A FESTIVE WEEKEND IN ANTIGUA
*The city was alive all weekend with the annual celebration of the Feast of St James, the patron saint of Guatemala.  Saturday began by sharing Mass at The Cathedral located in Central Park, followed by oversized human puppets dancing in the streets and throughout the city.
*
* In the afternoon the festivities continued with a procession out of the cathedral with a very large statue of St James in top of a HUGE, ornately carved platform that takes 60 people, led by the priest, to carry throughout the streets of Antigua. I was fortunate to watch it twice. Once as they last the cathedral and once our family watched as it passed our house!

WEEK THREE BEGINS
*I am excited to be back at school!!!!
The break was good but I want to learn more! My way of learning is hearing, seeing and speaking in conversation over and over and over again.  My teacher, Lucia, is very patient with me!   This week was filled with walking trips around the city, preparation for my final presentation and visits to bakeries, museums, the mercado and hotels. My final presentation was presenting the sweet potatoe. In Guatemala, comote dulce is a  typical sweet treat made with sweet potatoes, sugar and cinnamon. I received my Completion Certificate. Hooray for me!!!!

*****  Now let me tell you about the other events of the week that left me quite emotional!!!!
Thursday morning at 1:00am I woke up with my bed shaking from an earthquake.  Since this was our second earthquake I was a bit more prepared.  I slept with my phone fully charged, shoes by my bed and my identification attached to my phone.  I grabbed it, rushed out to the courtyard with Michael-John joining me.  Michele came out as well at the other end of the house.  The others slept right through it.  I have no idea how!  Fortunately it ended quickly.  It said it was estimated to be a 5.0 off the coast of Guatemala.
*Then at 5:00am I woke up to many, many “bombas” exploding marking the beginning of the celebration of the feast of “drivers”. The busses and uber cars were all decorated. 
*Then at about 5:30 there was a HUGE EXPLOSION in our house!  Michele had tried to light the pilot light on the oven.  She checked back and it wasn’t hot so she tried again.  The gas had accumulated and exploded with fire all the way to the ceiling. Pushed the oven back from the wall and pushed the whole window out of its frame. The force of the explosion pushed Michele right out of her bedroom slippers about two feet back. I  thought it was another earthquake and the building was collapsing. Michael-John and I came running, me with my phone and ID so they could identify our bodies! My mind racing because I thought it was a volcano.  We found Michele standing in total fear and shock.  Michael-John just stood there and held her tight for a very long time!  She was pretty shaken up though! These last experiences have left me quite emotionally drained.  Thank you Lord Michele is physically okay. I could have lost my daughter, my family could have been buried in the rubble of an earthquake. But no we are all safe!

When I woke up this morning I found out that Tia had an accident in the kitchen but thankfully she’s ok. The stove exploded. There was a big gigantic ball of fire that raised up to the dome in the ceiling and it broke through the window. The stove moved one foot forward and Tia moved like five feet forward. I ate microwaved eggs and it wasn’t that good. Then we walked to school and today was a special day at school because I got to watch a movie in Spanish- Coco. While we were in the middle of the movie it was the other special thing happening at school- piñata day! I got to put all the candy in the piñata. 🎶 La piñata, La piñata 🎶 I got to help string up the piñata too. We had trouble finding a string at first and then we realized someone left it in the car. Once we got the rope back, me and Kenia helped string it up until it was ready to go. I was the first one to go because the other young one who was supposed to go first didn’t want to go so I went to show her how to do it. I almost broke the piñata first because I was so strong and then the other young ones saw me and she went second. Everyone went except the two older kids because the piñata broke before they got to do it. Once that was done I got to watch the rest of the movie and Ms. Kenia put it into simple words so I could understand it better. Once we finished the movie, we played Uno and then I was so tired I didn’t want to do anything but I decided to play with the other kids who were playing another kind of Uno. When the day was over me and Mrs. Patti walked home and I had a homemade Chipotle bowl for lunch. Then I played some soccer in the yard and then we rested for a little bit and then we got ready to go to Escobar, my favorite steak house in Antigua. I got the same thing as I did last time, the sirloin steak, it was SO GOOD! I got to toast one of the marshmallows for dessert but then it ran out of gas so it was kind of raw, but it was still good. Then we walked home and then I had a little ice cream for dessert and then I went to bed.

The End.

I have a feeling that the events of this morning will come to be one of the funniest and most told stories from our times in Guatemala, but right now in this moment, it was probably one of the scariest moments of my life, or at least in the top 3.

I am quite at home here in our Encanto house as Luca fondly named it a few years ago.  I know how to change over the gas when one of the tanks is out, I’ve learned how to tell when the pilot light is out in the dryer, I know where the cistern is and how to turn on our pila, we’ve had the bomberos come to the house to fill the cistern when it’s run out,  so needless to say we have a handle on how to manage the house.  That is until I blew up the kitchen today 😣

We got an alert that we were going to be without power and water today from 6am-7pm. So yesterday we prepped to ensure our fridge would make it through the power outage and filled the pila with water so that we had water to flush our toilets. 

At 5am I got up to ensure that the most important of things was done which was making the coffee. I turned on the oven for a French toast bake that I prepped to throw in the oven.  But then… the coffee machine didn’t work, and I got busy fixing that and checked the oven to ensure it was getting hot.  The pilot light has known to go out often so when the oven wasn’t getting hot I went to light it again.  Well apparently it had indeed gone out and the gas was building in the oven for a while and my relighting of the pilot light set off quite the explosion.  If anyone remembers the movie back draft… you now have a pretty good visual of what took place right in front of my eyes.  A huge rolling ball of fire came up and out of the oven with enough force that it moved the entire oven almost a foot forward in my direction.  The ball of fire 🔥 then continued up towards our domed ceiling.  The force of the explosion forced out the kitchen window along with all the bracing for the window that was screwed into the cement walls.  Needless to say between the sounds of the explosion and my screams I woke the whole house… well most of it. My brother later said if you want to know what Volcan Fuego sounds like erupting… that was it.  I am pretty sure I was in complete shock as I stood there not knowing what to do next with peices if the wall all over the kitchen (thank God for plaster walls). My entire body was shaking in shock and I can only imagine how crazy I looked. My mom later told me that my slippers (the only thing burned thank God) were in front of the stove and not on my feet.  It wasn’t until then that we realized I had been blown back right out of them. 

Also I would be remise not to mention that we all were also woken up at 1am by a magnitude 5 earthquake that was only 56 miles from us.  It was definitely not the start to the day that I was looking for and day continued on with a few more snafus including a couple more broken things and me running close line like right into a metal support wire.

On the bright side when I went to shower and looked in the mirror I still had my eyebrows (I was certain they were burned right off), we have yet to lose power or water, the stove was able to be fixed and didn’t need replaced, and the broken kitchen window may lead to a window that is able to be opened (I’ve been wanting this for years) so things might just end on the upside after all.

And you can’t beat the view from our rooftop in the morning.

I woke up and ate breakfast and then I got ready for school. Me, Mommy, Tia, and Mrs. Patti walked to school together. I had a good day at school and then me and Mrs. Patti walked home. Then, the main part of the day was I made my own key chain out of jade rock! Before we made jewelry, everyone who went figured out what their guardian animal was. We had to give our birth day, month, and year we were born. I figured out that my guardian animal was a turtle 🐢. Mommy’s was the national bird of Guatemala, the quetzal, Tia’s was a bee, even though she’s allergic to bees! Mrs. Patti’s was a jaguar! We learned a little history of the jade rock and it’s only found in certain places in the world and it pops up when national disasters occur. Then we walked in the room where we were going to make our own jewelry and there were so many machines and it was so loud so I had to wear headphones. I got to choose my color jade. There was the original green, black, lilac, and sky blue. I chose sky blue. I had to choose one specific rock I wanted to make and I chose the one with almost all the colors in it. The professional cut the rock into almost the shape I wanted it to be with the water table saw and then I did the rest. I held my rock and then I pushed it against the sand paper wheel that was spinning very fast while water was spraying. I pushed the rock on all sides until it looked like the shape I wanted it to be. Then the guy did the finishing touches to the first step. Then the second step was the and paper step where you had to make the rock smooth. It was like the same thing except you had to hold onto it more because it moved more. Once that was done the guy complemented me and said “Good job!” Then the final step was to polish it or make it shiny. That one was the hardest because the wheel was spinning faster and I couldn’t hold onto the rock and it kept falling to the ground. Once it was done the guy put a hole in it for my keychain and then he put a L into it for my name. Once it was done it looked so cool! After everyone finished we walked to dinner where I had a hamburger, I know you’re all shocked! They messed up my order because they put cheese on the burger and fries but then they fixed it about ten minutes later. Then everyone walked home, took a shower, and went to bed.

The End.

While I’ve been to Antigua 6 times now it’s only been in the last five summers that we’ve had a house that I’ve been cooking in.  One of my joys of life here is a slower pace with more time doing things for daily living with intention than sitting on my phone scrolling. For the first couple summers we were typical gringos shopping in the supermarcado (the regular typical grocery store) rather than in the marcado (think swap shop for all my Florida friends). The last couple years Nicole and I have made it our mission to take advantage of shopping in the marcado for our fruits and veggies.  Now to give you a better understanding of the marcado there are rows upon rows of stalls with literally anything you could desire. From house hold goods, to clothing, to shelf food,  fruits and veggies,  and Nicole’s favorite the meat 🍖 and fish 🐟 section.  Literally you can get anything you desire. With that being said it can be very overwhelming to shop inside the marcado.  Close quarters and so many options can sometimes create a sense of fight or flight for me,  despite shopping for food being my favorite past time.  The past few years after feildtrips with our teachers we’ve learned which “venders” to go to for what. This year with the help of my teacher I found a new way into the marcado for market day when all the trucks bring in the freshest and cheapest of fruits and veggies.  It’s in the open air and much easier to navigate. All the joy of shopping and getting a good deal returned. When Nicole and I got home (in less than an hour including the time it took to walk there and back) while I washed and cleaned the veggies Nicole calculated what we spend for the week.

Our market haul today for a total of $20.27

2lb tomato
2lb onion
5 plantain
3 heads garlic
2 big carrots
1lb potatoes
1 head celery
Cilantro
Parsley
Papaya
16 radishes
I bag spinach
1 bag green beans
4 squash
3 big cucumbers
4 peppers
2 heads broccoli
1 eggplant

I’ll add a picture too give you a visual. 

The next day in class I was thanking my teacher for the advice and we were comparing notes on the prices in the market.  She told me that we were given the exact same prices as locals. So I write this with the full awareness that from my very white, two income perspective, I feel like this is a steal.  Like we did great getting the prices that locals get and that we have enough fruits and veggies for the week but I know  that $20 dollars, while it felt like nothing to us, it’s a lot for locals. The average salary is $140 a week for a vendor in the marcado. I struggle with knowing how drastic the disparity is here, even between the locals including ladinos and mayans and the history of Guatemala and now how the US is continuing to impact Guatemala. It’s a hard reminder that racism and discrimination have happened around the world and throughout history.  That no matter where you go the desire for money and power leaves so many with nothing while an elite few have plenty.  So I am humbled by the people of Guatemala once again and thankful for a life of opportunity to realized how privileged I am and try to live my life with respect for others who have been given a life much different than mine. 

*WEEK TWO begins

* This week is a week of rest and discovery for me. Remember, I am 72 not in my 40’s like Michele, Nicole, Michael-John andRachel! 
*Thank you Michele for taking my place at school so my teacher didn’t lose a week of income.
* I  feel much more comfortable carefully walking the streets of Antigua.   Rachel took me on my first trip without Michele, Nicole or Michael-John carefully guiding my every step.  I desperately needed that for my first week!!!! Our house is on a square block and a really good bakery is on that path. My mission was to buy a loaf of their delicious banana bread.  Our problem was, everything was coming out fresh baked. The aromas made us want to try everything! A half loaf of this, a half loaf of that, a slice of this and another half loaf of that.  We had to drag ourselves out of there!
*
* Michael John downloaded the Google Maps maps so I could use it offline. Now I was ready to venture out on my own.  With my phone GPS in hand, I made it  to meet Michele, Nicole and Luca for their break at ten at a nearby rooftop café. I finally got to see the volcano erupting.  We couldn’t see the lava but we saw the large puffy  plume as it rose up. Finally!!! It was a must on my to do list.
* Michele graciously hosted dinner for former Finca del Nino volunteers Andrea and Matthew along with Matthew ‘s mom Jeanni.   It was a lovely evening. Jeanni and I got along great so we made plans to have lunch together a few days later.  With Google navigation in hand, we made our way to an old monastery that was converted into a beautiful hotel, restaurant, spa and museum. Our lunch was delicious and the service was superb!  We ran out of time so I hope to return for a tour of the museum another day.
* The names of all the places the kids have taken me to are beyond my memory!!!!  One that stands out is Cerro de la Cruz. Another physically challenging day walking up “a million ” stairs with no handrails to the top of what felt like a mountain to reach The Cross. I did it!!!! Michael-John was merciful and ordered a Tuk Tuk down the small mountain. I was afraid I would just roll right down the mountain!!!
* The weekend is still an adventure to be seen.  Next week it’s back to school.

Today I also slept in until 8:45. Then I had breakfast and then we got ready to leave the house because we decided to go to a restaurant that was up a mountain. Me, Tia, Mommy , and Mrs. Patti decided not to hike up the mountain, but everyone else did. Half of the people that were supposed to go didn’t come though. Once we got there I went straight on the swing that was there. Finally the people who decided to hike up came like an hour later. Then we ordered and I got dessert first for lunch because I wasn’t that hungry. I got dark chocolate avocado mousse. I had an avocado mousse because it was an avocado farm and hotel. Later I decided to have some French fries. We also played cards there and Tia won every single game ! While we were eating our food, it started to drizzle and it wasn’t too bad at first until it started to literally pour and we couldn’t see ahead of us because of the fog. None of us decided to bring our rain coats because we didn’t think it was going to rain. We tried to call an uber but nobody responded because the road up was closed because an accident happened with a motorcycle. After like 30-45 minutes the guy who took us up to the restaurant responded to our call but first we had to hike up a steep hill before getting to the road and we also had to walk pretty far down the road for him to be able to get us because of the accident. Eventually we all made it home. What an adventure! Once we were home I had chicken and French fries for dinner and then we watched Sister Act 2. It was a good movie. Mrs. Rachel came back and she brought me a book that she recommended! That was so nice! Once the movie was over I took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

I slept in today and I woke up at 8:15. I ate breakfast and then me mommy and Tia got ready because I was going to go rock climbing. We walked there and while we were walking there we walked through a parade that was happening. It was so loud and also pretty cool and it looked like it was hot because some of the girls were in fancy dresses and high heels. Once we finally got there I got my rock climbing shoes and I rock climbed. It was pretty hard at first but once I got the hang of it and I went to the easy part of it I could do the harder stuff. I climbed until I physically could not grab my hands on the rocks anymore because it was so painful. I had a brownie and it gave me a little bit of energy but then once a few minutes passed, my hands started hurting again. Then there was a lunch place there so mommy and Tia ordered and pizza while I ordered a hamburger. The hamburger was very good. That gave me enough energy to climb for another couple of minutes but then the same thing happened and my hands started hurting and I couldn’t climb anymore because I couldn’t physically grip the rocks. Once rock climbing was over we walked home and saw the parade again, it was happening all day long! Once we got home I was so tired that I didn’t want to do anything. I rested for a while and then I got ready because we were going to Mrs. Andrea’s house for dinner. It was a pretty far walk but not that far. The house was pretty much like a Florida house except everything was open to the outside. They had a pool, a grill, a rooftop, a kitchen that looks like our kitchen at home, it was so nice ! I was a little shy at first but then once I played a game with the kids, I got used to them and I had fun. We stayed until like 9:30 and I didn’t even know it was late. We walked home in the dark but there were some street lights so we could see unlike the lake where you can’t see a thing at all. Then I took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

Yesterday concluded my time this year at language school.  My first week I spend listening to my teacher talk at me,  my second week was a much better experience for me. My mom chose to take a break so I went in place of her with her teacher for my second week.  I was finally able to fumble through story telling and answering questions. 

My certificate in the end stated that I obtained Intermedio level. When I told my teacher no way and that she she needed to change it,  she responded with the fact that for 2 hours straight I spoke to her with little correction and she was fully able to understand what I was telling her.  She finished by reminding me that my goal is to be able to be polite when traveling and communicate my needs, she assured be that I was finally able to do that. Soooo for the kid that rides the short bus in school,  I finished better than I started 😆

To say my mom was in culture shock both with the physical terrain and the community as a whole when we first arrived would be an understatement. As kids Michael-John and I always said if looks could kill my mom would be an assassin. Well here, if looks could tell an emotion my mom “looked” either scared or disgusted most of the time when she first arrived lol. 

Her initial reaction to being here got me thinking back to my very first trip to Guatemala 8 years ago and remembering what it felt like coming to a country I had never been to, with two teenagers that didn’t belong to me,  living with a host family,  and not speaking the language.  While I think our reactions have been quite different they both came from a place of stepping outside our comforts zones.  This is never an easy thing to do and as we age and get more seeded/rigid in our thinking it becomes even more challenging.  That’s one of the reasons I continue to travel and explore the world.  To be doing it at 72 for the first time ever has got to be a lot for my mom. She’s had so many first in the last 6 months.  When she walked into school this past week and cheered for herself for making it there all by herself  I knew she had turned the corner here.  When she declared last night she was going to mass in the morning and the parade by herself I wasn’t the least bit surprised. Nor was I shocked when I woke up and checked life 360 to find her exactly where she said wanted to be…. at the church. Michael-John woke up and said you know mom isn’t here…I said nope mom is in the streets. 

Today I woke up for the biggest day of school. I had breakfast and then me, Mommy, and Tia walked to school and then once we got to school we didn’t have time to do that many learning or playing any games because we had to prepare our food for the presentation. Mommy brought all of the food that we needed in my backpack so we were ready to cook. I was preparing radish salsa with chips. Mommy forgot one of the most important things yesterday when she went to the Mercado, chips! She went and got the chips and brought it right at the time the presentation was about to start. I was like the fourth or fifth person to get called up and for some reason I wasn’t that nervous this year because I have done it a million times. Mrs. Andrea and Mr. Matthew’s kids were presenting at school too, the youngest was a little shy but the oldest crushed it! Probably because his dad is a Spanish teacher and he also has advanced Spanish classes in high school because he’s a senior. Once everyone went the presentations were over and we could eat whatever we wanted from the table. I ate my radish salsa and something like a donut hole that was kinda yummy. Once the presentation was over we continued on our day and then me and Tia walked home. I had spaghetti and meatballs for lunch. We rested for a little bit and we were going to have hamburgers for dinner but we ran out of gas so we had to go out for dinner. I ate chicken fingers and French fries and I had some of tias pork chunks dipped in guacamole and it was so good. It is called chicharrones. Then we walked home, took a shower and then we watched a movie that Mommy watched at my age called sister act. It was one of the funniest movies ever, and a little scary but I enjoyed it a lot. My favorite is the happy nun. Then I went to bed.

(Also, Wednesday was a normal day so I didn’t want to write about a normal day.

The End.

Me, mommy and Tia walked to school. Once we got to school we met our teachers and started learning. After a bit it was tortilla day. It’s where you get to make your own tortillas on the comal over a fire 🔥. I made my own tortilla and once it was ready I out guacamole on it and it was pretty good. Once we were done we went back to class until it was time to go. Once it was time to go me and Tia walked home and I ate lunch. We went to the grilled meat place called Los Tres Tiempos and it was so good. Then we walked home, took a shower, and went to bed.

The End.

• The anticipation was great. . Michele had invited me for the two previous years. The fact that she had the desire to share this experience with me put it very high on my priority list. But timing just wasn’t right. My heart was at home and I needed to cherish those moments with Michael. When he passed away in November 2025, a new priority came to the top of my list. Now my priority was spending time with our children, family and friends from all the chapters of my life.
• There was shopping shoes/clothes/a million Amazon deliveries and returns, packing and repacking by Michele 🥰
• WEEK ONE
  !! The day had come. A Little overwhelming to say the least!!!
  !!! Michele and Nicole navigated us through the airport and to Sergio our driver. The drive was long and very slow moving to Antigua
  !! Roads were narrow with motorcycles zipping in and out. Luca reminded me to pay attention to when we hit the Cobblestone road, that meant we were in the ancient city of Antigua. Our new home away from home for the next three weeks.
  !!! We arrived at our house And it was Just beautiful Four bedrooms All centered around a beautiful Courtyard of flowers and visits daily by our Hummingbirds. Our four Bedrooms and kitchen overlook four different Gardens and a view of The volcanic Mountains
  !!! Michele has done all the meal prep in the house making me feel very safe eating the food she’s prepared I was extremely nervous about getting sick and ruining the trip for everyone. She has learned all the methods to properly prepare fruits and vegetables to make them safe to eat.
  !!! Within the first week I’ve been able to experience many rooftop cafes with views of a part of the world that are so beautiful thatI just look up in awe at God’s creation!
  !!! My biggest accomplishment the first week is learning to safely walk on the cobblestone streets and uneven sidewalks Looking out constantly for iron window coverings that that project out onto the sidewalk. I learned to walk with my hand up and not to try to walk and talk at the same time. My first week I definitely was not comfortable walking anywhere alone. As everyone knows I have no sense of direction. The kids have graciously escorted me everywhere
  !!! My next adventure was my first day at La Union Language School. My intent is three weeks of language school, five hours a day. My teacher Lucia is perfect for me. I’m so thankful. She’s patient, she’s kind, she is having normal conversation with me. This allows me to try speaking first and then she’s helping me complete my sentences. I love this. Our focus is not so much on grammar as just being able to communicate which I appreciate. I don’t think that in three weeks time, focusing on grammar, I would be able to learn everyday communication. That is my goal
  !!! I did it I made it through my first week. It was a lot! But I learned a lot. Now it’s time for my next adventure, a weekend on a lake. Anything on the Water is a little piece of Heaven to me.
  !!! Santa Cruz on Lake Atitlan here we come.
  !!! It started with a two and a half hour drive to the lake. I felt very confident that Sergio’s son Daniel would drive us safely. We stopped for lunch before heading to the boat that would take us across the lake. It was an adventure on its own . I could handle getting into the boat . It was a fast ride over. Now getting out of the boat is a whole other story!!! I must admit I was in tears. Everyone wanted to help but it just overwhelmed me. I coudn’t figure it out. Eventually with everyone helping, I managed somehow to get into the dock like a beached whale!!!! When I finally was able to stand up, I walked into Paradise!!! An absolutely beautiful Estate with a main house , two Casitas and the owner’s house.
  !!!The house/gardens/birds…
  Such a peaceful retreat directly on the lake. I spent my mornings watching the lake come alive. Birds singing, people kayaking and paddle boarding, boats transporting locals and visitors across the lake. Boats are the only mode of transportation. There are no roads around the lake or up to houses on the Returning by boat was a whole lot easier at this point. I was able to enter and exit the boat a little more gracefully! Our driver Danielle  did a great job getting us back to our house in Antigua safely. I was surprised how happy I was to return “home “. Michele, Nicole, Luca and I decided to treat ourselves to an upscale steakhouse for dinner that night. Michael-John and Rachel went off for a little time on their own.  The restaurant was fabulous.  Of course I had to splurge on the tenderloin!  Service was first class and everyone’s food was delicious!

Me, Tía, and Mommy walked to school today but mommy didn’t stay and Mrs. Patti didn’t go because she said she needed a break. Once we got to school I met up with my teacher and then she asked me how the time was at the lake. I said “ yo nadé, y salté en el lago y conocí a un niño se llamaba Emilio y fue de Colombia.” (Which means I swam and jumped in the lake and I met a kid named Emilio and he was from Colombia). My teacher was impressed about what I said. Then when I started school she asked me to write about my experience at the lake. I did and I wrote every day I was at the lake. Once we finished school me and Tia walked back home and I had chipotle for lunch. Tia and Mommy cooked for the rest of the afternoon because Mrs. Andrea, Mr. Matthew, and Mrs. Jeannie came over for dinner. I had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner and then the rest of the night was a chatting night. I took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

Today I woke up at 7:45 AM and I got dressed to go to our favorite breakfast spot because it has the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted in Guatemala. We walked to the main area and then we took a tuc tuc up to the breakfast place. Once we got there, we got out of the tuc tuc and we walked in, and then we walked up the stairs because the actual restaurant was up the stairs. Once we got there, we ordered what we wanted and then we played Gin Rummy with a couple added rules. We played for a little bit until our food got here and I was so excited to eat my food because it looked so delicious. I love the pancakes that I had with a side of bacon. It was so yummy. Once we finished our food, I got a cookie that was there and then we took a tuc tuc back to the main area. Then we walked the rest of the way home. Once we got home, I got dressed into my bathing suit and I went swimming for the last time at the lake. Emilio was also swimming in the lake so we played for a little while and then Mommy called me back to the house because we had to go soon. I took a shower and then I got dressed and then all of us went on a boat ride to the place we were going to get picked up by. It took a couple minutes but then when our driver was here, we got in the car and we drove like 3 hours back to Antigua. It surprisingly went faster than I thought because last time we drove, it felt like it took longer. Once we finally got to Antigua, we went into the house and I remembered how it looked like. We rested for a little bit and then we went to my favorite steakhouse called Escobars. They had the best steak there i’ve ever tasted in Guatemala. I had a sirloin steak and I loved it so much that I wanted more. Then we walked home, took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

Today I woke up and me and Mrs. Patti went to breakfast alone because Tia and Mommy had to go to a massage at 8:30. I had eggs, bacon, potatoes and bread for breakfast. I also met a kid named Emilio and he was from Colombia and it was his first time visiting Guatemala. His English was actually very good. Once we finished breakfast, we walked back home, I played with the rocks for a little bit and then I went in the house and rested. Once it was finally time we walked to the place where they had the game on. The place was called GuateMia. The good part about it was that it was an Italian restaurant but also had Guatemalan food and the game started. No one scored for a long time but finally after almost 2 hours, Spain scored a goal and I was very upset about that because I wanted Argentina to win, finally when the game was over I was so upset because Spain won 1-0 and I was so sad Argentina lost. After the game was over we walked home and then I jumped in the lake, and it was pretty cold, but not that cold. After that, I got dressed and me, Mommy, and Tia went to a restaurant where I had shrimp and french fries. After that, we walked back home in the dark where we couldn’t see anything so we had to use Tia‘s flashlight on her phone in order for us to see. Then, when we got home, I took a shower and I went to bed.

Once I woke up we walked to the road and then took a tuk tuk to our favorite breakfast spot. Once we got there I was so excited to eat my favorite breakfast and I wanted the food as soon as I got there. I got blue corn pancakes that I tried last year because Maggie got them and she let me try them and they were so delicious! So I knew to order the pancakes when we went to breakfast there. The pancakes were so good when I finally ate them when it finally came. Once we finished breakfast we took a tuk tuk to the first spot and then we walked home. Mr Michael John and Ms. Rachel decided to walk to the rocks which was in a different town and it took three hours, I can’t believe they did that! Me, mommy, and Tia took the easier way and took a boat across the lake and I was in the front of the boat. Once we got there,there was so many people in line because they posted on Instagram that the rocks are a fun place to jump off and the internet ruined it because last time we went there there was like nobody there ! Unfortunately we didn’t get to jump off of our usual spot because people were blocking it and I didn’t want to jump with people there, I wanted to jump alone! So we only swam in the lake that was freezing cold. Mr. Michael John and Ms. Rachel said it was nice but I said it was super cold. We swam for a little while and then we walked out of the place and there was a lot of people in line still. Our boat driver met us and we went home on the boat. Once we got home we rested and then we went to a restaurant that we usually go to every year. It is called La Iguana Perdida. Everyone was dressed up because it was costume day and I saw Chula (a dog who used to like catching rocks in the lake like balls but now doesn’t because she’s old) sleeping on the couch. I saw them cooking the chicken like on top of the fire because it was barbecue chicken night and it was so cool. While I was waiting for the chicken to be ready, I played Solitaire with our cards! SHOUT OUT TO MY GRANNY!

When the food was finally ready we got so lucky because we got called first to pick out our food when there was like a million people there! I ate the delicious chicken with potatoes with ketchup. Once we were done eating dinner we also got lucky and got served first for dessert. It was brownies for dessert and each of us had one brownie except me, I had two because there was an extra one because I was hungry still somehow. When we were done eating we walked home in the dark and we had to have flashlights on because it was so dark. Once we got home I took a shower and went to bed

Today was a crazy day today because we had to leave early from school at ten o’clock because we had to go to the lake. So, I woke up and ate breakfast and then we all walked to school together. Once we got to school I read a story that was actually real, in Guatemala. There is a small man called el Sombreron who wears all black and wears a very large hat. He always brings a guitar with him and he only comes out at night, not in the morning. If he sees girls with long hair, he plays his guitar and plays melodies so that the girls like that song and then when the girls go into their house and get ready to sleep, he secretly enters the girls house and then enters the room where the girl is and carefully braids their hair so tight that they can’t untie it in the morning when they see it. So the girls only options are to change their hairstyle, or cut their hair off. The crazy part of the day was that there was an earthquake happening and I could feel the ground shaking. We all gathered around into a safe area, and stayed there until the earthquake finished. I was scared at first because I didn’t know what was going to happen because this was my first big earthquake I ever experienced and I was a little scared but then when I knew everyone was safe, I started to calm down a little. That was basically my day at school (I don’t know Tia and Aunt Patti’s). Then Sergio’s (our driver) son Danilo drove us all to Lago Atitlan. It took about two and a half hours and I was so tired after that. When we finally got to our destination we went to lunch and I had fried chicken and French fries. Once we were done with lunch we walked down to the lake and met our boat driver who was going to take us to our lake house. We have a different lake house this year and I think it’s nicer than last years house. We all have our separate houses in the same property, me mommy and Tia have one house, Mr. Michael John and Ms. Rachel have another, and Aunt Patti has one too. Another exciting part of the day is that I jumped in the freezing cold lake! It was scary at first but when I jumped I was cold and then I went back up on the dock and then I jumped again and once I got used to the water I didn’t want to get out because it felt warmer in the water then I got out of the water and it was super cold and then me and mommy walked to our house and I went right in the shower and took a shower. It was one of the nicest showers I had in Guatemala, it felt so good. Once I got out of the shower I got dressed and then we relaxed for a bit and then me, mommy, Tia and Mrs Patti walked to the restaurant we were going to called Isla Verde and then Mr. Michael John and Ms. Rachel came after because they went for drinks before we went to dinner. For an appetizer I tried something new, carrot soup which surprisingly tasted a tiny bit like El Paso. Then for the main meal I had chicken dipped in tomato sauce and for dessert I had a little bit of chocolate mousse because it had milk in it and I couldn’t eat it all. I really wanted to eat it the chocolate mousse because it was so good ! After dinner we walked home and I brushed my teeth and went to bed.

The End.

This is the first time I was sick out of the country 😢. I had a lot of rough nights but Tuesday night was the worst! Mommy woke me up because I was wheezing and then I had to take a shower to get all the boogers out of my lungs. I had to sleep in the shower from 10:30-11:30 and Mommy held me while I was sleeping in the shower. Then I slept a little bit after the shower but I couldn’t sleep until morning because I was so congested and sick and I couldn’t sleep because of that. Mommy helped me a lot last night. I really wanted to go to school to mommy gave me medicine and made sure my teacher was ok with me coming and so I went. I’m so glad I went because we did a lot of fun stuff even though we did exercises. I only coughed a little. I also had to breathe in my first inhaler because I was that sick. We went to watch the game after, and Argentina won 2-1! And guess what I had? Una hamburgesa! I was nervous that Argentina was going to lose because England scored before Argentina and I was starting to get a little worried, but they won! Then we walked home and we rested and then we all played a game that Ms. Rachel brought that is called First and Worst. It’s where there are five categories and you get cards 1-5. Whatever those categories are you have to rank them secretly from the one you like the most to the one you dislike the most. Then everyone else when you’re done ranking has to try to guess where you ranked them. Everyone gets a turn and it’s a good way to get to know each other. Once all the people are locked in the person who ranked the cards reveals them and that’s how it works. After that I took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

We walked to school and once we got to school we saw our teachers and went in our classrooms ready to learn (well at least I know I was 😂). I did a lot of fun stuff at school but today we did Spanish exercises because it wasn’t my first day so I didn’t get a lucky day off like yesterday. After school instead of going home we went to this cool sports bar to watch the Spain vs. France game! I had a hamburger and French fries and then Spain won 2-0! I was so happy because France has been in the finals for the last two world cups and I was so excited for them to win. When the game was over we walked home and we rested for a bit before dinner. I also played in the garden while Mommy and Tia were at Pilates. When it was time for dinner we had leftover chipotle bowls.

The End.

Today, I woke up at 6:30 am and I had eggs 🍳 and a mandarin 🍊for breakfast. Then, all of us walked to school 🏫 together and me, Tia, Aunt Patti (Tia’s mom). While we were walking to school I was the leader and I knew all the streets and I knew where to go so it was cool to know everything about the streets and where to go. When we walked in, everyone met their teachers and I met my teacher, her name is Ms. Kenia. I had her last year and she’s nice and knows a bit of English in case I need help with any of the hard words I don’t know. I felt comfortable around her because she’s very nice. I had a lucky day because it was my first day and we didn’t do any work, and I peeked out the window to see Tia and I saw that she was struggling with all of the words that were in her board and she had homework, and I didn’t ! We played games together like Uno, I know how to play Uno now, do you know how? We also played the opposites where it is a card came where you had to ask the other person if they had that card, in Spanish. Like, if you had the card hot you would say, tienes el opuesto de caliente? And if the other person has that card, they would give it to you and if they don’t have that card you would have to take another card from the pile. We also made a town for my hot wheel car and it was really fun. Then I checked on Mrs. Patti and she was doing well which surprised me a little ! Then we had to go to Pausa, which means break in English, and it’s where you have thirty minutes to do whatever you want and rest from learning Spanish. Then after the break, we walked back to the school and continued on with what we were doing, for me I did games, but I don’t know about Aunt Patti and Tia. When we were done with school we walked home and I was the leader and knew where to go. Once we got home I had spaghetti and meat sauce and then after lunch, we went to play tennis. When we were ready we all walked for a long time because it was pretty far away and we had gone past it the first time and then we realized it was up a hill so we had to climb it in order to get up there. Once we finally got up there I rested on the chair and Mr. Michael John (Tias brother) went to see if we had to go to the bottom court or if we could stay at the top court. We went to the bottom court so we walked down and signed in and rented rackets so we could play. Me and Tia were the only ones who were playing at first and then Mommy came to play and she lasted about three minutes. Once me and Tia played for long time, Mr. Michael John and his girlfriend Ms. Rachel came to play after they played alone at the top court and we played together. Me and Ms. Rachel were on a team and Tia and Mr. Michael John were on a team. We were just playing for fun. After we played for like 10-15 minutes, they kicked us off the court because there was a lesson about to happen and we had been there a long time so we decided to stay and rest and watch the other players that were there for a bit. Then we walked home and once we got home I didn’t feel like walking anymore. Then I rested for a bit and when it was time for dinner I had chipotle for dinner. After that I went and took a shower and went to bed.

Today I woke up at 7:15 and I surprisingly didn’t eat breakfast at all except a banana! Then, we finally went to breakfast and I ate an egg and bacon bagel with some yuca fries. Then, we walked around a bit of the town and then we went to the market where we had to get flowers for our house. While we were looking for the flowers, me and Tia stayed to watch a religious ceremony where they put down grass and flowers so they could honor the saint. I honestly had no idea what was going on but I enjoyed it. Mommy and Tia’s mom (Aunt Patti I call her) were looking for flowers. After that, we went to a store called Dollarcity and we bought some stuff we needed for the house. Then, we took a tuk tuk home (it is a motor taxi with 3 wheels). Once we got home, we rested for a little while and then Mommy and Tia went to get a massage while I stayed home with Aunt Patti. I also watched the World Cup game today with Norway 🇳🇴 and England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 and England won 2-1. Once Mommy and Tia got home, we rested at the house for a bit and then we went to dinner and I had spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner. Then after dinner, we walked back home and then I took a shower and then I went to bed.

The End.

Today I woke up at grandma’s house at 6:00 in the morning so I could eat before the plane. Me and grandpa went to go pick up Aunt Patti who was all packed up and ready for Guatemala. Then we picked up Mommy and Tia and we stayed at our house because we realized our flight was delayed. Grandpa drove us all to the airport and we said our last goodbyes to Grandpa. We got through security and checked in and our flight was a little bit later but not too bad. At first at thought we would be late but we had one hour before leaving, it felt like so long. Once it was finally time, security checked our passports and we boarded the plane. Two and a half hours felt like the longest time but then when we got off the plane we had to take a one and a half hour drive but because it was such bad traffic it took three hours. Once we reached the rocky roads I knew we were in Antigua and I knew we were pretty close to our house. Once we got to our house, I remembered what all of this was and I remembered it in my brain. I was so tired from all the driving I didn’t want to go anywhere but we went to a restaurant called Adras. It was a rooftop restaurant and guess what I had? A hamburger! I know you all are surprised, but I had a hamburger! We played cards while we were up there and we taught Aunt Patti how to play. Then we went home and took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

Yes, yes I am. It never fails that despite knowing a year in advance our travel dates,  I still fail to pack till the last minute.  We booked our stay in our house last summer before we left,  but our flights… well they were a different story.  Those didn’t get booked till just weeks before we left.  That was definitely our stressor this year.  The cost of flights due to gas and Spirit going bankrupt left or normal flights that usually cost $250 running upwards of $900. In the end we were lucky enough to get them much lower. But the thought of how one airline can impact travel so heavily got me thinking about all the access a cheap no frills airline can create for families that otherwise wouldn’t be able to travel.  Spirit flights may have been the “greyhound” of the sky but it’s routes were mostly to the Caribbean,  South America and Central America allowing so many south Florida families access to their families back home. 

The blog title is the reaction I get every summer when people ask my summer plans.  I love that for an entire year I get to look forward to coming back to a place that feels like a second home at this point.  I am greatful once again to be returning.

Usually by the time I make it back to the states the blog goes by the wayside and I neglect talking about the reentry. 

Coming back to the states is this weird out of body experience. It leaves you feeling discombobulated. I found myself wandering about my house last night feeling out of place and as if it wasn’t mine. 

Just for perspective I hadn’t driven a car in 23 days until yesterday. Aside from weekend trips in Guatemala, commuting was no more than a 10 minute walk anywhere in town.

I hated going to the grocery store last night.  Produce options are terrible here,  prices are insane,  and I don’t understand why I can’t negotiate cost based on the quality I am finding.  I also don’t understand why I can’t just buy one of something and not an entire package.

Having so many clothing options is something I no longer value.  Driving me to wonder why I own so many things.  I loved living for 23 days with only 10 items of clothing on rotation.  I spent zero time worried about what I was going to wear and worried very little about how I looked.  People’s kindness outshined their outfits in Guatemala and most woman wore traditional clothing.

I miss having my laundry done for me (courtesy of Nicole,  I never managed to have more then 2 things in the hamper at a time), and having my house cleaned 3x a week.  I miss having a garden to sit in that is up kept by someone else.  I miss living in community.  I miss morning walks to school.  I miss cool mornings and weather that makes you wanna be outside.  I miss kind friendly people everywhere you go.  I have yet to have a negative interaction with someone in Guatemala. Everyone is kind and helpful.  One of the most bizarre things I miss are the bathrooms.  While it seems odd to mention it is really one of the things I appreciate the most.  I have never been in a country that has the level of clean bathrooms as Guatemala. While you may not be able to flush the toilet paper, even in the most remote of places the bathrooms are always impeccable. I think it’s a combination of others being courteous of eachother and and just a value for taking care of what you do have when you have so little. 

Coming home is always harder than one would think it would be.  Modern conveniences seem less important when the pace of life is slower.  I am grateful to get to live in both worlds,  and understand that I exists in both with great privilege.

Today I woke up and had eggs and fruit for breakfast 🍳. I got dressed and then we walked to our second to last day of school 🏫. At break, we went to the ping pong 🏓 place and I ate a croissant 🥐. Then, we walked back to school and we finished our day. Then, we walked home 🏡 and I ate lunch and I had spaghetti 🍝 and meatballs. Then, we chilled for a bit and then, me and Mommy went out to walk to the rock climbing 🧗‍♀️ place!!!!! But there was a little problem that we could solve, it was raining 🌧️ so we had to wear our rain jackets 🧥. Once we got there, I had to change my shoes 👟 and then I was ready to climb. I made it to the 6th wall and surpassed my record in Guatemala 🇬🇹! I had the best time trying different walls and doing pretty good on them. 1 and a half hours later……. It was time for dinner 🍽️ and we walked to a place called Como Como, and I had a 10 out of 10 pasta 🍝 with meat sauce! It was so delicious 🤤. Then, we walked home 🏠 and took a shower 🚿 and then hanged out for a bit and then I went to bed 🛌.

I am pretty sure I write the same thing each year at the end of my time in Antigua….I am not ready.    This is the only vacation that I’ve ever taken where I don’t get that feeling of being ready to be home.  I think it’s mainly because this place feels so much like home.  I am going to miss these cobblestone roads that by the very nature of them and not wanting to fall,  force me to slow down. They force me to be present in the moment,  not looking at my phone or distracted.  Things are slower here but the days have flown by.  I am thankful for another year of spending my days walking the city, sitting outside,  rooftop coffee breaks and card games, language school,  living in community, and so much more.  Till next year Guatemala 🇬🇹….

Summers in Guatemala have been amazing for so many reasons, and one is seeing the many ways in which Luca has grown and matured. He loves school. He no longer complains about walking. He tries new things. He navigates his way through the city with minimal assistance and crosses the streets expertly. He doesn’t need to be told to not brush his teeth with the tap water or not to flush his toilet paper 😆. He has become a card shark playing gin rummy. He is praised by the teachers at school for being well behaved and he all around has become a great traveler. I couldn’t be more proud.

While reading the guest book in the house we rented at Lake Atitlan, I came across a quote that I believe I have seen before but that has never resonated with me until this moment.

Travel does change you. It exposes you to that which you didn’t grow up around. That which while uncommon in your world is daily happenstance in others.  It humbles you. It makes you patient. It makes you curious. It gives you perspective. It gives you understanding. It gives you appreciation, awareness, grace. 

I am so wholeheartedly grateful for the opportunity I have had to return to this beautiful country for the fourth time, and to be able to share it with my son, my family and my friends. Until next time Cuauhtēmallān.

Today I woke up and got dressed and then went to breakfast in this really pretty view and I got eggs bacon and toast. Maggie got pancakes that I wanted to try with no milk or butter and I loved them! It was so good. We took pictures, we played cards, and then we didn’t walk home because we went straight to swimming in the lake. But first we had to take a boat ride that was a little long to get there. Once we got there we had to climb up rocks and stones to get up to get to thermal waters which is basically in the lake but hot water comes out from the inside of the earth 🌍. We couldn’t really swim but we sat in it and we had a really good time. Then Maggie got in the real lake where it was cold and I decided I was brave enough to do the same. It was so cold when I got in but once I dipped my head in the water I got used to it. I looked for rocks, I even found obsidian and a rock with yellow stuff on it. I thought it was gold but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t

Today I woke up and ate scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast 🍳. Then, the weekend was over and I got ready for school 🏫. At break time today was special for me because I got to reunite with Mrs. Lucia (my old teacher 👩‍🏫) and I was so excited 😆. I tried to understand the words Mommy and Mrs. Lucia were both saying and I understand the easy words. I had a croissant 🥐 with no butter 🧈 and it was delicious 😋. I was so sad 😞 when we left, because now I thought about how fun 🤩 and nice 😊 and happy 😃 she was. It was sad 😔. But when I returned to the school 🏫 and with my teacher 👩‍🏫 now, I started to feel a little bit better.

A little bit off topic but Tia has a week off because she wants to do stuff that she wants to do and me and Mrs. Christine are stuck and studying 📖 at school 🏫. She is so lucky 🍀. Anyway, when we were done with school. Mommy picked both of us up to go to the grocery store to get stuff to eat for the family. Once we were done ✅, we walked home while Tia was cooking lunch 🥙. We ate and then we chilled and I practiced baseball ⚾️ with a pipe and a ball 🏈 to hit it. Then here was the adventurous part of the day, we went and took pictures on a mountain ⛰️! But first we had to get up the mountain 🏔️ so we took a tuk tuk 🛺 there and the tuk tuk 🛺 barely made us up 🆙 on the mountain 🏔️ 😬. Then we went on the mountain and took pictures of me climbing and taking regular pictures and everyone doing the same thing except the climbing 🧗‍♂️. We had the best time, including me and then we hiked down the mountain ⛰️ and then we walked to have dinner 🍽️ at a fancy restaurant. I had a hamburger 🍔 and fries 🍟. But a hamburger 🍔 with red bread 🥖! After we ate, we walked home 🏠 and took a shower 🚿 and then I went to bed 🛌.

I woke up for an amazing day and ate cereal and fruit for breakfast. Then I picked the right shirt and not the right shorts and was ready to go to school. We had to leave early today because we were going to Lago de Atitlan which means lake Atitlan in English in case you don’t know. The presentation started at 11 but we went first at 1045 because our driver was picking us up from school at 11 so we went early and I went first. Mommy said I did really good and I thought I did too! Then it was Tia and Ms. Christine’s turn because they went in a group with their teachers. They were asking me to go in a group with everyone but I didn’t want to cooperate that because it’s too hard to cooperate. Then our driver named Sergio came to pick us up and we drove 2.5 hours to Lago de Atitlan!!!! Two hours and a half later,… we finally made it. When we got out of the car we went to lunch and Maggie was sleeping over with us for a night with just us so that was exciting. I had a Spanishy hamburger and French fries for lunch but I really didn’t like the hamburger for lunch because it was too Spanishy. Then we walked to the dock and took a boat to our house. While we were in the boat crossing the lake it started raining and it was a bumpy ride. Once we got there we had to walk through a river of mud because the sidewalk there is supposed to be dry but since it was raining it flowed down and we got our shoes and socks wet. Our house was so big, it had four stories and me and mommy slept on the first floor. Once we got settled in and then we went to dinner to a place called La iguana but first we had to walk there and it was taco night but I just had the pork. It’s basically like chipotle and I kinda liked it. We played cards with Maggie and then we walked home in the dark. It was super dark. We had to use our phones as flashlights. Once we got home I took a shower and went to bed.

So for the second time on this trip a little girl named Bianca has stolen my heart.

While I won’t share a photo of her… for many reasons, I will share about this little girl whom we met that was seeking nothing else then connection and someone to play with. 

In Guatemala it’s hard not to judge things based on our own culture.  Here you will find kids left to their own accord often,  or tiny children sent it to “work” selling things that that mother’s have made.  By all accounts it seems awful, neglectful, and scary. Things that would never be allowed in the US, are just simply a way of life here.

I won’t go into all the things that I worried for Bianca about,  but rather I’ll just share how precious of a child she is. Alone down at the thermal waters she climbed rocks as if they were solid flat land. She dressed and undressed (to swim) in her traditional clothing all on her own,  asking for only a little help from myself or Nicole to get her shirt on and off. She took our hands with ease for help and chatted away with Nicole and I. telling me flatly when she didn’t understand what I was saying and making me work hard to communicate with her.  She never once tried to sell us anything from the basket she was carrying,  she never asked for money, she simply asked to swim with us and show us the tiny shells you can find in the thermal waters on the edge of the lake.  When Nicole asked about her family,  she said she wasn’t ready to tell her yet,  but she maybe she would later.  She was smart enough to not fully disclose but trusting enough to spend time with us.  I thought of all the million fears that I had for a tiny girl like her left all alone.  Then I thought about this being her life.  This is where she spends her days. When we all thought it was going to rain… she looked up at the storm clouds above us and said nope it’s not going to rain you can just tell.  And in case you’re wondering, no it did not rain.  That little tiny girl had all the wisdom and innocence you could hope for from someone so tiny.  She crosses my mind often since we’ve parted and makes me wonder about the things she’s already seen and what the rest of her life has in store for her. 

Today I woke up and ate some scrambled eggs and fruit 🍌 for breakfast 🍳. Then, we walked to school 🏫 and then learned Spanish. Then, we had break time and I ate a snack before we got back to school 🏫. Tia and Ms. Christine (our new guest) made a Guatemalan dish called pupusa and I tried it and I didn’t really like it. Then, we walked home and I ate spaghetti 🍝 and meatballs for lunch 🥗. Then, chillaxed (relaxed and chilled in one word 😊) and then it was time for the title of the blog, PICKLEBALL!!! But first we had to take a tuk tuk 🛺 because it was a too far walk. Then when we got there, we had to wait like 30 minutes because the open play where everyone can play started at 6pm. Then it was our turn and I was on mommy’s team at first and she was learning how to hit a shot over the net. Ms. Christine and Tia were on a team and Ms. Christine got the hang of it quickly. Since me and Mommy play ping pong she didn’t hold the pickle ball racket the right way and then she held it like a ping pong racket and she was better at hitting the ball 🏀. After our practice round I switched teams and it was Ms. Christine and me versus Mommy and Tia. We didn’t keep score because Ms. Christine and Mommy were learning but if it was me and Tia playing we would have played with points. There were some pros right beside us and they were hitting it super hard. I tried to do that but it didn’t work out well. 30 mins later….we finished and were basically also exhausted and we didn’t even have dinner. So we walked to dinner and I had a burger with French fries 🍟. My belly was super happy after I ate that hamburger and French fries so then we walked home. I took a shower and went to bed.

The End.

Here are some pictures.

The more you leave your bubble of daily life the smaller the world becomes.  Not just in terms of familiarity, and commonalitiies which are both very true,  but also in terms of connections. 

While making papusas in the school community kitchen, and in forcing myself to practice my Spanish I met another student from Florida. Turned out he’s from Westen went to Cypress Bay and goes to UF also his mom used to work at my school.  The broader your circle gets the smaller the world becomes. 

Speaking of a small world,  my neice who lives in Chicago is in Guatemala for the same 3 weeks we are with her school doing language school in Panajachel. We were lucky enough to get to host her and get classmates for lunch when they were in Antigua last week.  To top that when we arrived in Pana yesterday she was able to join us and spend the night in this ridiculously beautiful house in Santa Cruz.

Though I’ve gotten to travel with Maggie before it was nice to have her to myself without her parents or siblings around. I’ve seen her more in Guatemala than I did the past year in the states.  While it might have been far less time than I hoped I am thankful none the less.  I hope we get a chance for more trips like this in the future. The world is smaller then you think. 

Today, I woke up and had scrambled eggs and apples for breakfast 🍳. Then, I got dressed and was ready to walk to school 🏫. At break time, the workers had set up a table for their traditional meal 🍽️. I handmade the tortillas by flattening the dough until it was a circular shape and then I put the tortillas on the pan above the fire 🔥. Once, they were done ☑️, I tried them with beans and guacamole 🥑 and I didn’t like it that much but with only the guacamole 🥑, I liked it a little bit better. The assistant manager told us history about this meal 🥘 and I couldn’t really understand it well because he said it in Spanish but I understood a few words. Then, I had to wash my hands and then it was time to make the tortillas with guacamole 🥑 and beans 🫘. Then, when we were done eating 🍽️, we continued school 🏫. Then, we went to our field trip at our school. We went to the market to look 👀 and buy some things. I asked to buy a toy car 🚘 in Spanish and Tia got me it. It was Corvette Stingray. Then, we had to get our stuff and go home 🏠 because it was already time to leave school 🏫. Tia wanted to get lunch at a place where the woman 🧍‍♀️ did her cooking while we waited. I didn’t get anything there so we walked home 🏠 and I ate spaghetti 🍝 and meatballs for lunch 🥪. Then, we chilled and I played a baseball ⚾️ game with myself. Then, we had dinner and I had a hamburger 🍔 with French fries 🍟. Then, we went home and I took a shower and then I went to bed 🛌.

The End.

Here are some pictures.

One of the things I try to do when planning a trip is to find different things that would interest someone in the group.  The good that comes with living in community is getting to trying things that interest others that you typically would NEVER do otherwise.

I found a really cool place close to Antigua yet far enough out to feel like you were in the mountains and jungle. I knew Nicole would love the yoga they had to offer and I would love the view. So we set out to explore. Upon arriving we got dropped of by our Uber at a sign that said 300 meters to the lodge, with an arrow down.  Imagine a step decline into the woods. Halfway down I told everyone to look back and remember that somehow we have to get back up this.  The trip down was far more doable then the hike back up.  As we got to the entrance of the lodge it opened up to the most beautiful property. 

We rushed to make it to our class and let’s just say I am far from being a yogi…. in my mind it should be so lovely… in practice not so much. I failed to take a picture of our view from the yoga studio but as I sat there in pain moving my body in ways it clearly hated me for, all that kept coming to my mind was how much privilege there was in this experience. The privilege to have two jobs that afford me opportunities to travel.  The privilege to travel the world with my best friend and experience new things everyday. The privilege of being born into a family that by all accounts provided a stable loving environment. And lastly the privilege to be in a place more beautiful than you can imagine.  So as I sat downward facing dog hoping the physical torture would soon end, I gave thanks for all that I’ve been given; by luck,  by chance, by my own hard work, and by the grace of others. 

I haven’t had a chance to blog because honestly our days here are just so busy.  From sun up to sunset there has been very little down time for me. 

Though life is simplier here and seemingly slower, time is flying by.  Our days seem to end as fast as they begin. But our days are not just busy they are full.  Full of learning,  of preparing, full of walking,  full of experiences, full of community. 

Carla and the girls left Wednesday and Christine arrived.  So our house transitioned from little learners to adult learners. Though it all looks much the same.  Carla and the girls brought so much fun to our house.  I miss having my kitchen side kick Bianca around who while she may have appeared ever resistant (much like myself) to learning Spanish,  she was learning.  I miss watching Brianna fully engage is learning and picking it up with ease.  I miss the noise of the kids playing. I am so thankful for the time we had.

Christine has transitioned in with ease and is for sure the most eager of any learner that has ever been in this house lol.  I fully believe she will leave here speaking Spanish. 

My learning has been… well exhausting to say the least. I’ve learned lots about my teacher and her life. I am learning to ask questions that give me answers to my ever curious self.  When,  Where, How, Who, Why.  My learning looks different then others.  But it’s learning just the same. My teacher is sweet and kind. She is far more independent and educated then most woman in this area. Though her and I are similar in so many ways her life has been far more challenging then mine.  From the outside her and I both present as strong, independent, self sufficient woman. However her means of becoming that person were far more challenging then mine,  and far more atypical in her culture than it is for me in the United States. She is by no means typical here. It’s always a challenge to put your own privilege aside and be able to hear someone’s story thru their own voice.  To take in their hard and not judge it by your standards. To honor someone else’s hard in its totality. This is where empathy not sympathy comes into play.  There isn’t one single story my teacher has told that has been a woe is me story. Not once has she ever indicated she felt bad for herself and all that she has endured (and boy has she endured). It’s been quite the opposite. Her mentality is this is life and she lives every minute she is given.  Once again this place has me thinking of resilience and why some have it and others don’t.

I also continuously come back to the fact that education is the only thing that can change a community, a culture,  and improve people’s lives. This is true no matter where you live or travel to.  The more educated people you encounter the kinder the interactions become.  There’s far more humanity that exists when people are educated.  Living with isolated views and little exposure makes a person far scarier to me then probably anything else.  I’ve tried to disconnect as much as possible from all of the awful that has been happening in the US. I needed to for my own mental health.  But there have been moments where no matter how hard I try I can’t completely avoid.  I hate that the perception of the US has changed so drastically and so quickly. Last year people here viewed the US as a power house.  As the leader in the world.  This year their views are so different. They feel sorry for us,  they think we are allowing one man to destroy everything the US has stood for.  They literally have said how are you letting this happen to you. My only response is…I wonder the same thing.  

Today I woke up and ate eggs and cereal for breakfast. Then, I got dressed and ready to go to school. Today was just a me and mommy day so for break, we went to a coffee shop and had fun playing cards. Once, I returned to school, and I had a blast with my teacher. Then we went home to eat lunch. Then, a little later me and mommy got our shoes on and walked to the best part of the day, ROCK CLIMBING! When, we got there the door literally opened when we had just got to the place 😱. I had the best time of climbing on rocks. The best part was Mommy had scheduled 4 hours of rock climbing! I got so lucky 🍀. The craziest part of rock climbing that there was a literal monkey in the building. Not actually but there was a guy who was basically acting like a monkey climbing up the wall and hanging from his feet and doing poses because he had 2 photographers taking pictures of him. I was in shock.

Today, I woke up at 6:30 and ate cereal for breakfast. Then, we got ready for the day at school. We walked to school and once again, we had the best time ever. At break time, we went to the coffee place that had a ping pong table in the place. After that we finished school and then we went lunch and then we went to the ruins in a tuk tuk (a motorcycle with a carriage over it with 3 wheels) and we all had to cramp ourselves in the tuk tuk. Once we got there, I was ready to climb 🧗‍♂️. The girls were trying to go where I had climbed and their mom stopped them. The scariest thing about the adventure was that I almost got lost but luckily I found them and I wanted to stay with mommy so much that I even went to the market with her and the girls and Tia went home. We got stuff for Chipotle bowls and they were delicious 😋. Then, I took a shower and then played with the girls. Then, I went to bed 🛏️.

The End.

Here are some pictures.

First I woke up early and had scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then we had to go somewhere like where the yoga was and we had to take an Uber up a mountain and then hike the rest of the way up. Yoga was fun, and a little boring, and a lot of stretching. The view of the mountain while we were doing yoga was magical. Once we finished we hiked halfway up the mountain to go into the reception center to get a little brunch. I played ring toss and I got the ring on the hook one time. They finally had pancakes without milk in it so I ate that and with some syrup and it was a little sweet but good. The hike was so tiring that we had to take a break after every 20 to 30 steps. We got super lucky because other people got an Uber and we came at the exact same time as they got there so we got that Uber and drove back to Antigua to our house. Once we got home we chilled for a bit while Ms. Christine went out for a walk because she didn’t come with us for our yoga. Then we chilled for a bit and I had a little snack and then Ms. Christine bought a lot of fun stuff for her house and for here and then we walked to pottery. Mommy and Ms. Christine went first and Mommy messed up a few times but eventually she got it. Ms. Christine stayed focus and only messed up like one or two times. Then it was my turn. The crazy thing is, I was the only one who didn’t mess up at all! Mommy made a mug cup, Ms. Christine made a tiny bowl. I made a medium size bowl. Then Tia went and she made a special kind of plate for food. It was so fun that I wanted to do it again. When our pottery clay was drying I didn’t know that it would take a week and a half to dry! Once we finished pottery we walked to an amazing music restaurant and I had a burger with fries and we played a lot of cards. So then when we got home I took a shower and then I hanged out in the sala/living room for a bit then went to bed.

Today I woke up at 7:15 and ate scrambled eggs for breakfast. Then Mommy and Tia went to the market to get supplies for Maggie’s friends and her coming for lunch. We had spaghetti and meatballs. You might be wondering what me and Ms. Christine did…well, we watched a movie called Leo. Once Tia and Mommy got home they prepared food for Maggie’s friends to come over. Then me and Ms. Christine continued to watch a movie, Leo. Once the food was done it looked so good. I played baseball with a stick and ball before Maggie’s friends came over and they were super tall. We had lunch and played the piano. It was the best lunch. I give Tia’s cooking a TEN out of ten! Ok, once they left, I did Duolingo with Ms. Christine but then Maggie’s friends and teacher all had to go to the bathroom and their teacher forgot their cheese so they came back and did what they needed to do and then left. Then it was time for the most important event of all, the soccer game !!! So we took a tuk tuk to the place and I sat in the very back where the engine is and once we got there there was a gigantic line where all the people wanted to watch the soccer game. The teams were Antigua vs. Marquense. Once I got here I had potato chips and the best part, Antigua won 3-0!!!!! Woohoo! #20 on the other team got hurt six times but after the 5th time he refused to leave the bench, but after the 6th time, he really was hurt and injured. A lot of people kicked each other and the game was so crazy in fact that one player got ejected, and that was #3 on the Márquense team. There was a lot of music from the band because we were rooting for our home team Antigua and they won so that’s great !ok, we left ten mins early because it gets so crowded in fact we can’t take an Uber. We didn’t get an Uber and so we walked home and pitch black and we could see something but basically we couldn’t see anything. Luckily we made it back home safely and then I took a shower and I was so tired I had to go to sleep.

Today was the most important day of Spanish school. I had a presentation about chips and salsa. But first I woke up at 6:45am and had cereal for breakfast. We walked to school and first we learned about feelings first and then we had to make the salsa. It was a Guatemala’s salsa called Guatemalteca. We had to cook the tomatoes until the skin was black and soft. Once all the tomatoes were black and soft we crushed them into small pieces and then we did it again and again and again. The rest of the ingredients for the salsa was cilantro, red onion, and lime. Once it was all finished it looked so good to eat with the chips. Then it was time for the presentation. Everyone in our family participated but not Mommy because she already knows Spanish. I went first. My voice was super nervous and I was about to stop but I pushed through it and once I finished I was so happy I got it over with. Then it was Ms. Christine’s turn and hers was so funny 😂. Then it was Tia’s turn. For some reason all the adults had a lot of words to say and including Tia. She did super good and all of us did super good. When everyone went the most favorite thing of all that I loved was chips and radish salsa!!!! That was so good! Then I got back to learning in school and I played a bunch of games with my teacher. Once I was finished with school we walked home and ate lunch. Then we chilled and then at 4 o’clock we walked to salsa lessons and I brought my word search because it was too advanced for me. Once we finished we ate dinner at the most fanciest restaurant in town and we had the best view because we had a light show where the projector projected really good stuff on the ruins. I talked to grandma and she just wanted to say that I did good at the presentation. Then we walked home and took a shower and went straight to bed because I was so tired.

From the minute that I got here, I was completely amazed at this Airbnb Spanish mansion built in the 1500s. What an absolute treat! Let’s take a tour, shall we?

Whether it’s sitting in the courtyard patio to drink, coffee, hanging out in the living room and playing ping-pong, cooking in the kitchen, or just sitting and having a glass of wine, it’s completely fantastic.

Patio by the courtyard

Inside the front door, you can park your car here

Bedroom i’m staying in to the left of the bench

My bedroom, bathroom to the left. It’s so cute!

Today was really fun. What can I say, I woke up and had coffee and a beautiful courtyard garden. Then, Michele and Nicole lovingly went to the market to buy all the ingredients for an amazing super lunch that we prepared for her niece Magie and all of the high school students on their Spanish school trip to Guatemala with their teacher. Luca and I watched an absolutely fantastic movie called “Leo”.

I also got a mini adventure of getting to go to two local markets to pick up sodas for the kids. The streets of Antigua were filled today as the lights of Antigua festival is still going on. After an amazing lunch, we went to the soccer game at the Antigua Stadium. What a great game! Antigua won of course …3–0. I forgot how much fun it was to go to a soccer game with front row stadium seats! Almost forgot our trip in the “tuk tuk” to get to the game. I still can’t believe we all fit in this tiny little truck, it looked like we were getting out of a clown car when we got there, lol. 

And it is…a beautiful day to remember in Antigua. For my second day of Spanish school, I never would have thought that I would present a dish of potatoes with rosemary and garlic, and complete a presentation on how I prepared a meal in a small kitchen in Antigua with my Spanish teacher, Naoemi. My presentation was totally in español!! 😃 Chefs, I prepared for you today…Papas en Romero E Aho (potatoes with rosemary and garlic).

Luca made a homemade fire grilled tomatoes salsa, and Michele made a delicious cucumber salad called Pepinoes. Everything was delicious, and now I have a new recipe for a radish salsa, which was so tasty that Nicole brought home all the ingredients from the market and Michele prepared a giant bowl for a mud-afternoon snack!!

Our chefery was then followed by amazing conversations in Español about mi familia and Naoemi’s familia. We shared photos and stories about our families. It truly is amazing that when immersed in language, how easily one can pick up on it. The people in Guatemala are super friendly and welcoming. They speak Spanish slowly and are all around kind hearted.

Other highlights… We took a Bachata and salsa lesson, had an amazing margarita, and then followed up with a delicious steak dinner at a very bougie, yet inexpensive steakhouse called Escobar. Also watched the light show for the Lightsof Antigua Festival…. Front row seats with the windows open and the breeze blowing. We took a stroll through Central Park to watch the Mayan Antigua lights Festival and headed back to our beautiful historic Spanish mansion built in the 1500s!

I’m still in awe… This is my second day! 😍

I am truly grateful to experience this amazing trip with the two wonderful amigas, Michele and Nicole, not to mention the extraordinary super kid… Luca. My heart is full. ❤️❤️❤️

Today was my first day at La Union Spanish School. Five hours of 1:1 Español. Pardon my Español . My teacher’s name is Naomi. She is 40 years old, lives in Guatemala and during the year she is a teacher for kids age 6 through 12. She teaches grammar, culture, Guatemala, social studies, science, math, and languages, including Japanese, Portuguese, Italian, And English. I don’t think I’ve ever learned so much of a language in five hours. We even played a game of goldfish with opposite cards with Luca and his teacher Kenya. Of course, Luca won with 7 siete pairs, while me, Naomi and Kenya had six pairs. The phrase is “no tengo. Pesce.”

During our “pausa”, (30 minutos break) we had an amazing Cubano cordito, which is different than a regular cordito. Cordito has milk, no sugar and Cubano cordito has sucre plus Leche. For lunch, Michele whipped up these Incredible, when I say incredible…., I mean Incredible tortillas with steak, cheese, beans, and rice, avocado, and delicious spicy salsa. For a snack, she then cooked up these sugar dipped plantains fried in olive oil. And for dinner, chipotle bowls. And of course, the venito (the vino rosso). Salute, I mean, salud.

Carla writes…..
Traveling to Guatemala was such an awesome experience, but taking my girls on their first international trip? That was next-level magical. And a little chaotic. But mostly magical. Watching them take it all in — from the moment we landed to their 100th “Wait… they do what here?” — was like seeing the world for the first time, all over again.
Let’s just say, Guatemala didn’t know what was coming… and neither did we.

The Cousin Bond & the Auntie Squad
One of the absolute highlights? The girls finally got to spend quality time with their cousin, Luca — aka their personal tour guide, giggle partner, and chaos coordinator. They adore him. Like, “can we pack him in our suitcase” adore him.
And then there were the real MVPs of this trip: Auntie Nicole and Michelle. These two amazing women didn’t just guide us — they elevated the whole experience. Think: adventure coordinators, snack suppliers, Spanish class cheerleaders, and loving aunties all rolled into one. With them, the girls thrived. Seriously — it was like having the Wonder Women of Guatemala travel at our side.

Spanish School & the Surprise Win
Now, I’ll admit — when we first told the girls they’d be going to school on vacation, I braced for the “Are you kidding me?” stares. But surprise! The Spanish school ended up being one of their favorite parts. They loved learning the language and getting to know their fun teachers. It was part classroom, part cultural exchange, and part me wondering if they’d come home correcting my Spanish.

Adjustments, Curiosity, and Growth
Living in Guatemala meant doing things a little differently than we do back home. The WiFi wasn’t always strong, showers were… creative, and we are now professional walkers. But what amazed me most was how open the girls were — even when things felt strange or challenging. They stayed curious. They asked questions. They tried new things. Sometimes reluctantly, sometimes fearlessly, and always with open hearts.
They noticed everything — how people got around, how they lived day to day, how they hustled everyday . And let’s just say they think some things are more fun here 🤣

Leaving With Full Hearts
The girls came back from Guatemala with more than souvenirs and mosquito bites. They came back with new words, new bonds, and a new sense of the world around them. And I came back with even more pride (and maybe a slightly new coffee and chocolate addiction…thanks Nicole 🤣).
Guatemala gave us adventure, but more importantly, it gave us connection — to each other and to a place we’ll always carry with us.
Till next time Antigua!

The most unexpected thing that happened today was that I had found a paper towel brand called Encanto! So we went to the store called Dollarcity and another unexpected thing that happened that the store had air conditioning 🌬️. Usually, Guatemala stores have no air conditioning but this store has air conditioning. Then, we walked around the store and then I found it. The Encanto paper towels! If you don’t know what I’m talking about Encanto, we call our mansion/ big house Encanto because in the movie Encanto, our house kind of looks like the movie Encanto’s house. That was the most unexpected day of the Guatemala trip so far.

The End.

Here is the picture

Me and Michele we usually cook together but when we were making our chipotle bowl we made like a little dance but we never got to do it but when we wake up when we go to the airport I think we can do our dance. It goes like this. Cooking an egg and shaking the leg and cooking and shaking and cooking an egg. But we didn’t get to do it it was only for the chipotle bowl. We can do it any meal we want. It’s a cooking song and we were cooking.

When your city has no water and your cisterna runs dry you call in the bomberos.

Sooo here I sit on the porch while the moms put their babies to bed, awaiting the arrival of the fire fighters to fill our 300 gallon cistern and save the day. 

Our house mom arrived to manage the situation for us. It took her trying 3 fire departments before she was able to get one who could send someone. 

While we were waiting she said to me,  each year something is wrong when you come I am so sorry.  I said back to her what my language school teacher my very first year said to me over and over again “Es la Vida.” Inconveniences make for great stories in the years to come (if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown… go to the fountain and fill a bucket and flush it down).

Prior to the announcement that we had no water the best part of the trip for me was taking place.  All of the little were blogging. One of my greatest joys is to hear, in their own words, their stories of their time here.  Thru the eyes and mouths of the littles the greatest of stories get told. 

Luca has grown so much since his very first trip to Guatemala. Sitting in school I have a direct view into the new kids classroom, and more specifically on Luca.  Although my ADD struggles with this being my vantage point I love watching him learn and seeing how excited he is.  I get 👍🏼 from him all day long, or the kids run out to show me something that is just to great to not share it right away.  Luca has grown into a great leader for his cousin and an excellent example of being a great traveler/learner.

Luca’s cousins Brianna and Bianca have added so much to our little crew. The two of them are full of sweetness and enough sass to keep you on your toes. They are for sure my kind of girls.  They know what they want,  and are excited about everything. Luca has been in Guatemala 3 times with older girls in the house with this being his first time with younger ones around. There dynamic, while different for sure, was just as fun. 

I am gonna miss having my kitchen helpers. I also am for sure gonna miss having someone around who ask just as many “why” questions as I do.  Though it may have only been 5 days it feels like we had so many memories packed into such a short time.  Grateful for them all. 

Update…our water didn’t get fixed we broke the bump by allowing the cisterna to get to low….hopefully tomorrow we get have it fixed.

Luca is the funniest cousin the world. I love him so much and we usually call him 🍀 Lucky. He is funny, kind, and sometimes Bianca bothers him and he doesn’t like it. Luca loves hanging out with me and Bianca. Bianca likes making funny jokes around with Luca. She likes doing the same things as Luca even though she’s a girl. My mommy is so strong so she can do fun stuff like all of us. Sometimes she is scared and she doesn’t want to do it. One time when we were going on the silks she thought she was strong enough and she was. Luca was having fun just like me. The end.

We took a shower 🚿 and then we sat doing this silly blog. . I had a cold shower 🚿 but Brianna had a hot shower 🚿 . Then I was doing my regular blog and then Brianna interrupted and she did emojis which I liked. Then, Bianca did her blog with Mommy/Nicole on her phone 📱. EMOJI ALERT!!!! 🫑🥙🥯🥘🍨🫙🥙🧆🍨🍦🍞🍧🍦🫑🍧🫙🥘🍨🍱🫜🌽🍝🍚🥕🍟🍚🍞🍧🥔🍝🍱🍦🥔🍨🗻⛲️🚢⛺️🏯✈️🚢🏯⛲️🗻⛽️🚖🏜️🚢🚞🗿✈️🚢🎢🎡🚂🏜️🚧🚉🚈🚢🏜️🚃🏝️⛴️🪝🚃🪝🏕️🛶🚃🛳️🏔️🛥️💺🏚️🚅🗻💈⚱️📿💎💣💈📡💣💎⚰️⏲️🪚🧱⚰️🪜🪏📡🏺⚔️⏳⚒️⏱️🗡️💎⚱️⏱️💸💷⏱️🏺💸🪏🪦💎💵💈⚰️💰🔧🧱📡🏺💰🧱⚰️⏲️🪙🔧📿⚱️⏲️🎟️🎗️🎿🤽🏽🤽🏽🤽🏽🚵‍♂️🤽🏽🎽🧘🏼‍♀️🎽🤺🙈🫎.That was the end of the emoji alert ‼️ so get used to it and read every emoji on this blog. 😃😊🙂‍↕️😝 this is about to be the end of our blog so we hope you liked it and we are about to put some pictures on the blog.😇😊. Bianca writes….. ☺️😉😌😍

Bianca writes…

On day one when me and Luca saw the water fountain outside we were so excited. The lady came and we saw the fountain and it was so beautiful and I loved it. Luca and Brianna and Nicole got on the roof. I loved it because I could see the whole volcano. When we got down I got to play with my toys and use my iPad.

On the second day we went to Hobbitenango. I love the parks but mostly I love the circle swing. You go very far and there’s a little bean bag and you can push yourself off if you are almost going to hit something but if not you can hit the bean bag. There wasn’t very much to do where the sticks playground was. My mom went on the first swing ride and when they let go she was laughing so much. I thought she was going to get hurt but I knew they would save her. Michele was second to make sure Luca was not scared and she did super cool poses like she was a superhero. When Luca was doing it he had tears but when he was done I gave him a high five.

On the third day Sunday my daddy went home and I didn’t like it and I gave stuff to my dad so we wouldn’t have so much in our backpacks and so he could change my bed and my sheets and organize my room. And then we went on the silks which are like rubber bands and it was super cool because we got to like pretend we are caterpillars and went in a cocoon and we changed into a butterfly but we didn’t do the butterfly pose we were just in a cocoon. We had lunch and then we came home.

On the fourth day this was our first day to our Spanish school to learn in Spanish. I was nervous but we were going there Michele made a little song and it was like this “this is the way we walk to school, walk to school, walk to school, this is the way we walk to school all day long” and that made me a little better. And my teacher was named Noemi. It was fun. We got to write and made paper airplanes. We went really high on stairs and then we went tippy top of the roof and also we got to fly it on the garden and then we got to go down and pick up our airplanes and then do it over and over. And then we walked home and then we ate lunch and then we did salsa lessons but I liked it a little bit but then we went home and ate dinner. And then we went to bed.

Then on the fifth day we went to school again and I was so excited but I was sad that I was leaving my teacher but it was more important to not leave Jesus behind. We played games like you have to pick a chalk and the teacher says it in Spanish and then if you know the word first you would get a point. So pretend you are a teacher and you say a word in Spanish and like if you know the word in Spanish and you get a chalk and then if you start to draw it first you get a point. And I got a certificate. On the sixth day we are going to the airport because we are leaving Guatemala because we are going on an airplane to fly all the way back to America. I’m happy and sad because I’m leaving my teacher and I’m a little happy because I’m going to see my dad👱🏻‍♂️

My favorite thing we did while we were here it was today. We got to go on a tuk tuk so we can go to a rock area where there was a festival but it is only open on the weekend. But today wasn’t the weekend but today is Tuesday so we just got to like hide in rocks and take pictures and climb but mostly of all I loved going to secret passages. And going in them. But my most most favorite ❤️ taking pictures with the whole family. And everybody else that are now on the trip. I saw a lot.

Brianna writes……We were excited and we loved the first day of the house. We got to sleep next to the garden. We got to go bug hunting and we got to play music with the piano and the guitar.

The second day we went on the Hobbitenango mountain. We got to go on swings, in the little house, we got to go on a hand. A big hand. Mommy went on a big swing and she flew out and Luca went on the big swing and flew out and Michele went on the big swing and flew out too. Bianca was screaming when Luca was on the big swing.

We have fun playing with Luca. We call him Lucky 🍀 . We have a fun time.

On the third day daddy went to the airport and then after we went to a farm. We got to go in the silks. They are big things that people can go on and pretend they are swinging and going in a cocoon. It was so fun that my back hurt. Bianca was screaming having fun. 🤩

The fourth day we walked to school and it was so much fun. We learned about animals, colors, body parts and we learned about Luca 😂 . When we were walking to school we saw volcanos and they were pretty.

The people at the school are so nice. My teachers name is Keyla. Bianca’s teachers name is Noemy. Luca’s teachers name is Kenia. 🤩

The thing we started to cook is spaghetti and meat sauce for dinner tonight. My favorite thing we ate here was homemade Chipotle bowls. Luca’s bowl was spicy. 🌶️

I’m looking forward tomorrow to go to school again. The end.

Luca writes…Today was a sad and exciting day for me. I have a new Spanish teacher. So it all started with me waking up at 6:26 am and then I ate cereal and a banana for breakfast. I got dressed and then packed up my backpack 🎒 for school. Then me, Brianna, Bianca, and Tia all were participating in school. When we all got to school, we had the best time ever because the kids played games together and we threw paper airplanes across the room. Tia was just having the best time learning Spanish with her teacher 😂. I really miss my old teacher (Ms. Lucia) because she was 300% perfect and my new teacher is 150% perfect so I really miss her Ms. Lucia.

The End.

Luca writes… Today, I woke up at about 6:00 and ate scrambled eggs for breakfast. As you can see in the title, the most tiring part of the day was a 5- 10 minute walk which felt like forever just to get to the bus place to drive up the mountain. When we got to the first part of the trip, we went on a smaller truck to go to Hobbitenango, an amazing place in Guatemala. As you can see in the title, the most exciting part was the swing. We went on the biggest swing in Guatemala. Me, Tia, and Titi Carla (Brianna and Bianca’s mom) went on the big swing. Titi Carla went first and when I saw her, tears almost came out of my eyes. Then, Tia went and this time, 2 tears came out of my eyes. Then it was my turn. The best thing about the swing was that I was brave enough to not scream! I went about 100 feet in the air and when I got used to it, I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t scared that I wanted to go again! Then, I went on a tire zip line and it was also fun. We walked some more and then I went to the playground because the place had one. Then, we went on this old trampoline and I loved it. Then we walked around the place and we were about to do jumbo Jenga but there was a big line of people wanting to do it so we skipped that and then we walked to our truck to get down the mountain and then we went to the bus and then drove to the bus place and then we walked back to the Encanto house. Then we chilled and then we had Chipotle for dinner. Then we took a shower and then we watched some of Wonka (a movie) and then we went to bed.

The End.

Michele writes:

Sometimes being brave goes unnoticed because everyone’s brave looks different. What comes easy for me might be hard for others and vice versa. One of my favorite parts of traveling is forcing myself to be outside of my comfort zone.  It’s not something that comes easily for me. I, like most people, like familiar, safe, comfortable things. But I have a strong belief that sitting in discomfort until it no longer feels as distressing is the only way to learn and grow.  Familiar only become familiar by doing. But this takes courage. Sometimes small amounts and other times it takes every ounce we’ve got. 

Luca has been big brave our first two days in Guatemala. He used an airplane bathroom for the first time. Something I thought was a simple ask of him took a lot of courage for him to do.  I had no idea he was afraid to use the airplane bathroom.

He made me think about all the times people don’t do and we don’t understand the reasoning behind it.  Also, it made me think about how infrequently we are brave enough to just say “I am scared” or “this makes me nervous.” Not only does it leave us feeling isolated in our own fear,  but we rob those we love of the opportunity to help us through hard things.

The second time Luca was brave, he asked me to be brave first.  Yesterday we had the chance to swing on a pretty big swing at Hobbetenango. Due to weight, age, height and all the things,only Luca, Carla, and I qualified to go.  Luca asked me to go first.  Now this was big brave for me. I don’t necessarily have a fear of heights,  but I do have the fear that comes with aging. I have far out grown the stage of life of being invincible.  The knowledge that a broken bone or even a simple injury could ruin an entire trip, not just for me but those around me.  This is the fear that stops me.  But Luca asked me to be brave and go first, so I did as he asked.  I flew through the air with all the espresso filled adrenaline rushing through my body and I loved every minute of it (though the coffee right before might have been a bad idea). Those moments were thrilling and freeing.  No time to hesitate, analyze, or talk myself out of it.  Just moments of pure joy. 

My excitement continued as I got to watch Luca conquer his fear.  For two years he has wanted to do this and backed out each time.  This time he told us he was nervous, he voiced wanting to do and then decided he was gonna be brave and try it. Afterwards he told me while he was on the platform he was so nervous he wanted to cry.  I told him that there’s lots of times in life that he will feel this way. We were all so proud of him,  but most importantly he was proud of himself. Shoot, even I was proud of myself lol.  Not gonna lie,  my legs trembled for a good 15 minutes even after I was back on solid ground, but it was worth every minute. 

So be brave,  tell others when you aren’t feeling so brave.  Do the hard things till they don’t feel so hard.  It reminds your brain that you are capable of tough stuff and not as fragile as the voice in our head tells us we are.

Tell others when your proud of them and create safe spaces for them to tell you when they aren’t feeling so brave.   Today I am proud of Luca for being big brave. 

Luca writes….woke up at 7:00 and our flight was at 11:20. Grandpa picked us up at 9:00 so we wouldn’t miss our flight. He drove us in his truck and we went to the airport. Brianna and Bianca met us at the sitting station at the airport. Brianna and Bianca are my other cousins, this is their first year in Guatemala. When we settled in the airplane, we took off. 2 hours and 13 minutes later…. We arrived in GUATEMALA. Then, the guy drove us to our Encanto house. This was the most boring day because all of the grownups were unpacking their suitcases. We did drawing activities,played outside, and had some alone time. Then we walked to dinner and we had some delicious dinner. After that, we went to Guatemala’s Central Park and walked around the park. After that, we went to see if the ice pop place was open but it wasn’t open. Then, we went home to take a shower and go to bed.

The End.

Luca writes…Today I woke up for an amazing day. We went to breakfast when Uncle Sam ( Brianna and Bianca’s dad) had to leave because he had to work in Florida. Then the most exciting part of the day was the aerials, silks, and acrobatics. But first, we had to go in a uber car 🚘 to get there. Once we got there, we saw bunnies and a dog 🐕. We had to go straight to the best part of the day (which is the silks) and we started to stretch. Mommy did the stretches which took a lot to convince her to do it. Then, we went into the action. First, we did simple exercises on the silks. Then, we went upside down 🙃 doing an exercise called the mariposa which means butterfly 🦋 in English. After we ate lunch and I had bison burger. It was delicious. Then we played on the playground. We went home and I played with Brianna and Bianca. The end.

Michele writes:

I’ve only known since the last day of our last trip last year to Guatemala that we would be leaving tomorrow to return.. but as it goes I will always be a last minute kind of girl. 

Funny thing is packing this year, while I may have put it off to the very last minute, was a breeze.  I texted Nicole asking what was missing because with only a carry on backpack, and a personal bag, I have far too much extra space. Antigua has taught me a lot,  including that we actually require very little in life when the focus of life is on experiences not what we looked like while we were living them.

Also as always, you can plan and prep and then… life happens. Depending on what report,  or what local group chat I am in the estimation varies on the number of earthquakes Guatemala has had in the last 3 days ( I am talking numbers like 150) with two significant ones being 5.4 and 5.7 ratings. The 5.7 was in a town 25 minutes from us. Thankfully Antigua is fine with minimal damage and the roads are all reopened.  Santa Maria hasn’t been as lucky. I’ve learned a lot about earthquakes in the last few days.  Mainly I’ve learned that there are far more happening around us than anyone realizes.  Unless it’s a 4 or higher no one gives it much notice. Sooo are we crazy to be going to an area that is so heavily active at the moment? Maybe,  but I truly feel like there is risk in life always.  Some risk are more calculated than others. There’s many times in life that fear of the unknown has stopped me from doing exactly what I knew I wanted to do. So I choose to stay informed and proceed on the be exactly where I wanna be.  I can’t wait to return.  #year5

Follow along if you’d like.  This year we have a few new additions to our Encanto house.  I’ll let Luca introduce our first set of guest.  T – 12 hours.

I woke up at seven o clock and me, mom and Tia walked to breakfast. Today I had a really special breakfast and I had bacon and ice cream!!!!! After breakfast I was thinking of something creative that I could do so I found a raft made out of wood and was filled with seaweed but I didn’t touch it and then I found a stick and I used it for like an oar and I swam out to sea. I tried to catch fish with my hands but it didn’t work out quite well. Here’s the first sad part of the day, I was trying to catch fish and I accidentally scraped my right foot on a piece of wood and I was bleeding 😔. But I was just fine and I got in the ocean 🌊. Did you know that saltwater is the best healing method for a boo-boos? Me and Kayla jumped off the dock into the water.

Here’s some videos and pictures

Then I saw fish on the shore water and I tried to catch them, but I touched 3 of the fish but I didn’t catch them. Then I saw stingrays and I petted them! Then someone else fed them but the leftovers the stingrays didn’t eat the food so I grabbed it and fed it to them again. Then me and mom took a picture in front of the The Split sign. Then I jumped off a ladder thing and it was so fun 🤩 And then me and Tia fed tarpons!

Then I ate lunch and this is the second bad part of the day, my stomach hurt and I had rice and beans and 2 legs of chicken. It was delicious but still my stomach was still hurting and I had to go to the bathroom 🚽. Mommy and Tia rented a golf cart because there is no cars on the island and I had dinner at the restaurant called Pelican Sunset and I had a hamburger and fries. I looked for fish and I saw needle fish and minnows. Then mom took us on an adventure around town on the golf cart. And then I went home to go to bed.

That’s the end.

Today I woke up at about six o clock and got ready for the biggest day on this trip. Snorkeling with sharks!! But first, we had to get there where the ocean is. We went on a fancy boat called a Catamaran and had 4 bathrooms and 4 bedrooms but they only use the bedrooms for tours but still that’s crazy! When we got there I was so excited but also a little nervous. We had to use a face mask and flippers. We saw different types of coral, barracuda, hogfish, a baby green sea turtle, jack fish, a stingray, and about 10 nurse sharks!! The captains of the boat are Carlos and Carlos Senior who made us all lunch and we had rice and beans with 1 leg of chicken. It was perfect for me and for my belly 😄. The girls said they loved everything they did today but there was 1 problem, our feet, our feet were hurting so bad that mom had to take me all the way to the boat that’s how much my feet were hurting and same as the girls. There was 4 different parts of what we got to see the fish! The main captain was sick yesterday and he had a fever so today he was feeling the same thing as yesterday so it was a sailboat so he had to use the wind. I was so tired because whenever I go in seawater, my eyes start to get really tired so I took 2 naps on the boat.

Here’s some pictures

When we got back to Caye Caulker, we had to walk to dinner it was called Happy Lobster and I had grilled shrimp and fries and I ate the whole thing. Me and mommy walked back to our house and I tried new toothpaste but it was minty but all I had to do. Then the rest of the crew came back home and me and mom went to bed.

That’s the end

…And it’s definitely not reciprocated. Just wanted to put that out there. No matter how much bug spray or oils I use. It’s the mosquitoes, bees, all the flies every type of them. I’ve been thinking that maybe I should just accept it and become one with insects. What yall think?

Ants too how could I forgot those little guys. The fire ones actually covered my whole foot at one point when we were at the lake in Petén. Isn’t that so fun?!

Today I woke up at 5:30 and I got dressed in my bathing suit because we’re going caving in water. We went in the van and took a 2 and a half hours to get there. We had to walk to the cave and it was about 20 to 30 minute walk but when we got there it was spooky. It was so cool and a little bit scary because it was super dark. We had to climb up cave rocks and mom was struggling. There was also artifacts such as pottery pots and bowls that the Mayans used them for. There were also bones that came from humans. 2 of the skeleton people got hit by a person dropping a camera on and the other person got killed because someone took their heart out and died. So, we can’t bring cameras inside. Then, we climbed the rocks and we got in the freezing water but I didn’t mind but the girls did. When we got out of the cave, we walked back and it was raining so it was very muddy. All of us were so hungry but luckily there was a little lunch service and we had rice with chicken and everyone devoured it.

Here’s a picture before we went inside and some that mommy got from online

I finally got 700 days of Duolingo and 30 more days and it’s going to be 2 years of Duolingo! I also started over with about 200 to 300 days so I was so disappointed but with a lot of work and studying, I got it back.

That’s the end

We just turned the corner and went from cobblestone roads to a smooth, paved highway.  There’s something so symbolic about those cobblestones for me.  You know you’ve arrived in Antigua when the cobblestone roads start, but sadly, you also know when you’ve crossed over back into reality.  I don’t think I’ve ever once in the 4 years I’ve been coming been ready to leave Antigua. We have quite a bit of adventure ahead of us still,  and while I am excited to watch everyone experience all that’s to come, but I would have loved another week in our house.  Hopefully, we will be back soon in some combination of people.  I’ve left half my wardrobe at the house, so I sure hope I’ll be back. Hasta la proxima vez “Encanto”

In an Uber today, with way to many of us crammed into the back seat so I went to “roll down the window” to let some air in.  Kayla quickly yelled out “wait let me do it” and it was in that very moment that I realized she’s never used a mechanical window in a car before.  Oh, how that shift in life is hard… when a whole generation of children have no idea what things are because they have simply never existed for them. Makes me now understand why nostalgia and longing for simpler times are so real for older people. Antigua represents simpliar times for me and i am grateful for the pause. It also makes me realize that regardless of progress, this will happen for every generation to come. 

We’re leavingggg nooooo, no but for real I’m so so so excited for this week we’re traveling almost everyday to do these cool excursions and go like snorkeling and going in caves and stuff. So I’m super duper excited

Short story time. basically our power went out again, it was yesterday, our last full day at the house. the lights in me and Kianna’s room just turned off and we were like no way not again… I go to plug in my phone just to make sure and yes it was for sure out.

Good news is they were about to leave to go to a close by coffee shop to charge all of our electronics before dark but we tried to turn like light on before they left and it turned back on thank the lordddddddd🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

So it was only like 20/30 mins not four days this time!

Oh also I miss my brother and my dogs so so so so so so so so so much

Okay I don’t know what else to right about sooo byeeee #kaylasbloggsss

Everyone had to pack today because tomorrow we’re going to the city in Guatemala called Flores so we had to pack. Even I had to pack! We also packed a few extra things. I don’t think I have any empty notebooks in my house but luckily the girls had one so I packed 2 notebooks and an extra shirt that the girls didn’t fit in but it fit me perfectly so I packed that. And then we had to use our school bags to pack in, that’s how much things we have 😊.

That’s the end

Today I woke up at 7:00 o clock and I had breakfast. I had eggs for breakfast and water. And then we took a Uber to do acrobatics and yoga! First, we stretched our bodies and then we started doing stuff on the floor. The best part was the silks! Silks are cloth that hang from the ceiling and you can do acrobatics on them.

Here’s some pictures and videos from the acrobatics and yoga

When we were done, there was a playground and they had 2 swings, a slide, tables, a trampoline and the spinning chair that you turn the steering wheel around and it spins. Then I felt a little bit nauseous but I didn’t throw up so that’s good but we ate some lunch and I had chicken fingers with a whole bunch of French fries. I tried a fry with 5 different kinds of sauces and it didn’t taste really bad but I ate the whole fry and we played cards. And then we took a Uber back to our house and then we just chilled. We ate dinner at home and I had pasta and chicken. But we walked to a fancy hostel and I got hot chocolate.

Here’s some pictures

Me, mom and Kayla walked home and there was a big flood but it definitely covered the whole road so that’s a lot of rain that we didn’t even notice. But then I took a shower and went to bed.

We were walking to a restaurant and we sat and saw a little bit of lightning and I watched it happen. Then when we were done, we walked back home in a crazy way! It was flooding with tons of rain that we didn’t even know about. Mommy and Kayla had to take their own shoes off because our feet would get soaked! I didn’t want to take my shoes off because I had hiking shoes on so I got them a little wet but not so wet. We didn’t have an umbrella and a poncho on so we got wet but we have a dryer that mommy was not happy about but now is happy about.

That’s the end

I woke up at seven o clock and I had eggs for breakfast 🍳. Today was presentation day for typical desserts and everyone did it.

Here’s some videos and pictures from the presentation…

3 hours later… and I got my certificate from the school because I finished. Today was my last day.

Here’s some pictures of my certificate

We’re done with school and the sad part is that my teacher will never see me again because she wants to become a nurse so she can make money for her family. That’s super sad 😭🥺😢😔☹️😞😕😥😪😓😞😕🙁😥😟😿. But away from that, we went to cooking lessons and we all made tamales and a Guatemalan dish called Pepían and I didn’t really like it but that’s okay because I tried something new.

Here’s some pictures from cooking

And we were trying to fit in the tiny car as that was our transport home. All the girls were asleep and I was wide awake so I had to be super quiet 🤫. I called ady and Emi and Dillon and all of them asked me about Guatemala 🇬🇹. Then, I wanted to blog so I went on the roof and I took a selfie 🤳

Then I had eggs for dinner and cereal so it’s a breakfast dinner I guess but anyway that’s all they had so I ate it. Then I took a shower and went to bed

That’s the end

In Guatemala, everyone is always trying to figure out how we are all connected. People I have known here since the beginning remember Kianna from 6 years ago, at which time I think I introduced her as my God Daughter, which quickly transitioned to neice. So with Luca/Nicole and Kayla/Kianna being the only blood related people in the bunch,  sometimes it’s just easier to say I am here with “my best friend and my neices and nephew.” It’s not wrong.  We’ve become this little traveling family.  Nicole and are much like sisters (the older version of Kianna and kayla). Here, Tias aren’t just blood related.  They are the helpers of the children, they are the older women in the community, and they are the helpers in the home.  I align much more with the title of Tia here.

Just as we get onto our Antigua routine and flow of life we are already preparing for the next phase of our trip. Nothing in life is constant and change can be  hard but it’s part of the good in life.  It’s a guarantee that nothing that is bad will remain forever and that even the best of times transition too.

Dinner table talk included the run down for the next upcoming days.  The LT40C “less that 40yo crew”… (feels wrong to call them kids since two of them are capable adults) finish their last day of school tomorrow and then we will enjoy our last weekend in Antigua.  I jokingly said to the LT40C that next year I am getting a white board like they have at the hostels to put checks next to the daily activists they are interested in.  It’s easy to lose track of everything when we are trying to throw so much into such a short time. 

Today I hung back a little and it felt so nice.  When I say we just got in our routine I mean the LT40C are now oriented to the city enough to lead the way, they have assimilated enough that I don’t have to be “as in charge” so today I hung back intentionally.  I am no one’s parent but when we travel with this group it’s hard for me not to worry about everyone’s needs and expectations. I am well aware it’s my worry not theirs, but I worry regardless. I worry about everything from safe choices to ensuring they feel like they have gotten out of this trip whatever it is they expected for themselves.   So I work on balancing that.  So sometimes I need to remind myself to adjust and step back.  A no decision situation does not mean I have to figure it out. I finally get to enjoy bringing up the rear.

I have sisters yay!!! And also, I have sisters like almost every day so they are basically my actual family.

They play with me sometimes 😆 but they play nicely and kindly and with respect and also fun 🤩! And Elissa is teaching everyone the piano lessons and I’m actually getting really good at piano now so that’s really fun.

That’s the end and thank you for being so kind and caring to me.

I woke up tired but still I ate breakfast 🍳 and I had scrambled eggs for breakfast. And then I walked to school with the whole group. And you might be wondering, why am I all prepared again Well I’ll tell you, I’m doing another presentation but this time is different, I’m going to make helados de chocolate. What it means in English is chocolate ice cream! So I went to the kitchen and made the chocolate ice cream. How I made it was I boiled the water 💦 and then I put the chocolate in the pan 🍳 and then the chocolate melted and I mixed it and it smelled so good. And then we poured the chocolate water in those plastic cups and put some sticks in the chocolate water and then I put them in the freezer and tomorrow it will be ready.

Tomorrow it’s my teacher’s last day at the school because she will become a nurse so that’s super sad😭🥺😢😔☹️😞😕🙁😪😓😟😿. 2 hours later… and it’s break time and we went to a different place where it had delicious chocolate chip cookies and I ate 2 and Kayla ate 1 cookie 🍪. 3 hours later… and we’re finally are done ✅. We walked back to our mansion house. Then everybody was relaxing but me I was going crazy with some things. We also went to salsa lessons and I did the warmup with everybody and felt bad because I thought I would mess up so I sat alone but I wasn’t really, I was just feeling alone just thought of it. I was playing Minecraft with Aunt Laura because she called me so why wouldn’t I answer duhhhh!!!! After salsa we walked back home and ate dinner and I had Chipotle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Anyway mom told me that I had to go to shower so I took a shower and then went to bed.

That’s the end of the blog

Soooooo for school last Friday I had my sister get me manzanas from the market when they went with their teachers I didn’t go because it was my first day back to school after being sick and I didn’t think I could handle the market (iykyk the market is a different breed)

But I presented apples covered in limón, lemon and they were so so good everyone grubbed them up, prolly mostly me

Speaking of presentations… me and Kianna are sharing one tomorrow so I’ll have to keep up with my blogging tomorrow

But here’s some pics

I’ll update tomorrow on me and Kianna’s okiii byeeeee #kaylabloggss

We are down to our last few days in Antigua and I have come to realize my only other blog post is just some emojis. So here’s a little summary of how it’s been for me thus far.

Language school has been going well. I feel I’ve been learning a lot and becoming more comfortable speaking and writing in Spanish. My teacher, Carolin, is so sweet. Everyone calls us “las colochas” which is a term I think they only use here, but it means girls with curly hair. We’ve gone to a few dance classes that have been so fun. Although they’ve been difficult for me at some points, I love to dance and move my body in ways I don’t normally. We plan to go to another class tomorrow night that some may be surprised to hear I’m excited for. Of course I can’t write a blog without mentioning the dogs here. I just wanna rescue them all and take them home with me. They’re just lil babies and I wanna give them all the good food and pets they deserve. I knew coming here would be good for me and a nice change of pace from the Miami hustle lifestyle and it has been just that. I am so so grateful for the experiences I have had so far and eternally grateful for the people I’ve got to share them with.

Here’s a sneak peek into my camera roll since being here in Antigua:

My mom and some of her friends and their daughter came here for a few days which was super cool here a few pictures

I hoped they enjoyed their time here as much as we do

That’sss alllll okiii byeee #kaylasbloggsss

That was my horses name, he was supperrr cute. This was my second time doing Pacaya and if I could do it again I would it’s so cool riding horses up a volcano I just love horses.

They did change the location where we eat the pizza but that’s no biggy buttt it was cool because I got to learn about rocks from elissa

The weather was so nice it wasn’t too cold wasn’t too hot , all the workers were so nice and funny. And omg all the horses were sooooo sweet including my mom’s horse, he loveddddd me. I’ll show a video of that for proof

And omg how could I forget the sweetest dogs ever, they’re all so so so cute I wish I could take them all home with me and love them forever

Anywaysssss here’s some pictures and videos

Okiii byeeeee #kaylasbloggsss

Alright so I’m just now blogging this but we were about 4 days into being in Antigua and I had already got sick… sooooo that was awful but I’m good now

Also my allergies are so bad here I recommend bring allergy meds. I literally had a headache and Advil didn’t work then I took allergy meds… gone brotha

But yeah I even missed two days of language school from being so sick and recovering so that was upsetting but it’s okay

Anddddd the day after I started feeling better we went to bachata class and road some horses up Pacaya that’s for another blog though

Here’s some pics from bachata class

Okiii byeeee #kaylasbloggsss

If there is one thing to be said about Antigua Guatemala, it is that this city knows how to be festive. Seemingly everyday there is an concert, light show, parade, or marathon occurring. I love the vibrance of the culture and the idea of finding a reason to celebrate life. Somehow though, we’ve managed to avoid every festivity except the light show! Yesterday, Kianna and I went out in search of los Gigantes- to no avail. We did get cleansed by smoke and find two very cute puppies. This is to say that even if we don’t participate in the exact festival, the spirit of celebration permeates the city.

We’ve also been going to lots of salsa classes, walking around, visited a coffee and chocolate finca, and have still been going to school. Heres some random photos of those things:

Okay so basically we went to Finca La Azotea and when your walking into the park there’s a little pond that you pass and there’s a bunch of fishes and turtles in it and they were the cutest things ever and I thought one was drowning and dying come to found out it was just swimming down but that’s besides the point so after I saw that I yelled out “Are you okay do I need to save you I would jump in for you” but they were literally just the cutest little things ever so yeah

Thanks Michele for the title idea because I wouldn’t have even thought of it

Here’s some pictures of the cutesy little fishes and turtles

Anywaysssss I love that place I read almost 20 pages in my book and I can never focus to read all that was fun. This year is wasn’t as busy like at all, last year it was pretty busy from what I remember. But yea it’s super super nice there the weather was perfect I sat in the hammock for a long long time reading my book then I got super tired so I fell asleep. Can I say the best nap I’ve had Ina while.

Omg and they’re were horses too

Okiiiii byeeee #kaylasbloggsss

Many things have given me pause while being here.

I am in awe of the natural beauty amongst which these people live and call their home. I revel in the simplicity of the life I am experiencing here, and fully acknowledge this is a false sense of life in comparison to most of the women born here.

Today, walking through the Mercado, feeling grumpy with little sleep, an achy lump on my foot and without my morning coffee made a friend from works “first world problems” statement that he often says come to mind.

Here, there is no room for complaints. No room for ailments. No room for lamenting. No room for laziness. No room for mental health days.

Here, if you are not industrious, you are nothing.

Children peddle fruits and vegetables, candy and homemade jewelry to feed their families.

Elderly men and women tend meat, produce and supply stands, all day, without easy access to running water and restrooms.

Men and women deliver crates of produce on their heads, or atop their shoulders without so much as a grimace.

Here, people work. Sun up, to sun down.

And, they do it politely and with a smile.

So much effort is made in our current day to account for people’s internal struggles. And while I am not discrediting the importance of having sound mental health, I do feel that our current vantage point for many Americans could use a healthy dose of this “suck it up and push forward” attitude.

I know that pushing forward too hard, without pause for self reflection is damaging. The majority of the world does not recognize mental health as a priority. Talk therapy and psychiatric medications are not seen as valid necessities. Michele struggles with this on a daily basis with her kids from immigrant families.

First world problems allow us to lament our achy foot lump and lack of coffee. Third world problems, do not.

Somehow, I hope I can find balance. For myself, and for Luca.

I am grateful my parents instilled in me a good work ethic. Neither of them complain, ever. They have busted their asses for myself and my siblings and I will forever be grateful.

I hope I can do the same for Luca. I try to do what my parents have taught me and help him reframe when he has a self doubt or disappointment. To redirect his thinking by remembering his blessings; a body that is strong, a mind that is healthy, a roof over his head, food in his belly, and being surrounded by people that love and support him.

I hope that this learning, combined with him being exposed to different ways of life helps him to become a man that is somewhere in the middle; aware and protective of his mental health, but with a strong work ethic and a gratitude for his blessings.

I read an article recently about not complaining, ever. About reframing every thought and statement from a place of directly asking for what you truly need and from a place of gratitude.

I have tried in my adult life (however difficult and unsuccessfully) to not outright complain. I make light of my complaints, turn them into jokes thinking that they are in some way less negative.

I want to change that, and walking through the Mercado today solidified that desire.

So, here’s to self growth. One walk through the Mercado at a time.

Do you now there’s a difference between blind snakes and earth worms… well there is and I am still trying to figure out what it is. Luca said there is and I believe him.  This quote tonight made me think of Luca and all the great that fades as children age.  How these moments of looking at rocks, worms, and rolly pollies with wonder, awe, and excitement won’t last forever.  That soon they will make way for harder less simple things in life.  My hope, though, remains that he will be exposed to so much goodness in life that the hard stuff simply makes him appreciate the good and simple things even more. 

Monday was a recovery day and we were back to our normal routine of school and afternoon activities.  Today was filled with school and salsa lessons at Selina hostel where even Luca participated.  Nicole and I then  stole Elissa and Kianna away to experience our favorite secret bar for a drink before bed.  No one is a stranger for long in Antigua and it’s easy to become part of the community. I love that about being here.  It’s like being at “Cheers” everywhere you go everyone knows your name.  It’s familiar and comfortable. People here are just so kind.  That’s probably the hardest thing to express about being here.  I have zero issues going to the tienda and practicing my bad Spanish without embarrassment. My favorite people include the mango lady on the corner of our street who smiles (without teeth) so big when she sees us every day and having conversations with strangers from all over the world. You never know the people you will meet. 

Our first week in Antigua flew by and there hasn’t been much time for pause. So let me catch you all up.  Cheryl arrived on Thursday with a friend,  her daughter,  and her friend’s coworker. I think it is very special that Cheryl was able to come to the school and see where the girls have been learning. Also it was a special bonus that she happened to be here during our presentations, and she was able to see the girls progress. It was a fast and full weekend. Volcanos, horses,  ruins, cerro, etc.  My favorite was the dinner and a show put on by the kids,  a glimpse into the best parts of being in Antigua. 

Dearest Reader,

I write to you today to tell you a riveting story. It’s a story of a day that begins how most days begin- with awaking in the morning. This wasn’t any ordinary morning, however. It was TEN AM. Three hours later than our usual call time. Awaking at this time made me feel refreshed, vibrant and alive, like a flower sprayed with Febreeze and washed with Fabuloso. I would like to thank the members of the household for allowing us to enjoy this wonderus moment and prepare us for the week.

Heres a photo of the bed I slept in, in case anyone is confused:

Then, we went out and got to see some ruins from the colonial era of Guatemala. We saw a cathedral and a cloister. Unfortunately my body hurt and I couldn’t climb around too crazy, but I enjoyed watching Kayla and Luca crawl up into this rock cave.

Until next time!!

I woke up at about 7:00 o clock in the morning and I was feeling so good and I had cereal for breakfast. Then the girls woke up at 10:00 o clock so that’s late. Meanwhile… the 7 of us walked to eat breakfast and I had eggs and bacon for breakfast. It took so long to just get our food. It felt like a hour to get the food ready. Then we walked back to our mansion house. About 4 hours later… and it is time for the fun part of the day. We go to the ruins!!! but first, we went to a different ruins,the cathedral ruins so we went to that one first and here is some pictures.

then we walked to the second ruins and it was the best because I got to climb up the biggest rocks.

Here’s some pictures of the second ruins.

I couldn’t find the rest but here’s one of them 😄. When we got back home, we relaxed and I looked for bugs. Then, we ate dinner with everyone and it was delicious 😋. Then the girls were on their phones so I had nothing to do but watch them look on their phones 📱. Then it was chill for the rest of the evening. Then I got in the shower and went to bed 🛏️.

That’s the end

I woke up at 6:30 in the morning and we ate breakfast and I had eggs for breakfast. So we went in the car so we can go to the volcano called Pacaya. When we got there I had my horse named Muñeco and we rode up the volcano 🌋. When we got there, I played with the volcano rocks and I threw them all around.

Here’s some pictures from the volcano.

When we rode back, Elissa and Tia’s horses were running so fast that Elissa’s stuff in her backpack fell out on the ground where all the horses poop 💩 eww 😷. I had the best time riding my horse. When we got down from the volcano we got down the horse, we went in the car and rode back. The girls went to the market and mom took a nap while Me Tia and Kayla went to a coffee place called Fat Cat and we played cards together. When the girls got back from the market, me and Tia and Kayla walked home. I found 4 blind snakes and 3 of them were babies and one was a adult. Then Tia made what aunt Laura and grandma makes, spaghetti and hamburger meat sauce. It was so good in fact that I ate 4 small bowls of it. And then the best thing of the evening was a instrument dinner show

Here’s some pictures and videos from the dinner show

Then we tried to get ice cream for me but they had sorbet flavors I didn’t like.

But then there was a light show on the castle!

Then we all walked home and I had to go in the shower and go to bed because it was 10:00 o clock here but in Florida, it’s midnight so I was very tired.

That’s the end

If you know about Bob (first horse I ever rode who was specifically trained for the blind), then you know. But today, Bob was left in the dust like all the other horses (and friends) literally. Pepe was a pistel. He took off running the minute I got on.  I was miles ahead of the entire pack on the climb up the mountain…. and on the way down, thankfully, my horse found a competitor in Elissa’s horse, so I had a friend to go down the mountain with.  Our 🐎 horses didn’t let up, causing my newly dawned hat to fly off and Elissa’s water bottles to fly out of her backpack.  Let’s just say we made it down the mountain in record time and long before the others. As Elissa mentioned in her blog, prayers for my butt are welcomed.  Circling back to my amazing hat. So this is my 3rd time doing Pizza 🍕  on Pacaya and when we arrived, the owner of the business asked my group where I was by name, and so I went over to say hello.  He gave me a free hat and said how happy he was to see us.  It’s kinda nice to know people everywhere you go.  I am sure you’re wondering if going up the same volcano 3x is worth it,  well I can tell you it’s a whole new experience going up one with a Geologist (be jealous). Elissa is a Geologists so it was very cool to have her with us explaining the rocks that we were walking on and what we were seeing and how things happen.  It definitely shed a whole new light on the experience for me.  At the volcano there’s a little shop where local artisans take the volcanic rock and create jewelry with it. Here’s a “did you know” fact about Pacaya: In 2021, the Pacaya volcano in Guatemala erupted in a series of explosive and effusive events that began in February and continued into March. The eruption also occurred during Tropical Storm Agatha, which brought heavy rainfall that caused landslides, lahars, and widespread flooding. They called it the perfect storm in the ring of fire. I am not one for buying souvenirs but at the lava store Nicole and I both drawn to purchase earrings made from the lava during that storm and eruption and coconut shells.

Our first year in the house Nicole named our house Encanto, and every year since, the moment I walk through the door, it feels like coming home. We oddly all have naturally fallen into our roles in the house, and I couldn’t love my role any more than I do.  Doña Sed had returned to her kitchen.

The first week of being in Antigua has flown by and school came to an end for me before I even realized it began.  This year I had Kianna’s teacher from last year.  She was a stark contrast to my last teacher.  I have loved all my teachers for different reasons, but my teacher this year was so kind and so sweet and so patient.  She’s exactly what I needed this year and I am grateful.  La Unión also feels like home.  Everyone remembers us and our stories and we pick up right where we left off a year ago.  I  promised Luca that if he presented on presentation day i I too would present…. so he made me make good on my promise.  I was so proud to watch him on last day of school present for the first time. He’s always been too shy to present and I always opt out. So in the end, I guess we’ve both grown.  I made/presented on Pina and made licuados. I made the ones for the adults with rum. They were obviously a hit to say the least.  I love that the “kids” have favorite things to do at school. I love that learning can be so fun. Thankful for another year….. and now it’s time to play. 

We’ve just returned from el Volcán Pacaya, and my legs already feel bruised! My horse Pícaro was well behaved on the first half of our trip, but on the second half, he unleashed his inner beast🫎 (and by that I mean he galloped to catch up with Michelle’s horse) (everyone pray for Michelle’s lower body) (pray for mine too while you’re at it). But anywayyy all the pain is worth it, as I was able to see the volcano up close and personal. Thank you to everyone who indulged me in geological talk and investigation. We were even able to see the direction of the pyroclastic flow based on the shape of the grains seen below!

After returning home we went to the artesanal market and were graced by a scene that is better to see than to describe with words:

Happy Friday everyone!

Watching the kids be creative and put on a show for us after dinner made me feel like the days of old.

When our siblings, cousins and friends would goof around, create, imagine, play, and entertain ourselves without digital aides.

A world with limited use of technology.

Another simplicity of being here that I love.

This will be a short blog but I was riding down the volcano with a horse 🐎 and I saw a leaf on the corner of my eye and I grabbed it and when I saw it, I was amazed by the look of it so I kept it for the rest of the ride and when I was done I took a picture of it on my horse 🐎.

That’s the end

This will be a short blog, but what happened was that mommy felt something shaking and felt like a little earthquake! But it wasn’t a big earthquake, it was an earthquake that was in El Salvador 🇸🇻. I hope the people are ok in that area.

That was crazy!!

That’s the end

I woke up for the big day and I had eggs for breakfast 🍳. And we walked to school with the nerves for the big day. 2 hours later… and for break, it was the presentation about fruit and I chose tomatoes 🍅.

Here’s some pictures and videos of my presentation.

I was very proud of myself by doing the presentation on my own. I ate the fruits of the presentation and I had my own personal option, the tomato salsa and Lychee fruit and that was kind of like my lunch.

3 hours later… and we’re done for today and it’s the weekend yayyyy!!!! I looked for bugs but instead I found 2 blind snakes! And the craziest thing happened, I saved a bee from drowning and it couldn’t fly so I actually put him in my box thing and I made all my bugs a habitat in my box thing. I called Granny and she answered and I tried to show her some things that I can do on the phone but she couldn’t figure it out. I also showed her how to make her see my background and she didn’t know how so I did it and she was surprised that I could do it so I did a basketball game and I won 50 to 17 and she was surprised because how much points I won by. I also told granny about a snail that Tia caught on her papaya tree and I showed it to granny and she thought it was pretty cool.

I said goodbye and I had dinner and I had fried pork and guacamole and I kind of liked it.

I went in the shower and went to bed .

That’s the end

Me and mom woke up at 6:45 am and I ate eggs this time for breakfast 🍳. We walked to school and we were all preparing for the big day. 2 hours later… it was break time and I played ping pong with Kayla and Elissa. I beat Kayla 12 to 10 and Elissa demolished me by winning 2 games, that’s crazy! But either way everyone had fun playing ping pong 🏓. Here’s Tia studying.

And here’s me studying 📖.

We had to go to the market because we had to cook it so we took a long walk to the market to get the stuff for Friday. We some stuff at the market and walked back to school. 3 hours later… and I were are done with school and walked to lunch with 4 other people and I we had lunch. I had a hamburger with some French fries 🍟 and I forgot what everyone had so we had lunch and we walked back home. When we got home, we took everyone on a tour of our house and everyone loved our house so then me and Kayla and Abby, our new guest played cards and Abby was so good at cards. Then all of us went to dinner and I had steak, chicken, potatoes, and sausage. I had 4 different kinds of meat today, that’s a lot of meat😂. After dinner the girls went to salsa lessons and they went to sleep at midnight. Meanwhile…me and mommy went on a journey together by trying to find the ice pop place but unfortunately it was closed.

Me and mom took a picture when we were walking 🚶.

When I got home, me and mom took showers and went to bed.

I had a dream about it was my friend’s birthday and we played a new game called Basketball Soccer and Kobe Bryant and he was dribbling the ball and I stole it from him and I threw the ball on the ground and dribbled it soccer version⚽️and I kicked it to my teammate and he kicked it back and I was relieved by the play.

That’s the end