Just got to Honduras a few hours ago and wanted to post to let everyone know I have arrived safely!
We are meeting up with the five current Amigos volunteers in about an hour or so and I´m SO excited to see all of them! We will then head to the orphanage tomorrow after lunch and have what I believe to be a 2-3 hr drive.
I cannot put into words the immense joy I am feeling right now! I cannot wait to meet up with the other volunteers, meet the boys at the hogar, and finally settle into my new home! I will definitely need many prayers tomorrow since it will not only be a day full of excitement but will also be a day where I will be given a massive dose of reality. Thank you so much for your continuous prayers not only for me but for my community and the boys at the orphange. :)
I will do my best to update this blog each week. However, internet will be incredibly slow once we arrive at the hogar so I ask for you all to please bear with me since I will only have access to internet once a week.
I hope you are all happy and well. Thank you for all of your support!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Time Sure Does Fly By....
Hola Amigos!
I have now been here in Xela for 6 weeks... its so funny to think back to my first day when time went by sooo slowly as I was adjusting to the culture and the language. I am now getting ready to head to Honduras on Friday morning. We plan on taking a private shuttle (safer and makes it easier to cross the Guatemala/Honduras border) and leaving around 4:30 AM. I am now done with language school (Friday was my last day) and so this week and I am just hanging out, reviewing my notes and enjoying Xela. The Independence Day of Guatemala is this Tuesday, September 15th, so this weekend and upcoming week are full of different events including fairs, battle of the bands, parades, etc.
My Wednesday nights, the past few weeks, have been busy and tiring but OH so fun! I am still playing soccer with the kids from the hogar here in Xela with the Quetzaltrekkers. Afterwards I meet up with some of my community members and we've gone salsa dancing every Wednesday and Friday nights with a few of the Sakribal teachers. Carlos is a WORLD champion salsa dancer while Luis is a National Champion salsa dancer. Needless to say, its a lot of fun dancing with the two of them and their friends because they all know what they're doing and make you feel like you're an awesome salsa dancer. HAHA.
Last weekend I had the privilege to attend a Quincinera (spelling?) with my teacher, Ana Luz. She is the beautiful, petite Guatemalan in one of the pictures I posted last week. If you have ever seen the show "My Sweet 16" on MTV... being at that fiesta made me feel like I was in that show. Everything was ALL OUT! The hall was massive, there were over 200 people in attendance and the Quincinera felt very much like a wedding. It was also an amazing experience for me because I was the ONLY "gringa" in attendance. I have never experienced being the minority in a group of people. It was very awkward at points having everyone staring at me and whispering to one another. However, It was an experience I am very grateful for. That experience opened my eyes to a little of what minorities in the U.S. experience.
Last Sunday I went to the Xelaju futbol game. Another awesome experience! We sat in what felt like the "student section" at a UD Flyers basketball game. Everyone was up and cheering! People were climbing on the fence in front of us waving the Xela flag and lighting the other teams jersey on fire... CRAZY! After half time, it began to POUR and we all continued to dance and cheer. Eventually, after we were all sopping wet, we realized that we could purchase blankets of colorful plastic to use as shelter so we crammed about 4 of us underneath one and continued to cheer Xelaju on to victory!
Last night, six of us from the Amigos community, went to another Quincinera for the daughter of one of the teachers at Sakribal. We first attended the Mass which was a beautiful experience as we watched how happy the family was as their youngest daughter became a woman within the Latino culture. After the Mass we all went to the reception where we enjoyed delicious food, dancing, cake and great company. This Quincinera was more of my kind of party. Dora, the teacher at Sakribal, made all of the decorations, all of the food and it was a much smaller group of about 50 people.
We left and walked through the rain to find a shuttle back home. In the shuttle we were alone with a family (the father was driving with the mother in the front seat and the grandma and kids in the back of the shuttle with us). The kids (ages 5-9) had NEVER seen Americans before and were so excited to show us how they knew how to count to ten in English. Too cute. I swear, every child I've encountered here in Guatemala is more beautiful than the next.
Once reaching Parque Central, we went to a bar (Ohala) for drinks and just to wind down the evening.
I'm looking forward to having this week to relax and just enjoy my last week in Xela. Sakribal is planning on having a big going away party for us on Thursday night. My teachers in Sakribal now feel like family and its going to be weird to say goodbye to all of them. At the going away party we're expected to each give a speech in Spanish so I'm excited but a bit nervous to give mine. As sad as I am to leave the people I've met here in Xela, I'm really looking forward to moving on to Honduras and starting what I've come here to do. It's weird thinking about the fact that I'm not going back home this next weekend but instead going on to Honduras for 14 months. However, I'm really looking forward to meeting up with the current Amigos volunteers in Copan Ruinas and heading to the Amigos property next Saturday. I'm really excited to meet all the boys!
I'll be sure to write another blog before I leave since once I get to Honduras I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update this blog.
As always, I hope you are all well and happy. I continue to pray for all of those specific intentions some of you have sent my way. Please keep them coming and thank you for all of your support!
All my love,
Kate
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Snail Mail Address at Amigos
So a couple of you have asked for this already so I figured I´d just post it on the blog!
Here will be my address for the next 14 months starting next weekend! :)
Kate
Amigos de Jesús Hogar de Niños
HONDUCOR
Macuelizo, Santa Barbara
Honduras, Central America
Keep in mind this is the SNAIL MAIL address... mail takes about a month or so to reach me.
Here will be my address for the next 14 months starting next weekend! :)
Kate
Amigos de Jesús Hogar de Niños
HONDUCOR
Macuelizo, Santa Barbara
Honduras, Central America
Keep in mind this is the SNAIL MAIL address... mail takes about a month or so to reach me.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Hidden Gifts That We Receive...
First off, I want to apologize because it has been a very long time since I last wrote on this blog!
Where to even begin with what has gone on in the past 2 weeks or so!
Well, two weekends ago my community members and I went to Antigua, Guatemala for the weekend to relax and just enjoy ourselves in this beautiful country. We got to Antigua on Saturday afternoon and did a bit of browsing in the market. Afterwards we all went to Mass together and then went out for a night in Antigua.
We went to dinner at this really fun restaurant that had a live band playing Latino music. The entire restaurant was getting into the music and the cooks in the kitchen were even flickering the lights on and off throughout some of the songs to get people hyped up! We enjoyed some delicious food, drinks and fun music. As we were leaving I noticed a sign for ¨Camino Seguiro¨ the program Jake, my brother, volunteered at for 6 months this past year. It was fun to know that some of the money made at the restaurant goes to help that program so it was fun in that moment to know that I was unknowingly helping a program that my brother is so passionate about.
Jake I thought about you ALL weekend! It was awesome to walk around and realize that Mom, Dad and I were just there back in February/March visiting you and realizing that those were the same streets you walked down for 6 months. I think the coolest thing was realizing once we got off the bus that I knew exactly where I was and how to get to the Aurora.
Sunday morning Rita, Erica and I woke up at 6 AM to hike up Volcan Pacaya which is an active Volcano here in Guatemala. We took an hour and a half shuttle to the foot of the Volcano and had the privilege of riding with a guy from France and 7 Spaniards who were here in Guate to volunteer their medical services. The ride at 6 AM was and adventurous one filled with LOTS of laughs as the Spaniards quizzed me on my Spanish and gave me tongue twisters. We then in return gave them a couple English tongue twisters and laughed at their terrible pronunciation as well.
The hike up the volcano was amazing and once we got to the top we were able to stand right next to lava. We even enjoyed roasting some marshmallows over the lava. Just an all around fun experience!
On the shuttle back home I was EXHAUSTED but the Spaniards asked us tons of questions of what kind of songs Americans sing in the car on road trips. We then explained that its usually whatever is on the radio and I even said that Disney songs are very common to sing within my group of friends. They continued to insist that we share a song with them, and NOT Disney, after they sang a famous song sung in Spain in the car. Rita, Erica and I then began to sing ¨99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall¨ haha since we had NO idea what to sing!
We met up with the rest of the community and all took the bus back to Xela after purchasing some ice cream for the ride home. The chicken bus we took was LOCO! There were 3 people to a seat and then they continued to pile people into the aisleway. There were at least 75 plus people on this bus. Erica and I had a little boy sit on our laps and everyone was crammed into this bus that stopped for a half hour or so because of traffic. At one point I was incredibly frustrated but then realized that I needed to take in the experience and then laugh at it later and just enjoy the moment. I then began to look at the people around me, at the little boy sitting on Erica´s lap, at an elderly women near me whose eyes shimmered and toothless grin made me happy inside, and at the incredibly caring girl sitting next to me who reminded me SO much of Miss Andrea Stella Berkemeier! Just tried to take in the beauty of the sweaty yet beautiful Guatemalans that surrounded me. In that moment I realized that instead of worrying about the sweaty, uncomfortable position I was in, I needed to take in the gifts that these people around me were sharing. In that moment my mind was opened and I was able to appreciate those gifts for what they were.
After getting off the bus, Tom realized that his wallet was no longer in his pocket so we gave him a telephone and told him to call his family to cancel his credit cards IMMEDIATELY. As Tom was calling his mom, Rita realized that she did not know where her wallet was either so she rummaged through her backpack and realized that someone had opened the front pocket of her backpack (which was sitting on her lap) and slashed through to the next pocket to take out her wallet. As Rita was calling her family, Regina checked her purse (which was sitting next to her on the bus) and stuck her hand out of a slash that was within her purse... her wallet was gone as well. Three out of the seven of us had been robbed.
It was a very eye opening experience that we need to ALWAYS be aware of our surroundings and to just be careful because even though we might be sitting next to the nicest elderly man in the world, we still need to be aware of our belongings at ALL times!
Where to even begin with what has gone on in the past 2 weeks or so!
Well, two weekends ago my community members and I went to Antigua, Guatemala for the weekend to relax and just enjoy ourselves in this beautiful country. We got to Antigua on Saturday afternoon and did a bit of browsing in the market. Afterwards we all went to Mass together and then went out for a night in Antigua.
We went to dinner at this really fun restaurant that had a live band playing Latino music. The entire restaurant was getting into the music and the cooks in the kitchen were even flickering the lights on and off throughout some of the songs to get people hyped up! We enjoyed some delicious food, drinks and fun music. As we were leaving I noticed a sign for ¨Camino Seguiro¨ the program Jake, my brother, volunteered at for 6 months this past year. It was fun to know that some of the money made at the restaurant goes to help that program so it was fun in that moment to know that I was unknowingly helping a program that my brother is so passionate about.
Jake I thought about you ALL weekend! It was awesome to walk around and realize that Mom, Dad and I were just there back in February/March visiting you and realizing that those were the same streets you walked down for 6 months. I think the coolest thing was realizing once we got off the bus that I knew exactly where I was and how to get to the Aurora.
Sunday morning Rita, Erica and I woke up at 6 AM to hike up Volcan Pacaya which is an active Volcano here in Guatemala. We took an hour and a half shuttle to the foot of the Volcano and had the privilege of riding with a guy from France and 7 Spaniards who were here in Guate to volunteer their medical services. The ride at 6 AM was and adventurous one filled with LOTS of laughs as the Spaniards quizzed me on my Spanish and gave me tongue twisters. We then in return gave them a couple English tongue twisters and laughed at their terrible pronunciation as well.
The hike up the volcano was amazing and once we got to the top we were able to stand right next to lava. We even enjoyed roasting some marshmallows over the lava. Just an all around fun experience!
On the shuttle back home I was EXHAUSTED but the Spaniards asked us tons of questions of what kind of songs Americans sing in the car on road trips. We then explained that its usually whatever is on the radio and I even said that Disney songs are very common to sing within my group of friends. They continued to insist that we share a song with them, and NOT Disney, after they sang a famous song sung in Spain in the car. Rita, Erica and I then began to sing ¨99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall¨ haha since we had NO idea what to sing!
We met up with the rest of the community and all took the bus back to Xela after purchasing some ice cream for the ride home. The chicken bus we took was LOCO! There were 3 people to a seat and then they continued to pile people into the aisleway. There were at least 75 plus people on this bus. Erica and I had a little boy sit on our laps and everyone was crammed into this bus that stopped for a half hour or so because of traffic. At one point I was incredibly frustrated but then realized that I needed to take in the experience and then laugh at it later and just enjoy the moment. I then began to look at the people around me, at the little boy sitting on Erica´s lap, at an elderly women near me whose eyes shimmered and toothless grin made me happy inside, and at the incredibly caring girl sitting next to me who reminded me SO much of Miss Andrea Stella Berkemeier! Just tried to take in the beauty of the sweaty yet beautiful Guatemalans that surrounded me. In that moment I realized that instead of worrying about the sweaty, uncomfortable position I was in, I needed to take in the gifts that these people around me were sharing. In that moment my mind was opened and I was able to appreciate those gifts for what they were.
After getting off the bus, Tom realized that his wallet was no longer in his pocket so we gave him a telephone and told him to call his family to cancel his credit cards IMMEDIATELY. As Tom was calling his mom, Rita realized that she did not know where her wallet was either so she rummaged through her backpack and realized that someone had opened the front pocket of her backpack (which was sitting on her lap) and slashed through to the next pocket to take out her wallet. As Rita was calling her family, Regina checked her purse (which was sitting next to her on the bus) and stuck her hand out of a slash that was within her purse... her wallet was gone as well. Three out of the seven of us had been robbed.
It was a very eye opening experience that we need to ALWAYS be aware of our surroundings and to just be careful because even though we might be sitting next to the nicest elderly man in the world, we still need to be aware of our belongings at ALL times!
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