Sarah and Weston

*Dear Reader, I explained (kinda) my absence in a post below this one entitled, "Hi." Read that one first.

Well, in order to get to the point of where I am able to blog again on a regular basis, I'll have to update you on all I neglected to say long ago (dang, if only I could have realized how much work I was making for myself by not writing as things were happening).

Sarah (my lovely sister) and Weston (her lovely husband) came to Guatemala at the beginning of December. When I think back to their trip, I just want to do it all over again. Mostly, because it was a blast and because I love them and because I want to play with them everyday.

Exploring a bit of Guate with our dear friend Juan Pabloe

There were a few speed bumps in the trip. @$$ water. Remember that vocabulary term in my blog? If you don't, I think you can picture it (try, its funny!). Unfortunately, enough of that went around during the two weeks Sarah and Weston were here to make things a little crappy (pun intended). Mix that up with a healthy dose of vomiting and you've got a whole day in the bathroom planned out. Sadly, one of my family members was dealing with both issues in one day at the very beginning of the trip. On a positive note, it all happened at the beach which surprisingly is an ideal location to have the stomach flu (or food poisoning or a parasite or whatever that was!). Did you know that the salt water of the ocean and the force at which waves hit a person can actually make them feel better? My favorite memory of the entire trip was when this said family member realized that the water was where he/she felt best and so we spent countless hours just making up games to play in the water. Who says we have to be adults?

Life is tough!

Weston submitting his Negra Modelo ad

The beach also happened to be Sarah and Weston's favorite place in the whole country. I stupidly sent them to Antigua to fend for themselves for three days while I finished up teaching for the semester. Even with a map, that place can get a little confusing. Had I thought it through more carefully, I would have gone to Antigua with them on the weekend and then sent them to the beach alone for the school days since its impossible to get lost in paradise. Buuuuut I learned my lesson and we all got back together again to head to Lake Atitlan for a long weekend.

The stages of a coffee bean from the plantation tour in Antigua

Wowie!

At the lake, we all experienced for the first time zip-lining, the affects of taking hot sauce shots as punishment during a Trivia game, and the beauty of watching people take in a new culture. I loved watching Sarah and Weston starring off into the distance at the endless beauty that surrounded us. Laughing as we drove in tuk-tuks around the small city while trying to find a massive nature reserve. Being brave and jumping off a 10m "trampoline" (apparently what Guatemalans call a platform. I asked with too much enthusiasm where the trampoline was when I read the sign only to be led to a wooden dock) into unknown waters. Making friends with young Mayan girls who convinced us to play a game of fetch with their oranges in the water (that must have been SOOOO entertaining for them!). And truly appreciating what life was like for people in Guatemala. I remember telling them that if we came back to visit the lake in 30 years, nothing would be changed. And the reaction I got from my siblings was, "That's pretty neat." I loved this response. Sometimes I get so frustrated with internal conflicts found everywhere in Guatemala and don't understand why people keep doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. But Sarah and Weston saw it differently. In a world where everything changes so quickly and time is not an appreciated part of our lives, they saw the Lake as somewhat of a place where time sits still. I was so happy to have been provided that insight from my wise family :)

Sarah being brave all over the place!

The coolest :)

Introducing Almond Roca

Sarah and Weston of course made their Guatemalan debut at Colegio Interamericano. 3B was more than thrilled to have TWO of Miss Hannah's family members there at once. Though they couldn't understand how Sarah could possibly be older than me even though she is shorter, they had a blast getting to know them and getting to know me more through them. During their stay, they read chapters from our beloved class book "The Witches," took part in an intense interview where students were literally cheering at their answers, played a game of Stick Man which was so funny that it will literally never leave my brain, and distributed the famous Almond Roca candy from Tacoma, Washington. I am very proud of them for having left such fond memories with my students especially since both Sarah and Weston claim to be intensely afraid of children.

My favorite conversation amongst them and my students started when I told 3B that they must study their multiplication tables at home. I told them that as a child I completely ignored my teacher's plees to memorize my facts and it haunted me throughout the rest of my mathematical career. I explained that I only learned them last year when I had to teach my third graders how to multiply. I made this story out to be a huge deal, trying to pull the "regret card" and tell them not to make the same mistakes I did. When the story ended, one of my energetic students looks directly at Sarah and Weston and asks "Mr. Sarah, is that true!?" (*note, I realize I wrote Mr. Sarah instead of Miss but that's really what they called her. Also, Mr. Weston was Mr. Western). Sarah took the stage so gracefully and confirmed my story to be nothing but the truth. She took it one step further by adding that she too did not study her facts and she is still to this day not confident in her multiplication facts. That week, we had several students come to school early to start memorizing :)

As I write this, I think about how lucky I am to have had everyone of my immediate family members come see this country I've come to call home. Right now, I am full of excitement for the next time we will all meet (April 14th in BOSTON!) but am also so sad that Sarah and Weston are not still here (and the others, of course). My friends here in Guatemala ask about them often as do the students though their first question is almost always "Why they go?" or "When will the come back?" To which I respond, "Good questions!"

come back?

Stay tuned for more updates. I plan on writing about the following this week before we can be completely caught up:

1. Vacation in Seattle
2. Megan and Matt's visit to Guatemala
3. Panama
4. 3B update