5/26/09-5/30/09

Tuesday 5/26/09
Oh, it is so good to be back in Xela. I still can't get over what a difference there was within less than 100 miles!! Everybody laughed at our reaction to the Mexican people. Apparently the Guatemalans already knew there was a difference but let us make our own judgments!!
I spent the morning trying to practicing my Spanish Verbs. I think I am doing so great until I listen to people talk and I still don't know what they are saying!!
There was a HUGE storm today. Every single window and door in the house had water gushing in through the cracks! The kids and I used every single towel in the house trying to mop up all of the water and cover the gaps. It was good for them to have something to do so that they didn't realize how much thunder and lightning there was. There was probably more rain in a one hour time frame than an entire year in Vegas! Chris called from the job site and said that everybody was running for cover. The lightning was absolutely amazing. It would light up the entire sky. When I drove to choir practice there wasn't a need for street lights since the lightning was so constant!
None of the women showed up for choir but the bishop was there (I think he's in his early 20's!!) and he let me in. I practiced the piano for about 1/2 an hour before a couple of men came in. They were waiting for the choir director but finally decided to come talk to me. They seemed very amused by my attempt at Spanish. They had me say all the lyrics to the songs and they helped me with my pronunciations. We finally gave up on anybody else coming and we all left.

Wednesday 5/27/09
I was supposed to go in and help with the transition for school today. However, on the way to the school, Morgan informed me that Teacher Marilyn had already had her baby. So much for the smooth transition. Rather, I was just thrown in and asked to teach pretty much everything. It went o.k. but I sure wish that I had been given a little more instruction on the topics and what I was going to be teaching. Oh, well!
When we got home after school, Laina was sitting on the toilet and said, "Mommy, muchos pee pee!" I thought it was pretty cute. Later, Alysa asked if anybody had a brown marker. Laina came into the room with one and said, "I have a cafe marker." She is picking up on the language pretty well.

Thursday 5/28/09
Everyone is finally starting to feel a little better. Not a ton but a little!!
The first thing that I did for each class today was to have them help me make up a set of rules for the class along with consequences both negative and positive. The 5th grade class really was struggling with the rules. They are so used to doing whatever they want whenever they want. A few of the girls were not happy with me!! The 4th grade class however was 100% better once they knew what was expected. I pretty much "winged it" all day trying to teach off of somebody else's plans. There is still lots to learn but I think I'll survive.
Since Morgan and Cole had class until 3:00, Laina and Alysa and I stayed also to do some planning/preparation. The girls had fun eating their lunch and coloring on the board. If anybody has any great ideas on teaching kids a second language in a tiny little classroom with lots of outside noise, let me know!!

Friday 5/29/09
Ah, it is Friday!! Classes were o.k. today. I am thinking about having them write pen pal letters as one of their assignments. Anybody have a 4/5 grader that would like a Guatemalan pen pal?
Once a month the school has scouts for the kids. I was pretty happy because that meant I got a half an hour without the kids to check homework. When the class went down though, the Spanish teacher said that I had to come also. I tried to say that I was checking homework but Morgan told me that Teacher Marilyn helps with scouts also. UGH!! I go down and don't have a clue what is going on. None of the other teachers spoke any English either! Finally the principals husband came over to the school and I asked him where she was and that I didn't know what was going on. He went and got her from the main building and she came over and took care of scouts while I checked papers. I felt pretty bad watching Morgan and Cole try their best to fit in with the other kids but really not understanding what was happening. They have been very brave!
Scouts was supposed to be done at 12:30 so that I could finish the rest of the lesson plans before school ended at 1:00. Well, we've got to keep true to Latin time and they didn't get done until about 12:55. It was such a mess trying to get all the kids back in the classroom and get papers taken care of, backpacks packed, etc. I don't think I like having chaos in the classroom!!
After we got all the kids out, Morgan left with her new friend Andrea. Andrea is one of the 5th graders that is extremely shy and none of the other kids will include her. I met her mom at an activity and she speaks really good English and kept saying how excited she is to have Morgan here to be her friend and to help her with her English! Morgan was pretty excited to go have lunch at Andrea's house and had a really good time.
While Morgan was gone, the other kids and I stayed at the school for the planning meetings. I met with the principal and showed her what I had planned then I went to the main building to use the computers to print out some stuff. What a pain in the rear end!! I couldn't figure out anything since it was all in....yup, you guessed it, Spanish! Luckily for me, Lily happened to be in there and she helped me out a little. She is pretty frustrated with how much extra work she is putting in and getting 1/2 the pay that she got in Guatemala City and is thinking about starting her own school next year. She was having a hard time finding some songs and stuff for her class and I was able to share with her my favorite website for kids. I hope it helped her!
At about 3:00 Chris came to pick us all up and Morgan came back to the school also. We all went home and the kids and I cleaned the house while Chris went back to work. I told the kids that they had to help clean so that we could have a pizza party and watch a movie that Chris downloaded. We even pulled out some of the root beer!! It was a great night except for the movie was recorded completely out of order!

Saturday 5/30/09
Today was a nice day outside. We haven't had much rain since the big storm on Tuesday and it has warmed up a little bit. We went to the market as a family today. I told all of the kids that they could pick out a fruit or vegetable that they wanted. Morgan got a coconut (reminds me of my dad!!), Cole picked pears (which he asked for and paid for himself!!), Alysa picked strawberries, and Laina picked cherries. It was a fun activity for the most part.
We went up to the job site and let the kids see what has been going on. They were pretty excited to see all of the equipment.




The remainder of the day was spent washing, sanitizing, rinsing, drying, cutting up, and storing fruits and vegetables. I can not believe how many fruit flies are in the kitchen at this moment.

5/24/09-5/25/09

Sunday 5/24/09
Today was Sunday and there was an LDS chapel right across the street from the hotel but we didn't have any clothes and so we opted to go see the beach instead. I have to say that I felt extremely guilty last night when Alysa was throwing a temper tantrum going to bed and we tried to bribe her with going to the beach. Her reaction was, "I don't want to go to the beach, I want to go to church."
Morgan suggested that we do our own lesson at the beach and talk about all of God's creations. I am pretty proud of the kids and what they teach me every day!
The beach (playa Linda) was about 30km from town. It was a pretty drive past some Mango orchards and a military base. The road turn off to the beach took us past a ton of nice houses that all had pools. I was pretty shocked at how nice it was. The beach was wonderful. We lathered on the sunblock and headed across the burning hot sand to the water. Alysa and Laina didn't want to have much to do with the water. (It didn't help that dad accidently dunked Alysa in the water!) They were much more content playing in the sand and looking for seashells. Morgan and Cole were the exact opposite and we couldn't keep them out of the water. Chris had no intentions of getting in the water and he ended up the wettest!! Everybody had a great time and enjoyed all of God's creations! (:







Getting into the car and the drive home were not quite as much fun since everybody had sand caked on them!!



We grabbed some lunch on the way back to the hotel then everybody sat on the ground and ate their lunch while they waited for their turn to shower. We then had some serious down time!! Everybody was exhausted from the sun and the beach.
Can I just say how disappointed I am with the service at the hotel?? We had 6 people registered there but they would only give us 3 towels and no extra toilet paper. Chris had to ask for extra towels so many times. He also asked for extra pillows (they were flat as pancakes!!) and they said they would only give us half of what we asked for. We had to use bags of laundry for extra pillows! The only plus side to the hotel was that we were all able to be in one room. Other than that, it was a joke! I wonder if it was just that hotel or if it is the culture there.
In the evening we went for a short little walk. There was a cool statue thing that we wanted to take a picture of but the military guys ran out and told us we couldn't. I got a pretty decent picture of it driving by in the car though.





Monday 5/25/09
We were supposed to be out of Guatemala for 72 hours so technically we couldn't cross back into Guatemala until 3:45. We drove around trying to kill some time in the morning but finally opted to head for the border. As we left the city, we stopped at one of the round abouts to take a picture of the cool Mexican pottery sculptures. I really like the bright colors.

Halfway between Tapachula and the border was a sign for a pyramid. I was so excited to stop and see if but was severely disappointed that the gates were locked and it was only open Wednesday through Sunday! This is the picture that I took from the gate. Not too exciting but it was all that I could see from there! Next time we'll have to stop on a different day!


The border was pretty stressful. We were instructed to go into the Mexico immigration where Chris was told that they wouldn't stamp out passports for leaving their country because we never got them stamped going in. Call us dumb but we've never done this before and had no clue that we needed a stamp from Guatemala for leaving as well as from Mexico for going in!! When we were going in, the Mexico people just told us to go ahead after we got the bug spray and vehicle inspection. I don't think we even saw a place to go get a stamp!! Anyway, they told us to go to the Guatemala immigration to reenter Guatemala. The Guatemala immigration said that we could not reenter until we could show that we had entered a different country. So....back to the Mexico side to see if we could get them to stamp the passports. After Morgan said a wonderful prayer, Chris was able to get somebody to stamp our passports showing that we were leaving the country so that we could take them back to Guatemala immigration again and have them allow us back into Guatemala. What a hassle but at least we learned something new!!
The drive home was windier than the road to Guatemala City!! Every kid was required to have a "throw up bag" with them the whole drive! Somehow though we managed to have our first trip without somebody throwing up! It was great! We took a different route home since the easier way didn't really work for us on the way to Mexico! It wasn't too bad. Leaving one of the towns, this is the "highway" that we were on.


During our whole trip we saw many LDS chapels. It gave me a new perspective to think that the temple that Chris is building is going to serve all of those people, not just those in Xela.
As fun as the trip might have been, I am so glad we're living in Xela. It is so nice to be back at our house and to be somewhere where we feel a little bit more comfortable. It was especially nice to be home because the kids cooked dinner tonight while I spent the entire afternoon/evening trying to catch up on this blog!! Ah, now I can go to bed and hopefully get some rest.

5/22/09-5/23/09

Friday 5/22/09
This morning we took the kids to school for only a couple of hours. We needed to make sure we got on the road early enough to get through the border and to our hotel before it got dark out.
The drive started out smooth enough. We were able to get out of Xela going in the right direction (towards the coast rather than the mountains) and actually remembered some of the places that we had gone by before. After about an hour of driving we had to make a turn off going into unfamiliar territory. It is so hard to follow the maps here and the signs are horrible so I always fear that we're going the wrong way. When we came to Guatemala for the first time with Dave, he joked that if we get to the Mexican border that we've gone too far. This time however, that's where we were trying to go!!
It was very reassuring when we kept making it to the towns on the map and we were feeling pretty confident that we were close to the border.....and we would have been except that a road was out and we couldn't get through!! UGH!! We had to completely backtrack and try to find another way to get through. We were out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by jungle. The roads were complete drops off with only the trees acting as guardrails. Although it was very nerve racking, it was extremely gorgeous! I don't know how we did it but we managed to make to a little town called Malacatan. We were oh, so close to the border again!! This time we got stopped in traffic. Cops were everywhere running around the street and everybody was getting out of their cars and running down the side street. Of course all the of the kids (and I) wanted to get out to see what was going on but Chris was a little more level headed and told us to be patient and wait safely in the car. After what seemed like forever the cops all came running back up the street, jumped in their trucks and started down the street. As soon as they left there was a loud noise and a helicopter took off from an empty lot. I don't think the people in that little town had seen many helicopters before!! We were glad to finally get going and we arrived at the border shortly after that.
At the border, Chris went into the Guatemala migration and got all of our passports stamped, then we had to go to the Mexico side to get the car sprayed for bugs. They did an inspection of the van by using a big huge truck with what I am assuming was an x-ray machine inside. We were cleared to enter the country. The entire time there were people trying to get money from us for washing the windows, helping with paperwork, etc. What a life!
Once we were past the border, it was about 1/2 hour to our hotel and we had no problems finding it. It was about 5:00 by then so we got checked in and went for dinner. We ate at a little Italian restaurant where I felt like the queen of the country. The waiter was there to help with EVERYTHING! He even served us every single piece of pizza that we ate. Chris tried to get a piece of pieces and the waiter ran over and grabbed it for him. It was pretty funny. We were also the only people in the restaurant so I guess he didn't have much else to do!
After dinner we were all pretty exhausted and looking forward to going to bed in our cozy little hotel room. We were able to get a room that had 4 beds in it so that we didn't have to get two separate rooms. It was nice to be together since we were in a very strange environment!


Saturday 5/23/09
I woke up this morning at 4:00 to the lovely sound of the "rit roo" birds. The birds seriously sound like they are whistling at a a good looking person walking by. I can't get the video to upload right now but I'll keep trying.
The shower was a pleasant surprise. It had some pressure and it also could maintain a temperature for longer than 5 seconds. It was definitely the best hotel shower that we've had down here!!
We got up and looked around a little before we headed to breakfast. The kids were so excited that there were a couple of big huge mango trees outside of our room as well as coconut trees, and a few other weird things that we didn't know. They had so much fun collecting all of the fruit. Cole used the coconuts as soccer balls. The weather is the complete opposite of Xela. It is very hot and very humid. It's a welcome change for a couple of days. (Don't miss the Vegas heat though!!)





Breakfast was an interesting continental breakfast but they wanted to charge us for three people. Our reservations were for six people so I understand what the problems was. They finally said that Alysa and Laina could eat for free but that we'd have to pay for one more person.
We drove around the town to see what there was. Chris laughed at me for taking pictures of the Sam's Club and Home Depot. I guess nobody would really care to see those pictures posted on the blog!! We went into Sam's Club in hopes of finding Chris some Dr. Pepper but to his disappointment, there wasn't any. As we drove around we made a few observations:
1-The people are taller and a lot rounder here!! In Xela they are square/stocky. Here they are just round. It might be more apparent here since it is so much hotter and most of the people dress a lot more scantily.
2-There aren't any crazy chicken buses and the cars don't all have black exhaust shooting out of them.
3- Nobody wears traditional dress here. Everything is a little more modern.
4- People aren't as friendly and welcoming.
5- There are a lot more American made cars. They are a lot newer also.
6- There were very few vehicles with people packed into them.
7- There weren't very many street vendors.
8- Lots of people were wearing "dust masks". There was even a big statue that somebody had put one on. The government has put out a recommendation for people to wear them to prevent the swine flu. They haven't had any cases so it was purely preventative.

(some church that we saw)

Back at the hotel, we had some down time for a little while. We let the kids go swimming in the pool afterwards. There were two parts to the pool so the kids stayed in the shallow end. Alysa said that that it is really cool here and that she likes it a lot.



Dinner was at a local restaurant called LaPena. Our waiter spoke some English and really wanted to practice so he talked with us the ENTIRE night!! Luckily our table was right next to the door to the playground so the kids were happy! I had the best soup there!! By the time we got back to the hotel though, the kids were extremely overtired and very cranky. Plus, Chris was miserably sick! He's had some sort of a cold that he just can't seem to get rid of.

We made it!

Just wanted to let everyone know that we safely made it through the border and to our hotel. Lots more details of our adventures to follow later!!

5/18/09-5/21/09

5/18/09
I have decided that the only way to survive is to become one with the land/dirt/dust/filth!! A tiny house or else a maid sound good about now. I spent the entire morning cleaning in preparation for visitors. Chris' boss, who will from this point forward be referred to as Dave Claus, came down as well as a few other people. Dave brought us a good stash of candy and a bunch of books that I had ordered. It seriously feels like Christmas when he comes!! He also brought birthday bags from Grandma Hunsaker for Morgans birthday but to the kids disappointment, I made them put them away for a couple more weeks!!

5/19/009
Today was a fun day for me. Chris had meetings all day so we dropped the kids off at school then I dropped him and Dave off for their meetings and I was free to do whatever I wanted!! I decided to be extra adventurous/brave and I made my first trip to market by myself. I spent forever just trying to find a place to park and finally opted to park far away and walk. I was so paranoid about leaving the van and making sure all of the stuff was hidden that I forgot to take my bag. UGH!! Luckily they were only about $.75 to buy a new one!! Let me just say that I love the markets!! The one that I went to today isn't quite as exciting as the one I go to with Lily but it felt a little safer and slower paced. I could have stayed there all day to watch people. (Most of them were just watching me in return!!) I ended up getting a watermelon, cantaloupe, and two avocadoes for less than $2. I somehow ended up not getting any of the things that I had originally planned on getting though!
I spent most of the afternoon working on figuring out what the hymns in the Spanish hymn book are in the English hymn book. Since I am not going to be at church on Sunday I don't know if they will have anybody to play the piano. I figured they could use the player piano but it is only programmed in English!!
Tonight was choir and I was pretty disappointed because we were invited to go out to dinner with everybody that is in town visiting. They couldn't understand why I would choose to go to choir instead of going to dinner with them. Dave told them that it was my calling to play the piano so they were a little more understanding.
Choir was comical as usual. There was a different director who is VERY soft spoken and I couldn't hear anything that she was saying!! Even if she had spoken in English I wouldn't have been able to understand her! Georgie (Lily's 2nd boy) sat next to me and changed the pages for me though! He is really showing interest in the piano whenever I play so I told Lily that I would teach him as well as her oldest. I did warn her that I have never taught piano before and that I don't have a clue what I am doing!!
After choir, Lily asked me if I could take my Mayan visiting teacher home. Remember that she doesn't speak a word of English!! It was hilarious trying to point and use my limited Spanish directions!! She kept saying, "aqui, aqui." and pointing to the side of the road but it was dark and I couldn't see anywhere to turn. I finally just pulled over on the side of the road and she pointed that her house was just across the street and that that was where they wanted out. (At least that's what I think she meant!!) I am definitely learning that I don't learn when I am in my comfort zone. I have to do things that might be uncomfortable in order to learn and to grow.
5/20/09
This morning Dave and the other men left to go back to Guatemala City. As soon as they left, I took the kids to school while Morgan and Chris stayed home in bed. I don't know if it is the change in weather, the food, or what, but our family just seems to be constantly ill!! Laina is still having problems and Alysa and Cole have horrible coughs. I think Morgan was just tired from staying out late for choir practice and wanted an excuse to stay in bed!!
While the kids were at school, I started practicing my Spanish verbs using one of my new books that Dave brought down. I am so excited that I am actually understanding a lot of the stuff in the book!! I definitely have a ways to go but I can see some progress!
5/21/09
After dropping the kids off at school, I went with Chris to the job site. I hadn't been there in a really long time and was amazed at how much it has changed. It is a HUGE mud pit. The kids would have had so much fun running around in the mud. I was slipping everywhere. I had to jump over a little ditch and my push off foot slipped as I took off and then my landing foot slipped also when I landed but I do have to say that I was able to catch myself with one hand and didn't even get my pants dirty. I'm sure all of the workers got a good chuckle out of my yell and near disaster!!
I can not express enough how impressed/shocked I am by the workers here. There were probably 15 men with shovels digging little water drainage trenches to drain the water off the site. It probably took them all day what would have taken a machine 10 minutes to do. They do such back breaking labor here for such minimal money. I told Chris that if he ever gets discouraged with his work that he just needs to be thankful that he's not one of the labors out in the mud pit!!
At school last week and this week they are doing testing. Today Morgan and Cole had some testing in music but they don't have a clue what they are supposed to be doing. The principal sent a note home that they need to learn Old MacDonald Had a Farm on the piano and that she'll test them next week. We spent a while this afternoon going over the different types of notes, reading music, etc. Cole kept saying that he doesn't like music but when it came to be bedtime, he was the one that I had to take the keyboard away from!! They were both doing pretty good. Morgan LOVES playing my keyboard but has always been very stubborn about not wanting to have to read music. I think it is one of those mother/daughter things where she just doesn't want to learn from me. After tonight though, I think she might be a little more open to the idea. She was pretty proud of herself that she was reading her music!
Tomorrow is the big day!! We've been packing and getting ready for our road trip to cross the border into Mexico. I don't know why but I am pretty nervous about this whole border thing!! Maybe it's just because it is different and we're on our own. I sure hope that everything goes well.

We thought it was pretty funny to see a Guatemalan guy wearing a fur coat. It probably kept him warm though!!

Just outside of our gate there is a field that is separated by these rows of flowers. I thought they were pretty so I took a picture.

5/14/09-5/17/09

5/14/09
Today was more of the same....kids to school...Chris to work....me attempting to get something accomplished. Now that we are getting a little more settled and used to our surroundings, and having a routine, life isn't quite as exciting to write about.
One exciting thing that has happened is that Cole has learned to write in cursive in about a week! The children here learn to write in cursive a lot earlier than in the states so he was really struggling to read what was written in class sometimes. I had him practice his letters but this week his teacher suggested getting him a cursive practice book so he could learn to put the letters together. Instead, I made him a page of cursive words. He did the whole page all by himself! When I checked it I realized that not only did he copy all of the words that I had written but he also translated the word and wrote them in Spanish!! The first word that he did was numbers. In Spanish it is numeros. When he turned the page into his teacher, she marked that word wrong until she found out that he had done it in Spanish!! He fooled me also!
The ward was having a food storage activity where everybody brought their food and they sealed them in mylar bags. I didn't take any food but I went to watch and to interact with people. I was able to carry on a somewhat lengthy conversation with my friend Vilma. She is patient with me!! I also went to practice the piano for a little while. It was kind of awkward when a bunch of people came in to listen and wouldn't leave!! I felt like I was doing a recital or something!!

5/15/09
Laina wasn’t too happy this morning when we left for school and she had to sit in her booter seat with her strap on. She has been practicing the art of pouting and I have to say, she is getting very good at it! She finally calmed down after I sat in the back seat between two booster seats with her!! What a comfortable drive to school.

Today for school, Cole had to dress up as something that he wants to be when he grows up. He decided to be a construction worker. He was very uncomfortable wearing something different to school but he began to like the idea when his Daddy helped him find a hard hat, safety vest, cell phone, and a set of blueprints. Cole thought it was pretty funny to pretend to yell on the phone!! He’s ready for management!

It was so nice to pick the kids up today and not have to rush to get homework done! We were even able to take the kids out to lunch with Chris. The kids and Chris are having a hard time adjusting to not being together as much as they had been when we first got here.
Chris went back to work and the kids and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing the wii and doing homework notebooks. Alysa LOVES having homework to do!! She is learning to read and doing a great job.

5/16/09
This morning I got up and made orange rolls. I haven't made those in so long. The kids were glad that it was Vincente's day so that they could take one to him. They were concerned that I only made treats on Mario's day and that Vincente was left out. (Our security guards). Cole took one to him and told him that his friends would be coming over and to let them through the gate. We had all the Orellana boys come over. Laina was sad that Izabella didn't come but she went to Guatemala City with Lily. Cole is just loving the fact that there are boys around rather than a neighborhood of only girls!! They played outside forever. They also spent some time playing the wii. The kids all liked making their own mii’s. (players for the games that look like you). My kids have also made mii’s for their cousins!
The kids were in high heaven when they got to have macaroni and cheese with hot dogs for lunch. It’s a rarity here!! Macaroni and cheese is definitely more expensive here than in the states!
After we took the boys home, we went to look at some log furniture that we had seen on the side of the road by the school. The furniture was amazing!! It would be perfect in my parents cabin!! I really like the rustic log furniture.



(Notice the old gray Subaru in the background. I know that some day I am going to come across my old red one. All of the 80's cars are down here!)

Unfortunately we won’t be here long enough to justify buying any of it….especially since we won’t be able to take it with us when we leave! We left there and went back to our other favorite side of the road furniture stand. We asked them to make a couple more pieces of furniture for us….a table for the keyboard, a toychest/table, chair, and another bookshelf for the study. Our “study has been serving lots of roles…office, sewing room, music room, craftroom, classroom, etc. We have stuck maps, posters, and Spanish stuff all over the walls.
After the kids are in bed, Chris and I have been watching the '24' series. We had 5 episodes of season 4 left so we tried to have a marathon. Once again, I failed and fell asleep during the last episode!! I don’t know what we are going to do when we’re done with season 5. The kids are getting pretty sick of all of the same movies. We need to expand our library!

5/17/09
We had another good day at church. Playing the piano went o.k. I didn’t feel great about it but Chris said that it sounded good. (Yes, I am a recovering perfectionist) I was so cold and nervous that I was shaking the entire time I was on the stand. (We definitely need to invest in some more sweaters for the family!!) The three older kids went to class by themselves and I went to Sunbeams with Laina. (More for me than for her!! Gospel Doctrine is just way too much for me still!) Relief Society was about the same. Even though I really can’t put anything together, I am definitely understanding a lot more than when we first got here. Chris also got a calling today. He has been asked to teach in the Elders Quorum. He asked the bishopric if they seriously thought his Spanish was good enough to teach a class. Either it really is good enough or they are really desperate for a teacher! (:
On the way home from church, Morgan said that she is starting to like church here more. She said she is getting used to it and feeling more comfortable.
I am liking these Sunday afternoon naps….except for having to wake up! Laina has a been extremely cranky in the afternoons lately and hasn’t been able to stay up until bedtime. She gets up at the crack of dawn though!! I figured that I’d lay down with her so she’d take a nap, stay up later, then not wake up so early. I can not believe how long we slept for!
I feel like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. Dave (Chris’ boss) is coming here tomorrow along with the architect, and the boss for the church. I can’t wait to see what things Dave is bringing for us!! It feels like our only connection to the outside world!! I really hope that my Spanish books are coming!!
Since this past weeks posts have been pretty boring, I thought we’d liven things up next week with a trip to Mexico! We can only be in the country for 90 days and then we have to leave for 3 days. Our 90 days is up next weekend so we are going to a town across the border that is about 3 hours from here. Apparently it has Walmart, Sam’s Club, and Home Depot! I’m sure that we’ll have some interesting stories about going through the borders and our stay there!!

5/11/09-5/13/09

5/11/09
Happy Birthday (Feliz Cumpleanos) Dad!!
Even though all of us seem to be fighting off colds (and whatever other weird illnesses we seem to be getting), we all headed to school today. Laina had a pretty tough time going to her class since she's was gone most of last week. I spent the day with the 5th and 4th grade English classes. I feel pretty comfortable teaching the 5th grade class but the 4th grade class doesn't seem to have any control whatsoever!! (And if you know me, you know that I need some sort of control!!)
It has turned freezing cold again!! I wonder if that has anything to do with our ailments. We've even had to get out the extra blankets and space heaters again!!

5/12/09
What a fun day!! (Yes, that was said with extreme sarcasm!!) The morning started out great with the kids getting all ready to go to school. It wasn't until we went out the front door for school that we found out that there was a flat tire. Luckily Chris had insisted on making sure the spare tire was there when we bought the van and he was able to change it pretty quick. We were still late for school however. Oh, well.
I stayed at school again. The morning was spent observing the principal/director/owner of the school teach the 5th grade class. I'm still not sure why she was doing it since the regular teacher was there also but it was nice to see different styles of teaching. She had me help out a lot to get the kids used to me. After snack time we changed to the 4th grade class. What a relief it was to see how the class behaved for Teacher Michelle rather than their regular teacher! They actually sat in their seats for the most part and listened. One thing that I have noticed here is that all of the kids are very eager to answer questions and to participate even if they don't know the answer. It seems like in the states there are always the shy kids that never raise their hands or hate to participate. Here they have constant competitions between classmates and nobody seems to get their feelings hurt. It's pretty cool to watch the interactions between the students.
When the 4th graders left for p.e., I joined Cole's 3rd grade class. Teacher Michelle (the principal) asked me to watch her class as well. Michelle seems to be very pleased with the way Teacher Deanna conducts her class and the way the kids learn. I have been equally impressed and hope to follow her example. She seems to be more creative with her approach to teaching rather than reading straight out of a text book. Michelle has told me that I can pretty much do what I want with the class and that she is just excited for the kids to have the opportunity to learn from a native English speaker! (Little does she know that I don't have a clue about the grammer aspect of English!! I let that stuff leave my brain a long time ago!!)
Since the morning started out late, why not continue the pattern and fit in with how everything else seems to be run here.
Chris was pretty late picking us up from school. While killing time, Morgan decided to jump over a teeter totter. (background story: this morning Morgan wanted to have a jumping contest during recess jumping over a rope. I told her no way that if somebody didn't clear the rope, they trip and crack their heads open) As I'm sure you can imagine, she didn't quite clear the teeter totter and tore up her knee and hand pretty good. She even tore a big hole in her new gym outfit!! UGH!! She was pretty tough though and I was able to get some peroxide/bandages from the office.
Tonight was choir (coro) practice. I had been practicing all of the songs since I wasn't very familiar with them. I had told Chris several times that I needed to be there at 7:00 and that I also needed to pick up Lily. There was another big storm and everything just kept falling further and further behind. It wasn't until after 7:30 that Chris was able to get home. I felt like I had let everybody down by not being there to play the piano. Anyway, Lily and I ran over to the church in the pouring down rain just to find out that nobody had come. Apparently when it rains really hard a lot of people don't go out since they have to walk everywhere! I am still amazed by the dedication of the people here. It takes us a good 5-10 minutes to drive to the church and most people walk that same distance!! I can't remember if I mentioned this or not but they had a ward temple trip where everybody met at the church at 2:00 in the morning to ride a bus to Guatemala City. They spent several hours at the temple and then crowded back into the bus to come back home. I have to admit that it makes me feel pretty guilty that I don't make the same efforts that they do and that I always took for granted living close to temples.

5/13/09
This morning wasn't quite as crazy since Chris went out early to check the van tire to find out that the repair hadn't worked. He was able to get the tire changed and we were off to school on time. Rather than staying at the school, I went with Chris. He had some conference calls so I was able to get some of my work done while he was in his meeting. When I finished up my stuff, I walked across the street to the mall to do a little shopping. I have to say that it was scary to not have Chris there to depend on if I didn't understand people but at the same time it was so nice to be able to go at my own pace and not feel rushed!! There is a store in the mall that sells all of the brand new items that are leftover from the states. (Did I write about that yet?) I like the store because the employees for the most part leave me alone and don't follow me every step of the way! The store isn't the nicest place but I don't get as stressed out! It is kind of a treasure hunt there also. (Anybody that knows me know that I love the thrill of the hunt for good deals!!) Today I found some treasures! I got a new white blouse, a striped shirt, navy skirt, gray skirt, black school shoes for Alysa, and a wallet for Laina. My grand total Q86 which is just barely over $10!! Yeah!!
The next store that I went to is called El Zeppelin. Chris had finished his meeting and met me there but he had his computer bag and so he didn't want to go in. (At all of the stores have security guards that take any bags that you have and hold them until you are done shopping and Chris didn't feel too comfortable leaving his computer with them!!) So, into the store I went by myself. I gave the security guard my bags and he gave me my little claim ticket, then off I went. After a few minutes, I was approached by a sales guy and he said something to me. My initial reaction is to say, "No hablo espanol". For some reason though, I paused and within a few seconds I realized that I understood one of the words he had said!! He had asked if I was looking for anything special. I said that I was looking for a sweater for my nino (boy). He showed me where they were and then asked how old (or what size. I'm not sure!!) I told him and he helped me find the sizes. I tried to find Chris to show him but couldn't see him past a pole. I said "Mi esposo" and the guy pointed him out to me. I went and took the computer bag so Chris could go in and look (honestly, I don't have a clue about picking out sweaters for a boy!! ) While I was standing at the front door waiting the security guard came over to me again and said, "pase" (pass/enter??) and motioned for me to go ahead. By that point I was feeling pretty confident and proud of myself for trying and for actually communicating. When all was said and done, I was able to find a sweater for Cole, and a pair of dorky sweatpants for me! Oh, how I wish I had brought my warm fuzzy lounging pants here!! Especially on Sunday afternoon after church!!
We picked up the kids from school then Chris dropped us all off at the house while he went back to work. In the afternoon, I realized that we had a different security guard that day and my visiting teachers were supposed to be coming over. (Visiting teachers are all of the women from church. They are generally paired up and assigned a few other sisters to visit each month. They also share a message from the presidency of the church and are there to help out whenever there is a need)
I wrote the best note that I could and had Cole run it down to the security guard for me. It went something like this: (if you know Spanish, don't laugh too hard....I'm trying my best! (: ) "Hola, mis amigas van a mi casa hoy a las 4. Por favor permitir pasar. Lo siento pero mi espanol es no bueno."
My visiting teachers did come but it wasn't the same ones that I was expecting. Sully came along with Lily and also another lady named Blanca. The little Mayan lady wasn't there. Sully isn't super confident in her English so she tried her best to share the message with me. She did great though!! If I could speak Spanish half as good as she does English, I'd be ecstatic! I love how supportive and patient the sisters are with me! They all sat there and helped me practice my Spanish. Blanca would talk (I had to keep asking her to speak slower and to repeat herself!!) and I would try to figure out what she was saying. Then I would try to respond to them in Spanish. It really helps when I can practice in a relaxed atmosphere! I am really excited for Chris' boss to come down next week and hopefully he'll be able to bring the Spanish books that I ordered. I need to do some more studying. I was planning to go to one of the many Spanish Schools that they have here but with my schedule it just isn't working out. Maybe after I am done teaching I'll be able to go! (Or maybe I'll be completely fluent by then and won't need it. (: j/k )

5/10/09

Happy Mother's Day! (Or as I learned today, Feliz Dia De La Madre)

Today was a pretty uneventful day. No power outages, no kids throwing up, water working all day. I even got a nap today!! Ahh, I love Mother's Day!!
Church was pretty good. I played the piano which wasn't the best but it could have been a lot worse!! I can't understand what the person conducting is saying, so I kept watching Chris to give me the signal that I needed to go back up to play the intermediate hymn. I finally got the signal and went up and started the song only to have the chorister lean over and point to the hymn book that I was playing the wrong song. The meeting had gone longer than expected and they had bypassed the intermediate hymn and were doing the closing hymn!! Oops!!
I also got to accompany the choir for prelude and was very proud of Morgan for going up and singing with them. She is really growing up. Her teachers at school have commented on her not really interacting with the other kids a lot. I tried to explain that she always would rather be with adults than kids her own age! She LOVED it today when her Grandma Whitney and Aunt Jessica told her that she looked like she was 16.
The lesson in Relief Society today was about the Gift of Tongues. At one point the teacher started pointing at me and saying something about talking in other languages. In my best Spanish I tried to say that I am still waiting for the gift of tongues. Everybody laughed pretty good. It is amazing the encouragement and support that I have received from the members of the ward. Even though I don't share their culture, looks, language, etc, I share the gospel with them and that is all that seems to matter! Oh, and I have visiting teachers coming over this week!! I am so excited! One is Sully who works at the Beehive School as the chef and speaks pretty good English. The other is another lady that I have met several times but for the life of me cannot remember her name! She is a typical Mayan lady; very short, wears traditional clothes, and always has a wonderful smile on her face. I am sure that I will be able to learn a lot from these wonderful ladies!
It was great to get to talk to some family today. The skype thing is great so that we can see the people we are talking to. I almost think that we talk to family more now that we are down here than we did in Vegas!!

5/8/09-5/9/09

5/8/09
Today was the Mothers Day Celebration for the kids school. I was torn between staying home with Laina and missing the other kids presentations or taking her to school and staying there since Chris needed the car for work. I finally opted to go to the school since Laina seemed to be doing a lot better and she really wanted to go to school. I had two hours to kill before the program started so the principal told me to go to Spanish class with Morgan and Cole. Wow, did they make me feel stupid!! Those two are really picking up the Spanish. The really seemed excited to show off their new abilities to me.
The 10:00 program started at 11:15 across the street from the school at the big convention center. There were so many moms there. I really felt uncomfortable and out of place! Alysa had completely freaked out and wouldn't leave her classroom so I had to get her and keep her with me. She was terrified of having to do her class presentation. It turned out that Cole was my only kid that would do his presentation.

Laina got half way to the stage with her class and turned around screaming.

Morgan opted not to do her classes "dance" which I am actually glad for. I was shocked to see their Mother's Day dance. All the girls were wearing shorts skirts and not doing the most appropriate dancing for 5th grade girls in my opinion!!
I was SOOOOO ready to leave by the time the program ended.
We headed back to the school and repeatedly called Chris to let him know to come get us. It kept going straight through to a voicemail. (so I thought) We sat at the school for 45 minutes until he called and said he was outside. Apparently my phone was out of minutes and that's what the "voicemail message" was saying!! Laina had fallen asleep on my lap while we were waiting and when I got up to get all the kids to go, she once again threw up all over the school playground. UGH!! What is going on with her poor little body!!
A positive for today was that there was electricity, water, hot water, and gas!!

5/9/09
What a beautiful day. It was nice and sunny. I went to the market with Lily this morning. Although I am constantly on guard for pickpockets, it is a ton of fun!! I bought so many fruits and vegetables that I could barely carry my bag! I got a dozen carrots, garlic, cilantro, 1/2# potatoes, cucumber, 5 corn on the cobs, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, 4 avocadoes, 3 pineapples, 1 watermelon, 1 cantaloupe, bunch of bananas, red bananas, porcupines, and a cherry. In total I spent about $8!! (Which Chris found out is the weekly salary for some of the construction workers!! Holy smokes!)


The new item that I tried this time is something that I have no idea what it is called. I named them porcupines. They are little round red balls with tons of spikey things on them. You tear off the outside and it is like a clear ball on the inside. You eat it sort of like a cherry with a seed/pit in the middle. They aren't too bad.


We returned home to an unexpected surprise. Half the kids in the town were in our development to watch a helicopter that had landed on one of the empty lots. The land owners friend wanted to come play tennis at our development and brought his helicopter. When they took off, they were heading right for Morgan. She started running away as the helicopter went over her head. She thought it was pretty cool.
Morgan and Cole have made it their personal mission to fix a hole in the community wall where the wild dogs come in. I think they just like being outside using their imaginations!! (Which I am definitely enjoying!!) Today I sent Alysa out in the backyard to do something and she started screaming bloody murder. One of the wild dogs had come in the backyard since the side gate was left open when Morgan and Cole went out to play. The backdoor was also wide open into the house. I was soooo glad that the dog didn't get into the house!!
Laina is still pretty sick. She was doing great in the morning except for constant trips to the bathroom. (All night also!!) While I was at the market, Chris took all the kids to check out the job site and Laina almost didn't make it to the portapotty fast enough! Poor little girl. It does help reassure me a little that she is drinking lots of fluids and it happy when she is awake. I am constantly debating on wether I should take her to the hospital here or if it'll pass.

5/4/09-5/7/09

5/4/09
We made progress today!! We were able to do the drive-thru drop off even though I did end up getting out of the car and walking Alysa and Laina to the door. At the door though, they left without screaming and running back. Morgan held Alysa's hand and Laina's teachers took her. I guess it helped that we promised them that we'd go out for ice cream for Family Home Evening if ALL of the kids went to school on their own.

After the school drop off, Chris took me back home and he left for work. I spent the whole day cleaning. It really stinks because the second the kids came in it looked the exact same as it had that morning!! All that hard work and it doesn't even show!!

Chris was working late and the kids were hungry but there was still no gas so I went to microwave hot dogs for the kids. I figured that would keep them happy until we were able to take them out for ice cream. It would have been a great plan but at that same moment the power went out in all of Guatemala. Chris came home about that time so we went into town to look for a place with a generator to eat. We were able to get some dinner but we didn't have much luck with the ice cream we had promised the kids! Without power, all the ice cream places were closed.

When we got back home, the power was back on but it did something to the electric water heater so no hot water!! If it isn't one thing, it's another!!

5/5/09
The baby steps are finally starting to get us somewhere! Today all four kids got out of the car on their own and took their backpacks and physically walked themselves into school!! YEAH!!! No crying!! (As happy as I was, it was a little sad to see them all so grown up and leaving me!!)
After school we once again had to break the promise of taking the kids out for ice cream since our landlords dad was coming over to try to fix the water heater. He "fixed" it but it is still having problems!!
I felt so bad for the kids that I opted to take them for ice cream before dinner since I had to be at choir practice at 7:00. The kids were in high heaven when they were allowed to order anything off of the menu. Of course Morgan and Cole chose the biggest banana split they had. Alysa and Laina were a little more reserved in their selection.
Choir was fun. I was pretty nervous about playing for people. It didn't help that nobody spoke any English and that it was a digital piano that I have never used before!! It all worked out though and we were able to communicate well enough until Lily came to help. Morgan also went with me (I think she just wanted an excuse to stay up late!!). I was very proud that she tried to sing with the choir.

5/6/09
This morning Laina was complaining about her stomach hurting when she got up. She said she still wanted to go to school and she got dressed. She was in tears though and I could tell that she really didn't feel good. I put her back in bed to rest for a minute but when we went back to check on her, she was fast asleep. I left her home while Chris was on a conference call and ran the other kids to school. Alysa was sad because Laina wouldn't be there to hold hands with at the end of the day while they waited to be picked up. I thought that was pretty cool!!
I talked to the principal and told her that I will teach the English classes for a few months. I start the first week of June. I told her that I won't be able to take any Spanish classes if I teach and that they will have to help teach me. She said she'd do anything I wanted. You could see the relief on her face when I said that I would do it.
A while after I got back home, Laina woke up. When she realized that everybody else had left for school and she didn't get to go, she was devastated. She cried for so long. She was pretty hot and wasn't eating at all. She slept half of the day and the other half I had to play school with her.
She had to go with me to pick up the other kids from school. While we were waiting outside of the big kid building, she threw up all over the grass. One of the moms in her car gave me a bunch of toilet paper to clean her up. How embarrassing!! I sure wish my kids would quit throwing up everywhere!!
When we got home, Cole was pleased to find his friend, "Stevie".

(We later found out that Stevie will bite and that we'd have to go to the doctor!!)

5/7/09
Laina was still sick so she stayed home again. Chris dropped the other three off at school and went to work. Laina only threw up one more time and after that seemed to be getting better. We spent the day cuddling, watching movies, playing school, and having one on one time. It was pretty nice to spend some time with her even if I didn't get anything else accomplished!
We did go to a baby shower at the church and attempted to figure out what people were saying. I am picking out more words but not really putting them all together unless a person is talking directly to me and speaking VERY slowly!!
The rain is out of control!! I can not believe how much rain there is. (Remember we spent the last 9 years in the desert with NO rain!!) The roads remind me of break up time in Alaska. There are potholes everywhere. People put cinderblock bricks in the road to warn of the upcoming hole. I don't know which is more dangerous, running into the bricks or hitting the pothole!! Tonight the rain was coming down pretty hard and the roads were flooding. I was told that in one part of town the houses are two stories and the bottom floor is pretty much under water for the entire rainy season!
For Cub Scouts, Cole needs to start a collection. He decided today that he is going to make a collection of pictures of the ugly/nasty dogs here. Here are the first two pictures for his collection.

5/1/09-5/3/09

5/1/09
Today was Labor Day for Guatemala so there was no school for the kids. We stayed home and tried to get some cleaning done while Chris went to work for a while. After lunch we took off for Guatemala City to pick up our new van!!
We were so excited that nobody got sick on the drive!! ….until we pulled into the parking garage of the hotel and started to get out and Alysa threw up all over in the rental van!! UGH!! I don’t know what is worse than having to clean up throw up!!

5/2/09
You know that your family sticks out a little bit when the hotel employees remember who we are!! The lady (Wendy) at the breakfast buffet even remembered what foods we liked to eat!! I wonder if she sees any improvement in my Spanish from trip to trip!! (I hope so!!)
We left the hotel in a stinky van to visit the Guatemala City Temple for the first time. I am so impressed with our ability to get around now. We only had to do one u-turn!! I was surprised at the location of the temple. I was expecting it to be up on one of the many hills but it was down in a valley next to a gas station. It was still beautiful though. We walked around the grounds and took some pictures after we visited the distribution center.







We had a little bit of time to kill before the van was supposed to be ready to pick up so we headed to a mall. We met Lily’s sister there to get some stuff to take back for Lily. It sure felt good to be able to help Lily out after all that she has done for our family!!
We were able to pick up the Honda Odyssey van in the afternoon and return our rental. Hopefully the van will be good for us. The dealership is still trying to get a 2nd set of keys from the original owner. I sure hope we don’t lock the key in the car!! It sure feels good to have our “own” vehicle (at least for a couple years) instead of a rental....especially one that smelled of baking throw up!!
The drive home was miserable to say the least. It started out great but as soon as it started to get dark, the rain started, the fog set in, and the road conditions continued to go downhill. Every time we do the drive between Xela and Guatemala City I am amazed that people don’t wreck more often!! By the time we got home everybody was exhausted and tense so we were very excited to go to bed!

5/3/09
I was sustained today as the new ward pianist and choir pianist. AHHHHHH!!! I am sure my mom and dad are ecstatic. I am pretty nervous. Not only am I not comfortable playing in front of people but the hymns are a little different in Spanish so if I don’t pay close attention, I’ll play the wrong version!! I am thankful for the examples that I have had to watch over the years to help me feel a little more at ease. Sis. Eastmond - always humble!! I love the little pieces of advice that I learned from her! I already highlighted the introduction marks for Sunday!! Sis. Swartz – Yes, it is o.k. to make mistakes. I love how she was always able to laugh when she made a mistake and just keep on going!! I just hope that I will be able to follow in your footsteps and and have a positive attitude and just do the best that I can do.
A miracle occurred today….all four kids went to their own primary classes all by themselves!!! Yes, even Alysa!! Chris and I were able to go to Gospel Doctrine. To be honest though, I think I would have learned more in Sunbeams!!
Before church started one of my friends (Vilma) handed me a piece of paper asking me (in choppy English) to read a scripture in Relief Society. I would never think twice about reading a scripture but today it was like I had to give a lesson or something. I had to “study” the scripture to figure out how to pronounce all of the words. I did my best accent and was shocked by all the smiling faces when I finished. I like to think that they were pleased that I was participating but they were probably just laughing at me!!
After church a lady approached me and asked if I could help teach her son English. The Elders had to translate for me of course! Apparently her son is getting ready to graduate from high school and wants to go to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Before he can even apply to BYU, he has to pass a bunch of tests showing that he can read, write, listen to, and speak English well enough. I don’t have a clue how to teach English but I told her I’d try. I think I am going to tell them to ask Lily since that is what she does professionally. I don’t mind helping but I don’t know how much help I will be. The Elders brought him by the house tonight so he could see where we live. He knows a little bit of English but has a ways to go to be ready for college in the state.
Everybody has been craving homemade chocolate chip cookies lately so I thought today would be a great day to make them. I got everything made and went to turn on the oven but it wouldn’t work. It turns out that our gas tank is empty!! Why did it have to happen when I wanted cookies???? Why couldn’t it have happened when I didn’t feel like making dinner and use that as an excuse to go out to eat????

I have been so impressed with how much Spanish the kids have been picking up. Morgan and Cole are doing really well. They’re going to pass me pretty soon!!
Coles Spanish translations: high five = hola (hi) cinco (5)
Hot dogs = caliente (hot) perro (dog).

Alysa said that she is going to school tomorrow without crying. Laina said that she is going to do the same so Chris and I told them that if they do go without any problems that we’ll take everybody out for ice cream for Family Home Evening.
I sure hope that we get to go out for ice cream!!