Aqui Estoy!

Puchica!  Once again, I've failed to keep up with posting.  Life can get so busy and demanding here, that I get tunnel vision.  So, this is another overview to catch you - anyone who's still checking this - up on what's been happening down here in Guate.

It turned out to be impossible to give up English.  As part of a team of English teachers - several who don't speak Spanish - giving up English would have taken away our ability to think tank and do the work we need for the school.  Plus, I couldn't go 40 days without talking to my family.  So, lenten vow broken. . . .but still using more Spanish than before. 

During a torrential downpour, we had a flood in our house!  While this sounds like it should have been horrible, it ended up being the most fun I've had since living here.  Nothing was ruined, and we all laughed our hearts out while playing in our swimming pool room, and trying to bail out the porch. 

On my way out to the porch to bail out water

A soaked and happy Deborah. Behind her, Danny (our house brother) is hammering a drain

For International Women's Day, I taught my kiddos a song about women and we performed it at an assembly.  It's hard to understand my little language learners, but they are singing about women helping the world, being fighters and having lots of different jobs.  

UPAVIM held its elections to elect a new president and Junta (council).  I sat back and loved watching the process.  I ended up sitting next to the newly elected president, and it was fun to gossip with her, and joke about her next two years as Jefe (boss).  It was a process full of kinks and re-votes, frustrated outbursts and tons of laughter.  In the end, the women were proud of their newly elected leadership, and the new council promised to God and their community that they would fight for what was right.

Taking down nominations for president

 Casting votes

I went to the beach with a group of women and their children. After a super stressful week, it was good to remember to play.  One of my students was at the beach, and we wave jumped and surfed until we were full of salt.  We dug a swimming pool in the sand complete with a retaining wall to protect us from the waves, and built a sand castle for zombies.  After the beach we went to a swimming hole to bathe. .. .and I came home completely pooped - the perfect I-played-so-hard-today-and-laughed-till-my-face-hurt-and-got-to-much-sun-and-will-probably-look-like-a-lobster-tomorrow kind of exhaustion.

 We could have walked. . . .but we took the boat instead.  And hit bottom the whole way. 

 Our swimming hole shower

And just a few with my kiddos.