat caves..but didnt because of time. and we returned to the coban.

The foloowing day we left Coban and drove forever to Panajachel! Oh Pana, of the lake! It was great! THis is Good Friday we are talking about now. We got into Panna around 2, changed our clothes from the 5.5 hour drive and went for awalk, vowing basically never to sit again. We did some shopping at the markets, found and ATM etc. Then heard that the Procession for Good Fridya was coming down the main street in a little bit of time. So... we got ourselves front row seats at a little restaurant bar, had Margaritas and waited to see it! It was breath taking.

The carpets you see are what they make on the group before the procession. The idols they carry are considered sacred and must not touch the sinful ground of our world. These beautiful designs are made int he soul purpose of destroying them. (walking over them destroys them).

After the procession we had dinner and early to bed.

The next day we took a boat on the lake to go to a couple of little towns. By this point Pana was so fully saturated with people that we were happy to go to some quite quaint towns instead of the masses. We found a little store which sells items made by the moms of the student's at the local school. The proceeds go to help the school.

We came across a soccer match and watched for a little bit. And of course, had some fresh pineapple and mango juice in a little restaurant.

On Sunday we wondered around town. Went to the nature reserve and hiked another mountain. Much lest steep than Semuc's. This is the same place Alicia and I did the Zip LIning.

Sunday late afternoon we went for a late lunch and then walked up to the cathedral to go to church. The church was beautiful and packed! It was interesting to follow Catholic Mass in Spanish...mom and I were quite out of our element, not knowing when to do what... whenever I find myself in a Catholic church I have a missal to follow!! Dad had far less trouble remembering masses of his youth.

From there, back to Guate city on Monday.

Tuesday mom and dad visited my class. The kids were thrilled to meet them and very sad when they left. On Thursday one girl kept asking me: are your parents in the sky or in Canada now?

They asked them lots of questions, including their ages... were they ever shocked when dad told them how old he was... they were like : AHLA! (there favourite saying)... haha

And that is our week in a nutshell.

Once mom gets me some pictures I will add some. Here are some I took with my telephone..sorry for the crappy quality!

ox

Alicia's Visit...British Ball...

I know that I have been MIA on here lately! Lots has happened though...

Beginning of March Alicia came to visit me. IT was great to have a friend from home see the chaos and excitement of my Guatemalan life. She came to school with me for a couple of days... and we went to Antigua one night, climbed Pacaya (the active Volcano here). It was a good nike..about 3 hours total. The altitude really got to me as I have never experienced trouble breathing before, I felt very taken aback by the lack of air getting into my lungs.

From Antigua we went to the Beach! my favourite place!!!! Lounged in the sun... swam... enjoyed! Was awesome!

We returned to the school for a couple of days and then the following Friday went to the lake! Another one of my favourites. Diego (Jessica- one of my colleague- boy friend's) has a house in one of the little towns near the lake. We had a lovely weekend. Went Zip Lining over the lake...BREATH TAKING! It was wonderful.

From there back to the city and Alicia left on Tuesday. Things have been same old here. My kids are adorable and annoying...but I love them oh so much! Report cards went home today!

Oh but rewind to this weekend. It was the British Ball! Picture 20 teachers, dressed to the nines.. ready for the event of the year! We had a blast. I was a coward and called it a night at 1 am... the last to leave rolled home around 5....

I have been having camera trouble and so the only pictures I have are downloaded from other people in Facebook. Unfortunately I have non from Alicia's visit yet...Alicia, hint hint!

Here is one from the ball! Mom does NOT approve of it... but I loved my dress!!!! The theme of the night was: a touch of British. So I am wearing a big headband like they do in England for parties... and such! When I get more pictures I will add them.

Mom and Dad get here in a week from today! We are going to Antigua for a day and then to Coban to see some natural pools and walk through some caves! Then to the lake for the easter weekend. Then back to the city where they will come to my class and see my crazy little sweethearts!

So thats the plan for that. More picture to come..eventually!

much love, xo

kids! kids! kids!

I know I wrote just a day or 2 ago, but I wanted to share these pictures of the birthday party I went to this morning!

The children's museum here in Guatemala is AWESOME! Has lots of similar things to the one in Hull...a super market, a market and the big silver static ball that makes your hair stand up!...but then things that oh so Chapin (Guatemalan!)... a coffee bean plantation where you get to be the coffee beans... a blown up map of the city, aerial view where you get a magnifying glass and find your house, or in my case the plot of land where my apartment is now on and the kids helped me find the school and all of their houses!, a room full of plastic balls that you put through tubes that vacuum them into big containers. When the containers are full, it rains balls!!! AMAZING! A simulation of an earthquake and soooo much more! Favio (the birthday boy) was super excited to show me around. Here he is playing the HUGE operation game... we also "saved" a dummy of a boy by getting him into the ambulance on time, made electricity with a bike and much more. There is also a picture of the ball room!

Juan Ignacio, one of my..busier..students got dropped off my his driver, so he came up to me and said: Mees (how he says Miss) can you be my mom since shes not here? Umm..NO! In Ignacio talk this just means can you follow me around, hold my stuff and only pay attention to me? Instead I played with Paulina's baby sister, and the birthday boy! DOn't worry, I did tell the boys to stop climbing on the outside of the buildings outside... i could see the concussion coming a mile away, and helped Juan Ignacio tie his shoes and get his lunch...other than that, I was just a regular by stander!

Enjoy the photos!

weekend in the city, picture from the beach and funny stories about small children!

First of all, here is a picture that Laura posted from our beach weekend with the caption: everyone needs a token white baby!

haha, yes I seem to have ALOT of pictures with babies that are oh so clearly not mine. Yet, on Family day at the school, I was holding Laura's older daughter, on my shoulders, and my students kept asking me if she was mine...hmmm... blond hair, blue eyes white as snow...not quite guys! We have since been practicing description and paying attention comparing and contrasting, there should be no such mix up at Sports day!

Last weekend was very tame and calm. Friday night we had rugby then went to Coco's for a beer and ceviche. Went to bed early and fell asleep immediately! Long week!

Saturday and SUnday just ran some errands in the city, had a massage (fabulous!) and not much else!

THis week has been just crazy at school! Valentine's day is like the most popular holiday ever here! I got candy, chocolate, earrings, face cream more chocolate! The kids were WIRED! One of them told me that they had eaten marshmallows and chocolate for breakfast! Yay, me! Im so happy to have to teach kids when the only thing in their bellies is candy! LONG day for sure, but we made it through and have had a pretty stellar week!

I finished up my parent teacher interviews yesterday (be jealous all of you teachers who only sent reports home today!!! bahaha). SO that is delightful!

This weekend I do not have much planned. I am going to kid's birthday party on Saturday at the children's museum here in Guatemala. Which is awesome, because I get a tour of the museum, but am responsible for zero children. Though it is very hard to not try to keep order at the birthdays, because the children run wild and I just want to tell them to stop screaming and running and that we are in a public place and you will get hurt and ahhh! But their parents are there so it's a little awkward if I try to have rules. So instead I just pretend I don't know them! haha Hopefully it all works out in the end!

That's all the news I have for now. Hope all is well up North! Enjoy the last weekend of Winterlude!

much love!

oxoxoxo

sugar cane, coconuts and pizza?!

Another eventful weekend behind us!

Friday after school I ditched touch rugby to go to one of my student's birthday party's. It was at Chuk-e-cheese!!!!! I had never ever been before so it was pretty exciting! The games, the entertainment the screaming children. One of the mom's drove me there and then the birthday boy's mom drove about 6 boys from my class. When she got there she looked at me and said: I swear that drive felt like it took 2 days... how do you do it? haha... oh you have no idea lady... no idea!

On Saturday morning we left at 8 am to go to the beach. We were 3 car loads... 10 adults 2 babies. We got to the hotel, got into our bathing suits and lay by the pool for the rest of the day. We all took turns with Kiera and Maya in the pool...had her sleep on my chest...so cute!

the waves were pretty tame and so we ventured out today... had a good time!

On the way home from the beach we stopped first to buy some Cocos frios! (cold coconuts) and then at a fruit stand to buy some mangos and tasted sugar cane for the first time. Yum yum! Mango prices floored me...as it is the first time I buy them at the market... 4 for 10Q...thats about 1.24$. delightful!

I am looking forward to ripping into those bad boys later on.

Right now, my roommates and I are all sitting here with our laptops watching..wait for it...wait for it...the Superbowl!!!!

I think I will bail on it though in about 10 seconds and go read... or go to the gym or really do anything else! Not exactly my cup of tea.

I forgot my camera this weekend, so I can not upload any pictures until other people do and I swipe them! So stay tuned!

Heat...more heat...and umm some sun?

I hear that the weather in Ottawa is less than warm, so I thought I would tease you with the out door activities i have been participating in.

2 weekends ago we went to the beach. There were originally 5 adults and 2 toddlers, but after getting lost in Guate city for abouut 4 hours, one adult bailed (Jeff, the highschool principal- be certain that whenever I see him in the halls at school i simply shake my head at him). So Colin, Laura, Makenzie and the girls and I continued on. When we FINALLY reached our destination, at about 1130 pm Keira woke up (she's 2), looked around and all she had to say for herself was: Jeff? Jeff? That definately lightened the mood.

So we were off to bed, and woke up the next morning to GLORIOUS sunshine. Into our bikinis we hopped and lay by the pool and played with the girls in the water... There was a football game that Colin wanted to watch, so we were on the search for a restaurant with a TV. We quickly found one- it's cocktail list was acceptable to us girls as well.

We lay around with Keira and Maya then took Keirs for a walk on the beach. She was wuickly the main attraction with her beautiful blond hair. All of the locals wanted to hold her and stroke her hair. She made friends with some little kids and played with them for an hour or so. Her spanish is good because her nanny is spanish speaking, so she was chatting away. When the sun set and the kids had to go home, Keira cried and cried, hitting me and asking for her amigas back... what an adventure. SUnday was much of the same, but we stayed around our hotel and swam..the sun was deadly hot... you couldn't sit in it for more than a couple of minutes without sweating. We left around noon and stopped for coconuts! YUM YUM!

This past weekend we stayed in the city. Friday night we had a double birthday party for 2 staff members. On Saturday Makenzie , Jessica her boyfriend Diego and I went to the American club for lunch. Its this members only country club, to which Diego is a member. I had delicious ceviche!!!

That night we went out to another birthday party, but bailed early and I was in bed by midnight.

this week the kids are writing exams (I know, grade 2 exams!) and are not being very good listeners, so it is challenging. But we are managing.

No plans yet for this weekend, other than report cards, as they are due to the office on Monday!

Hopefully we will venture out to do something cool on Saturday, perhaps Antigua- who knows!

Stay warm friends...stay warm!

Lions and Tigers and Bears! Oh My!

Back in Guate for a week now. The week has flown by, but also seemed very long. The kids had school Tuesday-Friday and were all very excited to see me an each other. There were some memorable quotes of the week... namely Rodrigo who just loved my boots! and Mariana who wouldn't tell the class what she did over vacation until she asked me the most important questions ever: "but Miss, what did Santa Clause bring you?" haha. cute kids.

The week went by with out a hitch. Friday after school a bunch of people (from the embassy, from Colin's rugby team and from our staff) came out to play touch rugby. It was a lot of fun actually. I was mostly terrified of having the ball, because I thought the big men would forget it was touch and kill me...but they were actually more afraid of hurting us girls than anything. Here is a picture of all of us.

On Saturday I went out for ceviche with some friends then back to the apartment where there was a gathering of some families from the staff (Colin, Laura and their girls, and Katrin and Victor and their daughter Lea and 2 week old Noah Estaban) on our roof top patio!

We had great weather and just soaked up the rays, had some pizza and beer and played with the kids. it was very enjoyable! I stayed in Saturday night and went to bed early. Sunday, Makenzie, Katie, Ashely and I decided to venture out to the Zoo here in the city. We felt very Guatemalan in our endeavour as it was very busy with many Guatemalan families enjoying the sunny weather and captive animals. The giraffes were cool to see... but then I just felt back for them... so far from home...with really no where to go...I remembered why I don't particularly like zoos. BUt if nothing else, it was WONDERFUL to walk around outside and be safe! So for that reason alone, I believe we will probably return to the zoo for other visits.

So weird, but as we were looking at the animals we noticed this sign:

Looks like the school donated animals to the zoo? "He wants to take his monkeys to see the kids at the zoo" jajaja

Tomorrow is back to work. Nothing huge to report I don't think. A regular week. We plan on playing Rugby again on Friday and then going to the beach. I am looking into shuttle services so that we can all go in one vehicle, I think there will be about 10 of us. So that is something to look forward to!