Day 8: May 29th

In the schools, the students were, from what I understand, finishing up there testing. The students took a computer and language test. During this time, I worked on the platforms for the portfolio. At recess time, I played a game with the kids called Mermoria, or Memory. It was such a simple little game with cards that were made out of flimsy cardboard, but the kids and I still had a good time playing. It was also great because today the students in our class gave presentations on their eggs that they had made. Two students would get up at a time, a boy and a girl, to present their eggs. Melanie and I thought that the students were the parents and their eggs were their kids. Students in the class would ask questions like, “What is its name?” and “How old is it?” The teacher would also point out the clothing and the bed of the eggs. I also noticed that while the students were presenting, the teacher made them stand up straight and tall while they were presenting. It was somewhat frustrating because kids were talking as their peers were presenting. I just wanted to stand up and tell them to be respectful and listen, but of course that is not my place. I think that it is terrifying as it is to get up in front of your peers to present and having them all talk over you can make it even more difficult.

The rest of the day was devoted to going to the National Park of Guatemala. On the car ride over, I rode with Carina and Rosio. Rosia told Carina about our changed plan for the weekend we had planned on going to Antigua. We were supposed to spend the night, but our professor had changed the plans and we were only going to spend the day there. I was so disappointed because not only was I looking forward to spending time with the group, going out Saturday night, but we were also suppose to stay at a bed and breakfast. It was just a really frustrating feeling to have something that you were really looking forward to change without the group even being consulted. We were all pretty upset not only about the news, but the fact that our host families had to tell us instead of our professor.

We finally got to the park and we stopped once we entered the park and took a look at the view of the lake. It was absolutely gorgeous. It was a really pretty lake, but the guide told us that it is very dirty from all kinds of pollution from the city. However, apparently it is really difficult to clean the lake because so many people leave their trash everywhere in the city and eventually it ends up in the lake. They are trying to get it clean by 2014, but they think it could take up to twenty years. The group packed a lunch and we ate at tables within the park. It was a wonderful meal, but we were bombarded by bugs. It was so frustrated trying to eat with bugs congregating around our table. After lunch we walked around before our official tour. There was a path that looked like it led down to the lake. Some of us started walking on the path when we noticed a couple bulls walking in our direction. I moved to the side, but there was a man leading the bulls and he told us to go away. So I went to the other side of the fence, but the bulls walked right through and started coming in our direction. I was with Jenny and we got freaked out and started running and everyone yelled at us to walk, so we tried to calmly walk as fast as we could and the bulls eventually went away. It was very comical reflecting on it, but very scary at the time! :)

After our little run in with the bulls we started our guided tour. My host family met up with us after lunch after being gone for dentist appointments. I was really excited because Dorita, Mafer, and Luisa were all able to join us. There was an area of the park devoted to famous replicas of Guatemala. We saw a miniature town of Antigua, Tikal, and finally the national tree of Guatemala: Ceiba Pentandra. On the way Bobby and I saw a see-saw that we were able to play on while we were waiting on others. Eventually, we were led to a park of the park that had team games for us to play. The games were very similar to ones that I have played in Wildwood, and Rock Springs.

The first game was the one where one person falls and everyone else catches them. Bobby went first and it was pretty funny because before Bobby went, Molly kept telling him to fall straight back and not bend your knees. Well when Bobby fell into our arms low and behold he bent his legs and we struggled to hold him up. Monica gave it a shot and did much better. Next came the spider web game which we all played. There were ropes that we had to maneuver through to get to the other side. It was so much fun because even Rosio, one of our host mom’s and main coordinators, gave it a try. The next came was the Kings game. Unwillingly, Monica and I were chosen as the Kings. We sat on these swing type things and everyone else had to carry us a certain distance. Next was the ladder game. Rosio made a joke that one side was Texas and the other side was Mexico and we had to make it across the border. The stepping game was a series of steps that we had to step on to get to the other side. Next was the Diamond game where two people had to hold hands and make their way across this diamond figure. I went with Bobby and sadly we failed and he fell and actually ripped his pants a bit. I felt so bad! Finally there was another ladder game, but no rungs to use to get over. People had to be hoisted up over the ladder to get to the other side. It was up to Bobby to get over himself and he did by running up the ladder and making it to the top.

It was a lot of fun bonding with everyone in the group including host families. We then made our way down to the lake by car. You could definitely smell the difference by the water. We were told that it smelled bad because of all the pollution. Next to the lake, there were a lot of vendors along with little open-air restaurants. Many of the people that were selling items were very poor, wearing no shoes and looking disheveled. There was even one boy that came up to Luisa after she bought a small treat and he just stared at her. She had a bag of chips that she just gave to him and he thanked her and ran away. It is just something that you don’t see a whole lot in Kansas and it is just so disheartening to see little kids in that predicament.

We ended the night by making Hawaiian pizza back at the house. Melanie and I talked with Dorita, and Luisa. Then Dorita asked us to tell us about our day all in Spanish. I told them about our day with the assistance of Melanie. Of course it wasn’t perfect, but I felt pretty proud of myself. It was very difficult, but I know that I have learned a lot and I know that I will continue to learn a lot in the last week we are here.