San Raymundo again

We were back at school this week, our break was during a school break as well. It wasn't planned when I first planned my trip, but it all worked out great.

The kids were excited to get back to their classes. They all ran there happily like they have always gone to school here. All the kids shouted their names and grabbed their hands to go into class.

I am helping the secondary English teacher again. His English is probably the best I have heard from a Guatemalan in Guatemala. He lived in the U.S. for 6 years and still works hard to keep studying and improve. Classes here are very different as is the way school is set up, it makes sense why my students always ask me "Am I going to pass my year?" Here they stay in one classroom with the same group of students all day, the teachers change rooms every half hour or so. Their is no individualized education. At Howard students can fail a class but pass their year, they just have to retake that class, here if they fail they have to take the entire year over again.

Class times are short and their is more homework and lots more time spent on grading during class. In my class students usually turn in assignments electronically on google classroom and take quizzes on Google as well, making grading simple and quick. There is zero technology used in the classroom or by the teacher (I think they have a computer class but I never saw it), so grading is time-consuming and tedious. Each student has a little notebook where they do all their class work and homework. With over 200 students it is definitely not an easy process. I spent a few hours grading tests for him and it took forever! 

One aspect of the school I love is the relationships between students and teachers, it is very different from the U.S. norm. Teachers ride the school bus with the students, teachers eat the same lunch and with their students, every game of duck-duck-goose had at least 2 teachers playing in their dress clothes, during recess teachers played soccer with the kids or sat and chatted, teachers were regularly joked with and they then dished it right back, and during their 'planning' time I never saw one teacher alone or actually planning, they were hanging out with students. It was great to see but of course it wasn't all buddy-buddy, I saw plenty of chewing out as well. The foundation of trust and love was built though, discipline was much less often and much simpler than what I am used to. I actually saw zero actual behavior problems, just some playfulness. I have leaned so much and am still continuing to learn a lot.

As far as my kids in San Raymundo, they have really impressed me! Food is not readily available or predictable where we are staying, for example, nowhere is open for breakfast so sometimes we didn't eat breakfast and when we were invited for lunch at a family's house we had to wait many hours past lunch time to eat. Sometimes where we ate only had food my kids weren't exactly used to but they haven't complained at all! We have tried almost every street and market stand in this town, no fear to eat street food here! We have also had zero sickness!!! That's almost unheard of for tourists in Central America, we have been really lucky. They also endured many long taxi rides without drinks or meals and just sucked it up. This was the part I was most concerned about for them, they have always had predictable meals and predictable food. Super proud of them.

We also have been washing clothes daily in the pila, the kids even enjoy washing their own clothes. While traveling last weekend we didn't have access to a pila or washer for a few days and some of our clothes got moldy and I threw them out so now we pretty much have to wash every day if we want clean clothes. Sometimes it rains on my almost dry clothes on the clothesline and I get worried about what we will wear but so far we have been okay, of course I could buy more clothes but I am trying to keep our suitcase as empty as possible for room for Guatemalan stuff. Shoes are the only problem, definitely bringing boots next time!

School bus craziness

June's PE class, that's her teacher in dress clothes doing the exercises, this is his planning period

How you spell 'Jackson' in Guatemala

6th grade class, no electricity only windows

I loved seeing this boy braiding the hair of the girl in front of him, my boys do this all the time!

June eating street tacos that have onions!! June hates onions, she is so much less picky here

9th grade class

Santa Lucia Cotzulmalguapa

Almost all of my students are from the western highlands of Guatemala, which I am headed to later, but one of my babies is from just an hour or so south of where I was in Antigua, so that was my next destination.

I got an uber from Antigua and entered the first air conditioned car I have ever been in here. I thought it was nice but not necessary since Antigua was almost always around a cool 60°/65°. I have never been very far south of Antigua, driving down looked nothing like what I have known so far of Guatemala. There were smooth, long, highways lined with palm trees, it felt more like Florida. Many beautiful sights to see on the drive as well. Well, when we arrived and I opened the door it hit me why the AC had been on, heat! It was scorching hot and humid! When you think of Central America you usually automatically think hot, that's not true for most places in Guatemala because of the elevation. Even the capital and San Raymundo are up high enough to be cool, the places I am going in the West are even cold, not here! We are close to the ocean and fairly level with it. I wasn't expecting it at all!

I walked to the house one of my sweet, super smart students grew up in, through a maze of narrow alleys, following an uncle who came to pick me up at the gas station meeting point. The family was all very kind, grandma raised her 7 kids, then she raised most of her kid's kids, and now she has 2 more toddlers (she said were given to her), a little boy, and a special needs adult to take care of. I think the toddlers' moms went to America and couldn't/didn't want to take them.

She made us caldo de pollo and the uncle showed us around town. I chatted with the family all afternoon and then called my student and talked to him only in English to show the family how well he is doing. Bragged on him a lot, all true. The kids played with the baby chicks and ducks running around the house, ate supper, and crashed. Still hot and no ac but they don't seem to mind.

I asked grandma why her student made the decision to go to the U.S. and how she felt about it. She said he had no hope there, that he was facing a life of physical labor for hardly any money, not enough to take care of a family or better his life. She was heartbroken when he left and still is. She had raised him since he was a toddler and it still hurts that he isn't there. I know grandma didn't want him to go but I don't know why she didn't stop him. He will be one of my seniors this year and I have no doubt he'll be off to college after that to make a better future for himself and his family.

I had another stop before I headed back to San Raymundo but it doesn't deserve it's own post, Sipacate, on the pacific coast. See pics.

So on this pic of the map you can see in the background where I have been (mountains) and in the foreground is where I went. That's why it was such a temperature change when they're so close!

Caldo de pollo made by my student's grandmother

Santa Lucia Cotzulmalguapa

Little boys that grandma is raising playing hide and seek in the house

My student's grandmother

My taxi driver stopped and every interesting thing he could think of on the way! This is a jaguar carved by the Mayans, not a replica

The first church in Santa Lucia

Spicate. Black sand beaches. However, closer to the equator= quicker burn. I forgot that rule! It wasn't even sunny!!!

Antigua

My sister came to visit us for a few days while school is out so we are staying in Antigua. Antigua is the oldest city in Central America, gorgeous, full of history, and has lots of markets!

When we arrived Sunday we did some shopping, eating, and exploring. I tried the only Guatemalan food left on my bucket list, Ka-kik and the kids got their Choco Bananos they have been patiently waiting for.

Monday we went to Pacaya Volcano. I knew from a past experience with Pacaya that the altitude plus the hike is killer, especially for the kids so we happily took horses up. It was the kids first time on horses and they loved it! The volcano has great views of other volcanos and the kids got to roast marshmallows in lava. I talked to my guide almost the entire way up because he reminded me so much of my students. We hiked down instead of horses and the kids did great. After we got back we went around the markets some more and crashed early.

Tuesday was probably one of my favorite days in Guatemala so far. We took a 6 hour 4 wheeler tour through 6 Mayan towns. We got to see a macademia plantation, how chocolate is prossesed, jade carving workshop, Mayan women weaving corte, Mayan markets, the first church in Guatemala, views for miles, and so much more. It was my first time to drive a 4 wheeler and my first experience with driving on Guatemalan roads. I was so scared before we left, but it actually turned out great! The owner gave me a 2 minute tutorial on how to drive before we left then just let us go. Jackson said that was irresponsible of her 😂. The kids were excited/nervous, June was even tearing up a little before we left (she is a little scared of new things) but immediately after taking off they loved it and got very comfortable with riding. It was a complete 6 hours, our tour guide was very knowledgeable and patient and sweet. It was something I have never paid for before but was completely worth it!

Tomorrow my sister leaves and the kids and I head south to Esquintla to visit a family of one of my students. 

Jackson riding up the volcano

Ka-kik

June and my sister going up Pacaya, I promise June is happy

Laila and I going up Pacaya

The kids in front of Pacaya

3 more volcanoes

Roasting marshmallows in lava

Starting back up/down volcano

Mayan market

Mayan mask carved out of jade

My babies in front of the oldest church in Guatemala

My sister and Laila on their 4 wheeler

Weaving

Driving through the towns was not as scary as I thought.

Market In a Mayan town

June and I riding

My reader and I relaxing in the hotel

Guatemala city

We hadn't planned on staying in the city. The plan was to be in San Raymundo until my sister gets here on Sunday and then spend a few days in Antigua with her. Plans change. For one we were all longing for a hot shower! The air is a chilly in the mornings and evenings in the town we are in and it makes showering in cold water just painful (spoiled American, I know but I have a lot of hair!). Second, there are a lot of things I wanted to see or wanted my kids to see in the city so I just decided, why not? And we came. The normally short ride took several hours because of road repairs but the kids were champs! We dropped off our bags at the hotel and headed to the zoo. 

Minutes after arriving the sky opened up and it didn't ever stop pouring. We decided to go ahead and walk around the zoo. No jackets, no umbrella, cold, hard rain. However, the kids loved it! The animals are all really easy to see and they had a ton of them! We didn't get to see everything because the hard rain got to be too much but we still enjoyed ourselves.
At one point a Guatemalan woman saw the girls and said (in Spanish) 'the poor babies are cold' and she proceeded to rub their arms and hug them until they answered the question 'tienes frio?' with a 'no'. It was so sweet and I don't think anything like that has ever happened to us anywhere else.
When we left we were literally soaked down to our socks and underwear (side note 72 hours later, clothes still wet). Our hotel is less than a mile away, we had planned to walk but took a taxi instead. A hot shower has never felt so good. I peeled off the kids clothes, and after their showers they were so happy to get under the blankets and watch cartoons in Spanish. They stayed that way until dinner and bedtime. This is the first minute of technology they have had since leaving the U.S., we opted not to bring the DS and kindle to play games on. I was totally fine with it today though after they had had such great attitudes the entire, long day.

Saturday we woke up to a Guatemalan breakfast and headed out to 2 museums. #1 the archeological museum then #2 the children's museum. Our shoes were still wet from the zoo rain and our spare shoes were still wet from the day before that, so we went with wet shoes.

The archaeological museum was amazing! I loved seeing more of the history of the country. It was beautiful and full of ruins, maps, replicas, and history.

The children's museum was next and I had no idea what to expect. I hadn't read reviews or any information because this was a last minute trip so I told the kids not to expect it to be similar to our children's museum. It also surpassed my expectations!  The exhibits were all great but my favorite part is how they run it. Each exhibit has a friendly worker who shows you what that exhibit is all about and only lets one kid to the exhibit at a time. It's great because sometimes I want to sit down and explain something to the kids but instead I have to focus on not losing one of them, they do all the explaining and most of them in English. They even played with the kids at each area. This keeps chaos at a minimum and everything stays very clean & organized. We all loved it!

Shoes were still wet and feet starting to blister after 2 museums, lunch, and ice cream so we headed to a mall type place to look for dry shoes. First store I entered had Toms for $7 and Vans for $9! I would have been a much happier shopper if I had space to take stuff back in my bags but I'm not even sure the $6 pair of Levis tennis shoes will make the cut back to the U.S.

Kids were worn out so we relaxed in the hotel again that night while I logged all my receipts for my grant online. My grant only covers some of my expenses, but none of the kids expenses so I have to keep meticulous notes on spending and receipts and every time I have WiFi at night I organize and log my expenses.

The last day in the city (for a few weeks) we went to a random place I saw online called Mapa en Relieve. I didn't know what to expect but it was so much better than anything I could have hoped for! It is a 1:10,000 scale 3D map of Guatemala. I absolutely love maps! Have hundreds of them decorating my class and home. This map was enormous!!! It showed the mountains I have been on, where I am going in Guatemala, and had flags for all the towns of my students! It was eye-opening to see how tall the mountains are and makes so much sense why it takes hours to get somewhere that is so close on my regular map. I only suggest going there if you are a huge fan of maps and have been around Guatemala or plan to.

We ended Guatemala City with picking up my sister at the airport. Now onto Antigua.

Sleepy babies in Guatemalan traffic

Rained out at the zoo, the kids were actually happy just making weird faces

After hot showers!!

Achaeological museum!

Lots of Mayan artifacts

Scale model of Tikal at archaelogical museum. Loved it!

Children's museum, Guatemalan flag made out of legos!!

Children's museum, life size lite-brite!

Learning Mayan numbers

Children's museum, show about electricity

Mapa de Relieve. Look at my kids!!! This thing is huge!

See Cuilco? I've been there, I've also been to the places to the left and right. THATS why it took so much time! Haha

La Democracia, where Elisa is from and where we are heading in a few weeks.

Volcanoes!

So many pics of the Mapa because I loved it so much!

Playground in Guatemala city