Guatemala

Soo today is wendesday, otherwise known as hump day due to the radio. An we sure are thankful for it. Wendesday is the day that volunteers get to go into Town for dinner and the to hang out at the Hotel Backpackers for the evening. It is a sweet time and a good way to rejuvinate for the rest of the work week. We came in topday and got to have showers wich was so nice bcause I was covered from head to toe in sawdust. For this week we have been working on finishing the bathrooms (wich we did) and painting them. We also have done alot of ceiling installation, which is really hard work. It is hard enough to bang a billion nails into a wall but into a ceiling is impossible. The guys we work with are freaking hilarious, though i can only understand half of what the say. I had my first little bout of sickness today, which we belive was caused by some sketchily cooked carrots yesterday. I got over it and continued to work for the rest of the day. This weekend coming up is cathrines birthday, so we are going to go away for teh weekend. It will be glorious. I guess you will hear about it when I get back. Anywhoo everyone else is done and we are about to go out for dinner, so I guess I should go. i MISS HOME, BUT AM DOING GREAT

Love Char

Hey everyone

So i have just finished my first work week at Casa Guatemala. It was really awesome, but I have to admit I am a wee bit homesick. I actually considered giving up and coming home way early, but i thought I should stick it out. Anywhoo we have worked for only three days and are utterly exhausted. The first day we only painted but we painted in a small enclosed room for 4 hours. Not only were we painting in the small room, where the paint got to our head and we made silly songs, but we were painting planks of wood that would become the ceiling. It was so incredibly monotonous, but the other girls were with me wich made it bearable. The next day Cat and I got to start putting up the boards and make a small part of the ceiling. It was really hard to hammer the nails upwards, and also we had to hand saw all the peices. Today was my favourite work day. Most of the girls were put on the task of putting in the walls to the bathroom in the medical clinic. We also finally got electricity routed to the clinic so we didnt need to hand saw anymore; thank god! it was really hard work, but time went by really fast. we are working with two really funny guys named Hector and Ermando. there is quite a big language barrier, but they are funny. When we were painting they were working underneath the clinica and we could hear them making fun of us talking andgigling in really high pitched voices. It was hilarious.

As for the Casa, the kids are really cute. There is one girl Diana that came and tucked ME into bed last night because she knew i was tired. She is six years old, but can already speak a little english. The other kids are great also. We are sleeping in the same building as the girls, which kinda sucks becasue they get up at 4 in the morning. It isnt so bad though becasue breakfast is at 6 and we start work by 7. The other hard part at being at the orphanage is that we have some kinds of bugs, we think gnats, that live in out beds with us. They dnt bite, but they hop around all night which gets kinda annoying. Also the electricity goes off at 8:30 so everything after that is by candelight... ARGH. But other than that it is great. There are monkeys that live around the orphanage, which sound like rabid dogs, it was kinda scary the first night. We saw some today and one peed on kaya! It was funny.

Another thing i have found quite odd is how much Casa G reminds me of Keats. The kids line up for breakfast every meal and are let in, and the whole place is run kind of like a summer camp. There is a little tienda that is like the mariners in, and the kids live in bunk beds and have one volunteer that works with them. The whole atmosphere of the place is much like keats.

I have also managed not to get sick yet...YAY

Miss home lots,
Char

Hey everyone

So i am sitting here in the little internet area at the Hotel Backpackers, which is operated by casa guatemala. We arrived in guatemala city yesterday, and stayed in a cute little hostel called the hotel fenix. There was a fairly big language barrier, and we were relying on my broken spanish along with lindsays broken spanish. We took a wander through the city and ended up at a protest in the city center. After observing that we went for dinner. We hadnt eaten since the night before with mom, yet i still wasnt that hungry. <we decided to be inside our hostel once it was dark becasue Guatemala city is a fairly skechy place. I fell asleep fairly early and ended up waking up to the sound of a massive truck driving by and honking its horn. that meant i was awake or most of the night. We took a bus from Guatemala City to Rio Dulce today, and tehre was this guy in frfont of me who kept telling me things about the areas we were driving through. Only problem was that I could barely understand him. We got off the bus and had to walk from the bridge to the backpackers with our backpacks and supply bags which weighed like a billion pounds. I hope everything is good on the home front. It is getting close to dinner time and my time limit is almost up.

Char