Feria Time!

Ok, so yes, I am writing this the same day as I finished the other, but this was a cool couple weeks, so I need to do it while fresh!  So I'll start with last weekend.  It was the crowning of the princess of Copan.  Last year's princess, who gave up her crown last Saturday, is Mandy's 1st grader, so we go to go "behind the scenes" and see her and the Indian guys all dressed up.  It was this big ceremony in town where they basically just announances the new princess.  Then the next weekend they do the queen.  Here are some videos & pictures...

 Mandy's student, all dressed up!

Ok, so that was last weekend. It was kind of the start to Feria.  (I should explain, Feria is just a carnival that comes to Copan, but people from all around come.)  So that was last weekend and then this weekend was the queen's ceremony.  That was interesting because we pretty much missed it.  When we went to the princess one, it said it started at 8.  So we went down at 7:30.  Well when we got there, so was the princess. So the ceremony didn't start until like 9.  So for the queen, we didn't want to sit in town all evening, so we decided to go out at like 8.  Well, low and behold, the one time we actually were running on Honduran time, the ceremony was pretty much over.  The queen looked about the same, in the same kind of dress, so I guess we really didn't miss much.  So she is the queen of Feria, and will reign until next year. So that was the crowning ceremonies, just a little part.  Then, last Sunday, they had a ceremony to let the recuperated macaws fly to the ruins, where they have alot that are allowed to fly around free, and then at night they open the cages and feed them, so they are safe from animals and poachers.  So it was set up in town, and there were a couple macaws you could get put on your arms, which I already did at the bird park so I did not want to partake in that again, but some of the teachers did it, and we saw some of our students do it too.  And then there were guys dressed up as birds on stilts, it creeped me out, but was pretty funny.  We didn't stay to see the birds go, which we aren't even sure they ever did, we stayed in town for a while and then it was getting to hot and I had been up since church, so it was time to go.  o! But first we watched some traditional dances by some of the kids in town.  That was kinda same old same old.  We see them all the time, but it's still awesome how good the kids are.  Here's some pictures from that:

So that was last weekend.  Then during the week, an unexpected event happened.  It's a pretty crazy story, but unfortunately too common down here.  Remember it was isolated, and I & the other teachers are still safe.  One of my student's parents was shot & killed.  And about a week before his cousin had been machetied on his arm & beheaded, then shot a few times.  We found out from one of our friends that there is a list of 9 people, now 7 left, except a friend's cousin actually just was murdered and we aren't sure if he was on the list, so there could be 6 left?  They are all drug dealers, and unfortunaely my student's dad was a good dad, but shady business man, and didn't do business to the full, kept drugs and money, and didn't deliver in full I guess. Now down here, everyone has a different story, there's usually only one or two constants.  The one from this is it happened in the middle of the night, and he was coming home we think from the bar most likely.  The shooter was outside, and here's where we're not sure the story.  He was coming from a birthday or going to a birthday, one story my student saw it happen cause she was waiting by the window, the other the wife was with him and ran inside when she saw the shooter to call her brothers, but by the time they got there he was dead.  So anyways, we went to the wake.  There was about 25 fifth graders like 5 or 6 teachers (both Honduran and from the States).  It was sad.  It was at her house which is outside town, so we took a bus.  When we got there the whole family was there, they basically come right when it happens and stay for a couple days.  We then went in and saw the casket, I didn't want to look, but they do it so fast because there's not morgue here, so no where to keep the body before it starts to smell and decompose.  So my boss told me sometimes you'll even see a bunch of buckets of ice under the casket, but we didn't.  We then saw her mom, gave her a hug, and then saw her.  I hope to never do that again in my life, ever.  She looked like she had been non-stop crying for 24 hours, which I'm sure she had.  Her face was just so sad.  We gave her hugs and paid our respect, sat around, she did at one point come out for a little to sit with the students, but before we left they gave her a shot to calm her down so she could sleep.  However, at a Honduran wake, it's almost like a party.  There was a ton of food, and so many people, they were setting up tents because they sit into the night.  Sad atmosphere, but everyone the family knows comes together, almost like a celebration of the life lost.  So that was that.

Ok so after that little sad bit, Feria was here!  It started Wed. or Thursday.  They also had the street opening celebration, so Friday night was like a big block party.  It was alot of fun.  Everyone was out, there was food and dancing.  It was really cool.  Again, something different.  Then Saturday (St. Patrick's Day) was nice.  We went, again to see a folklore dance competition.  I have never seen so much dancing in my life until I got here haha.  So it was supposed to start at 2, it started at like 3.  So we watched a little soccer first.  We stayed for a few schools dances, then went because we were hungry.  Mostly me, but since I've been running I'm constantly hungry, I can't afford running because I always need to eat now haha.  So we ate, then saw the queen's crowning, which we pretty much missed.  Then we kinda split.  A couple teachers went down to the fair, where I guess they rode a few carnival rides and played a few games.  I guess it was kinda crowded and fun.  I just stayed in town with another teacher, the Feria was a little walk away and I just didn't feel like doing it haha.  So we just hung out, some other teachers met us in town.  It was a nice day.  Then Sunday we went down to the fair.  It was just like I was imagining.  Carnival rides, that we think were second hand from the states haha.  Reaaallll safe.  We walked around and ate, a couple teachers played a game, shooting game, shocking.  Everything here is about guns.  And then we went over to the rodeo.  I was looking forward to the rodeo all weekend, I was so excited.  It was my first rodeo!  It was INSANE.  The riders have to be crazy, literally crazy to do what they do.  There is a video on my facebook wall, I can't figure out how to get it on here though.  I'll keep trying.  There was a man who would ride horses in the middle, it was like an hour for this, and the horse would kinda dance.  Then finally the bulls and riders came out!  They would make the bull mad then open the gate.  One of the riders who fell off, was pushed around on the ground by the bull.  It was crazy!  I saw a couple students there, they loved it.  We didn't stay the whole time because intermission was taking forever, it was over an hour easily, but we saw 4 good rides, very exciting!  Then that brings me up to date I think.  Mandy is the photographer so I have to wait for her to get pictures up so I can steal them.  So those will be coming.  Other than that, hope all is well, miss everyone!

It's been a month!

Sorry it's been so long!  It's hard to stalk someone when they can't keep you updated with their lives!  Hahaha.  Anywhoooooo, it's been a month since I've written, probably because nothing much has been going on I suppose.  Everything, like I said before is just "normal" now.  The kids are still as crazy/psychotic as usual.  2 weeks ago we had "Fun Day".  During the week it was dress up days, Monday was crazy hair, tues was pjs, wed was sports, and thurs was fancy dress.  It turned out well, alot of kids, and almost all the teachers participated.  That week was also Valentine's Day.  So it was a pretty laid back week.  Valentine's day we had a party with the whole school at the end of the day, it was fun.  So then came Friday, Fun Day.  It was chaotic!  But fun!  We saw stuff I didn't think I'd ever see in my life.  So, we didn't have classes, but everyone went to school to play games and such, it's a fundraiser the 10th grade does to raise money, kinda like a FunFair.  Onlyyyyyy much different.  There is a place called the jail.  Students can pay to put their friends in, but it's much more fun to put their teachers in.  So low & behold I went in....3 times.  To get out, it cost 10 lempira. (about 50cents).  When you get put in jail, if you're a student, they do EVERYTHING they can to get you up there.  The older kids were like the officers, so they literally picked kids up and dragged them up there.  It was insane.  I went in, but willingly so, the first time in, my 5th graders put me there.  I knew they were going to because they're not very sneaky at some things, they told me we're going to put you in jail.  So that time I had to pay to get out.  The second time, Mandy's 1st graders put me in.  They thought it was HILARIOUS!  It was just so funny to see them laughing hysterically when they got me in there.  It was adorable!  So I sat for a few minutes, the student who has Autism that I help with math spent the day in jail, it was calm and quiet, and everything else was chaos, so it was actually kinda nice going in cause I got to talk with him, but anyways, I was talking with him and he said it was time for me to go, so I was going to pay, but the "warden" came and said someone paid for me to get out.  I get out, and thought the 1st graders were going to pee they were laughing so hard.  They paid for me to get out, you would have thought it was Christmas.  So that was cute.  Then the third time I was walking with one of the teachers daughters and a sheriff came and grabbed us, she threw her egg shell that you crack & confetti comes out, threw it at him and ran, (I later told her mom she will never get stolen because she bolted haha, did the right thing) so he took me up to jail, but when I asked who put me there he said he couldn't tell, which happened to a few other teachers, so we think some shady business was going on.  But that time, another teacher had a ticket to get me out, so I was free pretty fast.  They had these eggs that had confetti in them, and you cracked them on each other, then they had "pies" which was just shaving cream (with methanol in it) that was pretty awesome......not.  Then they had a "waterslide".  It was pretty much just a mess all over, but Fun Day was crazy, and it was great to see the kids outside of class & to remind me they're still fun and awesome kids, they just have no desire to learn & love to make my life difficult in the class.   Here are some pictures from that:

This was after the 1st graders paid to get me out of jail after putting me in:

 This was Valentine's Day/Pajama day, the fifth graders just standing around:

 Dress up day (With Ffarah with the crown on, it was her birthday, she's Mandy's assistant, her family has become our Hondruan family & the littlier one is Gilda, Kinder's assisstant, and then Mandy)

 5th grade 'B' all dressed up, most of them

 Ffarah & I

 Throwing water balloons

 Marin, Mandy, & I all wet & messy

 One of my 5th graders "pieing" me

 The methanol was wonderful in the eyes

 All of 5th grade

 Caios

 The students waiting in line for tickets because selling them before would have been too easy

 the waterslide

Ok, so I started writing this a couple weeks ago, but got incredibly lazy.  So since then some more has gone on.  A couple teachers from last year came to visit our friend Emily, so while they were here we went up to the hot springs.  We only did the front part, which was just 2 big pools, basically big baths.  The water was in fact though naturally coming out hot, so that was cool.  The back parts that we hope to get to someday are supposed to be way cooler, more like a spa.  But we went with our Honduran friend who owns the cafe we always go to, so he drove us up there, it was like a 40 min drive.  It was nice, and something different to do for a Saturday night.  We also had Mandy's aide and her family over.  They told us we are in their family now.  The mom and sister work in the Caseta at school, and they don't make us pay for food when we want to eat. They also took care of Mandy when she was sick, by making her tea and giving her food to make her better.  They are so adorable, here's a picture of us at dinner:

in the pink is the mom, Rosa, next to her is the sister, Raquel, and then Ffarah, and the little girl drinking is Megan, Ffarah's daughter in 1st grade, and then the other girl is Angie, she is in 1st grade and just wanted to come to Miss Mandy's house, she was a surprise guest haha, she is a crazy child.

Let's seeeeeee, my students old teacher came to visit, so we had a party for her.  She was their teacher in 3rd & 4th grade.  My student's have been spoiled in that their 3/4th grade teacher stayed, then their teacher from last year is still here in 4th grade, so they have some kinda witch craft going on I think because I would love to stay another year too.  Anyways, the old teacher had both classes to visit, so my class was second, which put me into a panic because the party was planned for right after lunch, and she wasn't going to come until like 30 min after it ended, I thought, what in the world are we going to do! But the students held it together, we played music and they danced, and "surprised" her when it was their time.  They made a cool decoration by figuring out when the wind blows through the class, the balloons will stick so here's a picture of that, I took about 15 so they could show their teacher since it kept falling over when the wind would stop:

So I think that brings me up to date now.  I'll write a whole seperate blog about Feria weekend.  Because it was awesome!  Here are a few other pictures of the teacher's and I just out and about:

 These two are from La Pintada, the place up the mountain we tutor at

Time's Flying!

Hey! So we've already been back a month!  It's crazy to think how fast this year is going!  We're in the 3rd quarter at school already.  And we're already starting to plan spring break (semana santa, easter week) because everything gets booked fast.  Not much is going on here.  There was a full moon so the kids have been a little crazy last week.  We also have gotten back into the swing of things, so the teachers have been a little more, not lazy, but a nicer term, of gathering the kids after recess for class, today we got caught going back 10 min late.  Luckily the line for food was longer, so that was my excuse haha.  This last weekend we went up to La Pintada to tutor the 4 kids who live up there.  It was a nice hike, and we played a math game for an hour and hiked back, then my favorite part, lunch at Crispy baleadas!  mmmmmmmm, it's my favorite food here!  A tortilla with refried beans, cream, cheese, avocado, and eggs.  Delicious!  But, not much else going on, still trying to figure something else to do, besides running, after school so I'm not so bored.  Here are a few pictures from zip lining a couple weekends ago!  Hope all is well back home!

This is Luis, our Kindergarten friend, who's dad owns the zip lining and his mom is the travel guide at Via Via, so he hangs out with us there and took the 3 of us zip lining, fo free!

 I kept slowing down too soon, so I'd have to pull myself in, twice this guy had to come out and get me, oooppppssss

Like a monkey, only safer

Hey! So I figured I should probablllyyyy keep up with this, I'm just so lazy!  Even though teaching has not been so time consuming.  I'm finally molding into my lessons, and am at the back end of "the first year" experience.  It is exciting, but now we come home and have nothing to do haha.  I've started running again, out past the ruins because it's flat, and I run with a couple other people so I feel safe.  A couple of us are going to train for a half marathon in Guatemala! I'm excited for that because it's at the lake we went to for Thanksgiving, Lake Atitlan!  Besides that, not much has been going on.  Last week the 5th graders took a trip to the ruins for Social Studies, so we got to go as chaperons. The kids are liking the new teacher, Dave.  I think having a male influence for alot of the boys will be really good for them.  Except they'll randomly still ask about Ivy, the last teacher.  So the ruins were pretty awesome.  I'm not really into ancient history kinda stuff, but it was definitely cool to see.  I of course forgot my camera, so I have to steal the pictures still.  So that was last Friday, and then the weekend was pretty awesome!  We hung out with a kinder student because his mom works at one of the bars in town as a travel guide kinda person, so his dad and him go eat dinner there.  The little boy is so adorable, he always says hi to me and mandy, and his dad is the owner of zip lining.  So we sat and played some drawing game with the boy and the dad invited us to go on the new zip lining course for free!  We of course took the invite.  It was awesome!  However, it wasn't as fast as the other course, but it is still worth it.  We could see school when we went down one of them.  We were so grateful for that opportunity.  We also helped get the orphanage in town ready to be painted this weekend.  We sanded all the walls, I told the other teachers it was probably the most manual labor I've ever done in my life.  They were very grateful for what we did, we went through like 7 layers of paint.  They just kept adding paint over the old layer, it was in pretty bad shape.  Speaking of the orphanage, a couple of the teachers are trying to raise some money so we can buy some supplies for the kids.  Like cleaning supplies, new mattresses, diapers, etc.  We have bought some things, but we're still considered volunteers so we share as much as we can.  So for any of you feeling daring, they have a website for donations, just a thought. ;)  (I'll put it at the end).  So after that depressing sob story, I have one funny, random story, not a week goes by without one!  So Mandy and I were sitting eating dinner, or just finished dinner on Sunday I think it was.  And all of the sudden this random cat shows up at the door purring and meowing.  Well theres a giant dog in our complex so we think this cat is pretty brave.  Then it just goes away.  A few minutes later we hear a child, maybe 10-11 year old boy yelling, but in a creepily manner, donde estan mis hijooossss? (where are my children)  and this voice keeps doing it.  It was so creepy! It probably lasted a couple rounds, then stopped.  It was just odd this random cat came, then a voice yelling that.  (Keep in mind we don't have children that age live down here) So we don't really know what that was all about, but it definately added to the crazy, fun weekend we had!  So have a good rest of the week, in the snow, and here's the link! ........Miss you too!

http://www.indiegogo.com/Project-Home 

So that's the link, it tells you a little about the orphanage and what they want to do to it.  It really is for a great cause and completely, all the money is going toward it.  I know it's rough times back home for some, but even if you can spread the word, that would be just as awesome!


PPS pictures of the weekend will be up soon

Back to Copan

Heeelllllooooooo. So we've been back in Copan a week and not much is going on.  I woulda had the Hot Springs to write about, but the girl who was going to take us is sick, so we are stuck at home tonight.  So we got into Copan last Friday about 6:30-7, with 3 other teachers and showed the new teacher around town.   It's still a little strange seeing him and not Ivy everyday, but the kids like him, so I think it'll be good.  The kids have surprisingly gotten back into the swing of things and were excellent this week.  The school is taking one kid from every grade to the capital Tegucigalpa to compete in a big spelling bee.  The top 3 spellers from 5th grade are in my class, so I was really proud of them.  I've started training again for a half marathon, that we're going to run in May......in Guatemala!  It's by the lake we went to over Thanksgiving so that will be awesome! It's so pretty there.  Then this morning I woke up to Mandy's aide, Ffarah, yelling our names outside the house because she brought us pancakes.  It was a nice wake-up call!  They were delicious!  They always feed us, we are very lucky to have them.  But she made them because she feels bad we can't go to the hot springs.  So that's about it for the week, nothing too exciting.  There are alot of tourists in town though, I guess Europe is still on holiday, so there's alot of Europeans around.  Hope all is well back home, and you're enjoying the snow as much as I'm enjoying the sun & warmth! baahahahahahaa

Christmas Has Begun!

Hi!  So kinda a lot has happened in the last week.  Besides the count down to being home, which is 13 days!  I forgot in the last blog to mention Thanksgiving dinner from the school.  It was last Wednesday night, before we left for Guatemala.  It was a nice attempt for us, howeverrrrrr, it was more just like a dinner.  I'm pretty sure I had pork instead of turkey, there was turkey, but I didn't get any.  Then I missed the stuffing somehow, BUT they did try pumpkin pie, which made it all better!  It was at one of the student's houses that overlooks Copan a little, so that was nice to see, it was a pretty view over the town.  Everyone got dressed up, so it was a nice dinner with everyone, very relaxing.  So now on to this week.

They have started Christmas celebrations.  I should start with, here they shoot fireworks off for Christmas.  Those they started right around Halloween. They love to shoot them off at like 5 in the morning for some reason.  One night they were shooting them off at like 3am......not pleasant.  So the fireworks now have increased and we hear them all day.  However, they're just like noise ones, never any cool shoots in the air or anything like that.  In class we've started our Christmas songs because the kids march in a parade and carol down the streets, similar to Independance Day Parade; only it's at night and they carry candles.  However, I'll be on an airplane when they do this, so that's kinda a bummer that I won't get to see it.  But I still need to get them ready for it.  It's weird to not be bundled up and have it snow though.  I think once people start putting up christmas lights and such, it'll feel more like the holidays.

Which brings me to my next story.  So every Friday the school has some sort of Christmas thing, so this Friday was Bingo, then next Friday the kids have a play and the chorus sings, then the 16th is the parade.  So last night was Bingo.  We got out of school early to go set up the building it is held at.  It took about 3 hours to set up, well for us, we got down to town a little late, shocking haha.  We basically just blew up balloons (which now I know how they make those giant balloon sculpture things, with all the balloons in a line.)  Then we had to unload the table & chairs from school and set those up.  The only thing was, they were expecting about 300 people, and we ran out of chairs.  So we had to walk around town to find some.  We first went over to a church, but they only gave us 20 (we needed about 80 or so more).  But they wouldn't give us more because Bingo is gambling and they didn't want the chairs to be part of it.....yes, there are crazy church people here too.   So then we went over to a house a few blocks away, one of my students, come to find out, lives there.  Luckily his mom had a ton of chairs, so we stopped a truck in the street and asked if they would drive the chairs over to the building.  They did.  So we unloaded and finished setting up.  While we were setting up, one of my students and her mom saw me, and brought me a cup of coffee and a sweet roll.  It was so sweet, I felt so lucky.  (now I feel bad that she is going to get a progress report next week, eekkkk).  Anyways after my snack we went home to change and shower and get ready.  When we got back down in the evening it was pretty crowded, I would say there were probably about 300 like they expected.  There was also food outside from each of the grades to help bring money in too, so we had delicious, homemade Honduran food and won some prizes!

The American teachers kinda cleaned up.  I was the first winner.  It was only the B,N,O rows, and I was getting close, then I needed one number, when I said that, the number was called and probably a look of sheer panic hit my face because Mandy's the one who yelled Bingo for me.  I was a little embarrassed and don't like those huge groups of people focusing on me kinda thing, but the checker came over to check my card and it turns out I was a winner.  I won a pink, plastic tool box and a free ride to school on the bus for a month.........I don't know how to use tools, and I walk to school haha.......so I wasn't sure what I was going to do with this prize, but it was exciting that I won.  Then Mandy won a necklace.  Another teacher won some pizza.  Then we're getting to the animals.  In Honduras, they go all out...rabbits, dogs, lamps, tables, and sheep!  One of the other American teachers won a sheep! Second year in a row I guess.  So she wants to make some lamb chops, which I'm all for, as long as I don't meet the sheep first.

So Bingo is dwindling down and only a few prizes are left.  Mind you, we're getting into like the 5th hour of sitting, playing this game I thought I wouldn't even last an hour at.  So Mandy's card is filling up, and filling up, then she screams Bingo.  Not only is this her second win, but she won the same. exact. prize. Only her tool box was green.  People already think we're married, and then we go and win the same prizes in Bingo.  However, since we are both real handy with tools, we gave our prizes away.  She kept her necklace, it was a $70 prize, almost a third of what we make in a month lol.  But my tool box went to one of the 4th grade students and hers went to one of the teachers for her art supplies.  Our free bus passes will go to a student in each of our classes who need the money.  But overall it was a really fun night!  It was definately an experience.  So that's just the start of our Christmas celebrations, I'm sure there's more to come.  As soon as I get pictures I'll try and get them up.  Right now I'm just more focused on coming home, I'm like my students, I know break is right here, so I'm pretty much checked out, so hopefully I keep that in mind as I'm telling the kids to focus haha.  See you all reaaalllll soon!

A Honduran Thanksgiving!

Hi! Happy Thanksgiving (late, sorry)!  I hope everyone had a nice holiday and are getting ready for the big one! I missed home and all the food, but my Thanksgiving break was AMAZING! We did so much cool stuff in such little time, but it was all worth it!  Ok, bare with me, I have a lot of stories! I'll start by saying we (6 teachers including me: Mandy, Marin, Love, Ashely, Kristen, Me) so that's the we I'll refer to, went on vacation to Guatemala this weekend; Antigua and Lake Atitlan.

Thursday (Thanksgiving in case you forgot):

So as you were all tucked in your beds waiting for the food to start cooking, I was getting up at the crack of dawn to make our 6am bus out of Copan.  Well we made it, and the first hour or 2 were pretty crowded, but then people got out so we had more space.  The ride was about 6 hours to Antigua where we had to get another shuttle to the lake. The bus ride was gorgeous!  The scenery was spectacular and it helps that it was a beautiful day! 

So the building got in the way, but I left it cause I thought it looked pretty cool...and then the other is just of the mountains.  So we got into Antigua at like 12, and our shuttle out to the lake (the town was called San Pedro) was at 2, so we had some time to kill.  We just sat in the sun and hung out in the main park until 2.  O, first we ate Burger King!  It was delicious!  Then we just sat around....it's a cute town though, old, reminds me of Guanajato, Mexico.

P.S. that mountain is a volcano! My first real life volcano!

So we got on the shuttle to the lake, they told us about 2 hours, welllll it was closer to 4.  So in total we traveled for about 10 hours Thursday.  But when we got to the lake it was literally something out of a scary movie.  People bombarded us right when the door opened and I kept saying no, no we can find our own hostel.  But this man was very persistant and worked "for the town" and said he could show us a hostel.  I was very uncomfortable but everyone else said to just go check it out.  Well I went along because I wasn't about to stay somewhere alone.  So it was getting kinda dark and he took us down this street then up a creepy set of stairs.  Then there was doors.  I was throughouly uncomfortable, especially because there were about 3 other Honduran men watching us look at the room.  However, my vote was outnumbered and we stayed.  It turned out ok, otherwise I wouldn't be writing right now haha.  We only had to sleep in it for like 6 hours anyways.  Because we signed up to go up to see the sunrise over volcanoes! So this "tour guide" also did tours up to the volcano and told us to meet him at 4am in town and we had to pay 50 quetzales up front.  Well, he saw us coming because we found out another group only paid 75 quetezales total and we paid 125 which is like 16 bucks and 75 is only about 11.  But whatever, it was gorgeous!  Ok, so first Thursday ended pretty normal, we ate at a little shack, not the Thanksgiving we were used too, no pies or over eating, but I wasn't in boots and jeans, so that makes up a little for it.  So we went to bed around 9 I think so we had plenty of sleep.

Now Friday:

So we wake up at 3:30, and go outside to meet the guide at 4.  Again, I thought I was walking into a horror story.  It was pitch black, and no guide around at 4.  He finally shows up at 4:20ish and says we have to walk to get the bus.  It was dark and cold and theres 6 of us american girls, and 2 Australians.  Luckily it was a couple so at least we added a male to the group, but it was still pretty scary.  We got in the van and it was maybe a 20 minute drive.  So when we get there the guide asks who has a flashlight.....wellllll we didnt bring a flashlight on vacation because who would do that? But some of the girls had phones with lights, so thank god for that; otherwise we'd be walking up a moutain in pitch black.  Did I mention the first part was through a corn field? Yes, this is the part where I was literally saying a prayer haha.  But we made it!  It was legit!  The view was SPECTACULAR!  Here's some pictures:

 4am San Pedro

 Up the street here is our hostel.....looks pretty shady in the dark

 we made it to the top pry around 5am....after hiking up the mountain in darkness

 So as some of you were out shopping for sales, this is what I was doing...you can see the puff on the left from the volcano

 It was chilllllaaayyyyy!

 my first experience seeing volcano smoke! The sun is starting to pop out too!

 We weren't the only ones up there either, which made us feel muuuuccchhhh safer haha

 I'm pretty sure that first town in front is San Pedro where we stayed, but then again I'm very geographically challenged.

 This was going to be my Christmas present to you all baahahahaha, gorgeous!

 A beautiful view

 that's not snow, it's a town

 Waited for this!  Definately worth the wait!

 Best Black Friday EVER!

This is what the mountain looks like in the day.....and yes we went through that corn field, now can you imagine my worry?

   

apparently in Guatemala they have a thing with loose cows?  Never seen a cow tied to a tree

So we accomplished all that before 9 haha.  Then we took a bus back to town, where we got ripped off paying.  However, it was worth it because we had the most amazing breakfast!  It was so American.  Pancakes, fruit, eggs, it was awesome!  We decided it was  Thanksgiving breakfast since we didn't eat much on Thanksgiving.  So after breakfast we did a little shopping before the boat across the lake to Panajachel.  It was a cute town, San Pedro, but not much to do so we took the boat over at like 11:30 and got there about 12.  But our shuttle wasn't til 4 so we had alot of down time.  We decided to first find where the shuttle would pick us up and then explore & shop.  However, we found the hotel where we would get picked up and went in to ask if we could leave our bags and I found this gorgeous pool!  So of course we lucked out again, Ashley Mandy and I always find the coolest pools.  So the 3 of us paid about 6ish dollars to use this pool for 4 hours.  It was worth it!  We put on our suits while the other 3 went out in town.  We needed it because we had been traveling so much I just wanted to hang out and get tan.  Because we're gonna look silly when we get back not being tan and having been in Central America haha.  

So we swam, got sun, napped and got back on the shuttle to Antigua.  The ride from the lake was much shorter, only like 2 1/2 hours.  However, there was traffic in one of the towns and that was super annoying.  But we made it.  In Antigua, we had reservations at a hostel that was supposed to be the best.  Little did we know, the fun was about to start haha.  So we finally found the hostel, note it's dark because its about 7pm and we had been awake since 3:30 with only a little nap in the day.  So the hostel tells Ashley (who made the reservation) that they didnt have the reservation.  We were supposed to have our own 6 person room because otherwise it would be a 20 person room; which turned out to be an unfinished attic with 20 beds laid out.  So they supposidly didnt have the reservation and said we could stay in one of the 20 beds; this is when we found out it was in an attic.  I was not down for this, neither were the others.  So Ashley pulled up the conformation email and showed them.  Turns out the front desk guy was in Decemeber so he missed our reservation.  So we got the manager and she was rude and wasn't going to give us a free night, which was the only way we woulda slept in the attack.  So as this is going on, Marin & I decide to go out and find another hotel.  So we stop in at a store and ask where a reasonable priced place was.  We get the name and go.  Well we get there and it's a hotel.  Usually that means pricey.  But we check it out anyways.  IT was a cute little place, but as soon as we start talking to the lady, we knew it would be too much.  We ask how much a night was and she says $65 for 3.  Wellllll that's wayyyy outta budget.  However the good thing about Guatemala, that's different than Honduras is the bargaining.  So we said that was too much and she brought it down to 100 quetzales which is like 12 bucks a night, but that's still too much.  So she asks our price, I say $10 and she says too low, so Marin goes into the poor volunteer teacher story, so the lady finally agrees!  So we paid the same price for our own rooms, 3 per room, than what we woulda paid at the hostel.  So Marin and I are so proud of ourselves because we were the least 2 aggressive people on the trip.  When we went looking we were like uhhhhh neither of us like confrontation, how are we gonig to do this?  But we went back with the news and we left that hostel and the rude lady and dumb guy who messed up our reservation.  So by this time its almost 9pm.  We still hadn't ate.  So we change and go eat at this "Italian" place.  It wasn't that great, well I had a salad that was good, but everyone else had pasta or calzones and they said it wasn't great.  So that was kinda a bust of a day.  We were wiped out.  We were up since 3:30, had to travel and laid in the sun all day, so we called it a night. And the whole not having anywhere to stay at first kinda took alot out of us.

Saturday (our only non-traveling day!):

Mandy had seen online this cross over Antigua, where the tourism police take you up cause it's shady to walk, and the tour left at 10.  So we go sign up and have an hour to kill. So I need a cup of coffee but no one was picking where to go so I led them to McDonalds hahaha.  It was only Mandy Marin and Kristen with me.  Well were we in luck!  This was a fancy McDonalds, with a court yard!  We order from the McCafe side, and they brought us our food!  And I got my milk in a heart shape in my giant cup of coffee!  I did all I could not to take the cups because they were so cute!

So a nice breakfast to start our day, then we were off to another mountain.  However, this time we didn't have to walk, we got driven!  It was a short ride, but nice.  Then we were looking over Antigua, with the volcanoes behind the city.  It was another breathtaking sight.  I had been on more hikes before noon this weekend than in my life.  However, after we were done we had the whole day.

So the rest of the day we walked around, bought some stuff, bargained at the market, so the prices were right.  Then we decided it was our only non traveling day, so we found a nice Mexican Restaurant and watched a soccer game and had some food & drinks.  It was a nice relaxing day.  Then for dinner me and Mandy wanted something more authentic, not like Burger King or Subway, we found a hole in the wall.  They made pupusas.  Those are like stuffed flour tortillas with cheese.  (or anything you want, I got beans in mine).  They were awesome!  We ordered one just to be sure they were good, and they were so we got another!  It was amazing, made right when we ordered, so fresh, we actually saw the lady pounding out the tortilla.  It was really cool.  Then we went to an Irish Bar in Gutemala, which was a nice change because it wasn't just the same 10 people we always see in Copan.  Ended the night early because our bus was at 4am.  So it was a short, packed, awesome, vacation! I am so glad and grateful I had the opportunity to do all this.  This was the best Thanksgiving Break I think I've ever had.  And now it's only 2 and a half weeks until I'm home!  I am getting super excited to come home and see everyone.  As much fun as this was and how much I love teaching down here, I am started to miss home and everyone, so I am getting pumped for a 3 week break!  

Anyways Antigua/Lake Atitlan was one of the best vacations ever!  (Mexican towns are still number 1 on my list) but this is up there.  It was action packed, many great stories, that will be better when I obsess over talking about it when I'm home.  I had many firsts this weekend, first view of volcanoes, first 4am hike, one of the first times being up at 4am haha, traveling probably about the same amount of hours as being in one place, first time staying in a "real  hostel", trusting a stranger with our lives, hiking more in one weekend than in my life.  It was all worth it!  Here are more pictures I stole from the others (and there's more on facebook):

 My giant reward after the 4am hike...all that fruit, sausage, eggs, pancakes, toast....it was great!

 definately got stronger this weekend lugging all that crap around....decided I'm probably not made out to backpack around, I need hotels and suitcases haha

 looking over Antigua

 Authentic Guatemalan's .....they all wore think skirts that tied above their waist

 I don't know how they do it, I give them so much credit! That thing is probably a good 50 lbs

 before sunrise

 L-R: Marin, Love, Mandy, Me, Kristen, Ashley

 Perfect morning: sunrise over volcanoes & watching it with a cup of coffee!

Ok, have a great week!  There's a bunch of Christmas stuff coming up I'll write about, but probably nothing too exciting.  And Go Caleb & the Bears! woo woooooooo! See you all in 2 1/2 weeks! :)