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.
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