Had the BEST week!  I dont even know where to begin!  We finished the building of the house on Friday (bittersweet considering it was some of my friends last week), but I must say it has to be the best looking/well constructed house in all of Guatemala built by yours truly.  It was kind of weird because we never really saw the family at all until the key ceremony.  Every family and every building is a little bit different, sometimes the family is really invovled in the building and with the volunteers and others times not so much.  But regardless of their involvment throughout the week, the the meaning of these new houses for these familes is always the same.  A new house changes these families lives.  Its hard to explain the living conditions of these families, it actually almost seems unreal.  A lot of families (like the one we worked with this week) just have little huts made of sticks, some have metal roofs and others just have a roof made of palm or wood (which becomes a huge issue when its rainy season).  They all cram into the these little huts (10 people in the family this wekk), and most families cant afford school, healthcare, food, clothing...the list goes on.  And the more I learn about From Houses To Homes the more I fall in love with the organization and what they are doing here.  They provide not only a new home for these families but also access to education (like the school im working at on Tuesdays) and healthcare (they just opened a clinic in Pastores where families can have access to healthcare FOR FREE).  Its an incredible organization, I really feel like I couldnt have picked a better one.  Im super stoked because this week I get to tag along with this man named Luis, who is in charge of looking for families to build houses for as well as check in on the families that have already had houses built for them!  So ill get to learn a little bit about how they go about choosing families as well as see how the families are doing in their new perttty homes.  He also has an assistant..not sure her name.  But she translates for him because a lot of the towns still speak their Mayan language called Quichean. There is no building this week...not sure why...I think its some type of holiday on thursday and friday so nobody has work.  But really excited to work with Luis and it will be really good practice for ma spanish. And since im done working with him around 2 or 3 every day im also going to go take some more spanish classes at a local school for two hours a day...on a roll!!
This week I also got the chance to talk with my house Mom, Elsa, and she is the most INCREDIBLE woman.   She grew up in very poor family with 13 (!?!?) brothers and sisters.  Her parents were very poor and would paint portraits to sell in town.  She was telling us that often times they would have nothing to eat, and at the most a couple tortillas and some beans.  Then she met her husband Fransisco (Im pretty sure he was much more well off) and they now have a beautiful big family and house (and plenty to eat).  But she still basically ONLY eats beans. every singe meal haha I would think she would be sick of them but she says she likes to stick with frijoles. She worked as a nurse for 40 years and now has an enfermeria in the house where people can come to her that cant afford healthcare and most incredible is that she does everything for free.  She also collects clothes and food to give to give to her patients that cant afford anything.  She said to me " I know what its like to be poor and in their position, I dont think these people know that, but I do everything I can to help".   Such an amazing woman, such a big heart.

And THEN I met Elsas nephew (I think) Oscar, who is learning to speak English (you can make much more money if you speak two languages in Antigua because its so touristy).  He is by far the most motivated man I have ever met.  He had only studied english for three days (four hours every day) and knew SO much.  So we decided to meet every night for one hour and teach each other Spanish and English.  Today was the first hour and I can tell Im going to learn so much.  I definitely know a lot more spanish than he does english so I have to try to expalin everything to him in Spanish (which is prefect for me, lotsa practice) and then we quiz eachother on verbs, nouns, all that stuff.  My days are so jam packed but I lalalveee it.  Everything is FINALLY falling into place, not homesick anymore, and really getting into the swing of things.  I absolutely love it here, every day just keeps getting better!

And then the best part.....PAPA CHANS comes on thursday!! gahhh cant wait, so excited! love you guyss

Back from Atitlan! The weekend was really great, started off a little rocky, kind of one of those unexpected emotional days.  But I traveled with Lucy, from Austraila, and Jess from Virginia, and seriously could not have had two better people to be there. Lucy reminded me so much my mom, traveling all over Latin America by herself, adventurous, funny, independent, goregous, and one tough cookie. And then there was Jess, who is so sweet, funny and just all around great.  She actually lost both of her parents before she was 17.  One of the strongest and most postive people I have met.  Im constantly AMAZED that in my life I have always had the most wonderful people there when the going gets tough.  I definitely am being looked out for by the big man upstairs and of course ma momma.  We took a shuttle to Lake Atitlan and stayed in a town called Panajachel, stayed in a little hostel for 40Q a night ( about six bucks).  In the morning we woke up and took a 45 minute boat ride across the lake to a town called San Pedro which was this really sweet hipppy town.  But just our luck it started POURING rain, thunder, lightening, the whole nine yards so we didnt get to do much that day.  But the hostel did have a tv...so we got a bunch of junk and watched movies which was nice change of pace.  Then in the morning Lucy and I got up realll early and climbed this little mountain called Indians Nose.  It was so hard, so stinkin steep. It was more like rock climbing...not hiking. Our guide was practically running up the mountain, he said he usually gets up in an hour...it took us two hah.  But the view was so worth it and the weather cleared up just in time it was so prettayyyy.
      This week im building a house about 15 minutes outside of Antigua for a family with 10 people!  The family hasnt been around much, so havent learned a lot about them but im sure they will come aroud later this week.  The other volunteers are SO much fun, and all around my age.  James and Alice from England, Sebastian and Robyn from Germany and Belgium, Nike from Belgium and then Gladys from France!  The first day was killer. My back hurts and pretty sure by the end of these two months Im going to have massive arm muscles.  I forgot to put on sunscreen (of course) and was burnt to a crisp.  Not to mention I now have the fattest farmers tan ever. hot. But I LOVE building, its hard work but so worth it.  The first day you have to dig a trench and make a kajillion buckets of cement, and then today we make more cement and start filling the cracks of the walls.  The rest of the week is pretty smooth sailing! love you guys and misshh you bunches

Supa excited for the weekend!  Me and two other gals one from Austrailia (Lucy) and one from Virginia who lives in my homestay (Jessie) are going to Lake Atitlan!  Thats where me and my Mom went on her 50th birthday and it was goregeouss, cant wait to go back.  We are taking a shuttle there, and then a chicken bus back which should be interesting since I remember the drive was pretty brutal last time...but all part of the experience right?...definitely packing some dramamine just in case.  Not really sure what exactly we are going to do, but there are some volcanoes that surround the lake so we were thinking about hiking one of those and maybe even getting my bronze on since Iam probably the whitest girl in Antigua.
     I have realized that even though I am in a different country my "spazzish" Jessie qualities still have not stopped. In fact they seem to be in full force.  Almost getting hit by a car has pretty much become an every day occurance.  I forget that people dont stop to let you cross the street so of course Im taking my sweet ol time, looking at things, people, and next thing I know cars are honking and swerving. Probably need to pay more attention.  And then yesterday, I was taking a shower and they have the big shower head and then this dinky little one (i think to wash your feet or something) and I didnt realize that this dinky little shower head was actually not IN the shower (it was actually spraying water ALL over the bathroom) and finished my shower to open the curtain to a competely flooded bathroom. awesome. And then I had to try to explain that in spanish to Elsa. Also awesome.
dass all for now!  love you guys

One week down!  The week started off so great, I went to visit two schools in the area, a school in Pastores and the other in Santa Maria.  From houses to homes helped with the funding of both schools, and we are trying to make it work so I can teach English and help out at both!  

     We first went to the school in Santa Maria, which is this small town halfway up the Agua volcano, it’s an incredibly poor town, and unlike other towns in the area all the women and children dress in their traditional Mayan clothing which is so beautiful.  Joe first gave me a tour around the town and showed me where the organization had built some houses.  I was taking pictures outside the window and these kids come running up and see me and Joe in the car and start yelling GRINGAS GRINGAS, I most definitely look out of place with my “pelo rubio”.  

     Arriving at the school was probably the most exciting time for me, it was one of those moments where I felt like this is EXACTLY where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to be doing.  The children were gorgeous, smiley, and so eager to learn.  After the school in Santa Maria we headed to the school in Pastores which was vastly different.  This school was very big grades preschool to 3^rd (I think) and had a computer lab.  Both schools are in very poor areas and both schools need as much help and funding as they can get but the school in Santa Maria definitely pulled on my heartstrings a little bit more.

            So yesterday was my first day teaching and I couldn’t WAIT to get started.  I got there just in time for their English class and mostly helped with songs.  First they sing the songs in Spanish and then in English, yesterday we sang “BINGO” so if any of you want to sing bingo in Spanish im your girl.  After class they go downstairs for breakfast and say their prayers, first in English then in Spanish and after that they have recess.  I did however start to get kind of discouraged because I really realized that my Spanish sucks. So bad.  And when you are talking to adults they can help you and explain things to you in a different way.  But if a child doesn’t understand…well that just too bad haha no mercy with them.  So that has been kind of hard but im just going to take it one day at a time.

     Other big thing that happened this week…I went to the office on Monday (where all the volunteers meet in the mornings) and this family that my Mom and I worked with three years ago walked in!! They remembered me right away, (the man was a doctor and had actually taken care of my mom when she got sick)…just crazy that 3 years later we would be in Antigua at the same time.  So that was REALLY great, and also just to see some familiar faces.  And THEN a bunch of us went out last night and I met this girl named Libby and we were talking about where we go to school, and I told her U of R and she was like “oh I have a friend who goes there, do you know Crystal Painter??” (I lived in the same dorm as her freshman year) such a small world, and Libby is here until August as well which is nice.

      Other than my sucky Spanish things are going pretty well down here, this weekend I might be going to Lake Atitlan with an Austrailian gal and another from Virginia, so that should be fun :) thass all for noww, love you guys and MISS YOU  

     Hiya!  So,day three in Guatemala and so far everything is a-okay!  First day i got here was kind of rough, i think it was just the initial shock of "oh my word im actually here and im ALL BY MYSELF", but luckily I met these really nice canadians who helped celebrate my arrival and also lived in the same homestay as me AND worked with from houses to homes. Pretty sweet eh??  Then we met up with these two guys (who also work with From Houses to Homes) from Belgium and Germany named Sebastian and Robyn, they are nuts ha and so much fun.  They are traveling on a budget too so we talked about hopefully doing some traveling together!
     Day two I went up to one of the work sites, it was the last day of building where you paint the house and then they have the key ceremony which is where the family receives the keys to the home.  Despite not having much of a personal connection or investment in this particular family (since it was only my first day) I still managed to bawl my freakin eyes out at the ceremony.  It was so great and it was moments like that that I am so incredibly grateful and excited to be here.
         Day three (today) I met up with this older woman named Dianne, who oddly enough is from Seattle as well!  She is living here indefinitely and has been here for 2 months, shes kinda coo coo ha and talks my ear off but i like her alot.  This morning she took me to this macadamia nut farm in the mountains for some macadamia nut pancakes and they were THE BEST pancakes I have ever had.  The batter was made with macadamia nuts and macadamia oils and it was topped with blueberries and macadamia nut butter....yummmaaa.  And seeing as I have been eating darn cornflakes every morning for breakfast I devoured them in 2 seconds.
      I got so lucky with my host family, they have hot water, feed me three meals a day, and have electricity woo hooo.  The womans name (my Doña) is Elsa, her and her husband run an enfermeria (where people come to get medicine) in the front and a carpenteria in the back (he is a carpenter).  They only speak spanish...and laugh at me because I suck.  I start the day with a delicious bowl of cornflakes and powdered milk, lunch usually consists of rice, beans, and some chicken.....and same with dinner ha. Im never going to want rice beans or chicken again but im much better off than some of the other volunteers who get an egg for lunch.
       Tonight im going to this restaurant called "La peña de sol latino" which is a restaurant me and Mom went to while we were here (one of my profile pictures is of us in that restaurant, im wearing a red zip up).  I had been looking everywhere for this restaurant because they play Andean music every night and it was SO much fun when we went.  Hopefully ill make some more friends so I dont look like a stinkin loser sitting there by myself  haha. 
      Tomorrow I start work in the school! I hop on a chicken bus at seven in da morning, which is packed full of locals and head up into the highlands to start teaching SO EXCITED!  Ill be teaching english and I assume helping them with math, writing, drawing all that fun stuff and most of the kids are 5 and 6 (so like preschool).  Love you guys so much and miss you!! Ill try to upload some pictures too :)