This is Where I Live Now...

The last couple weeks in Guatemalan have been interesting. As I said in my last post, this year's rainy season had been very, very rainy. It had been rainy heavily for at least a couple hours everyday, and some days it rained nonstop all day. So last Tuesday, an hour before the kids leave school, we were notified that there were mudslides in a few areas of the city which had led to insane traffic. The city was pretty much at a standstill. We kept all of the students at school for an additional hour; then at 3 everyone left (including most teachers). We were told to make sure every student had a full bottle of water with them on the bus in case they were stuck for multiple hours. The rain was so intense during this dismissal that a couple Early Childhood classes actually started to flood . I had no trouble at all except a little traffic getting home, but the bus I ride goes up a mountain after my stop so I was lucky. Nothing too major happened in the city, but mudslides around the rest of the country were bad. In one area, an entire bus was crushed under mud. When people were trying to save the passengers, another mudslide occurred and buried the workers. There was alot of very sad news coverage all last week. However, since last Tuesday when all the mudslides happened, the rain has gotten much better! I went running a few days after school last week and the temperature was perfect. We have had sunny days and blue skies for 4 days now!

Friday evening I went with some friends to Antigua for the night. There was a music festival in the ruins of an old cathedral and it was beautiful. It was my friend Ashley's first driving experience. We saw some interesting sites on the road- including a full van with 3 other passengers hanging out the side while going 55MPH on the highway! We had dinner in a great restaurant and went out after the concert at this fun salsa bar near our hotel.

When we woke up in Antigua the sun was shining and the sky was clear making it a perfect opportunity to see all three volcanoes! We got some great shots of one of the volcanoes behind a beautiful arch. There was also a parade with a children's band around the main square (gearing up for independence day). On the drive back to the city we stopped at a furniture store and I ordered a TV stand, coffee table, and end tables that were delivered (for no extra charge) yesterday. They are all solid, dark wood and I love them!

Wednesday, September 15 is Independence Day in Guatemala. We have had quite a few special activities at school to celebrate. Last Friday we saw a Ballet Folklorio, Monday there was a marching band that performed at school, and Tuesday we had a huge celebration (grades K-12) with torch runners, choirs, speeches, etc. Tuesday all the kids and a lot of the faculty wore traditional Guatemala clothing. We also had a special snack day hosted by the mothers with all traditional Guatemala foods (I went through the line twice!). And then today we had the day off from school! I watched the parades and celebrations in Zone 1 on TV, and then I went to the mall with some friends and got my first massage here. It was only $17 for 45 minutes!! Incredible!!

I have gone out a couple times recently, and I am meeting more and more people. My apartment is still great, especially with my new furniture. Hopefully I will be able to hang some things on the walls soon and it will start to feel even more like a home. The last week or so has provided me with multiple opportunities where I have looked around and thought to myself, "I cannot believe this is where I live now..."