LAGO

Lago de Atitlán, November 3^rd & 4^th:

A group of volunteers and I had the chance to vacation at the Lake. We stayed at an NPH employee’s house and it was stunning, it felt like we were the only people on the lake. The house was set far away from all other houses/villages. Minus the spiders, fire-ants, scorpions and iguanas it was a good trip. 

The house we stayed at was really unique, it had a house with all the bed rooms and then separate house with the living room, dining room and kitchen. Here are some of the volunteers hanging out, eating breakfast on the patio.

The Lake was relaxing and then we had the trip home. Not only did we have the spare tire fall from the van, we ran into a river which covered the road.  

Barriletes

Barriletes, November 1^st

All saints day, the first of November, is a unique celebration that I am happy I got to experience. The tradition includes making kites out of bamboo and tissue paper. The kites are covered head to toe in different designs and images. Thousands of people came to see the kites and the crowds were absolutely insane.

I found out later that the kites take months to make. Let me try to paint a picture, imagine a semi-truck standing vertically in the air, that’s about how big these kites were. I could be over exaggerating, but not by much.

The other interesting part of this festival is that it was held in a cemetery. Everyone was happy, drinking, taking pictures, socializing and having a good time on top of graves! The cemetery was so colorful and full of life, it's the opposite of what we think of cemeteries in the US.

Halloween

Halloween 2012:

Halloween was nothing like what I’m used to in Madison, WI, but it was memorable. It was the first Halloween I made a costume by hand, Nona and I spent four hours constructing them. Our ying & yang costumes consisted of a box of corn flakes and milk, together we made the perfect breakfast. In the end, we both found out that we are perfectionists… check out our “boxes” and the originals.

Some of the NPH employees and volunteers ended up going to a bar in Chimal (the next town over) to celebrate. I cannot complain because we had beer, music and good company, but my nick-name for the night consisted of “leche,” which I found annoying. Let me just add I did try to dance salsa in my costume and it was difficult.  

16th Anniversary of NPHG:

For the anniversary and celebration of the creation of the NPH home in Guatemala we had a week full of activities. The activities included creating a dance based on a style of music, competitive games, and a disco to top off the anniversary. The preparation for the anniversary started Monday, October 8^th and lasted till Friday the 12^th.  The actual celebration was held Saturday, October 13^th.

The kids, staff, and volunteers were split up in teams and each assigned a different style of dance. In total there were around 14 teams. The different styles consisted of waltz, rock, pop, samba, salsa and more. Since school is officially out, the teams were able to prepare and practice a dance routine for four hours a day during the week before the 13^th.

I was assigned to the waltz team. I could have gone for a faster style but I enjoyed my time with my teammates and meeting new kids.  

On the actual day of the celebration, we had a morning full of competitive games including relay races, memory, climbing greased polls, tug-of-war, and more. After the games we all changed into costumes and preformed our dances with our teams. To end the long day we had a D.J. and a dance for all the kids. In the end “Rock and Roll” came in 1^st for the best dance performance and “Waltz” placed 1^st in the games.

Here are some of the games:

Aftermath of tug of war:

The beginning of the dance competition:

 The volunteers getting ready to dance:

    

 Ever, a palm tree:

Rock n' Roll preforming:

Passing the time with the kiddos:

The Chicago girls:

The años de servicios from the Especiales section and I: 

September at NPH

Work/NPH:

Work and life at NPH couldn’t be better. Many of the other volunteers describe this stage as the “honeymoon stage” where you love your job and life at NPH.  My Spanish is developing little by little every day and I’m able to communicate more with the Guatemalans who work here. I’d say it’s a step in the right direction!

                        

Life is great besides the occasional bite marks:

Independence day has passed: 

NPH participated in different activities in celebration of Guatemalan independence. We had a battle of the bands day, a parade with neighboring schools and the torch run.

The best activity in my opinion was the "antorca," the torch run. We first drove an hour and a half away from NPH to a swimming pool where we all enjoyed the water. After swimming we literally had to run home. It was hard work, I ran a two hours which totaled (about) 15 miles!  We had a lot of local support as we ran, people in town would stand outside, cheer us on and throw water.

Here are some pictures from the parade:

Special Olympics:

Special Olympic training is going well. Twice a week we train with two separate groups of kids. The race in the Capital is in November. I will keep you posted.

Monterrico Pt. 2:

Monterrico was beautiful as ever! Mas o menos 27 volunteers went on a weekend trip and we had a blast. The trip was successful, I saw a whale jumping in the water, a live scorpion, played a lot of volleyball, ran a 10K and got a lot of sun.

For the 10K I placed 36 out of 500 runners and ranked 8^th place for the women. I ran with Steph, Charlotte and Vron. We literally started at the end of the pack, so next time if we make our way to the front of the line we will do better.

Before the race:

After the race:

Other news:

• The volcano, before and after:

• The anniversary of NPH is coming up. We were going to have a three day celebration of this event but due to money issues we are going to have a one day celebration on October 13.

• For the holiday break from school, kids are allowed to leave NPH and spend time with their families (not all the kids leave). Originally they were all allowed to leave at the end of November. Due to our financial crisis, NPH is allowing the kids to go home November 4 (or so) until the New Year. With fewer kids at NPH for a longer time, this will help with saving money on food, electricity and water.

• During December I will switch jobs for a month and work as a Tia. This means I will be in charge of one of the sections of kids who didn't go with their family over the break. I will act as their parent, get them ready for the day/night, entertain them with activities, and make sure they don’t hurt each other. 

Here are some of the boys I will be working with, they are all in my section (San Jose):