Photo Blog: Weeks 2&3

These are pictures from my second and third weeks in Guatemala. The second week I was by myself at the home and the third week was spent serving with a team from Illinois.

Lorena being sang to on her 21st birthday.

The kids lined up to get some birthday cake.

Then it was Venancio's 4th birthday.

This girl, seriously. So adorable.

Alicia really enjoyed her "worms and dirt" pudding.

Oscar's shorts were a little too big. They kept slipping down and it very cute and silly :)

Next was Samuel's birthday.

We went to a parade celebrating the anniversary of one of the schools.

Luis playing with the school marching band.

There were some pretty impressive floats.

Cata and Wendy walking with their class. I'm not sure what the theme was...

Julio is one of those robot things.

Could he be any cuter?

Photo Blog: Week One

Pictures from my first week in Guatemala with the Summer Servants team. Click on the pictures if you want to see them bigger.

Our whole team at the Rochester airport.

The guys playing with kids at the first aldea we visited called Pujera.

The kids were fascinated by the bubbles!

Their beautiful heads of hair all washed and styled :)

Even some of the moms and teachers let us do their hair.

This is what you do in Guatemala when....

...the bridge looks like this!

It was completely destroyed by previous rains and washed out roads.

Ashley and Sebastian translated for Livy as she shared her testimony
at the second aldea we visited.

The kids listened so intently.

Tie-dye with the kids at Hogar de Vida.

Kate helping Oscar. He's just the cutest kid ever.

It takes a lot of concentration to string fruit loops onto licorice!

Angelita and Chepa showing off their new dresses after our girl's night.

More pictures coming soon (or maybe not so soon) when I have time to take a break from all my studying.

Goodbyes and Coming Home

It's been almost a month since I got home from Guatemala. It was a tough transition at first, but since school has started I've had plenty to distract me. Plus, I've had a lot of people praying for me, which helps even more. Of course, I'm already thinking of when I'll get the chance to go back again and little things every day are constantly reminding me of the kids and other things at Hogar de Vida. I'm so looking forward to returning again. I wish the world was just a little bit smaller so that I could drop by on a weekend or something like that :)

I meant to tell you all about the last couple of days that I spent in Guatemala, but once I got home there just never seemed to be the time. So I'll just catch you up on the highlights really quick. 

• Saturday we had clinic in Canilla and the doctors were still visiting so I got volunteered to translate for one of the OB/GYNs while she did ultrasounds on all the pregnant women. It was a little bit difficult, but not as horrible as I would've thought. There were a few communication errors, but overall I was proud of myself for being able to speak so much Spanish. But it also made me really aware of how much I still don't know.
• Sunday we had clinic in SAS again. I weighed some more babies in the nutrition program and there were two tiny newborns who came. They don't start children on the nutrition program until they weigh them over 2 or 3 weeks and see that they are losing or not gaining any weight. So we just checked over the newborns and weighed them for now. Because really, it's best for them to just have breast milk now anyways. I don't know what's happened with them since then, but I pray that they are thriving and doing well.
• After clinic, we stopped by Hogar de Vida to drop something off. I was happy for that because I had a chance to say a real goodbye that time. It was overwhelming to hear all the kids calling out "Teresa! Teresa!" when they saw me. And telling me happy birthday (it was two days before my birthday) and that they would miss me. What really put me over the edge was talking with Oralia, Sebastian and Lorena. They thanked me for all the work I had done there and told me I was always welcome to return and that it was my home now too. I told Sebastian that I didn't want to leave and he said "Well, it's better if you just stay." I wish I could have.
• Then, on Monday I left to go home. Usually the trip home gets dragged out by a long 5 1/2 hour bus ride into Guatemala City. But this time, Duane flew us out to the city in his plane which only takes 20 minutes and it was such a beautiful view of the mountainous country. It would've been more enjoyable if it didn't mean I was leaving my favorite place.

 That's all for now. But, I'm hoping to update later with a few photo blogs since I could never get pictures posted while I was in Guate.