New photos...

Blogger takes to long to upload, and since my internet is not the best right now, I've uploaded some photos onto Picassa:
http://picasaweb.google.com/chogenes/AroundAntigua
There are some photos of the volcano we walked around, some of the city, etc...
Enjoy!

Stoopid internet

So I was doing ok with internet at the hotel the first couple of days, and now it just wont stay connected. the wierd part is that i'm able to use skpye when i'm sitting right next to the router, but still can't get online...strange.
The classes here are very different. I'm finding it difficult to plan lessons without all the typial materials, like cpoy machine (you have to order them a week in advance), overhead projection etc.
I'm also surprised that they do very little actual reading here. the go a lot of activites in grammar, but the kids do not read much, but they do know how.

because i can only get online at school, i will not be able to post pictures here, unless by some miracle i can get the internet to work at the hotel again.
too bad to, since I'll be climbing the volcano tomorrow... and then going to lake atilan this weekend...

i'll post more tomorrow. I miss my babies... oh & justin too (i guess)

contact update

So I decided against the cell phone. I don't want to have something else to lose.
So I'll be using SKYPE to talk to peoples, FYI.

email is still best though, as the connection here is not reliable.

ok, good nite now!

Photos from 5/24/08

Queires Cafe?

I have no idea what the heck Rosalia ordered, but it was BIG and in need of a colorful umbrella.

La Mercado, the open air market

It's Bananas....AS BIG AS YOUR ARM!!!

The famous arch in Antigua. It has a name, But I wasn't listening all that closely. I was still stuck on the fact that we are visiting a place called "chi-chi" something. I don't even remeber the second word. Just the ChiChis....

At La Ronda. This is what the coffee beans look like on the tree. In Guatemala, they call them little cherries

Transplanting of seedlings..

Random fact of coffee harvesting... learn sumpin new everyday!

No words needed here...

The volcano I'll be climbing. again, I forget the name of it. stoopid chi chis

Some children were getting their maramba lessons...

hmmm.... but what if someone were to take that gun and rob the bank?

no, I'm not a tourist. I ALWAYS stand by the fountain and have people take photos...

La Ronda & open market

Today has been a busy day. Got up early to get breakfast (plate of eggs, beans & fried plantans for $2), then went off to La Ronda, the coffee plantation. It was pretty cool to see how the beans are grown, hand picked and processed. Guatemalan's are very prideful of their coffee, since during harvest time, all hands are on those trees. They pick each individual berry, leaving the unripe ones on the vine to continue to ripen. I had never seen true coffee beans before. I was quite surprised at the bright red color. We also toured a Mayan musical museum, and tasted some wonderful local coffee. Starbucks has nothing on Guatemala grown coffee!!
We went to lunch afterwards, only to find out that the restaurant's stove isn't working, and had to order items that could be cooked on the grill. The food was ok... but NOT the fajitas I was craving...
Afterwards, we went to the open air Mercado and bought some frutas & vegetables. The prices are crazy cheap, one huge carrot was 1 quetxales (about a dime). nuts!
Some of us headed back to the hotel to rest, and others went on to continue shopping. I chose the first option, and the stoopid shoes I brought with me made blisters on the heels of my feet!! grr...
I hung out, got to know my colleges better, then headed out for dinner and this place that Dr. Sapiens loves. I had this thing called Pupuas... mmmmmmm soooooo gooooodddd! It's like they took a tortilla, injected it with queso fresco and grilled it. Sorta like a grilled cheese sandwich, but wayyyy better!!!
Finally, we went to check out El Mono Loco (the crazy monkey). It's apparently the club that past students would go to. I wasn't planning on staying (stoopid shoes), but ended up having a Mojito afterall. It was fun until a couple of creepy guys were trying to distract one girl, while the other guy tried to go after the purses in the corner of the room. I let everyone know to get their purses, and then sorta felt like leaving... kinda creepy feeling...
There are a lot of thieves here, and they target Americans. I guess I'm paranoid enough for everybody here. oh that, and I only had ONE drink ;-)
Thats all for now. I'm sleepy & sticky... shower time!

Guatemala Contact info

So I'm here, Yay! Safe & sound.
This place is pretty interesting, what little I have seen so far. The weather reminds me of the East coast, warm with some humidity, cool at night.
I'm going to either get a call phone down here, or check out skype to see if that would be cheaper. I'll post here any phone info I come up with.

Also, for those that did not receive my email last week via the iPhone, here are the contacts for where I will be:

Calling from USA to Guatemala, first dial 011-502, then the 8-digit phone number
Posada La Merced
Septima Avenida Norte 43A,
Antigua, Guatemala
Telephone: 011-502-7832-3197
Fax: 011-502-7832-3301
Proprietor, Gail Rogers
Desk manager, Jorge Coroy
Email: posadalamerced@hotmail.com
Website: www.merced-landivar.com
I'm in room # 32


Colegio Colonial Bilingue
Manzana G – Lote F-6
El Panorama, Antigua,
Sacatepequez, Guatemala
Telephone: 011-502-7832-1093
Fax: 011-502-7832-8644
Mercedes Blanco, Principal, flacamercedes@yahoo.com.mx
Syd Jordan, Lead Teacher, syd.jorcool@gmail.com

My Master Teacher is Joseph Wheeler


Here are a couple of pictures so far...

Standing around, waiting for our bus. Some lady came up to us like 3 or 4 times, trying to sell us these small bags of candies that looked like M&M's...interesting...

..might as well take a group photo while we wait...

PHOTOS! (you love it)

Today's special: Hayden sandwich, extra ham!

Hayden & Sammy: two peas in a pod

Thank you Auntie Julianne for taking the boys to Happy Hallow!

Happy Easter!

Cambrian Las Madres group: ready to walk for the March of Dimes!! We raised over $7k!!

This is how my daughter wakes up. Why can't I be so happy in the morning?

"Hey! My finger fits in here!!"

So why do we have beds for these guys?!?!?

Blast from the past: J & I in HS. aaahhhh

Procrastiation (yay!)

well, it's mother's day. Besides the house that Justin has "bought me," I get an evening away from the kids. I had fully planned to be productive while they were at my grandpa's house, but that just doens't seem to be the case. I have a final and two PowerPoint presentaions to finish by tomorrow. Most of the powerpoints are done, and the final is 1/2 done. I really *should * be finishing all of it, but...well, I don't wanna! :-P
So I've read up on some blogs, posted to them, and realized I havn't put anything on here in a long time. So i'm going to waste more time and do just that.

Guatemala: is coming up soon. Very soon. May 23rd, to be exact. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. Excited that I'll have a class of 5th graders all to myself (muah ha ha), and will be able to actually teach for this first phase instead of sitting in the back of the room grading papers for a semester. Nervous: well, lots to be nervous about. First: that this will be the first time I've been away from Sammy for more than a day. She'll live, I know. I'm more nervous for Justin who will have to deal with her. She's really turning out to be more like Hayden (oh, great...). Very stubborn, headstrong & gives everyone a hard time but me. To me, she's easy. Of corse I've also had infants a lot more strong-willed than she is in my class. AND most of the time she's with me anyways. oh, and she's also doing the food-fight like Hayden did. She refuses anything on a sppon, won't eat baby food, and doesn't like fruit (is she really mine?!?!?). the + side is that I can just give her tiny peices of what we're eating. the - side, she doesn't eat much like this.
Another thing to be nervous about: getting sick. Bugs don't bother me as long as they don't bite. We're not going to be anywhere with mosqitos, but they do have a fair amount of cockroaches and other HUGE looking critters. My professor showed me a picture of the kind of rats they have. Let's just say they are about the size of a small dog!! ::shudder::

HOUSE: we'll have the keys (cross fingers) this wednesday. The termite dudes will be there to tent on wednesday as well, and we will be free & clear to move in Friday, though we're not going to until Sat. SO if anyone wants to help move.... :)
On top of that, there are a lot of repairs that need to be done before the rain comes back. There is a section of the roof that needs to be fixed, a bunch of termite damage repairs, some plumbing leaks, umm... and a bunch of other cosmetic stuff inside the house. I really just want to push a magical button and have all our crap transported to the new house. I really hate packing & moving...

Oh, and here's a great photo of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets!!