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.