My apologies that this update has not come sooner but I was without the proper photo that describes it (blame Rachel...). Yes, Rachel visited at the beginning of October and needless to say the time together was much needed. The photo is a picture of us in Antigua on the roof of one of the MANY popular restaurants. Having her here and meeting all of the people that I work with and now call family was great but having time to really connect again without internet interference or other distractions was so refreshing. This being her trip to her future home I don't think we could have asked for a better weekend. Although when you go to all the five-star places you can make any place look good! If nothing else I think we both were just encouraged more of the plan God has for us here in Guatemala and most importantly, together. It is going to be a long year until July but I know through this waiting God is doing great things.
What is Harvest Fair you ask? Well, if you as elementary students, it's a fun-filled evening with games, activities and candy galore! If you ask a middle/high schooler, it's a week's worth of work raising money for your senior trip. If you ask one of the two Student Council advisers (see photo above) we would answer this: an insurmountable amount of work that SOMEHOW comes together at the end to put on something truly memorable, but only after 48 hours of pretty much pure work. This actually was my first rodeo as they say and it was a blast. The hours were long, the days seemed endless but it was definitely worth it at the end. I was really proud of all the kids with their ingenuity and optimism when some things really didn't go their way. I wish you all could have experienced the excitement and thrill of the fair. It was truly a site to see. (Did I forget the theme was Dr. Seuss and somehow I dressed up as the Grinch? I guess self-respect and being a teacher aren't reconcilable...ha!)
Well this past Friday marked the end of the First Quarter of school which meant two things: report cards and the end of middle school soccer. For those of you who didn't know, I was the middle school soccer coach. That's right, me, a soccer coach. What can I say except that beggars can't be choosers! Although we didn't win as many games as we would have liked (actually we went 0-2) it did have it's bright spots such as getting to know some of the boys in a different context other than their boring history teacher! Needless to say, I am excited to have some free time now with which to take the school up on their offer for free Spanish lessons for new teachers for a semester. I could definitely use some more practice. As for the boys, as they say, "there's always next year!"
It's a normal day when a few kids are running through the door when the bell rings. It's an odd day when half of your class is missing and teachers still haven't shown up. Something isn't right when your typical seven minute commute turns into forty-five minutes. Today is "Columbus Day" in the States but here it is something quiet different. Here, today is the Day of the Spanish and there are always demonstrations but today was different. Today there were deaths and injuries caused by an unsatisfied country and a stagnate government. I pray that tomorrow would be better and that this unrest may come to an end. It was hard today hearing the truth about things that are and are not being done in this country. It's the little things in democracy we take for granted the most...
