Lost and Found

Hola! Here I am yet again, sooner than I expected too! I figure I should start off with the good news. Drum roll please..... I found my camera!! I thought that I left it at the airport, but when I got here and opened my backback I found a pleasant surprise! That made me incredibly happy. My camera has been one of my best friends while I am here so far. There are quite the hilarious things going on. Guatemalans are weird. But I love them! I will eventually put some pictures on. It feels like I have been here forever. I can hardly even imagine that I was an EFY counselor last week. LAST WEEK!? Not even possible. I´ve been here for years. Yet at the same time, it feels I´ve been here only minutes.

The last couple of days have been amazing. Of course. Like I even have to verbalize that. Friday was my first real work day. We joined up with Habitat for Humanity to help build some houses. We traveled to a remote village about an hour out of Chimaltenango called Santa Cruz (I can´t even put into words how beautiful it was). While on site, we mixed cement by hand, tied rebar together, filled in holes, and layed the cinderblock bricks. The house itself was the size of my living room, with 3 or 4 rooms inside. The entire thing was built from cinderblocks, and put together entirely by hand. We ate lunch at a little cafe (rice, beans, and carne), then came back to the site only to find a four year old little latino there to help. His name was Atel, and was absolutely adorable. Really he just saw a bunch of Greengos (that´s what they call us) working, and wanted to see if we bite. Cute little guy. Later in the night we ate dinner at a restaurant in Chimal, and went over to the LDS Church to play soccer with the young single adults. I loved that so much! The church is really strong here, and the members are angels. I felt a definate change the second I left the streets onto the grounds of the gated church. The spirit was very strong. Yay for the truth!

Today was absolutely glorious. We woke up at about 6 to go on a hike up Pakaya, the local volcano. We got there around 8:45, and hiked 2 or so hours through the forest to the top, were we stood at the edge of the lava flow. As in like 20 feet away. It was so hot, there were people roasting marshmallows and even a local tour guide cooking tortillas and meat on the rocks. It was honestly one of the most beautiful places I´ve been.

After the volcano, we went to Antigua, the old Spanish capital of Guatemala. We did some shopping at the little shops run by the natives, were you litterally faught over what the prices should be. I thought that was only something they did in movies. Guess not. I bought 2 purses, 4 bracelets, and 3 head bands. I´m slowly starting to accesarize (sp? I don´t have my phone to help me spell anymore) like the natives, which has been a life time goal.

Sorry this was so rushed near the end, my time is running short. I wish I could write more. I do know that next week is when the real work begins. I am planning on running a theater program at the orphanage as a type of therapy outlet for these kids, which I am thrilled about. Also, I am planning on working with some adobe stove building at some point in time, maybe work with the medicial and square foot gardening, and some other various orphange projects. Thanks so much for everyones´ support, feel free to email me and tell me what is going on at home! Adios!