Spending Christmas away from home and my family was difficult, but I actually really enjoyed spending Christmas here with the kids. The big celebration was on Christmas Eve. Some of the volunteers put on a Christmas pageant. Then, my friend Mike dressed up as Santa and I dressed up as an elf. We took pictures with the kids and they enjoyed it. Then, we got the best dinner that I’ve ever eaten at NPH (we eat black beans almost every single night): turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, beans, and cake. Then we had a big bonfire and roasted marshmallows with the kids. There was also music so we got to sing and dance too.
Christmas Day, Cassie and I gave the kids in our section little stockings that we had made and a piece of candy. That night, we had a bonfire with just our kids. It was a lot of fun too! I had the day off the next day. And after that, we took all the kids at NPH to the beach on our last day working as tíos. It was warm, beautiful and wonderful. I didn’t want to leave! But luckily, my family came two days later. I had been waiting for this visit for months!
It was so wonderful to see them. Although I didn’t live at home in college, I was used to seeing my family every 10 weeks, and during breaks and holidays. If I needed to, it was easy to go home for a weekend as well. So, six months was the longest time I had ever gone without seeing my family. When I picked them up at the airport, I was so happy that I cried. And when they left, I cried again because I was sad.
But we had a wonderful time! We went to another black sand beach called Monterrico Bay. It was marvelous. We had a nice relaxing time and ate some delicious seafood. I had ceviche one day, which I remembered eating in Ecuador. It’s a cold soup with shrimp, tomato and cilantro and is riquísimo.
On New Years Eve we returned to Antigua around 6:30 PM. I had heard that the celebration there was amazing – and it was! We went out to a nice dinner at a place called Café Panchoy for some traditional Guatemalan food. Then, we wandered around for a little while and marveled at the crowds. I had never seen so many people there before! We got some delicious hot chocolate and then walked up the street, looking for somewhere with champagne. After wandering for awhile, we stumbled upon a restaurant with a sign that said champagne a few minutes before midnight. Little did we know, this was an excellent find. Although we were disappointed because they had run out of champagne, we ordered some wine anyway. Then we realized that we could go sit up on the roof! And so we did. It was kind of a party up there. We walked up right as the fireworks started going off at midnight. If I haven’t mentioned before, Guatemalans are OBSESSED with fireworks. Almost every night I’m awoken around three or four AM by fireworks that are so loud they sound like gunshots. So, needless to say, there was an awesome fireworks show on New Years’ Eve. In fact, there were multiple fireworks shows. We had an amazing view and fireworks were really coming from all different directions. Some lady even gave my sister and I tiaras that said, “Happy New Year!” on them.
After that my sister and I went dancing, which was super fun. She has a few years before turning 21, so we have to wait awhile longer before we can go dancing together back at home. We got back to the hotel around 2 AM – only to discover a restless night because of the booming music from a nearby bar. It didn’t stop until around 5 AM. (Usually the bars in Antigua close at 1 AM.) None of us slept very well that night, but we had fun.
On New Years Day, we at breakfast at a place called Café Sky. You can sit on the roof and it’s a great view of the gorgeous city. After that, we went to a place called Casa Santo Domingo. It’s an old monastery that is now a hotel and has six amazing museums inside. We also saw some crypts which were kind of creepy but really cool. After that we were pretty tired, so we just went to a café and then went out to another nice dinner. Then we went to another restaurant for a glass of wine because there was live piano music there. (Guatemala is by no means known for piano music; it was an American musician. I was really excited because piano music is my favorite and I don’t ever hear it in this country!)
The next day we went to some ruins. It was another old monastery that was partially destroyed by an earthquake in the 1700s. Pretty cool. After that we went to the Artesan Market and then took the chicken bus (yes, my family survived two rides on that) back to NPH. They stayed here for two nights. I was glad that I could show them around and they could meet some of the kids. Now they have a better understanding of where I am and what I’m doing.
The night before my family came, I actually got to see two of my Augustana friends, Amy and Andrea. I was so happy! They come to Antigua on a service trip every year, so I went and ate dinner with them at their hotel. It was so wonderful to see them too! It seemed like they were having a really great time on their trip.
And now, we have several new volunteers who arrived this weekend. Tonight we’re going out to dinner to meet them all. One girl is from Chicago, so I’m excited about that. Half of the volunteers will leave in two weeks, which is hard. They’ve been here for a year. Now, this means that I am one of the “old” (experienced) volunteers because I’ve been here for six months. Which I can’t believe. It has gone by so quickly! And I am much more used to living here. There are some things that culturally I don’t think you can truly adjust to (unless you maybe move somewhere permanently), but in general I feel much more comfortable living here. And supposedly, the next six months will go by even more quickly than the first did. So, here I am …
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