3/26-3/29

3/26: I went to the exercise class at the church again. This time I took Cole, Alysa, and Laina. Cole played outside with all of the boys the entire time. He took his basketball and his razor and seemed to be having fun. Alysa and Laina were the opposite end of the spectrum. I spent part of the class holding one of them and the other part of the class trying to talk them into sitting on the floor. There were a bunch of other girls their age but neither Alysa, or Laina wanted to have anything to do with them. Near the end of the class the girls baby doll was missing (they'd left it in the bathroom!!) and another little girl had a doll just like it. Alysa freaked out that somebody was playing with her stuff. Once they found "baby Jake" (their doll), Laina thought it was pretty cool that the other girl had a doll like hers. It turns out that the little girl is deaf and it didn't matter if the kids spoke English or Spanish to her since she could not hear anyway. Laina and her sat together with their baby dolls for the rest of the class.
3/27: Alysa picked up on Cole working hard and getting a bike so she decided to do the same. She worked her little tail off trying to help out around the house. It was well appreciated so her and Laina got new bikes yesterday. Today Alysa decided she wanted to learn to ride without her training wheels. Chris took them off and about 5 seconds later she was off on her own. She hasn't looked back since. She says she likes not having training wheels because they were too noisy and now she can go fast!
All over the place are ice cream stores called, Sarita. They have ice pops (like Otter Pops) for Q1. That is about $.12. I told the kids that I would give them the money for one if they tried to order it themselves in Spanish. I was completely shocked when Cole and Morgan took me up on it. They each came back with a popsicle and were almost as proud of themselves as I was of them! Cole has really shocked me with how his personality has changed since we got here. He was the kid that I was most concerned about bringing to Guatemala since he is so shy and doesn't like change. To my pleasant surprise though, he is the most outgoing one and the one that is trying to learn Spanish the most. He has even started riding his bike to our security gate on "Mario Day" (as Laina calls it) to ask the guard how to say different things in Spanish. Cole then teaches him how to say it in English. I sent him with some cookies for Mario if he promised to find out how to say it in Spanish. He forgot what they were called on his way home though. He has also learned how to say hat and gun. The other day Cole said, "I think Mario and I are going to be great friends". (I wonder how much of it has to do with the fact that he carries a rifle and drives a motorcycle!)
3/28: Today we were able to pick up some more of our furniture from the street vendor. We got our night stands, desk, buffet, and bookshelf. We went first thing in the morning and saw all of the pieces but they weren't stained yet. There were a couple of guys working on staining stuff on the dirt road. It just amazes me how much work/labor people do here. I have seen very little machinery. Everything seems to be done by hand. It gives me a whole new appreciation for things. Even though the furniture isn't perfect, (The ground was obviously not level where they were building it!!) I love it and am so excited. Now I have to go get some cool accessories/decorations to put on the tables!! I have several pieces in mind already!
3/29: Today was a fun "experience". We got everybody ready for church (not always the easiest thing to do with 4 kids) and out of the house so that we wouldn't be late. Everything was going great...I was recognizing people and everybody was saying hello. I had studied the Relief Society (womens class) lesson in both Spanish and English in hopes of understanding something that was being said. Unfortunately I didn't get to go. Right in the middle of the Sacrament (when everybody is as quiet as can be), Laina looked at me and said that she didn't feel good. Before I could do anything, projectile vomit (vomitar - my word for the day!) was all over me. She did several explosions before she stopped. I was covered!! What I didn't catch with my clothes, I tried to catch with her blanket and the rest was on the floor. Before she had even finished at least three women handed me napkins or bags. It was fun trying to sneak out of the chapel with throw up all over! We did our best to clean up but there was no hope, we had to go home. Since we were planning to leave right after church for Guatemala City, we didn't go back.
At the house, I was able to use our outdoor hand laundry sink to clean off the clothes and blanket. It was the first time using the sink and I now LOVE IT!! Before, I would have to take thrown up stuff outside and try to hose it down. There are so many things that I am really growing to love here!
As usual, the drive to Guatemala City was GORGEOUS yet crazy. The traffic was very minimal since it was Sunday (Domingo). We only had two kids with throw up bags...just in case. For anybody that comes to visit us, you will be required to take the maximum amount of dramamine before going on the drive. It is defnitely not a drive for anybody who suffers from the slightest motion sickness!

Everyday I wonder how people survive here on what they have. I don't know how people can make enough money sitting on the street selling stuff to live. I really have a lot of respect for the people here. (I was told they are Guatemalteca's...not Guatemalans) They seem to work hard for what they get. I compare it to a lot of people in the U.S. that expect to be given everything..... if something isn't working for them, the government should take care of it. Rather than give up some unnecessary luxuries, they will go into debt. O.K. Off of my soap box.

We will be in Guatemala City (here it is just called Guatemala or Guate) through the end of the week. Chris has work here so the kids and I are just tagging along. I am not sure what I am going to do with 4 kids in a hotel for a week. I also don't know if I am going to be brave enough to venture out. I am TERRIFIED to drive in this city. There are about 7.5 million people in this city. I am SO glad that we are in Xela rather than Guatemala City. I am much more comfortable in the smaller town and the slower pace of life. It has a completely different feel to it. I feel much safer and welcomed there!

The past couple of days have been good days for learning Spanish. I had a little confidence booster when my friends told me that I know a lot of words. Now I just need to figure out how to put them all together to form sentences!