Me at the Sachicha Waterfall

Yes I know the waterfall isn't overflowing, but that's only because the rainy season has just started.  

Birthday weekend

Hanging out with other volunteers Katherine and Keenton in Coban.

Mother's Day in Chuiquel

I’m not sure if I mentioned that I teach English at a school in an aldea. Maybe some of you are asking yourselves what is an aldea. It’s basically a very rural area where there are mostly poor farm families. Some of their homes are made of adobe and there are very humble living environment. For example the school I teach in really isn’t a school; it’s a house that belongs to one of the other teachers. We only have 2 rooms with no doors and windows. The good thing is that we just got desks donated for the kids and I have a white board to work on.
I live in a bigger town and it takes about an hour to get to Chuiquel. I love going because the students are amazing. They blow my mind and I admire them so much. Their first language is Kachiquel, which is a Mayan language and then they learn Spanish as their second language. On top of that they’re learning English. I have 13 students in my class and their ages range from 12-16. I’m pretty impressed because they are really smart kids.
Mother’s day in Guatemala is celebrated on May 10, so the kids put together an incredible presentation for their mothers. I and the other English teachers helped them make cards in English to encourage their moms. Below you’ll see some pictures I took.

More kids from my class

 

Girls from my class

Maria and Alberta 

Singles Conference in Guatemala

I had an incredible time at my first Guatemalan Church Singles Conference. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but by the end of the weekend, I was convinced that attending the conference was the best thing for me spiritually. The title of the conference was “Colors of Hope.” It was encouraging to see that the whole thing was coordinated and planned by singles. I think the ambiance added to the glory of the weekend. We stayed at a nice hotel perched in the woods, surrounded by the sounds of nature. The singles of the church in Xela, about 18 of us, left Saturday morning and headed to the capital to meet up with the other 400 singles attending. I think the most impacting aspect of the conference was the small group. We were asked to get into a group of 3 and to be paired with people we didn’t know. Well that wasn’t hard for me since I hardly know anyone. This was to be our prayer group and it was fantastic. We prayed together throughout the weekend and I felt we were able to share our hearts and bond with one another. Saturday night we had a huge bonfire where we sang songs and presented skits from the bible. It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves in the fellowship. I also had the opportunity to meet a lot of singles and have great conversations. I kind of stuck out because I don’t look Guatemalan and I definitely don’t have a Guatemalan accent. I’m always excited to share about the church back home I think it helps the disciples in Guatemala realize how big the kingdom really is. Below you’ll see some pictures from the conference.

The whole gang

Can you find Yvonne?