Semuc Champey and Coban

November has been quite a month! We had a long weekend to celebrate All Saint's Day at the beginning, and I headed to a new spot in Guatemala (new to me at least!). Semuc Champey is an awesome land-bridge filled with pools of water flowing down from the mountains. It was quite an adventure to get there (75 km taking 3 1/2 hours, the last 25 km on a dirt road), but well worth it! We hiked to a viewpoint, swam in the pools, slid down the rocks, and then went tubing in the river.

To celebrate All Saint's Day I went to the Kite Festival with friends. It is a way of remembering and celebrating the loved who have passed on before. This is quickly becoming one of my favorite Guatemalan traditions, and I look forward to going to it every year!
To celebrate our one-year anniversary, Arturo and I went to the Mana concert on November 2! This was my first concert in Guatemala and it was awesome. Some of the girls sat with us too, and we had a great night dancing and singing along. Kammie and I especially liked, "Latino tu, Latino yo," because we were the only gringas around!
The last two weeks I had another Master's Class- Issues and Influences in Education. I had the chance to research charter schools, and I really learned a lot about the whole debate over school choice. The end of class also marked the end of Trimester 1 of the school year! We celebrated with a party at our principal's house.

A group of girls also had a baby shower this weekend for our friend Jamie. It was really nice to reconnect with my friends after being trapped in class for the last two weeks. Tomorrow my aunt and uncle get here, and Tuesday my parents arrive for Thanksgiving in Guatemala Year 2! I am so excited to see them and get to travel again. There are only three weeks until I am home for our December break. It is incredible how fast this year has been going!