This is it

Now that we are home, all I seem to think about is when I will get to return to my other home in Guatemala. Someone said that in Guatemala, they work to live, in the U.S. they live to work. How true that rings. There is a different feeling between my two homes. I love them both but crave the simplicity of Guatemala.
I never, ever thought that I could live for three months with  no hot water, no microwave, no dishwasher, no washer or dryer, being dependent on bus schedules, watching the miserable dogs, and not being able to put used toilet paper in the toilet (learned that one the hard way), BUT I did. I would do it all over again, a million times! I wont miss the bugs, the garbage, or being charged double because I´m white. I will miss the food, the markets, the simplicity of life, the beauty, the language, trying to beat the record of fitting nine adults in one car, being close enough to walk anywhere, people watching in the park, bumpers falling off cars when they drive over a bump, the unity the people have and shared with us, the freedom to drive down a one way street going the wrong way or even on the sidewalk, or to hang out the side of a bus. The thing I will miss the most  (by far!!!) is the people. I will miss being greeted by a kiss or handshake by everyone I come in contact with, the way they made us feel so welcome and special everywhere we went, and the lifetime friends we have made.

Antigua

Last Wednesday morning, Ben and I left Xela early in the morning. Saying goodbye to Lily and her family was one of the most difficult things we have had to do. They have been our family while in Guatemala and we definitely did not want to leave them. They were incredible examples to us and will always be considered part of our family. After the tearful goodbye we headed on bus to Antigua. Antigua is a beautiful, old colonial town. It was warmer there than in Xela, had a ton of tourists and very pretty but we still prefer Xela over Antigua. 

The whole town was filled with the old colonial buildings. Alot of the buildings are not in tip top shape because of some earthquakes but you can still get a pretty good idea of how they looked.

This fountain was in the middle of one of the markets. Beautiful!!

Ben in front of one of the old churches there. 

This is the fountain in Central Park. I dare you to tell me that is not hilarious!

On Friday we headed to Guatemala City to spend the night because our flight left early on Saturday. We got back a bit early so we headed to the temple to do a session. It was a small temple but very beautiful. 

After the temple, Lily's dad picked us up and gave us a tour of the city. The city was a much nicer city and more modern than I expected. Our tour lasted for about two hours. Remind you that we had never met Lily's dad, he had no idea who we were but didn't think twice about picking us up and spending his night giving us a tour. After the tour, he took us to his home, where Lily's mom had made us dinner. I tell ya, these people take charity and kindness to a whole new level. Dinner was great and Lily's mom even made me arroz en leche because Lily had told her how much I loved it. mmmm. The picture above is the main church in the city, right in front of their central park. 

This is Lily's Dad, sister-in-law, brother, mom, us, sister and nephew. 

Saying Goodbye is hard to do...

Today was our last day at the academy. We leave tomorrow for Antigua then to the city to fly home on Saturday. Man oh man, talk about a rough day. It started when we were leaving the academy this afternoon. We wanted to leave fairly quiet so we went around to the students, shook hands and headed downstairs to say adios to the employees. Well, when we were down stairs all of the students in that class came down and each took a turn expressing gratitude and best wishes. Tear.

Here is the morning class we have worked with. To all you ladies out there, if any of these young men catch your eye, let me know and I will hook you up. They are all QUALITY. I look horrible in this picture because I am an emotional wreck but I am smiling because there is someone in the world that is shorter than me (yep, that would be Russell next to me).

We then headed home because Lily had a special lunch planned for us. We had a BBQ because Ben has been talking about how much he has missed the summer BBQ'n.

It was a great lunch! Can't even explain how much I am going to miss Lily and her family. I will be accepting any donations from people who would like to help bring them to the states to visit. 

Later this afternoon, three of the employees from the academy took us out for hot chocolate. Geez, it is so hard to say goodbye. I have really grown to love these people. Each one of their stories is so unique and amazing. Their trials are so different than ours. Their stories have opened my eyes to the many blessings I have.

Andrea, Alex, Saul, Ben, me. Such incredible people. Some day when you are bored I can tell you each of their stories. Pretty amazing. Saul was made bishop while we were here. He is one of the happiest people I have ever met. He always has a smile on his face, has a great laugh and doesn't take offense to anyone. 

Well, like I said, we take off early in the morning. After that, I am not sure what my internet access will be like but I will definitely post again asap. 

Our weekend

We spent a good chunk of our weekend just enjoying as much of Xela as possible. It was our last weekend here and the thought of leaving is heartbreaking.

Much of our time was spent sitting in Central Park, people watching. That has been one of our favorite things to do in our spare time.

We have been eating as much of our favorite foods as possible too. This is Ben at his favorite taco stand. I have been eating as many pupusas as possible to last me. mmmm, I love pupusas.

On Saturday morning we went to The Baul. It is a park overlooking Xela. It was so pretty up there and a great day! The best part is when we found these....

Giant slides!! Holy crap, you want to talk about fun!! Ben was brave and went first.

Here I am, screaming the whole way. What a blast! The only bad part of the journey was when ... 

we left the park and ran out of gas. At least it was beautiful scenery!

Random

Last night we had three guys that are here from St. George to help build the temple. They are finishing the inside of the temple tomorrow. They brought pictures that they had taken of the inside and so we got a sneak peek, which was awesome. It was fun to hear their stories and challenges (there were a ton) that they experienced. Most of them have been here for a year and are excited to get home to their families.

Today was my last day of Spanish class (tear). The school had a big presentation for me, gave me a diploma and we all had cake. It was so fun and so nice of them. I am going to miss school so much!!! For those of you who speak Spanish, talk to me in Spanish when I get home! I might give you a blank stare, like I often did with my teacher, but please don´t give up on me.

I can´t believe this is our last weekend here (many tears). I´m really having a hard time with it. I thought that by this point I would be ready to get home, but I am SO not. UGH. I have been living a totally different life down here and I´m not ready to return to the daily grind. I guess they say that ¨all good things must come to an end¨. I just hope that someday I will get to return to this great place.

Some fun pictures..

Ben and his friend, Chancho.

This is the town, Zunil (where we were dropped off to go to the Georginas). I love this picture because you can really get a good look at the way these people live.

The other night, Lily and Fernando took us to Central Park, where the best pupusas in the world are made. Heaven on earth. If you know what they taste like then this picture should make you drool.

On Sunday, we went for a walk around the neighborhood with the kids. This is Ben and Isa....clearly they do not like each other. :)

The corn stalks here are all muy grandes!!

Sebastian petting a street dog. The majority of the street dogs here are just looking for a little love.

Isa falls asleep at the dinner table EVERY night. This girl can literally fall asleep anywhere.

This pic is a little blurry but fully demonstrates how different the driving laws are here compared to home. This couple has their tiny toddler on the front of their bike! The baby is left to fend for herself on the bike because her parents weren´t hanging on to her. Common occurrence here

This is a strange fruit that I tried called, Granadilla. Also known as Boogers by the youngsters. It looks like boogers but actually tasted quite good.

This is our buddy, Edwin. Isn´t he a doll? If I could pack him up along with Lily and bring them home then I would be the happiest girl ever. Today when I walked into the academy, Edwin said, ¨Hey Freak!¨. Hilarious because he really doesn´t know that that could have been offensive.

FHE

Last night we had FHE like we do every Monday night with Lily and her family. Isa (Lily´s 5 year old) invited the next door neighbors (who aren´t members) to join in. They invited us to their home and Fernando gave the lesson. Their home was SO nice. They are both doctors and have a 4-year-old son. The walls were white!! I haven´t seen white walls in a home down here...ever! I was just starting to get used to bright green, pink, and orange (I really have become quite fond of the colors). It was a great lesson on faith and the family loved it. The wife, Isabel made some snacks after and I ate it all. To not accept food down here is pretty offensive to the people so you eat what you are given. I did not want to offend these people at all so I got stuck eating some nasty chicken. I now regret it because I didn´t sleep all night from a horrible stomach ache and still am struggling. Oh well, I will live.
This is my last week of Spanish school. Last week was supposed to be my last week but I signed up for one more so that I could take advantage of such a good learning environment. I am taking more hours too. I still struggle with talking but can understand so much more than when I first started!
I´m sure some of you have been wondering when we are going to Honduras (because that was part of the original plan). Well, we aren´t. They needed our help here more. I am a tiny bit disappointed because it would have been cool to see somewhere new but I love it here so much that I don´t mind at all. The academy currently is on a rollercoaster of change. It has been interesting to watch it develop and change and grow. My favorite thing about the academy is, of course, the people. When the students are using the interactive computer to talk it cracks me up to listen to them talk. Right now, one of the students keeps repeating, ¨I am not happy¨ and I love it. My favorite is when the computer makes one of the guys say, ¨Hello, my name is Maria¨. Can´t really describe why it is so great, I think it just makes me happy to watch them progress.
I hope that all is going well for you all at home!