2015 Guatemala Trip Day Five - Visiting Keisy, Edy and Katherine

The day of my final visit started off wonderfully with meeting the families at the center and passing out gifts.  My family hand-painted Christmas ornaments when we were kids and just this last year started doing it again and painting larger ceramic animals.  I decided to bring one for each of my kids this visit since they’re “family” as well.  The kids today seemed to especially find them interesting.  The families also loved the photo books I'd made for each family from the last trip.

Everyone also loved the baby clothes for Keisy’s nephew, Jenier, who is 17 months old and Katherine & Edy’s niece, Jacquelin, who is 9 months old.  Both babies are kind of special to me since Jenier was born right before my nephew, Zach, and Jacquelin was born the same month as my second nephew, Sean, and on my sister’s birthday!  Juan also shares my sister’s birthday (same sister even – the youngest), so with him graduating, Jacquelin was for sure joining my CI family in 2016 when Keisy graduates the program!

Edy had told me previously that the zoo is one of his favorite places, so I thought it was a good choice for his graduation trip.  It was actually interesting for me as well since this zoo had a lot of baby animals that were very playful and animals I’ve never seen before at the local zoo.

I'm a big fan of candid shots when the opportunity presents itself.  In the last photo, Juana's not looking so sure about those snakes!

Of course, there were some great planned photos with the families as well!  I look like a giant with Juana, Edy & Katherine (I'm 5'7" for reference!).  Keisy's almost as tall as me here though.  It was great to see Edy & Katherine wearing the jacket & sweater I bought them last time . . . although Keisy's mom was quick to tell me that Keisy grew out of hers and Sharelyn used it now!

The penguins were a big hit with everyone.  We took some photos here and the families all thought it was hilarious when I said “sonrisa” (smile) in a sing-song voice like the staff, getting me a great photo!

Even though both Katherine and Edy are pretty shy, I thought it was great this trip that Katherine sat by me every time we were in the van.  I learned from the staff that it is fairly uncommon for young people to change boyfriends or girlfriends often as they generally get to know each other well first.  Edy looked embarrassed when I asked about his girlfriend, Paola, but his mom, Juana, happily told me that she was also in school at the same school as Edy.  Keisy was also surprised that I remembered her boyfriend, Ricardo, and asked about him.  I was happy to hear Norma say that she prefers to only let Keisy see him at her house because she wants to make sure Keisy stays out of trouble because of her age!  Having learned that teen pregnancy is a big issue in Guatemala right now, that was good news to hear.  I escaped with no mosquito bites again, so that would be me=5, mosquitoes=0 for this trip.  

Before we left, we'd received two free tickets for the big slide, so all of the teens wanted to try it out for the first time.  They were scared at the top though.  The moms finally had to yell at Edy to "be a man" essentially and go first lol.

Fortunately, this trip the kids picked Pollo Campero and not McDonalds.  During lunch, I was sitting with Norma, Keisy’s mom and I learned that our families have even more in common with our moms both being teen parents.  Unlike many Guatemalan families, the oldest son does not have the highest education – Keisy does.  Norma had a tough family life after her mom passed away, so she got married and had Kevin at 15; however, this led to her life being very hard and she really doesn’t want that for her daughters.  Keisy has been attending a Catholic school with no tuition, but her mother told us she’d been worried that Keisy would have to quit school without finishing her final year because the family had no way to afford the expenses that year.  Norma said I'd been an answer to prayer, and the families, of course, thanked me for the assistance.  I made sure to thank them in turn for actually doing the real work of going to school, keeping up their grades and making the best of the opportunities they were given.  I really liked Norma’s comment afterward that it truly was a partnership between the parents and the sponsor working together that would help the kids succeed.  It truly is wonderful seeing how close the families are here.  These two are nearly inseparable!

The last thing we did before returning to the center was go shopping!  Again, each teen could pick out any four items of clothing and/or shoes they needed.  While we were shopping, I happened to glance down and notice that one of the mothers could really use new shoes as well and wondered why it hadn’t occurred to me before to offer something for them!  Since both mothers work, I asked the staff to tell the mothers that I wanted to thank them for taking the day off work for the visit with a gift of their choice . . . and they both picked shoes.  All three teens made sure to pick black dress shoes that would work for school.  Even public school in Guatemala requires a uniform and proper shoes, so that was a big priority for them.

2015 Guatemala Trip Day Four - Visiting Juan

Juan's family is a lot of fun to visit with, in part because Juan shows a lot of interest and curiosity about me, and in part because his niece, Damaris, is my biggest fan.  Ever.  Followed closely by Javiar, his nephew.  Both kids had wanted to stay home from school to see, but because school is out at noon (!) they were home just in time anyway.  I wish I'd thought ahead to invite them to join us for the horses and bikes - they would have loved it!

We met Juan and his mom, Ana, at the community center as usual, where they had the whole upstairs decorated.  Little Javiar is a Super Mario fan, hence the drawing.

We were then off to Finca La Loma again!  It is one of the few activities to do in the area and a great deal as it was about $10 for both of us to ride horses and bikes and about $2.50 to park.  Fortunately, having been on a horse last year, I managed a very smooth mount this time that didn't involve me laying on the horse and nearly falling off the other side like in 2013!  Similarly to how I wasn't as nervous in Guatemala this time, I found riding the horse to be much more comfortable as well.

After our horse ride, we rode around on bikes for awhile and chatted about his schooling and work, most of which I understood in Spanish!

We then went to the mall for shopping and lunch.  The store the staff take you to is very reasonable and for two jeans and two dress shirts, it cost about $50.  As we were leaving, we could see Fuego with a larger cloud above it than normal.  I noticed that after I'd been there about three days I had a sore throat that only went away when I was inside for awhile.  You could still see small amounts of ash on cars as well.

We then went back to the house and while I consider this family to be a little more "well off" than my other families, I noticed that they had rusted sheet metal and had patched areas (see behind me) with cardboard - like HALF THE WALL.  I did like their cute Christmas tree though.  Juan had remembered my favorite color is blue and picked out a scarf for me, then Ana gave me a blue and gold shawl from her.  They also remembered I wrote my favorite drink was Rosa de Jamaica and tamales on my last visit, so they had a little of both for me!  The families really are so amazingly generous and appreciative.  

Juan brought out his certificate of graduation from the vocational program and high school, which was really neat.  They also showed me all sorts of family photos going back to when Juan and his siblings were babies.  I also quickly learned that since the father is Juan that Juan is actually called by his middle name, Alberto, normally.  Oops!  Juan (the father) then asked if they could do a prayer blessing for me.  I always accept because I know it is an important part of the culture.

We then went outside where it was a receiving line of hugs from every member of the family before the drive back to Guatemala City!

2015 Guatemala Trip Day Three - Visiting Jose & Cesar . . . and the Best Valentine's Day Gifts Ever!

First off, I have to say that I kind of hated my hotel through the second day because the bed was like a brick.  I made a "bed" of pillows on top of the bed and then it was MUCH better.  Housekeeping noticed this and kindly brought a thick blanket and mattress topper though and life was good after that!

Patulul is about a two hour drive away from Guatemala City heading down the mountains toward the Pacific Coast.  It is also about 20 degrees hotter at all times.  As you come down the mountain, you start to feel the heat and it was a balmy 92 degrees today.  Fortunately, it has been warmer at home (in the 60s instead of the 20s my last trip), so I got a little shiny, but I didn't turn BRIGHT red.  I don't really own any long, light-weight dresses, so I borrowed one . . . aka the most unflattering dress in the world.  It was too big and had POCKETS, so it puffed out at the hips (ugh) - not really what I'm going for when I know a hundred pictures are going to be taken of me!

When we reached the community center, the family had decorated like last time, but this time the boys had picked out Valentine's Day gifts for me!  Cesar had picked the two bears and Jose picked out the duck.  Best. Valentine's. Ever.  Jose also made sure to tell me that he remembered when I visited before when he was "little" (aka 19 months ago) since he's almost 14 now. ;-)

We were then off and on our way to ice cream.  The father proudly told me that the dairy came from local cows - local as in right next door!

The kids had wanted chocolate, but sadly that wasn't a flavor available that day, so they went with strawberry and lime.  Below: Jose, Evelyn and Cesar waiting patiently.

The family enjoying ice cream, incuding little Selvin, mom Blanca and dad Jose.  I really appreciate it that Jose takes the day off work for the visit because it is rare for the father to join during sponsor visits!  I also don't sponsor Evelyn (she has another sponsor) or Selvin, but Selvin is young enough he would need to come and I'm not leaving just Evelyn out!

When bigger brother graduates, my plan is to add Selvin (assuming somebody doesn't snatch him up first) because who could resist this little face?  The staff told me that his mom told Selvin that I'd come from the United States to take him home with me and he was like, "oh ok."  I told him no because he'd miss his parents and siblings!

We soon left to head to the restaurant we were having lunch at, which also has a play area for kids, called Cabana Don Manuel.  On the way to lunch, we had a near miss of some sort (I didn't see the cause) and the van had to stop rapidly.  The two boys I sponsor had copied me in buckling their seat belts, which was good since we were in the front row.  It isn't common to wear seat belts here, even the staff and drivers, so little Selvin hit his face against the seat in front of him and Evelyn flew forward three rows into the staff person sitting there to translate.  All of the kids were ok, but Evelyn buckled in after that.  It also turns out two of the kids may have issues with dairy as both Cesar and Selvin got sick!  Fortunately, I come from a long-line of well-prepared people, so I travel with wet wipes and plastic bags . . . and I had a new shirt for Cesar so he could change.  After that, things were much less eventful!

This trip felt much less awkward and I noticed the kids and parents were also less nervous, although I think my Spanish has gotten 10x worse!  Since I plan to return and travel to other Spanish-speaking countries, I've decided to become fluent . . . wish me luck!

Prices at Cabana Don Manuel were very reasonable and it was under $10 for a 4 oz steak dinner with lots of sides and a drink!  We started with soup and the kids went over to the new play area (new as in wasn't here in 2013).  The other thing I noticed was how well the kids played together.  Here are Cesar and Evelyn playing together.

Jose decided he was too big for the playground, but he helped his brothers on the slide.  The kids also played with Selvin in the little plastic kid house.  Blanca was really happy watching them because they don't have a big area like this at home where they can run and play.

When dinner arrived, it looked wonderful (and tasted great)!  There was corn on the cob as well . . . but I ate it before I thought to take a picture!  Dinner also came with a new friend, Bella, the puppy.  The kids liked her until she started nipping at their pant legs.

After we all finished our dinner . . . well, actually unlike the hamburgers, Evelyn and Cesar couldn't finish so mom and dad got a little more, we returned to the home for me to give out gifts.  Little Selvin was surprised by his book!

Jose liked his "grown up" gifts of hygiene items and a soccer ball pump (soccer ball came later), but still liked his bubbles.  Shown in his school shoes that him and Cesar both showed off and thanked me for sending to them (pretty sure they're a holiday distribution gift).  On the clothes, I'd went one size up from the size their family records would have indicated and they were perfect!

I realized that their sister, Evelyn, was older than I was thinking, but she still liked the puzzles I brought her.  I was also happy to see that Blanca had been carrying one of the rags I gave her last time in her purse to wipe the boys' faces and the green towel hanging there was also a prior gift. :-)  The coconut with the straw was from the family to me . . . and the first time I've ever had coconut water straight from the coconut!  There was also a "bonus kid" again, although this time it was their other cousin, Nelson.  This time I had a "bonus kid" gift for him and his brother of small cars.  The kids still had their toys from last time too and obviously had taken good care of them.

We left shortly after and the staff kindly took me to the same road-side store as last year where soccer balls are roughly $10.  I bought one for both boys and for Edy & Juan.

I'm not a particularly religious person, but it was still moving when the father, Jose, came out to the car to thank me for everything I do for his kids and to tell me that he knows God will richly reward me for everything I do.

The families are so unbelievably generous and, given that I had jocotes for the first time last time and now the coconut, the kids aren't the only ones having new experiences!

I'd heard the police here can be corrupt, so I was a little nervous when we were pulled over for a random road stop on the way back to Guate City, but they apparently decided we weren't drug runners and the white lady was in the van voluntarily, so we were on our way!

Why Sponsoring? Why Children International? Why Guatemala?

Not travel-related, but definitely sponsorship related!  I'm often asked questions about sponsoring, so I thought I'd post a quick blog about the experience.

Why Sponsoring?
I've sponsored with Children International for over 10 years now and I've been the sponsor of one of my current children, Katherine, for 9 of those years.  I believe that CI has a good model - people are more likely to make, and keep, a monthly commitment to a charity when there is a personal connection.  I don't know if I would even make the monthly contribution that I do regularly if there wasn't an individual child, with whom I have a relationship, attached to each part of my donation.  When I first started sponsoring, CI partnered with existing charities in the area; however, now they largely (or perhaps totally) have their own centers to provide benefits.  The general sponsorship amount provides a child with medical care, dental care, school supplies, a library, computer access and many other things.  There are programs for school scholarships, employment assistance and similar help for teens and even cooking classes to teach the parents how to make nutrious meals with locally available foods.  It's a good model and I've seen it work during my time sponsoring.

Why Children International?
Out of the child sponsorship groups, I chose CI because they consistently have good ratings from groups who review charities.  I also don't agree with forced conversion and CI has no religious affliation nor do they require children to convert to any religion at any age in order to continue receiving benefits.  They also allow their sponsors to do a great many "extras."  If you want to assist your children in going to a better school or with tuition costs for grades that aren't free (like after 6th grade in Guatemala) or tutoring, CI will let you do that or community projects.  For other projects that help the child, like housing improvements, the project can be done with a 10% fee for the administrative cost of getting quotes, getting supplies and checking that the work is complete (with photos for the sponsor when it is).  If you write your child back, you'll typically get at least 4 letters per year rather than just 2 letters as well.  They will also allow you to visit and meet your child, visit the child's community center and visit the child's home (if safe to do so).  They also have a GREAT social media site for sponsors to connect with each other if they wish.

Why Guatemala?
Well, I don't only sponsor in Guatemala - I have two kids in the Dominican Republic (siblings) and one in the Philippines (gift sponsorship for my sister) and one child in Ecuador (sponsorship in honor of my friend's father passing) . . . but most of my kids are in Guatemala.  Having visited there, I really love the people, the culture and the climate.  My original reasons for sponsoring primarily there though were:

• At the time, Guatemalan kids waited the longest to be selected for sponsorship (US kids were the shortest).
• I speak a little Spanish (more then) and wanted a country where I could speak to the kids directly to an extent, so I was interested in a Spanish-speaking country
• Guatemala has the lowest literacy rate out of the Spanish-speaking countries
• Guate has the highest poverty rate out of the Spanish-speaking countries
• School was only free through 6th grade (this just recently has started to improve)
• Guate has the highest levels of child malnutrition and infant mortality in the Spanish-speaking countries

2015 Guatemala Trip Day Two - Miraflores Museum (Museo Miraflores) and Miraflores Mall

I had decided I'd try venturing out and around the city on my own instead of taking tours this time.  So, after sleeping in for a bit, I caught a taxi to the Museo Miraflores, which is about the Mayan ruins they found in Guatemala City called Kaminaljuyu.  Kaminaljuyu was one of the first important Mayan cities (peak 400 BC to 100 AD) and had the first literate upper class of all the Mayans cities.

Sadly, most of the ruins have been covered by the city itself.  The original city was abandoned when the lake it was built on dried up - archaelogists believe this occurred due to overusage for agricultural purposes.

The museum cost Q40 (about $5) for foreigners.  That is one thing that is very common in Guatemala - there is often a much cheaper rate for locals than tourists.  If you read all of the signs, this museum will take you about an hour.  Compared to Popol Vuh and Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, what this museum offers that is unique is the integration of the items you're seeing into how the people lived.  It was here that they noted it is possible to tell if a bowl was used for cooking or not by whether the bottom is blackened and where they had examples of the typical foods Mayans ate.  They also had a display talking about burial rituals and the division of labor between men and women.  If you skip it and see the others, you won't miss much in terms of the actual types of artifacts, but I did like the focus on the lifestyle that was given here.

This guy was found in Escuintla on the South Coast and would have been one of a pair of statues guarding the entrance to an important building.  He's from 700-900 AD.  This guy is unusual because he still shows signs of having red, black and yellow painting.

























I also found it interesting here how many items were out where somebody could touch them (I didn't), which is somewhat uncommon in the US.  Again, the stories here made the items interesting, such as learning that the statutes with big rounded bellies were made to represent obese men who made up a "cult" from Monte Alto, Escuintla that spread to other parts of Guatemala.  These statues were from 400 BC-250 AD.  You can see how intricate the carving is and how detailed given the limited tools they had.

There was a nice display of different items made using obsidian as well:

I found the mushroom carvings to be interesting.  At Museo Miraflores, it was noted that they are frequently found in agricultural fields and are thought to possibly be property boundary markers; however, there are other possibilities, including that they represent hallucinogenic mushrooms that the Maya are known to have eaten.

There were also example of ceramics from later periods with elaborate and colorful depictions on them:

If you're interested in reading more about how these items were used and the cultural significance, then visiting Museo Miraflores is a great idea!

Since the museum only took an hour and I'd asked the cab driver to come back in two hours, I went next door to the Miraflores Mall.  It was obvious pretty quickly that the mall was upscale, although largely full of Guatemalan people.  I don't know if it was the places I visited or that I just wasn't paying attention, but one of the first things I noticed was that the women were largely wearing skinny jeans and sweaters (low to mid 70s is sweater and coat weather here).  I also saw many women in traditional Mayan clothing even in a modern mall, which I thought was fantastic!  There were a small number of women wearing skirts at the knee or below, so short skirts are still not found here.  Neither are super tight or low-cut tops.  I saw them sold in the mall, but not a single person wearing them.

This mall was also extremely expensive compared to what I've seen other places in Guate - $15 for a basic baby outfit, $40 for jeans, $15 for a paperback book and $35 for a soccer ball.  Of course, I also had the $100 soccer ball fiasco.  There was a bin marked with items on sale, so I grabbed two soccer balls from it, even though the price was still around $20 each.  As it turned out, that price was "starting at" and I had selected a $100 Nike soccer ball.  When the clerk told me the price, there was fortunately a very nice bilingual lady nearby who was able to tell them to cancel the sale!  I'd read ahead that Q50-60 for taxi rides in the city was standard, but the driver charged me Q75 - apparently, you're supposed to barter with the white taxis, but that really isn't something I enjoy.

When I got back to the hotel, I decided that for the last two days after visiting my sponsored kids that I'd take tours after all.  I contacted the tour group inside the hotel and the group I went with before, Guatemalan Adventures,  The prices were better with Guatemalan Adventures, so I booked the tours with them again!

2015 Guatemala Trip Day One - Arriving in Guatemala

I'm deeply unhappy with American Airlines.  After paying for "main cabin extra" seats with more legroom, they switched my flight and put me in what they call "preferred" seats.  In this case, that happened to be a window seat over the wing with standard legroom.  The seat is supposedly in a better location, but I get a window seat to see the view - not the plane wing.

UPDATE: American later credited the charge for my flight to Guatemala, but did the same with my seats home and after contacting them THREE times, I still have no refund.  Boo on American Airlines!

Arriving in Guatemala was a much different experience this time.  I already knew to expect a fairly modern airport, albeit small.  I again breezed through customs, despite hauling a large suitcase and several other bags with me, while people who looked much less likely to be hauling stuff into the country were selected.  Not sure if the voluntary declaration of gifts under the duty amount or me greeting them in Spanish helps . . . or if I just don't look like the smuggling type, but I haven't been selected for inspection in a single country I've traveled to yet.

I'll put in a quick good word for my suitcase.  When I check luggage, I have a Traveler's Choice Tasmania hardside case with 4-way spinners and I love it!  Better yet, it has been through 3 international trips now, with a connection on all of them, and it still looks new.  I'm very happy with the durability so far!

The large white shuttle from my hotel, the Barcelo Guatemala City was waiting for me as promised!  The driver spoke English and Spanish, so that would be helpful for those with no Spanish.  The airport staff will take your bag and haul it to the shuttle and then expect a tip.  The standard tip for this is $1 per bag (roughly 7.65 quetzales) or Q10, so it's a better deal to pay them in USD . . . or just hang onto your bag if you don't want to pay them for pushing it 10 feet.  The same is the average tip for your shuttle bus driver, which is paid when you arrive at the hotel.

I knew immediately when I stepped into the hotel, that despite the cost not being too much more than the bed & breakfast I stayed in (about $100 more for the week), that it was a LOT fancier.  The lobby had a piano bar in it for starters.

I quickly learned that the cheaper per-week rate was partly because they then charge you extra for EVERYTHING.  Want wi-fi for the week?  That will be $35.  Want to eat at the breakfast buffet?  If it isn't included in your room (apparently some people get a voucher), that will be $17.25 per day.  The business center charges for everything, including computer usage.

When I got to my room, it was lovely and as nicely appointed as anything in the US and came with a huge selection of toiletries.  

I also had a reasonably nice view of the city, both during the day and at night:

I was a little disappointed that the dinner buffet in the La Vista Restaurante had very few items that were Guatemalan and it was pretty spendy for Guatemala (~$22).  If you like staying in hotels where you feel like you never left home, the Barcelo is a great choice and you'll be surrounded by other Americans and Europeans.  If they offered more traditional dishes, like pepian or tamales, I'd like the hotel a lot more!