1/2 way done:(

Well, today is the half way point of my stay here in Guatemala.  Although I am looking forward to being back in PR, having visitors, and being in the WARMTH AND SUN, I am really sad to think about leaving the kids.

I can't really think of a special story about today, so I will attach some pictures of the kids and Guatemala in general.

The kids and I on our way to church.  We can fit A TON of people in such a little van:)

In Antigua

The market

Store and clothes lines above it

Tony (8) ready to play soccer.  Leo- this jersey is for you- hahaha

The boys who went to the park with me the other day!
Angel (16), Me
Victor (10), Gerber (12), Luis (11)
Baleriano (10)

16 days left

I did it!!! I ate LIVER!  Usually, they don't give me the liver and just give me the rice and beans, but I guess they do not consider me a "visitor" anymore, so I have the honor of eating all of their food...   I saw it and I thought, well I will drink kool-aid instead of water to wash down the taste.  BAD IDEA #1
Then I added hot chili (I am not a fan of this either) to the liver/ rice mush so that I would not taste it, but it just tasted like spicy liver- BAD IDEA #2
Then, I had a really thick, doughy corn/flower tortilla type thing, that I don't like... once again, this didn't work- BAD IDEA #3

This evening, I gave a devotion class to the kids.  We are working through the wordless book.  It has 5 pages, each with a different color.
Gold- heaven
Stained/ dark- sin
Red- Jesus's blood
White- Forgiveness
Green- growth
The kids enjoyed the time, especially the review game!

17 days left

I just got back from the the park!!!!  Five of the kids and I went to town to pick up a few things and we stopped to have a snack and play at the park.  We had tons of fun having contests on the monkey bars and playing hop-scotch.  I taught them how to play and I absolutely LOVE to play with them!  Even the 16 year old really enjoyed playing this new game:)

I forgot to share, but yesterday at Christmas lunch we had bread WITH BUTTER!  I was warned in advance to watch the kids and help them because they never have butter, so they use a lot of it.  But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw!  They use A TON of butter, actually a ton doesn't even explain it!!  So, I went around the table and helped butter bread- I was even giving instructions on how to do it to the 19 year olds:)

Christmas day

Today we slept in (due to our 2am bedtime last night).  Then we woke up and ate tomales- again...  I have had so many tomales since I have been here (this would be okay if I liked them a lot , but I don't really care for them.  I prefer pasteles- yum!)  After this we cleaned up the yard and decorated for the visitors.  Some people from church came over for lunch and then stayed and visited.

After they left we cleaned up and WATCHED PART OF THE GREEN BAY FOOTBALL GAME!  I got to explain the game and introduce the kids to Wisconsin culture.

I am very glad that God has given me the opportunity to spend Christmas with these kids and get to know them!  Each and every one of them is so special, unique, and loving!!!!
The other day Edgar (20) and I were walking to the town and he asked me how I decided to come to the orphanage this winter.  So, I told him that I would like to have my own children's home some day and that I decided to visit one to see how it works and that through my church in Puerto Rico I got connected to the church and home in Guatemala.  Then he said that is very interesting and cool.  Then he asked me... "When are you coming back?"  To which I responded, "I haven't even left yet!  Why are you asking this?"

This is Edgar on our walk though the town.  Just so you know, the only reason he was able to balance the basket on his head is because his hair spiked through the holes in the bottom!

Noche Buena, Christmas Eve!!!!

Here in Guatemala, we go to church on Christmas Eve, then come home and open presents and the tradition is to set off fireworks at midnight and then have a bonfire.   

Last night the kids oppened their presents, and it was very heart-touching to see the kids excitement over the new clothes and toys that they received.  We had an amazing time with the fireworks!  (In Puerto Rico, I haven't seen any fire works, so I don't know who was more excited last night, the kids or myself:)  At the campfire, the kids roasted mini marshmellows and then we all hung out together.  We talked, took pictures, played tag in the dark, played card games,  and Edgar and I played guitar together.  It was a really nice time!  Then at 2:00am, it was time to go to bed- I think we were all really disappointed:(

The living room with all the presents (before the kids came in the house!)

Geovany with his new stuffed animal/dog (and there is a spider on the dog's head:)

Deborah with her new skirt!!!

Some of the kids and I at the fire!

20 days left :(

Well, tonight I came to the conclusión that my time here is 1/3 over.  WOW!  :(

This afternoon I went on an adventure.  I had to go to the store to buy candy for a present for the kids, so one of the teens and I walked to the little town.  On our way we met one of the other teens from the home, so all 3 of us went together.  We had a really fun time waking there and back, taking Pictures of all the “Guatemalan staff” and eating  MANTECADO!  I offered to treat them to “mantecado”- ice cream in Puerto Rico (here it is called “helado”).  They were not sure what I was taliking about, but they used context clues to figure it and were too nice/ scared that I would take back the offer to correct my Spanish.  Then we came home, ate, watched a movie, and placed a game of MASACRE!  It was a really fun night:) 

Pues, hoy concluí que solamente me falta 20 días para regresar a Puerto Rico.   WOW!  :(

Esta tarde fui en una adventura.  Necesitaba ir a la tienda para comprarles dulces a los niños para su regalo, entonces un joven y yo caminamos al pueblo.  Cuando estábamos de camino, nos encontramos con otro joven del hogar, so nosotros tres fuimos juntos.  Nos divertimos mucho caminar por el pueblo, sacar fotos de “cosas de Guatemala”, y comer mantecatdo!  Ofrecí comprarles “mantecado” (una palabra puertorriqueña) y casi no me entendieron, pero averigaron y estaban demasiados simpáticos o no querían perder la oferta, so no corrigieron mi español.  Cuando llegamos a la cass, comemos, vimos una película, y jugamos un juego de MASACRE!!   :)

21 days left

Today was TONS of fun!!!!   This morning, we went on a walk up the mountain and dirt roads that are around the orphanage.  I think we walked for almost 3 hours.  First, we visited a family.  The woman was weaving a scarf-like thing BY HAND!  This was Amazing to watch and she was really nice and gave us a demonstration of how she does it.  Next, we went to a river and a forest with pine-like tress for snack.  The kids had fun climbing the tree, and one boy climbed all the way up to the top!!!!!  After this, we continued walking up the mountian and we went through a few little villages.  It was Amazing to see the schools and the houses and how the people up there live. 

Then this afternoon, the youth Group from church had thier Christmas party.  We went to the city of Antigua and ate pizza at Dominoes- yay!!! Finally, REAL, AMERICAN FOOD!  Then we walked around the city and went to the nearby park to see the Christmas lights.  It was a really nice time!

¡¡¡¡¡¡Hoy nos divertimos un montón!!!!!  Esta mañana subimos la montaña en las calles de polvo que quedan cerca de nuestro hogar.  Creo que caminamos por casi 3 horas!  Primero, fuimos a visitar a una familia.  La mujer estaba haciendo DE MANO una bufanda o algo.  Ella era muy amable, y nos enseño como lo hace.  Despues de eso, caminamos a un río y un bosque con árboles de pino.  Los niños se divertieron en subir los árboles y ¡un niño subió hasta la parte más alto!  Despes de esto, continuamos subir la montaña y pasamos por unos pueblito.   Era bien interesante ver las escuelas y casa de allí y como la gente vivien. 

Por la tarde, el grupo de jóvenes de la iglesia tenía su fiesta de Navidad.  Fuimos a la ciudad de Antigua y comimos pizza en Dominoes- ¡yay!  Por fin, ¡COMIDA VERDADERA AMERICANA!  Al terminar de comer, comemos por la ciudad y fuimos al parque para ver las luces de Navidad.  ¡Era un tiempo bien bueno!

22 days left

He pasado solamente 9 días aquí y no quiero irme!!!!  De verdad, no sé como voy a hacerlo!  Los niños son chileros (o chéveres, depende en qué país vive).  Me encanta jugar con los jóvenes un montón.  Entonces, he deciddo titular mi blog con “falta ___ días” para que no se me olvide cuán valuoso y corto es mi tiempo aquí.

Esta noche, enseñe a los jóvenes jugar ERS (un juego de cartas).  Lo llamamos nosotros “masacre”.  Les encantaron (y yo también) y todos estamos de acuerdo que mañana, vamos a jugar otra vez!!!!!!

After being here only 9 days, I don’t want to leave!!!!  I really don’t know how I am going to do it!   The kids are all wonderful!  I am getting to know each child better and better each and every day.  I especially enjoy the teens.  So, I have decied to date my blog with __ days left, so that I remeber how valuable and short my time is here. 

Tonight I taught the teens how to play ERS (the card game).  We re-named it as “masacre”.  They all loved it (along with myself) and we are definetly going to play again tomorrow!!!!!  

Day 8

This morning the kids got to show the directors of the orphanage the stuff they bought while Shopping!  Thank you soooooooo much to all who donated- the kids were really happy to pick out thier own new clothes, instead of always getting used hammydowns that are donated.  THEY ABSOLUTELY LOVED SHOPPING!

After the younger kids went to bed, the older boys had a special supper that one of them had bought:  sardines out of a can, little hot dogs, soda, and French bread.  Well, the only part of this supper that I took part in was the French bread- some of the food here is really gross:(  But, most of the food is fine:) 

The girls looking at their new jewelry:)

Me and the boys in their new soccer jerseys!

New coats!!!
¡¡¡Abrigos nuevos!!!

¡¡zapatos nuevos!!
new shoes!!

Special supper?
¿Cena especial?

Esta mañana los niños enseñaron su ropa nueva a los directores del hogar.  Mil gracias a todos que donaron- los niños eran muy contentos para escoger su propia y nueva ropa, en vez de siempre necesitar usar la ropa de segunda mano que les está dado.    LES ENCANTARON IR DE COMPRAS!

Esta noche, después de que los niños pequeños habían acostado, los jóvenes comieron una cena especial que uno había comprado:  sardinas de una lata, salchichas, soda, y pan francés.  La única parte de esta cena que comí era el pan- algunas cosas que comen aquí son bien aquerosas:(   Pero, me gusta la mayoría de lo que comen:)

Day 7

Well, today was my day off, so I was sitting in my bedroom reading and there was an odor that crept into my room.  I thought, they must be cooking liver for lunch (everyone here LOVES liver- ewwwwww!)  but then  I thought, "no, it can't be.  I don't know the smell of liver".  Well, lunch time came, and my nose was right:(  This is the only thing here that I can't eat.
The kids HATE the vegetable soup (In my opinion, it was different but not bad), so I told some of them that I would race them to see who won.  There were 4 of us and surprisingly 2 of them beat me!

Then after lunch WE WENT SHOPPING!!!! The older kids received their Christmas gift of money early because they really wanted to go to the market.  I got to go along with them and it was TONS of fun!  I went around with the 3 teenage boys and they took care of me and made sure I didn't get lost- hahahaha  We entered into the market and at the first corner, 3 men started talking loudly and quickly and took one of the teens by the arms and pushed them into the little "store" or "hole in the wall full of clothes".  I was so, scared that they were kidnapping him or something and the other two boys just stood there and watched.  Then, I noticed that all the wanted was for him to buy some pants!  The whole day followed along like this... it was a fun, new experience.
Many of the kids bought soccer shirts and jerseys (soccer is their favorite thing to do here:)  And they also bought new soccer shoes.  In addition to this, they were able to buy dress shoes, pants, shirts, coats and some CANDY!  Thank you to all who donated- it was a really special time:)  Don't worry, pictures will come soon(ish).

Day 6

Today and tomorrow are my days off.  I am not sure exactally how this Works, but every few weeks each worker gets 2 days off.  On a normal day, I work 7:30am- 10pm.  So, alter church, I went with Naomi (a worker here who is from Canada) and 5 teen girls from church and we went to the city of Antigua.  We ate at McDonalds-ew!  And then we went Shopping at a few markets there.  I was able to buy an authentic Guatemalan dress (hand woven by the people here).  After shoping, I went to Naomi’s house to spend the night.  Basically, we realaxed and then went to sleep. 

Church here was good but different.  The first difference is that in Puerto Rico everyone clips to the songs and they add in off-beat clips and different rythms.  Here, everyone clips on the beat throughout the entire song!  The second diference was the preaching.   The church is a bilingual church (kind of like my blog), so the pastor Spears in English and a woman stands in the front with a different microphone and translates to Spanish.  So, alter every thought or sentence, the pastor stops and the woman translates.  It was back-and-forth throughout the entire service- kind of cool:)

Hoy y mañana son mis días libres.  No sé exactamente como funciona el sistema, pero creo que cada par de semanas voy a tener dos días libres.  En un día normal, trabajo desde las 7:30am hasta las 10pm. 

Despues de la iglesia, Naomi (una trabajadora que es de Canada), cinco de las jóvenes de la iglesia, y  yo fuimos a la ciudad de Antigua.  Comimos en McDonalds-ew!  Y fuimos de compras en las pulgeras de allí.  Compré un vestido tipico de Guatemala (las mujeres aquí los cosean de mano!)  Despues de comprar, fui a la casa de Naomi para pasar la noche. 

La iglesia aquí estaba bien, pero bien diferente.  Una diferencia es que en Puerto Rico la gente aplaudan con las manos con unos ritmos distinctos.  Aquí, la gente aplaudan lo mismo para todas las canciones.  1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4…… ¡El ritmo NUNCA cambia!  La segunda diferencia es que la iglesia aquí es bilingüe (igual que mi blog:), entonces, el pastor habla en ingles y una mujer lo traduce a español.  Entonces, después de cada oración o pensamiento el pastor para de hablar para que la mujer lo traduzca.  

Day 5

Well, I think that I am finally used to the food here.  I don’t konw the names of any of the food, but I can remember Ealing it befote.  So, today at breakfast I thought, “Oh, it is this type of watery-oatmeal today.  It actually tastes good!”  Usually I think, “I guess it is not too bad, it tastes fine”.  But today, I acutally would say I liked the food- yay!

The kids here are all really cute, and I love each one of them so much- I don’t know how I am going to leave and go back to Puerto Rico in a month:(  Today, Fransisco a 10 year-old,was in his room as punnishment for repeatedly being violent and fighting with the other kids.  I got permission to go and talk with him (even though he was on time out) and we had a really nice time.  He arrived at the home on Thanksgiving day, so he is new here.  He told me that when he was 6 his dad died and that he misses his mom and older brother.  His mom is living with his grandpa and his brother with his uncle and Fransisco is here.  After listening to him, he told me that he likes to read the story about the Birth of Jesus, then I told him about God and Jesus and how Jesus came to this eart t odie on the cross and forgive us of our sins.  He said that he had never heard and understood the complete story of Jesus and salvation before.  It was a really nice time and I pary that he may understand and believe. 

At the home here, we don’t really know if any of the kids are saved.  The gospel is shared and taught often, but we don’t know if the kids have believed.  So, I am praying for the salvation of these kids and teens and that God may work in them and change them. 

Today a woman from church came over and baked cookies with the kids.  We made sugar cookies with the girls (it worked a lot better than yesterday due to a different type of dough) and russian teacakes with some of the boys.  It was a really fun time.  And, the woman told me that she can tell that I am from Puerto Rico because of my Puerto Rican accent when I speak in Spanish- YAY!

Creo que ya he acostumbrado a la comida de aquí.  No sé como se llama los platos de aquí, pero puedo reconoziar la comida.  Hoy en desayuno pensé, “Ah, es este tipo de avena con mucho agua.  Sabe bueno!”  Generalmente pienso, “No sabe tan malo, lo puedo comer fácilmente”.  Pero hoy, me gustó la comida de verdad!

Todos los niños son bien lindos y los amo un montón- No sé como voy a regresar a Puerto Rico en un mes:(  Hoy, Fransisco un niño de 10 años, estaba en su cuarto como un castigo por pelear violento y consitantamente con los otros niños.  Él estaba en un “time-out” pero me dieron permiso para hablar con él.  Él llegó al hogar en el día de “Thanksgiving”, entonces es nuevo aquí.  El mi dijo que cuando tenía 6 años su papá murió y que extraña a su mamá y a su hermano mayor.  Según él, su mamá está viviendo con su abuelo y su hermano con su tio y Fransisco está aquí en el hogar de niños.  Después de escucharle, él me dijo que le gusta leer la historia del nacimiento de Jesus.  Entonces, le explique de Dios y el razón por lo cual Jesus vino a la tierra para morir en la cruz y perdonarnos de nuestros pecados.  El dijo que nunca había oído ni entendido la historia completa de Jesus y la salvación.  Era un tiempo bien bueno con él, y estoy orando que él va a entender y creer en Jesus. 

Hoy una mujer de la iglesia vino para hacer galletas con los niños aquí.  Hicimos galletas de azúcar con las niñas (funcionó mucho mejor que ayer porque hoy usamos una masa diferente) y hicimos “russian tea cakes” con algunos de los niños.  Nos divertimos un montón.  La mujer me dijo que cuando me oyó hablar en español, por mi accento, ella sabía que soy de Puerto- YAY!

Day 4

Today was a fun day!  The kids here play soccer in every spare minute that they have, and today I played with them.  We played that everyone is their own team and each one fends for himself.  It was really fun, and I tied as the winner!  This was pretty cool, but the oldest kid was 14, so we will see how I do when the 19 and 20 year olds join in...

I am really getting to know the kids now and each one has such an individual personality.  They are all really good kids and a lot of fun to play with!  A few of the kids know a little bit of English and they are trying to use it with me, but they are really hard to understand because of their accent- it is really cute:)

This morning we tried to make sugar cookies with some of the kids.  It worked really well for the first 3 minutes, then the dough started to melt and we all turned into the cookie monster!  So, one of the workers ended up making the cookies, we all ended up looking like cookie monster with dough stuck all over our hands!

Day 3

Today we had a Christmas party/ get together with all the staff and kids at the home.  We played games outside, ate a really filling lunch, and had cake and ice cream!  I am starting to get to know the kids and it is really fun to play with them:)

We cleaned up the yard before the visitors got here for lunch.

Then we played a game that was kind of like football.  It was rough and fun!

We also had a water balloon launch.

Then you had to catch the water balloons in the parachute.

And there was ice cream for everyone:)

The kids got a puppy as an early Christmas present. 

Tonight it was game night- obviously, this meant that I would be teaching the kids how to play Othello!  We made our own othello game out of a checker board and any pieces of games/ paper that we could find. Instead of using colors, we used the circle and the crown designs on the checkers pieces.  It was really fun until the end.  I was playing with Angel, a 16 year old, and I was teaching and helping him.  I decided to let him get a corner so that he could learn how to play off of his corner piece and... he won the game.  So, I told him that next time he is on his own!

Angel- the winner:)   and me- the looser :(

¡Our creative Othello game!

Day two

Today we basically ate and played with a little bit of cleaning in between.  The favorite sport of everyone here is soccer, so the kids love to play soccer in every spare minute of their time!

In the evening I went to youth group with the older kids.  It was fun but I was EXTREMELY TIRED!  We got home at 10pm (which is midnight in PR).  So far, the driving was comparable to Puerto Rico, until we went to church.  There are people, bikes, and little motorcycles all over the roads and the cars just zoom past in the dark as if no one is there!

Day one

Today I left home at 4:00am and I traveled to an orphanage in Guatemala to work here for a month.  On the planes, I was treated like royalty- 2 checked suitcases for FREE, breakfast and lunch for FREE, and beautiful views of Puerto Rico, the Panama Canal, and Guatemala (I got a really good view of Guatemala because we circled for about 10 minutes while waiting for our turn to land).  Some workers from the orphanage met me at the airport and we did some errands in Guatemala  City.  After this, it was off to the orphanage to meet the kids, eat supper, have some free time, and go to bed.  I am really tired now, so good night!

View of the mountain near my house in PR.

Sunrise in PR- taken from plane:)

Clouds near Panama City

Clouds near Guatemala

Beautiful view from the plane before landing in Guatemala City