THE END!

After 12 months and 7 days in Guatemala, I am finally coming home! I will be home on Saturday night, June 27th. For a goodbye party, I did a pinata and cooked tostadas and cake with my kids. I also gave my clase a pet fish to remember me by!

It is a weird mix of feelings, from relieved and happy to sad and confused. Every volunteer here questions at the end of the year, ¨Did I do enough for the kids? Did I make all the right decisions and really soak up my time here?¨ They are difficult questions that each of us have to answer for ourselves. I still am not sure what I am doing next, or how I will incorporate the experiences I had here in my future career.

I wonder if my kids will remember me. But at the end of the day it doesn´t matter, because for one year, I was a part of their lives and they were a part of mine.

Adios, te cuides mucho (Goodbye, and take good care of yourself)!

Tikal

Last week, I took my last vacation to go see the famous ruins in Tikal. After a 12 hour bus ride overnight with my friend Chris, the ruins were everything I thought they would be. There were temples with steep stairs that soared higher than you could even imagine. I climbed to the top off all of them! There were also ruins of noble´s homes, a lost city that dated back to 700 BC, and huge stone wall masks which depicted events and rulers of the Mayan society. The mayans at Tikal, as my guidebook led me to believe, were descendents of the Itza Mayas in Mexico. They were subject to many wars and other problems, but the society survived for hundreds and hundreds of years. There was a museum at the end of the tour with a tomb of one of the Mayan Kings, King Moon Double Comb. It had hundreds of pieces of Jade, bones of animals, and many clay pots with intricate designs. Here are some pictures.

The Quarantine and Swine Flu

So as of today, there are around 60 cases of the swine flu in Guatemala. We had one girl in my housing unit who was a "suspected case", so me and 5 other volunteers were quarantined in our house for 6 days. This meant no contact with kids, no leaving to get food, and wearing a mask to even go out and wash the dishes. It was funny the first couple days, then got incredibly boring. However, its all done now and she is fine, so at least we can laugh about it. However, the house is taking precautions and quarantining the kids who are HIV positive or weak in other ways. There havent been any cases in the immediate area, but the number increases every day. As of now, there have been about 5 cases in a 15 minute radius. I am washing my hands often, so no worries!

My crazy kids

Volunteers!

Me and two of my dear volunteer friends, Patricia and Chris.

Fuentes Georginas and Xecul

While in Xela, I visited some surrounding cities. I went to San Andres Xecul to visit a bizarre church that prides itself on combining the ancient Mayan and Christian religions to create a very interesting blend of idols. It was amazingly colorful on the outside, and the inside reminded me of some Hindu temples I have been too, with statues and ornate displays everywhere you look.

Later, I went to Fuentes Georginas, a series of natural sulfur hot springs that are actually situated in the crater of a volcano. You can soak in the hot water all day and, according to the people I spoke with there, the water is good for your skin and has medicinal properties. Side note: the villages and scenery around the fuentes are breathtaking!

Xela (Quetzaltenango)

Two weeks ago I went on a trip with a couple volunteers to Xela, a big city near the Mexican border about 5 hours away by chicken bus. We have some Guatemalan friends who live there, so we got the inside tour of the city. Xela, also known as Quetzaltenango, used to be one of the biggest capitals of the Mayans (the Kiche tribe), so there is a good amount of traditional culture preserved there, and the Kiche and Maam Mayas there still use their typical dress. That being said, however, I found Xela´s nightlife to be hip and exciting. The central park is beautiful and resembles a European square. We visited some museums with ancient Mayan artifacts and exhibits, drank at some really interesting bars, and had meals at cafes overlooking historical buildings. Lots of volunteers come here to do projects with various organizations, so it was a great chance to meet and travel with new people.