Livingston & Lake Atitlan

It’s hard to believe that I am only here for 3 more months. I know the time will go really quickly and soon enough I’ll be back on an airplane to Canada. It will definitely be bittersweet to leave here. I’ve made many friends, have bonded with my students, learned how to speak Spanish, and have grown accustomed to Guatemalan food. Alternatively, I am truly looking forward to seeing my family and friends again, as well as being back in Canada.

The distance from home has been made not as long by visits from my family throughout the year. My most recent visitors were my sister Karly and my friend Will. Together we traveled to Livingston which is on the East coast of Guatemala. We spent the entire day on the beach and swimming in the Caribbean Sea. I managed to get quite the sunburn even though it was cloudy the whole time. Apparently my plan to get a tan by only using 4spf failed miserably, and the consequence was a very pink face and shoulders; but hey pink is better than pasty right???

The Caribbean Sea

Which is more red?

While in Livingston there was a huge thunderstorm. At first there was just a lot of lightning, so I decided it would be nice to go out on the dock and watch the show…bad decision. Within 5 minutes the wind and rain increased immensely and sheets of water were being thrown at me. I quickly walked (my slippery flip-flops prohibited running) back to my hotel and was completely drenched. Next time I think I’ll just watch the lightning out my window.

Karly, Will, and I also managed to take a short trip to Lake Atitlan. It was my first time there so I was looking forward to seeing a new part of Guatemala. We joined a tour in Antigua and took a 2.5 hr ride to the lake which is surrounded by volcanoes. It is definitely a beautiful place to see, but why someone would choose to build their house at the foot of a volcano is beyond me. We traveled by boat to the little villages around the lake, and had a little bit of time at each place to look around and do some shopping. It’s always nice to have visitors, but also sad to see them leave.

See you again soon!!

The Events of June

I realize it’s been a long time since I last updated my blog, I was never very good at keeping a journal, thus the same is to be expected in this case. I will do my best to recall nearly a months worth of events.

At the beginning of June the boys I was home schooling finish what was required of them before going to Canada for a month. Since I had free time in the mornings, I began teaching two woman English on the weekdays. The rest of my teaching schedule remains the same: grades 8, 9, and 10 in the school and meeting with two small groups for English classes.

In the month of June I had a very nice visit with my sister Tureena. We enjoyed traveling to Tikal and racing through the jungle in the dark in order to watch the sunrise from the top of a temple; Very beautiful!! While in Tikal we saw monkeys, birds, insects and many lizards. The main element we were struggling against was the heat. The heat is very debilitating, it causes slowness of physicality as well as mentality. In Santa Elena (where our hotel was) it was so hot and humid that we preferred spend most of our time in our air-conditioned hotel room. We tried to drink as much water as we could to stay hydrated (we bought out the hotels supply).

Tureena and I also went to Antigua. There we spent a great deal of time in the market bartering with the locals, looking in little shops, and passing the time in cafes eating cheesecake and drinking coffee. We also toured some of the many church ruins. Antigua’s very beautiful for its cobblestone streets and blend of old and new architecture.

The day that Tureena returned home, my friend Will arrived. He will be here for one month to travel and help Zaak where he can. Karly is also coming to visit. She will be arriving in a few days. I’m really looking forward to her visit as it’s been 8 months since I saw her last. I’ve been very blessed to have my family and friends come visit me, it has made my time away from home seem not so long.

Hulda (the girl I sponsor) and I have continued to spend at least one day a week together. We have fun together eating in restaurants, going for ice cream, playing games, and going to the zoo. I know that time spent together is worth more than anything I could buy her. It will be sad to leave in 4 months, but I know we will always remember the times we shared.

The latest addition to my work is helping the women prepare the meals for the students. The women are very nice but they usually speak Pocumchi so I'm never quite sure what they are talking about (guess I'll have to learn that language too). I enjoy being at the school when the younger children are there (I teach in the evening and therefore only see the jr. high students).
Last weekend the other teachers and I took a group of students to Coban (a city about 20min away) to eat at McDonalds. For many of them it was the first time there. After we played in a little theme park. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a wonderful time.

Well that’s all for now, I will try to be more prompt with my next entry but I can’t promise anything ;)