Friday, August 21, 2009

woooo hooooo!

heyyy all of my lovely family and friends!!!!
i´m sending you a raaapid post of what´s poppin down here in baja vera paz, guatemala!!
how are you alllll dooooing? i love you and miss you like crazy, sometimes i´m just like, ahhhh i wish everyone that i love is here with me too because it´s really a beautiful experience that is happening and i wish to share it oh so closely with you all!! you all are here with me, everyday, and i know that, too! mucho mucho amor!!

anywhoooo, so lots lots been happenin here! woooo! let´s start since we´ve last spoken.. soo the next week after pachalum, i continued observing classes, lots and lots of classes to get more grounding of the subjects, the teachers, the students. ooooh so there was a 35th anniversary for one of the middle schools in my town, oooh that was so much fun!! there were activities all week!! to start it all off there was this beauty pageant, to elect the senoritas of the schools, they looove beauty pageants here.. they are entertaining for sure. anyways so in the middle of all of that, a group from coban (a city in alta vera paz, which is just a little north of here), so a marimba dancing group (you know the marimba is like a huuuge xlyophone made out of wood), it´s my favorite, it´s awesome, like a dream listening to it, so freeing i feel like i could just float away with the clouds, love iiiit! so they played that and danced to it! theeen the next day there was some dancing and singing and guitar playing competitions at the school for like 5 hours, i seriously stayed the whole time because i loveee stuff like that and i was just mingling around talking to the students, watching the performances!

oh yeah, that reminds me for another one of my schools, i sang to the class because they had spent time performing their songs, so i was like, hey! think i can sing something? they were all like, yeeeah! so i sang soulshine by the allman brothers with a little addition that i wrote after! soo that was cooool! then later to another school i read a poem i had wrote to them because they had all been reciting poems for the class! they just shared so much and i felt like i wanted to share too. sharing is a beautiful thing in the many ways of which it happens in our lives!

so yeeah, the anniversary of the school. the second day, all the kids were making different salads, like chicken, vegetable, pasta salads, and i got to go around and taste most all of them!!! Oh the luck!!! i loved it. i love eating!!! and especially trying multiple different types of food! then after there was a dessert competition, oh the smell of those desserts, to diiie for! but i was outside talking to a girl jaclyn about her dreams of travelling the world and then about her family and the mountains and all sorts of stuff, that i completely forget to try those! the conversation was more important.. there will be more desserts, but we may never get the chance to have such a conversation again! then after that, there was a competition for arranging flowers, ohh man, the arrangements some of the kids came up with, all sorts of things. this one little kid took leaves and sticks and made them into turtles, i was like whhhat, so creative, right? then another girl made flowers out of wire and pretty colored strings connecting them between the wires, ohh sooo coool! so i took pictures of every one of them, the kids were really excited about that, they all wanted to get their picture taken and look at it! ohh it made me soo happy to see all their creations and take part in these wonderful activities!! so yeeeah!! there´s gonna be a lot more things like that, too!! wooohooo!!

so then that weekend, the volunteers from baja and alta vera paz got together in lanquin, a tourist area with caving, rafting, swimming, monkeys!!! we saw two HOWLER MONKEYS in the trees, making their howler noises and all!! that was by far the coolest thing ever, suuuper duuuper cool!!! monkeyssss ahhh!! sooo yeah, that was at the end of the second day!! the others days i just swam and swam and swam in the river, which was like torqouise.. soo beautiful!!! and it rained the first day, but i just keeept swimming because it was just soo nice and relaxing and beeautiful!!! and then i ran into my friend hallie´s little sister at the hostel we were staying out!!! we nearly had a heart attack when we realized!! AHHHHH!! it was so coool, so random, but so right! we talked for hours next to the candlelight about the ends of the world. it was beautiful, it was so lovely to run into her! we promised we´ll stay friends and meet up again, she´s a wonderful person and living in guatemala for right now!! yeees!!

so my boss just came in, looking for his internet back! i think i´ve overstayed my internet welcome, most honestly, i don´t know if i´m gonna get the chance to use his internet again! but oooh i´m so thankful for him letting me use it!! my trip last weekend was so lovely, and so rich in conversation and in meeting new friends and connecting with my friends here!! and the jungle of alta is just breathtaking and beautiful!! and hottttt!!

i started my classes this week in two schools, did some activities with them, went over rules of respect, showed them photos of all of you!! talked about all of you!! and they asked questions, oooh they love the photos and they loved hearing about all of you!! it was truly special, i felt closer to you guys while talkign about you to them, and i think they felt closer to me seeing pictures of my family and friends!! mm hmmm!! i´m continuing some classes next week, too!! it´s good fuuun, trying to keep it interactive for the next class while also teaching them things, as well.. my classes next week will be about positive communication because after reading all their responses about youth themes that are most important to them, an overwhelming number of kids said communication!!! so in response to the calculated need, woooohooo, the next class is about positive communication!!

i love you all so much. it gladdens my heart to connect with you all, even though only through my rapid words and thoughts an dmemories!!! i hope you are all well and i wish you all love, peace and everlasting happiness, as always!!! take care of yourselves and others, as always!!! and i love you and miss youuuu!! and we shall connect soon on the road ahead!!!! mucho mucho amor y gratitud for you all in my life for now and always!!!!! hugs and kisssses!!!

4 comments:

  1. sar!!

    lucky for me i reactivated facebook long enough to become in contact with your padre. i've missed you so!!! i'm so glad you've been documenting your trip so far in guatemala.. i can't wait to read all of these so i can feel like i am right there with you!!

    i got your call on my birthday. you have no idea how upset i was that i missed it! i was thinking of you on yours, and totally missing you. so, let me just say...

    HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY!!

    when you are back in ct, we need to celebrate somehow. i know that probably won't be until we are 24 at this rate, but then we will celebrate doubly.

    i will try and email/fill you in on what's happening in my life asap, but for now, i am sleepy. i was just so excited to have found you on the world wide web that i had to leave a comment immediately. more details to follow! stay safe :)

    miss you, love you priority,
    mal!
    xoxoxoxox - hugs and kisses from ct

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  2. Sarah, your parents really should have named you Cathy - like in the doll (from a million years ago when I was a kid) - Chatty Cathy! Goodness, your adventures wear me out just reading about them, as always. Sounds like you are fitting in just perfectly w/ your community and your students, and loving the surrounding areas. Thank goodness you are having an opportunity to get out and about and see stuff and experience the country.

    I will, however, never cease to be amazed when I read comments like "i love eating!!! and especially trying multiple different types of food!" I have to ask, Who are you? And what have you done with my niece???? LOL Good for you, though - I think I would starve to death down there.

    Glad to hear everything is going so swimmingly (get it? Reference to your swimming in the turquoise river????) for you. Proud of you, as always,

    Love you lots,
    Aunt Judy

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  3. Sarah,
    I loved reading that you enjoyed having that wonderful food and how you are enjoying the students. When you talk with folks you can learn so much in life. I spent the morning at the flea market and over years it has been so much fun just talking with folks and learning something new or different. I know that where you are is where you need to be and I am thrilled that you love it and you learning so much. It is a chance of a lifetime, you made sure to get there and now you are fulfilling a dream with many more to come...

    Mallory, so glad you are on the site! Happy Birthday!

    Loved Aunt Judy's comment about Chatty Cathy....

    We all love you, Sarah... Remember Kayte and I will be heading to Ireland on Sept. 20th returning on Friday, Oct. 2nd.... can't wait to tour all the little towns along the coast line... When picking a place asked Kayte where to go... and she wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone which at age 16 I went with Mom, Dad, Randy and Peggy to Blarney Castle and toured a # of countries then... so that is why we are doing this trip... always wanted to go back to our Irish roots....

    Love, Hugs and Kisses, Mom

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  4. Sars,

    Great talking to you on the phone. feel very connected to you that way. Glad Mallory got to your blog. Sue F loved yor latest email to her. Your emails mean so much to her. She called yesterday sat 8/22 to ask me to tell yo how much she loved your email.

    As always, your adventures continue to enlighten me to your possibiities. Keep it up.

    Love,
    Padre

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