Manday was a long, exhausting but rewarding day. We were picked up at the hotel and taken to MF offices to sort through the donations to be taken to El Barranco. All were loaded onto pickups and up the mountain we went. As always the best views are from the back of a pickup. Everything was unloaded then we went to see the house that is being built because of a generous donation by Michelle. It is right by the property where the family has been living. The boys sponsors, Amanda, Charlette and Michelle brought them more gifts than they have ever seen in their lives. I think they were a bit overwhelmed. It was so touching when Amanda presented the mom a photo album she had made for her of their families. All were in tears. We then did one more home visit. Jorge whom Michelle sponsors and two of his many siblings, Maura and Joquin, who are twins, are sponsored by Laurin who happens to be Michelle's daughter. Again many gifts were brought for the family. The part that touches us all so much is the generosity of a peoples who are so poor. Hand woven scarves and beaded jewelry. Things that could have been sold for income are given with much love. Grace and Shannon who are the two young teens on the trip brought balloons and a pump so they could make balloon hats for the kids. They were very busy because the kids loved them and lined up to receive one. The children of EB performed their traditional dancing which is always a treat. The the long lines were formed in hopes of receiving a new pair of shoes or article of clothing. Then we packed up and back on the pickups to return to Pana. Showers were on the agenda for everyone and then several of us had dinner at Pinquinos where they entertain you and teach you about the culture. Everyone had a great time but our beds were calling.

Sun. Feb.17. Arrival Day

There is a reason I always say.."this is not a trip for "A" type personalities. First all two weeks after reserving a coaster bus...somewhere between and van and a bus....the owner calls to let us know he has already revered it for someone else that day so we only had one other option and that was to hire two vans in order to fit 18 people in. One of those picks me up for our 3 hr ride to the city. We arrive safe and sound at the airport a little before the first group to arrive at 11:30 AM. So much fun seeing so many familiar faces retuning to Guatemala. The majority of this group are those who have been here with me before. Maybe that says I'm getting better at not offending people...we can only hope. Once we have gathered everyone from the airport and loaded all their donations..which requires a pickup along with the 2 vans... we head to Hotel Barcelo to gather those who arrived a day and some two days earlier. I have divided the group so that I have the majority of the newbies in my van. A couple minutes after we are on the road the driver gets a call from the other van...there is a problem. I have to call Sharon of MF to translate to me what is going on. We turn around and go to the gas station where the other van had stopped to get more gas, since it wouldn't have made since to do that while they waited over 2 hrs. for everyone to arrive, and it turns out after much discussion and translation they have put gasoline in a diesel tank. Just like Oregon you don't pump your own gas here so it was not the drivers fault. Thank heavens Sharon had Eric, who was driving the MF pickup, come be with us. Eric is a driver for MF and I know him well and even though we speak different languages we can communicate. He understands just enough English and I understand just enough Spanish, then you throw in a few hand signal and we are good to go. Tanks are drained, filters are cleaned..all of this with much discussion....the problem is taken care of. So two hrs. later we are on the road again. Thank you Laurin to have the sense to use your time wisely at the hotel to go buy beer for everyone to have on the road trip. We needed it for our wait at the station. We get to the hotel in Panajachel none the worse for wear, unload and get checked in, which no matter how much advanced planning is still always total chaos. The hotel had a tray of Mojitos waiting for us and by this time I had to have two of them. Two MF pickups came to pick us up for the ride to Sharon and Dwight's home for a lovely welcome dinner. Zoe, who is Sharon and Dwight's oldest daughter, had invited one of my sponsored students, Belsar, to have dinner with us. What a treat. Everyone got returned to the hotel and I went home for some much needed sleep. Monday we will hit the ground running.

The wind started kicking up last evening and it has not stopped. However the sky is nice and clear this morning and my view of the 3 volcanoes is fantastic as ever. It has been overcast most days because they apparently are burning sugarcane on the coast. I hope all my lamina is still on my roof though since it has been rattling like crazy all night. Wind is common at this time of year and is often referred to as the "windy season". I will be off to the city in a couple of hours to gather the gang. Some came in two days ago and toured Guatemala City yesterday, which can I just say I have never done. Hope they have good pictures. Some came in yesterday and napped (Sherry, Laurie and Ari)! We have an agreement with a beautiful hotel near the airport so when anyone has to arrive before the start date we reserve rooms at the Barcelo. It is a 3 hr. drive to the city and should obviously be 3 back....but do you have any idea how long it can take for 18 plus people to take a pit stop?? The herding of cats begins. Since so many of this group have been with me here before I can pretty much already imagine the dynamics and it should be a wild ride through this week. There is going to be late wild nights and early mornings and energy gone amuck. Because Michelle, who is returning for her second trip, has raised the money we are building our first home. The house has already been started because it would be impossible to complete one in 4 or 5 days and we really want to see it pretty much done so we can have a welcome celebration of sorts for the sweet single mom of 5 wee ones. Her husband was found dead about a yr. and a half ago about two weeks after a couple of us had met him. We don't know the cause of death but now here she was with an infant girl and 4 boys and no home of her own and an income of maybe a dollar a day if that. They were and have been living with her in-laws and since the grandfather would not make a will out to the boys like he promised, so they could inherit the property, there was no guarantee they would let her continue to live there and we felt it very important for them to have a place to call there own. While I was here in Oct. we found a piece of land ( well actually Mayan Families found it) and Michelle quickly sent the money so we could purchase it. This land is deeded in all of their names....mom,4 boys and daughter. The mom doesn't have much in her life to smile about but she sure was when she was given the deed to her very own land. If you were wondering how we chose this family to build a home for it is because Michelle sponsors two of the four boys. Amanda and Charlette sponsor the other two and I am so happy they can all be here for this project. They have all been doing wonderful things for this family...buying beds and closets and a stove and clothes and sending money for food besides seeing to it they are getting an education which is pretty much there only chance to change their life of extreme poverty. There are some people in this life who touch your heart in a special way. This mom, for some reason, has always touched mine even when her very sweet husband was still alive. I am humbled and blessed to be a part of this project and bringing a bit of peace to a life which is a struggle none of us could fathom. Time to make the donuts...have to shower and get going. Good thing I got some good sleep last night since it will most likely be the last for a week. Side note...writing is NOT my gift so be patient with me as I struggle to keep you posted on our adventure.

Off to Antigua

I'm a little behind on the blog but that is normal towards the end of the trip. Too many long days and too many nights of sleep deprivation....what can I say.

Sat. morning we gathered at the hotel to take the van ride to Antigua, Guatemala....not to be confused with the island. Antigua is a wonderful place to decompress after trekking through corn fields and over mud trails.

Antigua is a UNISCO heritage site and the original capital of the Spanish Empire. It is a lovely colonial village of beautifully colored stucco walled buildings. Every now and then you get a glimpse of the inside courtyards when a door or gate is open. They usually contain beautiful gardens. Only 5 of us went in the van since Joy and Gladys stayed in Pana to take more Spanish lessons and Dave, Jay and Amanda hired a MF pickup and Samuel as tour guide to take them to a mayan ruin on the way to Antigua. We arrived at Hotel Bucaros too early to check in so we dropped our bags at the front desk and headed out. We made it as far as Frieda's Cafe where we indulged in Mexican food and adult beverages. We were enjoying the relaxing atmosphere so much that we were still there when the other 3 made it to Frieda's. We then all walked to the Park Central where we enjoyed the

fountain with the serinas (mermaids) spewing water from their tata's and listened to a couple of Bolivian musicians play pipe flutes then onto a beautiful art gallery. By then it was time that we could check into the hotel. We got to our rooms and relaxed for a bit then off to dinner at La Fonda for the best chicken soup ever!! I think I may have mentioned that in a previous blog update. There was an unusual amount of traffic and people even for a weekend. It turns out that Nov. 3 is a special day for weddings in Guatemala...not sure why...need to google that. There was even a lovely parade right past the restaurant so we got to watch that go by. We noticed on the way to the restaurant that they were creating live carpets on the cobbled streets so I should have guessed then there would have been a parade gathering somewhere.

Wasn't it nice of me to arrange a great meal and a parade!!! Dave and Jay were picked up the next morning by one of my favorite drivers, Jose, to catch there early morning flight to Boston and home. The rest of us left at a more decent hour...10:00AM for our respective flights home. I am always so awed by the wonderful people who join me on these trips and this group was no exception. Thank you to all who participated and to all who kept us in your prayers. I plan to do this until I can't!!!

Free Day Friday Nov 2-12

Friday is free day. Some of us met at the El Dorado for coffee.

Lynn saw one of the young boys who sells gifts on the street whose shoes were falling apart so she took him to the shoe store to buy him some new shoes. He was very happy with his very cool new shoes. Then we hit the used quipil market.This is where I get a lot of my little zipper bags to sell. We then proceeded to shop our way down Santandar until lunch. After lunch we got in Tuk Tuk's to go look at the trade school that MF has recently opened up.

A Rotary group from Ohio...my home state...donated all the tools. MF has hired a teacher and my freind Michael oversees the shop. They are making wooden gift boxes, jewelry boxes, humidors and wine holders in beautiful woods. They are just getting started but I bet by my next trip there will be many completed goodies to buy.

In the evening Sharon and Dwight...2 of the 3 founders of MF...had us over for a farewell dinner. The women of the group got to play dress-up and modeled traditional clothing. They were all quite lovely.

They showed a video of our weeks activities which had touching and hilarious moments. A good time was had by all.

Dia de los Muertes..or...All Saints Day Nov 1-12

Nov 1 is Dia de los Muertes or All Saints Day which is a celebration for those who have passed away. Many communities have kite festivals where some attach to the kites the picture of a loved one who has passed away in order to release the soul. We traveled to Sumpango Sac for one of the largest kite festivals. We drove about two and a half hours to Sumpango. We had eight of us along with some MF staff, Erin, Laura and Samuel to look after us. Dave and Jay were not with us since they spent the day visiting more families that Dave has been involved in making life better. We also had Eric, one of MF's drivers, who road in another vehicle, with us and he was our "bouncer" protection since these are very large crowds and many pick pockets are there. Once we found a parking place that both vehicles could be close to one another we walked up a steep hill through masses of humanity to view the kites. Our driver stayed with the vehicles to guard them. Somehow there is always one in the the group you can count on for a little comic relief and usually it is a SWA flight attendant. We do like to enjoy ourselves. Some of the kites are so massive they would not ever get off the ground unless there was a hurricane!! The frames are made out of sticks or bamboo poles for the larger ones and covered in colorful tissue paper. Very intricate designs using only tissue paper. They are amazing. They were each assigned a category of which I haven't a clue about. It was just amazing to look at them. We wandered around viewing and photographing them and then returned to the van for our fabulous picnic that once again the fabulous Mathilda prepared for us. Then back to the festival to watch them start to raise the semi large kites into the air. I think they were judged by how long they could keep them in the air. With such a hugh crowd they didn't have much running room but some of them got up and stay there for a good bit. Some started up and came right back down. The crowd would cheer as they started up and then a hugh sigh as they came down. We retuned to Pana and everyone including Dave and Jay came to my place to eat left overs since I still had so much from the party and picnic. It was a fun day.

Home Visits in El Barrranco Oct 31-12

Once again we piled into pickup trucks that Mayan Families sent to the hotel for the group. We first stopped at MF office and picked up the staff members that would be accompanying us to El Barranco and the food baskets that everyone wanted to take to their families. One truck also had two beds to deliver and water filter replacements. We knew where one of the beds would go and would decide where the other would go once we saw the homes. Then off we were through this beautiful country. The back of a pickup is the best way to see it too. Views of the lake are breath taking. We arrived at the EB preschool first so we could hand out kites to all the kids since the following day (Nov.1) is All Saints Day...Dia de los Muertes...and it is traditional to fly kites for this holiday. Since these families are too poor to buy a kite MF tries to see to it that each preschooler gets one. They loved them and it didn't take long until they were in the yard running with their kites. Since most of the kids whose home we would be visiting were at the preschool we also put them and their moms in the trucks with us. It was a bit crowded but a happy bunch. Somehow through all this poverty they still manage to be happy. We had to split into two groups since we had so many visits to do. I went with the group whose homes I had not been to. The first home was Amanda's sponsored student who I could not figure out why she had such short hair since this is not a style they use here. Turns out she like most of our own kids got hold of a pair of scissors and decided she was a hairdresser. Children all over the world are not that different. This family had so many needs and fortunately none of them were beds. They did however need a mattress and a water filter so I decided in lieu of a bed we would give the the mattress and a new water filter. She is a single mom whose husband died as a result of alcoholism and she is in debt to the bank as many are and in fear of losing her home. The next two homes we visited were children who had lost their previous sponsors and I am so grateful to have tender heart with me who wanted to sponsor them so they could stay in the program. They are preschoolers so this means they get a nutritional meal every day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a yr. One of these has a sibling who is sponsored by a member of my Feb group. They had the picture that was given them of their sponsor on the mirror of their dresser. They now have all the wiring done for electricity thanks to their other sponsor. Now we just need the funds to connect to the pole so they can finally have electricity in their home. The mother fears for her children since they have already had one small fire from using candles. Then the last family we visited was a fair distance. We drove as far as possible then it was a long trek through corn fields and some wooded areas. I can't begin to grasp doing this in the dark. These children walk, I would estimate, anywhere from 30 to 45 min to school. And can I just add none of it on smooth paths. This family now has cosponsors, Kendal and Sandy. They will share in the sponsorship of this sweet little girl. These visits are very emotional for the sponsors since it is hard to grasp the depth of poverty these families live in until you see it first hand. Guatemala is 6th in the world in chronic malnutrition and yet it is not at all a poor country. It is a sad state of affairs. We returned back in Pana exhausted and hungry so we headed to the Deli...they have one of my favorite dishes...Pollo Melinese....and while we were there the rains started. The calle became a river once again. I had to get home because I was in much need of rest so when it was a little lighter I grabed a Tuk Tuk and arrived home where a hot shower and PJ's were in order. Tomorrow is Dia de los Muertes and the kite festival.