"I will never forget Guatemala...even if I wanted to!"

Hi there:) Remember that one time when I said, "I'll write on Sunday" ? Yeah, did not think it would be a week from the Sunday I was referring to.

Okay, so I've been here for nearly four weeks, and I'm so comfortable in PG. I seriously love it here and I want to live here someday. I have another four weeks left, and I'm also looking forward to coming home-- I keep thinking of Christmas...and Dan's house Christmas!!! Eeeee! So excited. Okay: here's the scoop!

I got observed by two teachers so far as well as my principal. I am doing well, the students are amazing, and as cheesy as it sounds, I really feel like I'm making a difference here. My kids love to teach me Mayan words and phrases. These kids can also dance better than me--like, they've got the moves. It's incredible that children so small can shake their booties and not get in trouble from their parents. Did I tell you about the punta dance? There's a well known dance in Belize called "punta" and it's basically shaking your butt so fast you don't know what's what. No joke. When two people dance the punta, it looks like intercourse with clothes on. It's crazy. Now, being a slightly more conservative female from the U.S, I look at it and laugh or blush. For this culture, they love it and think nothing of it--it's just a dance people do, it doesn't mean love or nasty, it's just a dance. Kids do it, grandmas do it, middle aged people do it, kiddos my age do it--It's just the "in" dance.

Last Thursday was cultural day, and all the local schools had their students dress in their cultural wear and visit culture booths made by the teachers. girls wore colorful dresses and blouses with shiny fabric, boys wore tunics or a white shirt with black pants. There were many cultures represented at my school: The Mayans are the main population in San Antonio. After that is the Catche (similar to Mayan/Indian). Next are the Mestizos, and last are the Garifunas. Each group did a dance, shared a food, and made posters of their culture with words in their language, their flag, and a video of their dance as well. Being the only American, the vice principal asked if I could make a booth for America--I didn't really want to because we don't really have a trademark food or anything. Instead, I helped my friend Yukki make signs and posters for Japan.

I don't really remember what I wrote last week, so a brief recap--I went snorkeling on Saturday for the first time ever. It was awesome. We saw small sharks, coral, colorful fish, star fish, big fish with big names, and conc shells. On Sunday, our teachers and supervisors took our whole group to see the Mayan ruins, which are located near my school in San Antonio. Did you know that the Crystal Skull was supposedly found there in the 1920's?! Crazy. They also had plants that were similar to Venus Fly Traps--awesome! After the ruins, we went to a house/restaurant where women cooked us tortillas over a hearth along with the cultural token meal: Caldo (that stuff I had before and did not like). Oooo--this reminds me of a story I'm going to tell quick and then I'll get back to my post: I ate a boiled hot pepper last week! Dumb me, thought it was a boiled sweet red pepper--my host mom gave it to me, I popped the whole thing in my mouth, and within minutes was sweating/crying/panicking/fanning/screaming for cold milk! My whole family was laughing hysterically--in hindsight, hilarious. At the time--crazy. Okay, fast forward, we ate Caldo, we saw a cat eat a baby chick that was once cute and alive. I swear, I see the most weird and graphic things here! After eating, we drove through San Antonio and went to the waterfalls where we jumped off cliffs into the water. Yeah. What of it. I am a cliff jumper now. :) just kidding. I was scared to bits. I was the third to jump off, and I did a painful butt landing onto the water. I have never felt so alive. Crazy, too :)

This past weekend seven of us from our group went to Livingston, Guatemala. We played a bit fast and loose not having a definite plan of where we were staying or what we'd do there, but thanks to two very nice captains, we found a cheap place to sleep ($4 American per night), food to eat (a whole fried fish complete with eyeballs and fins in tact), and things to do:

We rode in a tiny boat, and our captain drops us off at this random spot with a dock. He says, "Hasta Luego" and we start...walking? We didn't know what was going on, so we walked up to this hut, and there sat this man burning some intense smelling incense. He shows us a picture of a beautiful waterfall and says, "You're going to walk up river for about ten minutes and then you'll get here." Sweet! We start walking down a path, and we see this huge river with a tiny cord followed by a thicker rope...and we had to cross the river!!!! Ah! So I was scared, hesitant, there was a lot of rain that week and the current was strong, but I crossed it, and as I crossed it, I thought Sigh, the worst is over! Wrong! The craziness continued as we hiked upstream--there were no trails, no paved stones. Just our slippery sandals, mossy rocks, and hanging vines--and trees with crabs crawling all over them. So we hike up river, and we have to cross it again--this time, no ropes or chords. A guide was there and he helped us get across the river by carefully balancing on some rocks. This is the part where my sandal broke completely and I went barefoot the rest of the way:) We walked another five minutes upstream and get to the awaited waterfall. We see one thick rope. We see the guide climb the rope to the top of the waterfall. We see him take two huge leaps and jump off the waterfall. That's when I almost threw up my cookies! So a couple group members so and jump off, and then curiosity gets the worst of me, and I climb up to--the guide was there with me and was holding my hands much like the style of Jack and Rose from Titanic minus the romance--I tell him in spanish "I'm scared!" He tells me "Correr!" which means "Run!" I think of Andy, and take one giant leap! It was amazing! So crazy and so much fun. I thought about my cousin, Kyle, and I wished he was with me, too. We were such daring kids together, and when I got older (10ish) he got upset when I wouldn't jump off the dock with him. He said, "You used to be so brave, Haley. What happened?" I think about this memory often, and I feel like I'm a more courageous and daring person...maybe moreso before I turned ten:)

We spent only two days in Guatemala...we actually just got back early this morning. It was a draining trip--physically, emotionally, mentally--we had to speak Spanish! It went better than I thought, though. I really liked the group I was with. Beth, Daisy, and Andrea are really amazing girls and I'm so happy they are on this trip, too. Without them, I think I would possibly cry every night:)

I think about you all often. No joke. When I eat something amazing, I think about Grandma and Bernie, and I try to write down the things I'm eating that they need to try. When I see a parade in the street or see something scenic that is beautiful, I think of my parents and how they should be here, too--that I would pay a lot for them to see this. When I shop, I think of Kiersten:) When I do something crazy like jump off a waterfall, I think of Kyle and Annalynn. When I see the rain, I think of Britny and our rainy adventures. When I see people dancing punta, I think of Natalie and wished I could see her stellar dance moves. When I teach at SLR, I think of Nikki and how I wish I had a pal to relate to about teaching at this school. I think about my Lincoln Piedmont kids and how blessed they are to have what they have, even if it doesn't seem like much. I think of the Halverson family a lot--about the adventures we would have if they were here and how they would seriously eat it up--the shopping, the site seeing, the beaching, the soccer in the streets, the amazing food, and the people they would meet. I think of Andy most (it hurt a bit to write that). I know it's not much longer, and I really am happy here. I just wish you all were here, too. If I didn't list your name alone, don't worry--I think of you. When I'm shopping, when I'm biking, when I'm teaching, or when I'm just sitting here writing on my computer, I'm thinking of you, hoping you are well, that you are happy and that life is going smooth.

And now, a quick funny Bol's bus story: It's late afternoon, and it gets dark here at 5pm, so we're all sitting on a bumpy Bol's bus, and Mr. Bol is collecting money from the riders, and in flies a bat. For real. It's huge, it's ugly, and people start screaming. Mr. Bol runs to the front of the bus, grabs what looks like a long wooden stake/used-to-be-broomstick and starts batting at the bat (no pun intended...), and then he starts stabbing the bat continuously. Silence. Then everyone cheers as he lifts up the bloody bat and throws it out the window. He laughs, takes a bow, and the bus rides on.

Looking forward to this week. Not much planning to do. My kids have to take numerous tests, so I will review with them on Monday and Tuesday for there tests, and then I have Friday off. I might go cliff-jumping at the falls, I might go to Placencia, I might stay home and plan/relax. I'm just not sure. I am shopping for presents here, though. So if you have any insights about what you might like or think would be sweet to own, let me know! Stuff is cheaper here! I'm already getting a sweet hammock, awesome handmade jewelry, and bringing back some sweet cultural music. Can't wait!

I really love you and miss you all. [insert a huge hug and kiss HERE].

Take care, have a wonderful week, see you in about four of them:)