Monday morning the sun shown and the volcanoes were clear and all was well with the world. It was a beautiful day for a visit to El Barranco. Everyone gathered at the hotel and Mayan Families picked us up in the pickups to take us to the office to sort through the donations that we took to El Barranco.

Then back in the pickups we went to head up through Solola and on to El Barranco. Set up began for handing out donations and eyeglasses......and lines formed. The littlest children were put first in line and were fitted with shoes and clothes. With the girls in this village wearing traditional clothing they love shoes and sweaters or jackets. The boys are losing the tradition of tipica...traditional clothing...because it is so expensive. Many of the sponsors have provided the boys with traditional clothing so they save it for special occasions. They are given western clothing such as jeans and shirts.

The women lined up to be fitted with a pair of reading glasses that Gladys brings and she and her helper, Joy find just the right pair so they can once again see to do close work. Most make a living doing needle work and they are so grateful for a return of vision. When I say "make a living" I mean maybe $2 a day.

The children performed traditional dances for us and it was once again so much fun. They had several new dances for us this time. They attempted to teach us a Maya dance and I just can't even think of words to discribe what we looked like!!!

We had some students who have lost their sponsors and those who needed a sponsor for the first time and once again the wonderful people who follow me to this beautiful land came through. All participated in sponsoring a child in school and are giving them the opportunity to have a better life.

It was a long day without lunch...things always take longer than we plan...but I think everyone enjoyed themselves and got a true glimpse of this beautiful culture. We had reservations in the evening at Jose Pinguinos where they play traditional music and gave us a talk on the Maya culture. They taught us how to make tortillas...well they tried...served a Maya dish called pepion (sp?) which is a wonderful mix of chicken, rice, vegetables and an awesome sauce. Then for some of us it was time for bed.