Summary of the Past 2 Weeks

I'm BACK! And I've missed you. :)

The past two weeks have been loaded with busy, crazy, full-out vacationing, and I'm finally back home at NPH now. So beware, you're about to be ambushed with about a bazillion overdue blog entries detailing everything I've been up to.

However, for those of you pressed for time, here's a summary of where I've been since mid-November. But read on in the blog for more detailed versions! And photos!

In the past few weeks, I have:

• Become SCUBA certified. No big deal. 
• Swam with dolphins. 
• Swam with a WHALE SHARK!
• Enjoyed the best Thanksgiving in Guatemala ever. 
• Hopped around Lake Atitlan.
• Took a traditional Guatemalan backstrap weaving class with Sam. Learned we kind of sucked at it. 
• Pampered myself with a famous San Marcos massage. 
• Came home to NPH, calmed down, and organized my life a little bit after so much vacation. 
• Lost some of my girls as they moved up to an older section. :(
• But gained a few more young'ns from the section below mine. :)
• Saw the Nutcracker put on by Guatemala's National Ballet.
• Completed a very important item on the to-do list and saw the new Harry Potter movie in the capital. 
• And began what will be become a long month of working as a tía -- taking care of the little girls during the Christmas holiday.

It's good to be back!

Hasta Diciembre

Tomorrow, I leave for vacation again. The last one this year.

Sam, Jess, Nicole, and I are headed to the Bay Islands in Honduras for a week, and then Sam and I will be spending a second week doing Thanksgiving with Cheryl in Pana, enjoying the lake, and just general relaxing. We're trying not to pencil in our exact schedule too much. It's nice.

Entonces, I won't be back until December 3. Cuidate until then, and talk to you soon. :)

Exhausted.

Exhausted. That's what I am today. Completely, wholly, emotionally exhausted.

Leeah left yesterday, and Katie left this morning. They spent 17 months at NPH Guatemala, and now they're back to the States to figure out exactly what comes next.

And here, left behind in our house without them, I feel absolutely exhausted. My whole body hurts from crying (is that too embarrassing to publish on a blog?), and I just feel drained. 

It's kind of crazy that a person can feel alone while surrounded by almost 300 energy-filled kids, but apparently that's what happens when two seemingly small, but very key parts of your experience are taken away from you. I've come home to Merleeah and Kaitlyn after every good, bad, crazy, calm, frustrating, or exciting day for the past 11 months. So what happens now? After all, what's an experience without incredible people to share it with?

Yes, I know I'm being dramatic. But just let me, ok? Miss you girls. This will not be the same without ya.

Story Update 26

Cursos de Verano - Pequeños learn new skills from special workshops and externships during this year's summer vacation.

Habit #984 You Develop While Living at NPH

Cleaning your entire plate. Like, compulsively.

As a rule, the kids of NPH Guatemala are not allowed to leave a meal without having eaten every single piece of food on their plates. It's the same philosophy that moms and dads around the world use on their own children -- "There are starving people out there who have nothing to eat. You will not waste this food."

So after months and months of eating with the kids, it starts to rub off on you. No matter where we volunteers eat these days -- in restaurants, in our own houses, on vacation -- we have such a hard time not finishing our plates.

Result: Good that we are not wasting food. Bad that we usually end up going into a food coma after eating too much. We might need to learn to start with smaller portions. :)

Aniversario, Part 2

Now, if you thought Friday was fun, you ain't seen nothin' yet. :)

Saturday, all teams met up again bright and early at 8 a.m. With flags, mascots, more matching outfits, and plenty of energy in tow, we played this year's Aniversario games!

I had heard that the day of games would be long and that I might get dirty at some point, but I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with only a quick break for lunch, we played one intense game after another.

I was drenched after passing a massive sponge over my head. I was covered in mud after crawling on the ground through it about seven different times that day. I was covered in freezing, muddy water after diving through tire swings hanging in a giant mud pit. I was covered in sand after racing to fill up a bucket with as much sand as possible from the volleyball court -- only using our shoes to carry the sand. I was soapy from the running balloons up a slip n' slide tarp, and my arms were killing me after one too many go's at the tug-of-war game carefully placed over a huge trench of muddy water.

Did I mention I got a little bit dirty?

Did I mention it was possibly the most fun I have had in a long time? :)

All day long, teams ran around screaming their cheers and waving their flags, meanwhile covered in mud and water and probably about to get muddier and wetter. It was an absolute blast.

Sunday, I was completely dead, but the exhaustion and aching limbs were totally worth it. Aniversario, I absolutely loved you. :)

 Sponge pass! My team's first game of the day. Way to start the day off soaking wet.

 Tree trunk run! Run this tree trunk around the yard as fast as you can. What?!

 Bryan!

 Obstacle course

 SO  MUCH MUD THAT DAY.

 Water balloon volleyball.

 A stilts-walking contest. That's a new one for me.

 Tug-of-war!

 Tree climbing contest, haha. 

More mud crawling in the obstacle course.

 More tug-of-war!

 Mud pit obstacle course.

 Helping out the team.

 Bryan, our little naranjito.

 More sponge pass!

 Careful not to slip on that soap covered tarp.

Feliz Aniversario!

Aniversario, Part 1

So, in honor of NPH Guatemala's 14th birthday, normal life stood still this weekend to make room for Aniversario!

Aniversario prep started almost six weeks ago, and most people haven't been able to think about anything else ever since. The entire house -- and I mean entire: babies, kids, high school kids, caretakers, volunteers, everyone -- was divided up into 12 teams this year, with each team representing a World Cup tournament year. My team had the 1982 Spain games, and yes, we made many a paper-mâché orange head in order to best show off our mascot, Naranjito!

Friday night, from about 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., all 12 teams gathered around the cancha (basketball court) to present their team's flag, dance routine, cheer, mascot, and matching outfits. If you're wondering what it was like to organize flags, cheers, dances, and outfits with hundreds of crazy kids running around, then yes, the answer is: insane. And so much work.

But like pretty much everything here, when you look back on Aniversario, you don't really remember all the hellish rehearsals and arguing and general "what the heck is going on?" feelings you had. Instead, you remember how awesome Friday night was. Hundreds of kids, waving flags, cheering, performing, and just loving the entire pep-rally-esque experience. Teams' creativity was amazing (pretty skirts made out of potato sacks?!) and their spirit was even better. I was cracking up watching kids I used to think were fairly reserved totally break it down on the dance floor during their team's presentation.

Enjoy the photos! Oh, and we Naranjitos won second place for our presentation Friday night! :)