...when you're playing in English with non-native English speakers.
"Ok, this is a place you go to buy things, like a tienda, when you're going to be working out a lot or something."
"We have no idea what you are describing."
"It says sweatshop."
"Oh my god. Nooooooooo."
...or when you are a native English speaker, but you've been speaking Spanish so long that you sort of forget English.
"Ok, I have no idea why these two words go together in a phrase. Hole. Punch."
Pause.
"Oh."
HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Earth Lodge!
This weekend, the entire volunteer group took a volunteer salida (trip) to Earth Lodge! Earth Lodge says they're an "eco-friendly mountain lodge and avocado farm near Antigua, Guatemala, famous for their avocados, volcano views, amazing food, and magic treehouse," and they pretty much hit the nail right on the head.
Only 20 minutes outside (or should we say "above") Antigua, it's like some vacation-retreat god dropped this cozy ski lodge (minus the skiing) onto a Guatemalan plain overlooking three incredible volcanoes, equipped the place with awesome facilities, delicious food, campfire pits, a collection of every movie and board game you could ever want, and said, "Let the visitors come."
And they do. This entire year, I've been hearing good, great, and greater things about Earth Lodge, and after this weekend, I get it. You feel completely away from it all without being very far away from it all at all, and its views are probably some of the most beautiful I've come across in all of Guatemala.
Take me back, please!
Katie, Katie, and Nicole...we're on our way!
You really never get sick of riding in the back of pick-up trucks in Guatemala.
Where are the volcano views???
Oh there it is.
Earth Lodge! So close!
We MADE it!
Gorgeous. Where we spent pretty much every hour every day.
Antigua and the valley below.
This dog was crazy. You could throw his ball about a mile deep into the valley below, and he'd STILL bring it back. Best games of fetch we've ever witnessed.
Our dorm, which believe it or not, comfortably fit 8 people. Magic or something.
Getting our tan...sunburn...on.
Michael: "Right now, I'm challenging you guys to a standing tree yoga pose contest."
Wake up. Walk outside our dorm. See this.
And then this. Volcanoes Agua, Fuego, and Acatenango.
Friday, October 8, 2010
School's Out for Summer!
The school year in Guatemala runs from January to October, so today is the very last day of school at NPHG. Can you believe it???
The kids have pure vacation these next few weeks, and then they take Cursos de Verano (summer courses) in November. For kids who need to make up failing grades, they take real classes during this time, and everyone else takes fun classes -- like jewelrymaking. When December arrives, it's the Christmas season, so kids who can go home to their families leave the house for three weeks. Everyone comes back right before New Year's, and classes resume in January.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, WOOHOO!! NO MORE SCHOOL! :)
The kids have pure vacation these next few weeks, and then they take Cursos de Verano (summer courses) in November. For kids who need to make up failing grades, they take real classes during this time, and everyone else takes fun classes -- like jewelrymaking. When December arrives, it's the Christmas season, so kids who can go home to their families leave the house for three weeks. Everyone comes back right before New Year's, and classes resume in January.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, WOOHOO!! NO MORE SCHOOL! :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
All Good Things Must Come to an End
In case you didn't catch this from the rumor mill, I've spent the last few months really, truly, very confusingly considering staying in my role as NPH Guatemala's Home Correspondent for another year.Yes, a whole 'nother year.
Believe me, if you'd asked me before I came to Guatemala -- or even during my first several months here -- if I ever thought I'd extend my time past 13 months, I would have told you you were crazy. I woke up every day for a long time loving where I was but also being very certain that I'd be ready to go in January.
But things change.
I love this job, and I'd love to keep doing it. I don't think I ever realized quite how much I love writing until I was given the chance to do it every single day, and I'd never paid much attention to the fact that just a few paragraphs written with some heart can actually move people to make a difference. I haven't put a career on hold by coming here. I'm having one right now. And that's actually kind of funny. I became serious about spending a post-graduation year abroad after reading a book called Delaying the Real World (Colleen Kinder), but I guess I didn't really delay it as much as I thought I would.
And I love these kids. I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't think they'd be my strong suit, but this place sort of forces you to become a bigger person than you were when you came. Five more of my girls will celebrate their Quinceañeras next June, and I want to be there and I want to teach them their waltz and I want to see them dressed up looking ten years older. Six of them are graduating from primary school in just a few weeks, and I want to be there next year to see them in middle school, and I want to see them ditch their plaid primary school skirts for the older girls' solid blue uniforms.
And besides, I'm not dying to get back to the States. Yes, I miss people and food and technology, but what dozen-day vacation can't take care of that?
So yeah, for a while, I was really serious about staying. I'd already come up with ways I could do my HC job better the second time around, I'd decided I'd move into Celeste/Katie & Leeah's room, and I'd mapped out when would be the best time for a couple-week visit back to the U.S.
But all good things must come to an end.
There are reasons I shouldn't stay too (money, bureaucracy drama, blah, blah, blah), and as much as I don't want to leave, my gut says it's time I do. (Annoyingly, my gut has changed its mind a lot over the past few months, but this time, it's sure.) Somewhere inside, I know it's time to go come January.
I won't be ready to leave, but I know I won't have a single regret. I will have given this year everything I had -- personally, professionally, as a Home Correspondent and a big sister/mom figure and a waltz teacher and a magazine organizer and an English tutor and a traveler and a friend and a member of this family --, and I don't think I'll wish I did anything differently.
If that's not a sign that it's okay to let go, then I don't know what is.
Believe me, if you'd asked me before I came to Guatemala -- or even during my first several months here -- if I ever thought I'd extend my time past 13 months, I would have told you you were crazy. I woke up every day for a long time loving where I was but also being very certain that I'd be ready to go in January.
But things change.
I love this job, and I'd love to keep doing it. I don't think I ever realized quite how much I love writing until I was given the chance to do it every single day, and I'd never paid much attention to the fact that just a few paragraphs written with some heart can actually move people to make a difference. I haven't put a career on hold by coming here. I'm having one right now. And that's actually kind of funny. I became serious about spending a post-graduation year abroad after reading a book called Delaying the Real World (Colleen Kinder), but I guess I didn't really delay it as much as I thought I would.
And I love these kids. I'll be the first one to admit that I didn't think they'd be my strong suit, but this place sort of forces you to become a bigger person than you were when you came. Five more of my girls will celebrate their Quinceañeras next June, and I want to be there and I want to teach them their waltz and I want to see them dressed up looking ten years older. Six of them are graduating from primary school in just a few weeks, and I want to be there next year to see them in middle school, and I want to see them ditch their plaid primary school skirts for the older girls' solid blue uniforms.
And besides, I'm not dying to get back to the States. Yes, I miss people and food and technology, but what dozen-day vacation can't take care of that?
So yeah, for a while, I was really serious about staying. I'd already come up with ways I could do my HC job better the second time around, I'd decided I'd move into Celeste/Katie & Leeah's room, and I'd mapped out when would be the best time for a couple-week visit back to the U.S.
But all good things must come to an end.
There are reasons I shouldn't stay too (money, bureaucracy drama, blah, blah, blah), and as much as I don't want to leave, my gut says it's time I do. (Annoyingly, my gut has changed its mind a lot over the past few months, but this time, it's sure.) Somewhere inside, I know it's time to go come January.
I won't be ready to leave, but I know I won't have a single regret. I will have given this year everything I had -- personally, professionally, as a Home Correspondent and a big sister/mom figure and a waltz teacher and a magazine organizer and an English tutor and a traveler and a friend and a member of this family --, and I don't think I'll wish I did anything differently.
If that's not a sign that it's okay to let go, then I don't know what is.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Top-Missed Foods
I think, no I know, that the only thing I seriously miss on a daily basis about the United States (besides reliable internet and all you lovely readers) is food. I MISS FOOD SO MUCH.
So, today I'm bringing you my Top 11 Missed Foods. In no particular order, they are:
1. Qdoba chicken burritos queso-style
2. Qdoba chips and queso
3. California Tortilla burritos (especially Honey Lime and Crunchy BBQ)
4. California Tortilla chips and queso
(I have got to remove myself from the California Tortilla email list. It's such torture!)
5. Ernesto's chips and queso
6. Tostito's chips and queso
(Are you seeing a pattern here? You'd think that living in Central America, I could more easily get my fix on Tex-Mex food. False. Tex-Mex is a strictly American thing. And what a great thing it is. Burritos as big as your head and chips and queso just don't exist here, and it's very very sad.)
7. Panera (Broccoli cheddar soup and the Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich ordered as the You Pick Two menu)
8. Wawa salads (Turkey BLT Salad with Honey Mustard dressing. Yum.)
9. Wawa meatball subs
10. Fall and winter flavored coffee (Pumpkin spice and Peppermint, where are you???)
11. Cheese Shop bread ends and house dressing
Gahhhhh. Can someone please tell me if any of these places deliver to Guatemala??? :)
So, today I'm bringing you my Top 11 Missed Foods. In no particular order, they are:
1. Qdoba chicken burritos queso-style
2. Qdoba chips and queso
3. California Tortilla burritos (especially Honey Lime and Crunchy BBQ)
4. California Tortilla chips and queso
(I have got to remove myself from the California Tortilla email list. It's such torture!)
5. Ernesto's chips and queso
6. Tostito's chips and queso
(Are you seeing a pattern here? You'd think that living in Central America, I could more easily get my fix on Tex-Mex food. False. Tex-Mex is a strictly American thing. And what a great thing it is. Burritos as big as your head and chips and queso just don't exist here, and it's very very sad.)
7. Panera (Broccoli cheddar soup and the Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich ordered as the You Pick Two menu)
8. Wawa salads (Turkey BLT Salad with Honey Mustard dressing. Yum.)
9. Wawa meatball subs
10. Fall and winter flavored coffee (Pumpkin spice and Peppermint, where are you???)
11. Cheese Shop bread ends and house dressing
Gahhhhh. Can someone please tell me if any of these places deliver to Guatemala??? :)
And They're Off!
Right now as I speak, 30 children are probably sitting on a plane FREAKING OUT.
That's because the NPH Guatemala orquestina (concert band) is on their very first, once-in-a-lifetime, making them go absolutely insane with nervousness and excitement, trip to the United States! Organized by NPH supporters in the States, the kiddos are on a three-week tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin, where they'll be performing at churches and fundraising events, living with a host family, and probably being completely overwhelmed by life in the U.S.
It's an incredible opportunity for them, and they have been absolutely hysterical in preparation for it. Last night I helped Linda, Adela, Irma, and Estela (the four orquestina girls from my section) pack up their suitcases, and I was bombarded with about a thousand questions during the process.
What size suitcase do I bring? What can I bring in my suitcase? Can I bring toothpaste? Can I bring soap? Can I bring a pencil? Does this suitcase weight 50 lbs yet? I can bring a backpack on the plane? What happens when I go through that security thing? Are you sure my suitcase doesn't weight 50 lbs? Will all those metal buttons on my jeans set off the security alarm?? What kinds of questions are they going to ask me at immigration? What do I answer? I can sleep on the plane?! They give us snacks on the plane, right? Will I have to pay for it? Do I have to ask permission to use the bathroom on the plane? What's it feel like on a plane? What happens if I need to throw up?
SO FUNNY.
I tried to reassure them that everything would be fine, their suitcases did NOT, in fact, weigh 50 lbs, that it was really cool to look out the plane window and see the tiny little cars and houses, and that if they did have to throw up, there are conveniently-placed bags in every seatback pocket. Oh man.
Buen viaje, kids! Have fun!
That's because the NPH Guatemala orquestina (concert band) is on their very first, once-in-a-lifetime, making them go absolutely insane with nervousness and excitement, trip to the United States! Organized by NPH supporters in the States, the kiddos are on a three-week tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin, where they'll be performing at churches and fundraising events, living with a host family, and probably being completely overwhelmed by life in the U.S.
It's an incredible opportunity for them, and they have been absolutely hysterical in preparation for it. Last night I helped Linda, Adela, Irma, and Estela (the four orquestina girls from my section) pack up their suitcases, and I was bombarded with about a thousand questions during the process.
What size suitcase do I bring? What can I bring in my suitcase? Can I bring toothpaste? Can I bring soap? Can I bring a pencil? Does this suitcase weight 50 lbs yet? I can bring a backpack on the plane? What happens when I go through that security thing? Are you sure my suitcase doesn't weight 50 lbs? Will all those metal buttons on my jeans set off the security alarm?? What kinds of questions are they going to ask me at immigration? What do I answer? I can sleep on the plane?! They give us snacks on the plane, right? Will I have to pay for it? Do I have to ask permission to use the bathroom on the plane? What's it feel like on a plane? What happens if I need to throw up?
SO FUNNY.
I tried to reassure them that everything would be fine, their suitcases did NOT, in fact, weigh 50 lbs, that it was really cool to look out the plane window and see the tiny little cars and houses, and that if they did have to throw up, there are conveniently-placed bags in every seatback pocket. Oh man.
Buen viaje, kids! Have fun!
September/October Magazine!
Another issue of X-PRES-ARTE -- the magazine by and for the pequeños of NPH Guatemala -- is out! Enjoy!
X-PRES-ARTE, Septiembre - Octubre
X-PRES-ARTE, Septiembre - Octubre
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