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!