Volcan de Agua

Hey Guys,

Well, I've started my exercise class and things are going really well with it. I had 5 participants this past week which was great! This past weekend I climbed the Volcan de Agua!!! It was a great time, but super super hard. A group from a church in Guatemala City came with me and one other girl from Tizate. I had never met them before, but they are wonderful people and very encouraging for the difficult 5 hour (with breaks) hike up. At the top it was super cold, but we ate lunch and then made our way back down. This was my second time up this volcano. It was actually a lot of fun and exciting to make a goal and accomplish it. I also made two goals along the way to remember two words in Spanish. "Ampollas" which is blisters and "vejucos" which are the Tarzan vines we saw along the way. YEAH!!! I still remember them. Anyways, here are some pictures. There is one with the church at the top of the volcano and another with the volcano behind us so you can see how huge it is. Oh, our time will be changing to one hour ahead on April 29 which means that I will be at teh same time as Manitoba. It's weird because I think that some people here won't actually change their time. My Guatemalan "mom" said that people who don't go to school or work formal jobs can still live in the old time which is I think what she wants to do. So weird compared to us in Canada. No one would EVER be able to do that. Ok, so I think that's all for now. Oh yeah, if anyone has any nutritional or health tips, send them my way so that I can incorporate them into my exercise class as I want it to be about being healthy, not just about looking good as God made us all special and loves us as we are, but it's important to make sure we take good care of our bodies so that we can do his work. You know what I'm saying??? Anyways, I want to give the women tips for themselves and their families every class, (like lots of cafeine is bad for you, especially for kids because it takes them away from drinking stuff with vitamins and minerals etc. since everyone drinks tons of coffee and pop here, so much that they call it "agua" water!!!) so if you want to help me out, email me some info! Gracias!

Apes

Sorry about all the run on sentences my English seems to be getting worse all the time!

Choco Bananos

So yesterday Amber and I were waiting at the side of the street in San Luis for a bus when school let out for all the little kids. All the children from Tizate started passing by and saying hi etc. A bunch of the kids went to get choco bananos which are frozen bananas covered in chocolate, really tasty! We saw the boot maker's kids go to get some and they each came back with 2 each. They crossed the street to where we were and said high and then quickly, almost with embarrassment, they shot out their arm in front of us to hand Amber a choco mango and me a choco banano. It was the cutest thing. We thanked them and started to try to have a converstaion with them, but they took off running home. It was the sweetest thing ever! Here is a pic of Johanna, the little girl who so willingly brought me a choco banano.

The other most hillarious snot picture, is Amber, who likes to take waky pictures of herself, and just so happened to be kinda sick at the time with a nice booger in her nose! (don't worry, she told me I could post it)
Ok, so there were so many flies in our room this morning, I was scared to even breath for fear that they would get sucked into my lungs. Marianna (our mom) was like, you just have to shoooo them out with a towel or something. It was hillarioius and pretty much impossible, but eventually we opened up both the doors and shooed them out. Then Marianna told us that she would try to get us a curtain for our room on Friday, which I don't understand why she didn't do earlier cuz all the other rooms in the house already have them. Oh well. Hopefully no more flies for us!!!

Bday Photos

Hey,

Well, it was my bday April 11th and to celebrate Amber, Kris, Mike and I went to Guatemala City to eat at Applebees!!! It was great. I got to have my fave oriental grilled chicken salad and it was actually even better than the ones in Canada!!! It was a bit of a treck and Amber's camera got stolen on the way tho :( Not cool! But, she was really good about the whole thing and wouldn't let it bother her. Anyways, that all happened Monday and then on Tuesday which was my actual bday, I was awoken at 5 am by blaring loud music and my friends banging at my door. They had come to wish me a happy bday. We had what they called Chocolate?? cake which was super unflavourful and super strong hot chocolate at this insane hour. There are a couple pics of my half asleep friends and one of me cutting the cake. Here they cut a circle in the middle of the cake and then slice pieces around it afterwards which is kinda cool. Then in the evening there was a surprise bday dinner dinner which I totally figured out, but played along so as not to be a party pooper. The dinner consisted of pig skin, vegetarian style which I think means they were made from flour, but I really don't like them much no matter what they were made from. I did try it though! Anyways, it was good times!

Semana Santa

Hey,

We are currently in the week of Seman Santa (Holy Week) here in Guatemala where everyday there are processions with people dressed in purple or black. Hundreds of people line the streets carrying a huge wooden heavy float all around the city for a couple hours. Before the procession all around the town people make 'alfombras' which are rugs or flowers, vegetables, colored sawdust etc. They are absolutely beautiful and often take a lot of money and time. These pictures are from the procession last Sunday. There is also a picture of Mike and Kris, and Amber and me on a bus. Those are the people I am working with here in Guatemala. Anyways, this morning we went to a procession that started at 6 am, so we left Tizate at 3:30 to see the alfombras before they were destroyed by the procession walking over them. We saw some amazing ones and I will post more pictures soon. It really is too bad that the people feel like they have to go through pain like Jesus did when really he died for our sins and we are free. It was very interesting to experience though. Once again I will post more pictures soon and also put on a couple from my bday. Take care and feel free to post comments.