Pacaya

Last Saturday, we hiked Pacaya with my sister's LOVELY boyfriend, Esau. (I'm not sure if I've bragged about him enough? :)

After being harassed by many locals who wanted to "help" us on our adventure, we finally started out with two flashlights (Those were bought from a very strange looking 14 year old who I thought was probably 8  judging by his size. Sometimes, malnutrition is so hidden and other times it's incredibly evident.), no walking sticks (much to their disappointment), and one very nice tour guide. 

I'm not sure what I was expecting from climbing a volcano but it was quite a bit more work than I had anticipated. Our legs got a good workout! When we reached the top, the view was spectacular. I truly had an "on top of the world" experience. We were actually very close to the lava as you can see in the photos, and it was reaallly hot. Kadrie and I caused a very small avalanche in our moment of panic when we felt our legs and shoes were burning! (Kadrie slightly melted her Converse.) So, we enjoyed the view, ate Subway at the top, and hiked back down in complete darkness. This was also cool because we enjoyed an awesome view of Guatemala City at night. 

We won't mention the car trouble we had when we got back to the base... :) Instead, I'll just say that we had an awesome day filled with firsts, adventure, good company, and many laughs!

Casa Jackson: Center for Malnourished Children

We've done so many things between this post and my last, but I couldn't resist jumping to the present. Yesterday afternoon, we went to Casa Jackson, a center for malnourished children (desnutridos in Espanol). Casa Jackson was built by a very generous couple from the United States and it is affiliated with the God's Child Project. The God's Child Project was founded in Bismarck, ND and it is an organization that is completely dedicated to helping the impoverished in Guatemala. It is incredible how much they have done for individuals, families, and even communities so far. Check out their website for information on how you can help! (Yes, Mom and Dad, that means you too! :) http://www.godschild.org/

Casa Jackson is in San Felipe, a neighboring town of Antigua. Brandon, our very kind, helpful, and capable neighbor escorted us since San Felipe is not a safe place for tourists. He knows from experience... (We really can't thank Brandon enough for all of the tips and help he has given us. He's a truly great guy from Texas who is the principal at a school affiliated with the God's Child Project. He gave us the connection to Casa Jackson.)

At Casa Jackson, we fed, held, and played with children ranging from about 6 mos to 3 years old. All of the children have very classic symptoms of malnutrition but it is wonderful to see and hear how they're improving. It's easy to be deceived at how old children are. For example, I spent some time with a baby named Dulce (Dulce means "sweet" in Spanish. I can see why she was named that!) Dulce looked and played like a 6 month old. I was astonished when I looked at her record and read that she is 15 months old. She also wears a size 3-6 months. 

The hardest part was definitely leaving. There are usually a lot of volunteers in the afternoons but as the afternoon turns into evening, many people start heading back to Antigua because of the unsafe neighborhood. There are two nurses and a couple of others that stay there all of the time so the babies are well cared for. There just isn't enough people to give them attention all of the time. We were some of the last people to leave and we had to put babies back in the cribs. We left to the sound of about 6 babies absolutely sobbing....

-Dulce, the little girl that I mentioned before. My heart broke when after only about 10 minutes with her, she started calling me "Mama."

-Volunteers feeding a baby.

-Estefani. Here you can see an example of a classic symptom of malnutrition: a round, bloated belly.

-Me holding Estefani. We played together and after she ate, she fell asleep in my arms. I rocked her and it was very cozy. :)

-Kadrie and her little friend. She was great with him because they both have lots of energy! He LOVED her camera, and I'm glad I captured that!

-Estefani looking very pleased with her bowl of food. I started feeding her, and then I decided that I was going to teach her to eat on her own. I placed the spoon in her hand and pretty soon she was eating on her own! She was thrilled at feeling self-sufficient. It was slow going though and she was making a mess so I took the spoon back to feed her. Estefani didn't like that idea though so she very quietly and gently took the spoon back, pushed my hand away, and let me know how it was going to be!

-The three of us wearing masks at Casa Jackson. There's been some sickness going around so we had to wear these the entire time.

Photos

More photos of beautiful Antigua:

-The yellow church is La Merced. The yellow arch is the famous arch in Antigua. 

-The "mountain" you can see in some of the photos is actually a volcano.

The City We Love: Antigua

Today was our first day of classes. We all like our teachers a lot and we felt like we learned a lot. I'm not sure if it was just luck of the draw or if the school strategically matches students with instructors but we are all very compatible with our instructors. School takes a lot out of us though because listening to Spanish and speaking Spanish for 5 hours is very exhausting! I can't possible write about all of the things we've seen and done but I'll give it a try.

Saturday: We toured La Merced, a beautiful church in Antigua. It's the yellow and white one in the pictures. We also went to the market to visit Abraham, the only professing man in Antigua. He was SO surprised when he turned around and saw me there! Abraham and the three of us had fun visiting and he treated us to liqueados in the market. 

Sunday: Abraham picked us up in the morning and brought us to meeting at Esa's house in Guatemala City. There were many friends there and they like having visitors from the States! After we had lunch with the Escobars (Esa's parents). Then, Esa gave us a sort of informal tour of the city which including seeing CasaVerde, the president's house. (CasaVerde translates to The Green House which is just like the White House, only green!) Also, Esa brought us to Oakland Mall, a huge mall in Guatemala City. I had such a fun day visiting with Esa and getting to know him better. Everyone out there might already know this, but Esa received his visa on April 27th to come to the United States! He is coming on June 30th and we feel really lucky that he gets to see what's on the "other side of the fence!" 

Here are some photos. I wish I could add more. We have SO many photos that we want to share but it takes too long to upload.  Again, they are in no particular order.

1) Banana and papaya smoothies with Abraham in the market.

2) Smoothie shop

3) One of our scariest encounters in Antigua so far. (It's a HUGE spider for those who can't see.) Kadrie pulled out some bravery from somewhere and killed it while Adrian and I screamed in the background.

4 and 5) Pictures of our room/house. It is truly beautiful. We are really lucky to all be in the same room and to live in such a nice, clean house. Also, so much for decreasing our waistlines: the food is excellent.