una semana:one week

I cannot believe that one week from right now I will be on an airplane flying home. It is a weird feeling. The past few weeks have flown by, but at the same time, they have seemed like an eternity! I can't believe that I haven't seen or touched my family in almost 15 weeks, that is a weird thing to think about! I am trying to prepare myself for the emotional stress that I will experience when I come home, but I know that there is not much I can do about the "re-entry" process into the North American culture. Knowing that Christmas will be fully "shoved" into my face when I get home will also be hard to cope with. Christmas here is much more focused on the peace and hope of Christ in one's life...it's not about gifts here. Nevertheless, we have had a couple celebrations here to welcome the Christmas season.

My roommates and I went to a big fiesta in Parque Central last weekend and got to experience what the Antiguenos do at the commencement of the Christmas season!

Yesterday our whole group had a huge Christmas party at Paul and Bev's house! It was full of cookie-decorating, tree-decorating, and a Santa Claus piñata!

Enjoy this lovely video that we made at our party! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afxJVY9qQmc

Blessings during this Christmas season! See you SOON!

-J

Just another little update

Hola amigos! I hear that most of you are enduring the first decent snow of the season...you can feel free to have fun in it for me because I don't miss it! I prefer the snow and warmth here in Guatemala. I haven't been keeping you as up-to-date because I have been trying to cut down on paying to use the internet at different cafés. So, here is a little bit of an update on life.

#1: Today is day 85, which means that we have 15 days left here. It is unbelievable how fast the time has gone. I am trying not to focus on how excited I am about going home because I want to enjoy my last 2.5 weeks here, but it's really hard not to think about all that is to come when I get home.

#2: We got a friendly little package last weekend from some wonderful friends back at SAU. They had sent it at the end of September and it was being held in Guatemala City by customs and last Friday we were finally able to retrieve it! The girls wrote each of us a little rhyming note and sent us some treats: tea, gum, chapstick, water flavoring, toilet seat covers (haha), and some other fun things! After getting that from the post office, we were able to go to Price Mart which is like the Costco of Guatemala and a few of us just walked around eating samples. I also bought a HUGE jar of peanut butter for Q39 because I just was craving peanut butter so badly. We spent the evening at the mall where the rest of the group saw the latest Twilight movie (I was not going to put myself in that theater, you couldn't pay me). Papa Paul (the new name for our fearless leader) took us to Pollo Campero for dinner.

 Merry Christmas from Miraflores mall! :)

#3: Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day and we headed to Monte Rico which is a wonderful, black sand beach on the Pacific Ocean. It took us just over two hours to get there, but by the time we got there, the sun was shining and it was absolutely stunning. We placed our orders for lunch and hit the beach! We played in the waves of the ocean, soaked up some rays, and walked the beach while our feet were burning from the hot sand. We had a lovely lunch and spent more time in the sun, laid in hammacks, played with baby sea turtles, and saw a school of sting rays. All in all, it was a wonderful time at the beach!

 Playing with baby sea turtles!

The view from the hotel we spent the day at

#4: Sunday was our HUGE Thanksgiving dinner as a group. Not only did we have two 15lb. turkeys catered by a Canadian restaurant, but Paul and Bev cooked up a storm with all sorts of Thanksgiving foods. From mashed potatoes to green bean casserole, we had it all! We spent time eating dinner and dessert (pumpkin pie with coffee for me!) and just relaxing and talking. It was a day of fellowship and food and remember all the wonderful things that we can be thankful for!

Well there you are, don't expect too many more posts, but I will try to keep you updated on the last 2.5 weeks! Have a lovely day enjoying that snow, talk to you soon!

-J

Thanksgiving blessings.

¡Feliz día de acción de dar gracias!
Happy Thanksgiving from Guatemala!

I am sitting here at our coordinator’s home in Antigua, Guatemala with so much to be thankful for! Although I am not home with my family and some REALLY good home-cooked turkey, I cannot imagine being anywhere else in the world.
Yesterday was the birthday of one of the guys in our group, so we got together today to celebrate and eat cake. I can tell you that watching the Lions lose to Green Bay in Spanish did not make it any easier, but I must say that I didn’t expect much more either.
I feel like we often take for granted the things that we have been blessed with, so I am going to take a few minutes to spew some of those things that I am thankful for. Thank you, Lord, for:

-A loving family. God has given more than I could have asked for in a family...and that’s all I can even say because words are not enough.

-An education. There are so many people in this world that will never have an education like the one I have received. I am blessed with knowledge and the ability to learn.

-Health. People all over the world are plagued with sickness or poor health and although I have my bad days, I am so blessed to be a healthy young woman.

-My study abroad. Guatemala is a place where God’s majesty reigns and I couldn’t be more grateful to have this opportunity to be forced to learn and grow...even when I don’t want to.

-Spanish. Although I’ve been frustrated lately with my classes, God has gifted me with the wonderful ability to learn another language and I look forward to where this gift leads me.

I hope you all take time to realize what you are blessed with in this life. Yes, there are times when we feel like things are crashing down around us, but God is always near and He walks with us in this thing called life...don’t take Him for granted today. Be with the ones you love and tell them that you love them. Give thanks and live.

what are we living for?

I want to tell you all about what I learned today in my Spanish class...

Yesterday and today my Spanish teacher, Sabina has been away from class because she has a herniated disc and needs to rest. Both days I have had different teachers, but today I learned some very valuable life lessons from my teacher, Alvaro.

Alvaro is a 47 year old teacher, father, and husband who lives in Jocotenango, Guatemala (just outside of Antigua). Alvaro has four children from the ages of 23 to 16. Three out of his four children (the three oldest) have special needs. They were all born with a genetic disorder called: Ataxia - telangiectasia. This has left his three eldest children wheel-chair bound and with many special needs. Before I knew any of this about his family, Alvaro greeted me this morning by telling me that he is perfectly well and is always doing well. If I would have know Alvaro's life situation before I met him, I would not have expected this response.
Throughout the entire class time, I learned about Alvaro's life circumstances. His daughter, age 19, has already had cancer in her ovaries and is sitting at home, at 90 pounds, with two tumors growing in her abdomen. The doctors have told them that there is nothing more they can do because her body cannot handle the taxing chemo/radiation treatments. Alvaro kept telling me, "Es la vida, Yennifer." He kept saying "gracias a Dios" and other statements of that nature which makes me believe that he and his wife have more faith than I could imagine having in such heart-wrenching circumstances. Not once did Alvaro look at me with a saddened face, but he consistently had a smile on his face knowing that his children are a blessing.
Alvaro showed me an article that his wife wrote four years ago in a local magazine (accompanied with a picture of their precious children). The goal of the article was for his wife to empower other mothers of children with special needs (many of which are single mothers). In her article, she writes about always seeing her children as angels sent from God and always wearing a smile on her face so that her children know that they are capable of great things and that they are loved beyond measure. His wife has now had to stay home with her children and attempt to educate them at home because the "special needs" schools here don't do much more than crafts with the students. They were frustrated with the system here and learned that their children would be better educated at home.
Alvaro kept telling me about his youngest son, age 16, who does not have the disability. He talked about how much he has had to mature in his life because of what has happened around him throughout his life. He told me that his son wants to go to chef school so that someday, he can help support his brothers and sister. What sixteen year old is that mature?!
Alvaro kept telling me that it seems like a rough life, but for them, it's completely normal and he has done it for over twenty years! The saddest thing is that they don't receive help from anyone. There are several organizations around Antigua to help poor families or families who have children with special needs. But because Alvaro and his family have a "nicer" home (it doesn't have dirt floors and they HAVE to keep it very clean due to the kids' disabilities), the organizations will take one look at their house and say, "No, we can't help you because you have what you need." How horrible! Just because they take pride in what they have and work to take care of their family doesn't mean that they don't have needs! Alvaro continued to reiterate to me that if he doesn't work, he and his children don't eat.

In my opinion, this is a great lesson that many people need to learn. Look at a man like Alvaro, see that he has worked his butt off to provide for his family, half of which have special needs! If we could teach this lesson to people around the world, we would live in a much better place. Yes, Alvaro has been given a life that many people will never encounter and one that many people would never want to deal with. But with his positive attitude (and my guess, faith), he has learned to be an honorable and respectable man.

Next time we go complaining about something in life, let us take time to think about Alvaro and his family and give thanks to God that we have been given the life we have.

-J

climbing a volcano = life's newest adventure.

Today I did something that most people probably can't say they have done: I climbed a volcano. In fact, this is the volcano that erupted a year and a half ago, leaving most of Guatemala City covered in ash and many people in surrounding towns without homes. A handful of people died last year on this volcano, so naturally, I had my reservations. But, a girl from our group got in touch with a popular travel agency here and set it up and 16 of us headed out this morning at 6am to climb el vólcan Pacaya.

We finally arrived at the starting point and paid to rent walking sticks for Q5 (about 70 cents). We were also offered bags of marshmallows to roast at the top, so one of the guys purchased a bag for us to share. We started hiking up the mountain/volcano just after 8am and it was harder than I expected. You have to remember that we are at over 5,000 feet in altitude and while I am in decent shape, I still struggled with the thin air and continuous volcanic ash/sand. Needless to say, I got my workout in today! It was a great hike and the guides were really helpful and considerate about stopping to give us breaks.

It probably took us about an hour and a half to reach the big crater that Pacaya erupted from last year. The main crater, at the very top, we were unable to get to, but we wondered around at the top for about an hour...playing in warm volcanic rock/sand/ash and attempting to roast marshmallows (which didn't work that well, but it was fun to try). There were several steam holes where we could feel the heat coming out and some of our group attempted to climb up a bit higher, but didn't really get much of a different view. It was really neat to see the different rock formations that the lava had produced last year...but kind of scary to think that I was walking where it erupted just a year and a half ago! It was definitely the most adventurous thing I have done in my life!

Everyone in our group was safe; however, there was an injury in the other group that came with us. One of the girls from the other group was running down a little hill and slipped in the volcanic ash (which is REALLY easy to do) and ended up cutting her leg and head pretty badly. They had to make a makeshift stretcher and as we left the top of the volcano, they had to carry her down through LOTS of volcanic sand and rock, down a VERY steep hill. As we followed (with my slight fear of heights), we came to the realization that we would be going down the side of the volcano on a different path that went down the very steep side of the mountain and through, no joke, a foot of volcanic rock and sand. Yes, we were lava-rock surfing, as I called it. Trust me, I didn't stop praying the entire way down!

Once at the bottom, my shoes and pants were absolutely covered in volcanic sand and when I took my shoes and socks off, my feet were completely black...but it was SO worth it! I can say that my body is sore and I am tired, but I am really thankful for the really cool opportunity to get a beautiful view of God's creation and do something that I probably will never do again. If you ever have the chance to climb Pacaya, do it...no matter how nervous or scared you are, it will be the adventure of a lifetime.

That's all for now. Keep it real, folks!

Love as always,

-J

To my family.

My dear family,
While I sit here in a café in a foreign country, I am forced to be kind of a "deep thinker." There is not that much I want to say, but I want you to hear me out for a short little bit.

Living here in Guatemala has forced me to think about my life and I am come to the realization that I have everything I could ever ask for. Here's what I want you to know: I love you all with my whole heart. We all have our differences and we all make mistakes. We may disagree and get frustrated with each other, but that doesn't matter because we are family and in this life, that is all that matters. The world will try to tear us apart, but we must cling to the blessed family that we have been given because we have more than we could ask for. Tell each other you love each other and don't be afraid to disagree, but always be accepting of each other and love each other no matter what. Don't take our family for granted because there are people in this world that would give anything to have what we have.

I love you.

-J

Halloween/Día de los Muertos/Illness

Feliz Halloween from Guatemala...sorry it’s a little late! Halloween isn’t a major celebration here in Guatemala, but because Antigua has so many tourists, it is a bit more popular. And since La Unión is the greatest Spanish language school in all of Antigua, they put on a huge party for all of their students. All of the families bring a comida típica to pass (typical food). There was great music (Manuel was a DJ for something like 15 years before he started working for the school) and contests for the best costumes. Five friends and I went as a human clothes line and “pinned” ourselves to a piece of twine with other clothes pinned on in between us...so creative, right?! We almost won the contest, but were satisfied when other SAU students won first and second places! It was really fun, but at the same time, this is when I started to not feel well...I didn’t want to do anything to crazy that night so while my closest friends went out and about the city, I spent some time with some other people at a little café near our house and was in bed before 10pm.

Tuesday morning I woke up feeling worse for sure. I took my temperature and had a low-grade fever, my entire body ached, and my throat was practically swollen shut. I was not going to let this get me down though, because it was a big day! The school was taking all the students to the big festival de los barriletes (kites) in Sumpango. This festival is a big deal for Día de los Muertos because a tradition here in Guatemala is that the children make and fly kites to usher in the spirits of the dead. At the festival there were TONS of people and beautiful, HUGE, handcrafted kites made from tissue paper. They have a competition and there are children flying kites all over the place. It was definitely a good experience and I am glad I went, but since I wasn’t feeling well, the four hours that we were there felt like an eternity and I was surely ready to go home. By the time we got home, I was not doing well. The fever had spiked again and I was miserable. I

was sick as a dog for all of Wednesday and Thursday with a fever, horrid sore throat, etc. (you get the awful picture, right?). I started taking antibiotics on Thursday and began to see an improvement. Friday morning I woke up thinking that I wouldn't make it through all of my Spanish class, but I did it! I kept on with the antibiotics and Friday I didn't feel the "greatest," but I certainly felt better and was actually able to do things out of the house! I felt SO trapped in that house for over 48 hours continuously, I was so thankful for sunshine and fresh air! It's always harder to be sick when you're away from home, but it certainly teaches one to be patient in affliction...just another lesson that I have learned here in Guatemala.

That's all for now folks, enjoy the cold weather in Michigan and I will enjoy the 65 and sunny weather here in good ole Antigua :)

-J

**Again, check out Facebook for photos :)