Panajachel and Irtra

Oh my gosh. The last two days have been so amazing. I have been having the time of my life.
Yesterday Olivia, Alejandra, and I went into Guatemala City just thinking we would get some ice cream and go to the mall or something but as we were driving in get a super awesome idea! A theme park! SO... We went to Irta ot Mundo Petapa (not sure the official name haha) but whatever it was, was so fun! There were a bunch of kids on field trips but we still got to go on so many rides and still had an awesome time!

You will notice in the third photo I don't look super happy, that is because we are in a line to get on a roller coaster thing that goes 60km/hr.. and those of you who know me know that I don't really do roller coasters let alone the ones that are super fast and high.
You will also notice that I was the one taking the 5th picture.. It's one of those rides that shoot you up in the air then drop you... yeah... I didn't go on it... Mom, Think West Edmonton Mall but higher!

We left this morning for Panajachel/Lake Atitlan which is 3 hours from Antigua. Olivia's Family owns a hotel here so we stayed at this gorgeous lake today and have to leave tomorrow but had a great day walking around and site seeing. I can't describe the lake in full using words, so here are some pictures of our day - the first two being in front of Olivia's house before we left.

That's right, I'm climbing trees...

The Start Of A Great Time

Well, yesterday Olivia and Ale picked me up from the center to come down to Antigua and spend some time there with them. I am staying at Olivia's house and having a wonderful time. Yesterday when we got back to Antigua first we had a quick, WONDERFUL, lunch of soup, salad, and spaghetti. What a treat. It was in a quaint, quiet, little restaurant painted and decorated so lovely. Next we went grocery shopping, but this was no typical N.American shop. We went to the locals market and were greeted with so many different colors and flavors and smells. We got two big bags of produce and fruit for under $3 WOW! I was so impressed with that!
We picked up Olivia's brother from school at 5 and proceeded to go home. Her brother did some home work and we went for a walk around her neighborhood. Just getting outside the house and into the Guatemalan air at dusk with the sun going down and the pretty lights on raised me spirits and cemented my love for this country. As we got back to the house Volcano Fuego greeted up with a smoke and lava show! Puffing clouds and spitting red lava into the sky and spilling down the side of the mountain! What excitement! (don't worry mom and dad, I'm safe, it's far enough away!)
As I lay here now looking out onto the beautiful scenery one can't help but feel blessed.

No Hay Agua Caliente!!

There is no hot water!
Tonight I went up into the new dorms they are building for the teams and to rent out to take a hot shower because SUPPOSEDLY there was hot water up there now. I thought, hot water, no kids, some time to myself.... sounds awesome! no. not awesome. When I turned on the shower and stepped in the water was tepid and I was like "okay, no big deal... it will warm" Wrong. After about 5 seconds the water turned ice cold and I jumped out and called for help to Odilia (the assistant director) Mind you, by this time I am soaking wet and wrapped in a towel. I told her "No hay agua caliente!!" and she tried to help me figure out what was wrong ect... we tried different showers... turning it off and on... everything to try to get some warm water. nope. nada. So I washed as quickly as I could to get out of the freezing water. Never doing that again. I am sticking to quick, HOT, kids knocking on the door showers from now on!

The rest of today was good though, I spent time with the kids and the kids parents which was so nice and so interesting to see them interact with each other. The ladies are as sweet as ever and I am going to have such a hard time leaving.

I am learning the local indigenous language here, Chic'el, which is a lot of fun. Right now I know the words - foot, cat, cow, dog, and the sentence "I want water, _(insert name of person)_". I think that is pretty good haha. I am excited to learn some more.

The ladies and I had such a wonderful time this afternoon. We talked and talked and it was just a fantastic experience for me. I have been enjoying so much being able to communicate with them and just chat like old friends, saying whatever is on our minds. The gift of language has been so wonderful I cannot even begin to describe how thankful I am.

She was just hanging out... No crying or anything. Haha

Pictures Are Worth More Than Words

I did a lot of school work today in the morning since it was parental visitation day. The kids all had a great time with their moms and dads. It was really sweet to see. I asked one father if I could take a picture, and he hesitated but then said yes. I also have a sneaked picture of some families waiting for their children outside haha.

This is Madelyn and her daddy, She wouldn't stay still for the picture!

Though I have felt better, I still have a cough and some fluid in my lungs, so today nurse Blanca decided it was time to try an aspirator thing on me... the ladies got a good laugh out of it!

Yup, I look super cool...

But the chickens came for the center today! All 100 of them! How amazing is that. They will now be able to feed the children eggs for free and then sell the rest for an extra income!

This evening Blanca and I went for a walk around the center and San Juan, we had a wonderful time!! I am starting to feel like a real Guatemalan!

This last one you need to look sideways at!

Don Basillo's daughter is super sweet, he name is Clara, is 6 years old and she drew me a little picture.