Last blog before leaving
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06 April 2013 | Guatemala, Antigua
Hola!
This will be my last blog before leaving. So just a update from the last 2 weeks.
Last week was Semana Santa. Because this is a week that Antigua is packed I decided to go travel. Monday (25/03) I went to Lago de Atitlan. I got picked up at 6 in the morning to arrive at Panajachel at 8:30. Our group consisted of a guy from Belgium, a German couple from Canada and a German guy from Costa Rico. We all went by boat to visit three towns aside the lake. But only the German guy and I booked a tour guide. I think this was a good idea, because we got to see more of the towns and extra information. The first town we visited was San Juan. A small but very clean town. Here we visited a small local art gallery and an ‘association of women n colors botanic’. This was very interesting as we got to see to process from cotton on a tree to colored cotton we use for knitting. The second town we visited was San Pedro. This town is known for its coffee, but also for its ‘hippy culture’. Btw, I found out a café macchiato here is not the same as back home! I will just stick to my café latte haha! The last town we visited was Santiago. Here we took a tuc tuc to the church. Fun experience! We also had lunch here. Nice fish meal. After that we went back to Panajachel and left at 4 to go back to Antigua. I was going to visit Semuc Champey Wednesday till Friday, but ended up not going. I wasn’t feeling well Tuesday as my stomach was upset. And if a needed a bathroom at a certain point, I really needed one! So ended up being good not going! Well at least I had a good excuse for canceling our trip. The other two preferred staying with their boyfriends that week... But good thing though, now I was able to use the money I got back from the trip for two water filters!
The rest of the week I relaxed a bit, did some reading, writing, coffee and food stops and saw some processions. I also bought all the things I wanted to buy, so I didn’t have to do souvenir shopping the last day of my trip (smart right? Haha!) I also went to Cerro de la Cruz a second time with my American roommate. The view we had that day was a lot better than the one I had the first time I went. So that was good! With my German roommate I visited the chocolate museum and the house of jade. In both places we got a small tour. Quite interesting. I also walked around a lot and talked to ‘strangers’. That was a lot of fun! I also saw one of my students in the street. He was working with his dad with helping people park their cars. He is 11 years old, had a week off, but had to work this whole week! Hard to understand, but this is the culture. So the next day I bought him cookies!
Something I wanted to do, was buy someone dinner who was hungry but couldn’t afford it. Well, God gave me that opportunity! I ordered my dinner one night and was about to pay when an elderly lady walked in. She asked the waitress something, but I couldn’t understand what. So I asked the waitress what she wanted. She responded that the lady wanted food. So I told the waitress that I would buy her whatever she wanted. She wanted a sandwich and a bottle of water. I sat down somewhere, but she sat down somewhere else, so I decided to move and talk to her. She lived in the old town and did have family, but they didn’t take care of her. Therefore she comes into town to ‘beg’. Because it was late and she needed to take the bus home, she took her sandwich to go.
This week I spent most of my time being with the kids. So staying with them from 8 till 3. I got to make some more art work, help out in class with checking work, and playing with them. Thursday I celebrated my birthday with them. Marlon (my teacher) gave we some free time to do something fun with the kids, so we ended up playing soccer. Boys vs. girls. Girls lost, but it still was a lot of fun, and got a nice big bruise on my shin as a reminder! After that I had a nice treat for them! The kids sang for me and I got a lot of hugs. I also received sweet letters from some of my kids. After class I went to café El Refugio for my daily coffee and would have some cake there for who ever wanted to come by. It ended up being quite some people! The guys from church, roommates, school friends, and more! I (unexpectedly) received some nice gifts as well. So my birthday ended up being a blast!
The next day, Friday, would be the last day with my kids. As it was my last day and I wanted to do something special for them I decided to buy banana bread (and two other flavors of bread) for them. One bread for each kid, which they could share with their family. So I needed 25! In the morning I went with Martine to the bakery to get them. We brought our backpacks and they were full! I carried 14, and Martina 11. It weighed a ton! We walked with it from the bakery to school which was about 30 minutes! Quite a workout haha! The kids were very happy with it though! I also got to do something with the kids again, so decided to give them a Dutch class! I taught them some words but also the song ‘Vader Jacob’. That is because they know a song in Cakchiquel and Spanish with the same melody! It was a lot of fun. I received more sweet letters from them, more hugs and even poems from the guys. They would even go on their knees to read them too me! So sweet! Also my teachers told me he very much enjoyed our time together and that I’m not replaceable and surely will be missed. I did tell them I wasn’t going to cry till it was three o’clock, and yes at three when I had to say goodbye I was in tears. I will really miss those kids!
My last days here I will enjoy doing what I like. Monday I will have the opportunity to help with the construction of a house, so I am happy I can close of my time here with something like that! Sad to leave this place, the people, the work… But I’m also happy to see my family and friends again. But yes I have very strong mixed feelings. If God is willing, I would like to return in a year or so to do more good work and visit the friends made. I did receive possible ‘job’ opportunities here, so who knows!
See you guys in 5 days!
PS. Fun fact (which you maybe already know though): I can just not pass for a Dutch person! Based on looks, people think I’m from Guatemala City, Mexico, Colombia or just Latin American. When I talk Spanish they think I’m from Spain (because I talk with a lisp) or France (because of my r’s). When speaking English I got to ‘fool’ people in having them believe I’m from the States. I asked from which area they thought I would be. They answered Chicago. But then when I said I was from the Netherlands they could here it a bit I was from there, because of the th=d (Ne’d’erlands). So need to work on that haha!
This will be my last blog before leaving. So just a update from the last 2 weeks.
Last week was Semana Santa. Because this is a week that Antigua is packed I decided to go travel. Monday (25/03) I went to Lago de Atitlan. I got picked up at 6 in the morning to arrive at Panajachel at 8:30. Our group consisted of a guy from Belgium, a German couple from Canada and a German guy from Costa Rico. We all went by boat to visit three towns aside the lake. But only the German guy and I booked a tour guide. I think this was a good idea, because we got to see more of the towns and extra information. The first town we visited was San Juan. A small but very clean town. Here we visited a small local art gallery and an ‘association of women n colors botanic’. This was very interesting as we got to see to process from cotton on a tree to colored cotton we use for knitting. The second town we visited was San Pedro. This town is known for its coffee, but also for its ‘hippy culture’. Btw, I found out a café macchiato here is not the same as back home! I will just stick to my café latte haha! The last town we visited was Santiago. Here we took a tuc tuc to the church. Fun experience! We also had lunch here. Nice fish meal. After that we went back to Panajachel and left at 4 to go back to Antigua. I was going to visit Semuc Champey Wednesday till Friday, but ended up not going. I wasn’t feeling well Tuesday as my stomach was upset. And if a needed a bathroom at a certain point, I really needed one! So ended up being good not going! Well at least I had a good excuse for canceling our trip. The other two preferred staying with their boyfriends that week... But good thing though, now I was able to use the money I got back from the trip for two water filters!
The rest of the week I relaxed a bit, did some reading, writing, coffee and food stops and saw some processions. I also bought all the things I wanted to buy, so I didn’t have to do souvenir shopping the last day of my trip (smart right? Haha!) I also went to Cerro de la Cruz a second time with my American roommate. The view we had that day was a lot better than the one I had the first time I went. So that was good! With my German roommate I visited the chocolate museum and the house of jade. In both places we got a small tour. Quite interesting. I also walked around a lot and talked to ‘strangers’. That was a lot of fun! I also saw one of my students in the street. He was working with his dad with helping people park their cars. He is 11 years old, had a week off, but had to work this whole week! Hard to understand, but this is the culture. So the next day I bought him cookies!
Something I wanted to do, was buy someone dinner who was hungry but couldn’t afford it. Well, God gave me that opportunity! I ordered my dinner one night and was about to pay when an elderly lady walked in. She asked the waitress something, but I couldn’t understand what. So I asked the waitress what she wanted. She responded that the lady wanted food. So I told the waitress that I would buy her whatever she wanted. She wanted a sandwich and a bottle of water. I sat down somewhere, but she sat down somewhere else, so I decided to move and talk to her. She lived in the old town and did have family, but they didn’t take care of her. Therefore she comes into town to ‘beg’. Because it was late and she needed to take the bus home, she took her sandwich to go.
This week I spent most of my time being with the kids. So staying with them from 8 till 3. I got to make some more art work, help out in class with checking work, and playing with them. Thursday I celebrated my birthday with them. Marlon (my teacher) gave we some free time to do something fun with the kids, so we ended up playing soccer. Boys vs. girls. Girls lost, but it still was a lot of fun, and got a nice big bruise on my shin as a reminder! After that I had a nice treat for them! The kids sang for me and I got a lot of hugs. I also received sweet letters from some of my kids. After class I went to café El Refugio for my daily coffee and would have some cake there for who ever wanted to come by. It ended up being quite some people! The guys from church, roommates, school friends, and more! I (unexpectedly) received some nice gifts as well. So my birthday ended up being a blast!
The next day, Friday, would be the last day with my kids. As it was my last day and I wanted to do something special for them I decided to buy banana bread (and two other flavors of bread) for them. One bread for each kid, which they could share with their family. So I needed 25! In the morning I went with Martine to the bakery to get them. We brought our backpacks and they were full! I carried 14, and Martina 11. It weighed a ton! We walked with it from the bakery to school which was about 30 minutes! Quite a workout haha! The kids were very happy with it though! I also got to do something with the kids again, so decided to give them a Dutch class! I taught them some words but also the song ‘Vader Jacob’. That is because they know a song in Cakchiquel and Spanish with the same melody! It was a lot of fun. I received more sweet letters from them, more hugs and even poems from the guys. They would even go on their knees to read them too me! So sweet! Also my teachers told me he very much enjoyed our time together and that I’m not replaceable and surely will be missed. I did tell them I wasn’t going to cry till it was three o’clock, and yes at three when I had to say goodbye I was in tears. I will really miss those kids!
My last days here I will enjoy doing what I like. Monday I will have the opportunity to help with the construction of a house, so I am happy I can close of my time here with something like that! Sad to leave this place, the people, the work… But I’m also happy to see my family and friends again. But yes I have very strong mixed feelings. If God is willing, I would like to return in a year or so to do more good work and visit the friends made. I did receive possible ‘job’ opportunities here, so who knows!
See you guys in 5 days!
PS. Fun fact (which you maybe already know though): I can just not pass for a Dutch person! Based on looks, people think I’m from Guatemala City, Mexico, Colombia or just Latin American. When I talk Spanish they think I’m from Spain (because I talk with a lisp) or France (because of my r’s). When speaking English I got to ‘fool’ people in having them believe I’m from the States. I asked from which area they thought I would be. They answered Chicago. But then when I said I was from the Netherlands they could here it a bit I was from there, because of the th=d (Ne’d’erlands). So need to work on that haha!
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08 April 2013 - 13:55
Michiel:
Die mensen daar hebben wel geluk met jou zeg! awesome :) goeie reis alvast
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
