2017-03 Philippines Visit to Lovely

My visit started with a little mix up.  Children International KC had told me to arrange my own transportation to the office by 10 AM (due to the time with traffic), but the local office intended to pick me up at 9 AM.  I had left at 8 and made it by 9:30, then received the most thorough tour ever - I even met my fellow accounting people!  Then, we were off for some shopping.

The family priority was a new, thicker foam folding mattress (about $40 on sale).  I offered a second one, but was told no by Rosa, the staff person.  I thought it was a concern about the cost, but learned otherwise later; however, she did have a paper where the local staff had accounted for the $200 visit fee - it was nice to see how conscientious they were about it.  Even though the 2nd mattress didn't work, I insisted they get groceries as well and replace the 12 kg rice with 25 kg.  We followed up with clothes shopping, where I gave the thumbs up to clothes for the family too.  In total, they went over about $50.

We had the opposite problem everywhere else.  I learned McDonald's serves fried chicken with a packet of rice and gravy or spaghetti over here - a favorite and cheap!  We then headed to the family home, where I learned why two mattresses wouldn't work - they wouldn't fit.  I had assumed that Lovely was able to go to college because the family was better off than my others; however, if they are, they sink it all into education!

I didn't take many photos of the home because Lovely looked embarrassed when she told me which home was theirs.  In the photo, it is the metal part only - the concrete block home is the neighbor.  I had expected something more like that because that's what most of my kids have had.  The floor is plywood being supported by plywood stuck in the rocks on the creek edge.

The family still happily showed me the storage cupboard and fan that my EGs had funded, but I realized that food and clothing may have been the top items because there wasn't space for anything else - the kitchen is a pot outside that you'd have to squat to cook on even.  I decided to treat everyone and asked Lovely if her younger sister, Jenalyn, wanted to join and her niece.  The little neighbor girl (also sponsored) playing with her got confused and changed into her nice clothes with everyone else, so I could hardly refuse!  Lovely's oldest sister, Yolanda, also joined us. 

Despite this, we didn't spend much at the EcoPark (they gave us a discount) and I'm not sure the others had eaten, so a "snack" was proposed.  Those of us who already ate ordered something smaller than before, but the others had a meal.  There were still funds left, so sundaes were added for the kids and a dinner for Lovely's father and Yolanda's son, who'd been in school when I showed up.  As many other sponsors have mentioned, fried chicken is a huge hit!

All-in-all, it was a great day.  Like with other visits, I was shown well-worn letters and pristine photos and postcards that I'd sent.  Lovely even asked about my sister, who'd originally sponsored her.  Mom, Milagros, teared up when thanking me as we said our good -byes and her, Lovely and Yolanda all hugged me.  I was on the fence about sponsoring here in the future, since so many people seem to like the letters in English (so Filipino kids get sponsored relatively easily), but I really liked the staff, how excited they are about Into Employment and hiring former CI kids, it's quite affordable to vacation here and the people are so warm and genuine!

On a practical note, I learned tonight that you can hear EVERYTHING in the hall at my hotel.  Other than that, it's been a good choice to stay near the airport.  Don't use shuttles via the airlines though - mine was about $25 and the hotel shuttle is half that.  Even better, my Uber back is quoted at about $3.50 & the hotel and CI staff said it's safe.

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 - Getting Ready to Leave!

Well, I'm mostly packed!  After my trip was scheduled, I started slowly accumulating gifts for the kids and families that I would visit and I printed photo books from my last trip for each family.  For other preparations, no vaccinations were needed this time since I covered that last trip, but my doctor did prescribe new antibiotics in case I get sick in Guatemala.  I'm bringing my good camera (a Canon Rebel) this time because I felt comfortable with that after my first trip - we'll see if it attracts bad attention!

As far as what I'm bringing for myself, I largely wore loose long pants the first time I went to Guatemala, but women there largely wear dresses or skirts.  I'm a big fan of when in Rome, dress like the Romans (to paraphrase) because I believe it is both respectful of the culture and it also helps you avoid standing out.  I already stand out enough by being both tall (my fully grown 19 year olds there are 5'6" and 5'0" respectively - I'm 5'8") and pale skinned.

For currency exchange, I didn't use Wells Fargo this trip.  Although people do choose to exchange solely in country or to withdraw cash from ATMs, I always like to have some local currency on hand when I first arrive.  I used foreignmoney.com and was very satisfied with their service.  They called me to confirm my date of departure since it was an uncommon currency that would take longer to order - what great customer service to ensure the money would arrive before I left!  The currency came with a good mix of small and larger bills as well, although honestly the small bills are the most useful in Guatemala.  It can be difficult to break larger bills.

The final preparation piece I have to mention is that I doubt I'll ever fly American Airlines again.  With every other airline, when I book through them and have a flight on a code share partner, I'm either given a record locator for that airline or when I check-in with my original airline, it forwards me to complete the check-in.  Both times I've flown AA in the last 3 years, they couldn't check me in with a code share partner.  So, I have a record locator with AA and received an e-mail to check-in with them . . . I tried and their site says I have to check-in with Alaska Airlines.  Yet, AA gives me no ticket number or record locator that I can use to check-in with Alaska.  I called them and was told I need to call Alaska Air to obtain that information.  I also contacted AA both times and had their system hang up on me before I was actually able to reach someone.

My upgraded seats were also changed to not upgraded seats when they changed my flight times.  I contacted customer service and am hoping to get that fixed.

So, if you're planning a vacation in the near future, you may want to reconsider flying with American Airlines or at least make sure they aren't putting you on any code share flights!

Despite difficulties checking in, it appears that the Fuego volcano quit erupting and that my trip will be starting tomorrow as anticipated!  Stay tuned for reviews of various museums in Guatemala City, details of sponsor child visits and maybe a couple of extra hotel and restaurant reviews for others who may be considering a visit to Guatemala City!

"But they don't look like 'poor kids!'" And a few other side notes on Guatemala and sponsoring . . .

When it was first suggested that I combine a visit with all 3 kids in Guatemala City, I wasn't sure how it would go, so I was happy it went great!  I hadn't previously told my kids that I sponsored other kids.  I actually still haven't mentioned ALL the kids I sponsor because I want each of the kids to feel special to me . . . and I'm not sure how to bring up, "so, there are actually NINE of you in total" because I really try not to emphasize the perception of "rich American" since I'm far from rich for the US.  Sending $28/month to sponsor a child really isn't a financial hardship for me, but there's no good way to explain that to kids where the family income is $131-326 USD per month.

While I'd assumed, probably like most Americans, that the money went further in Guatemala with the cost of living, I was surprised by how expensive many things actually were.  A full outfit (shirt, sweater, pants & shoes) cost between $50-$100 per child - it cost me ~$300 to buy outfits for 4 kids.  Clothes were cheaper in Guate than the US, but an outfit for one kid could easily cost a full month's income for these families!  I admit I was stunned when I saw prices for simple things like cold medicine, bottled water (tap water isn't safe to drink) and even simple groceries at a local small market.  While most things were less expensive than at home, the cost difference wasn't nearly as big as I'd expected, which really highlighted for me how remarkable it is that the families do as much for their kids as they do.

As an interesting side note, one of my friends mentioned that my kids weren't dressed like "poor kids" with the implication that they perhaps weren't really in need of help.  Having seen the conditions most of my kids live in, I'd say the clothes are misleading.  The children treat sponsor visits like a special holiday and wear their best.  They also receive clothing from the program and I send "special needs gifts" to provide additional clothing, food and educational assistance for my kids, so I'm happy to see that they're taking good care of the clothing!  I also feel if my kids look like "poor kids" that will only increase the discrimination they already face coming from their neighborhoods, so I'm happy my kids take pride in a neat appearance.  I believe it will be easier for them to find jobs and be successful in the future if they look the part.

2013 Guatemala Trip Day Five - Last Child Visit, a "walk" and mosquitoes!

So far in my trip, I'd managed to avoid getting bitten by any mosquitoes.  While malaria isn't present in Guatemala City, they do have dengue fever, which I was surprised to learn is spread by daytime biting mosquitoes.  I didn't have any particular issues with getting bitten, even though I usually get eaten alive; however, on the fifth day I went to an amusement park where there was standing water and I did get bitten during the day.  Fortunately, I didn't get dengue fever!

The day started with me meeting my kids at their community center.  I couldn't visit the homes of these three because they live in a "red zone" in Guatemala.  In the red zones, the gangs are so strong and well-armed that the police don't even go in and Children International relies in part on resident volunteer parents to help communicate with the families.  The first two pictures are with the siblings I sponsor, Edy and Katherine, who have matching fantastic smiles!  I also met Keisy on the same visit since they all lived in the same area.

Since they were all teens, the staff had recommended a day at the amusement park Mundo Petapa Irtra, so we were off!  The kids had never been to an amusement park before, so they wanted to start with something tame - bouncing kangeroos.

Then, it was on to the log ride - the kids wanted to take turns riding with me, so it was Edy and Katherine's turn:

Fortunately, the two families seemed to like each other!  You can see where the siblings get their smile as their mom has one to match.  I love it that their mom wears traditional Mayan clothing also!

While my teens all seemed more comfortable with a virtual stranger showing up to see them, there were differences.  Edy & Katherine were both rather shy, but they smiled a lot and showed a lot of interest in what I was saying . . . they just didn't talk much themselves.  I noticed that the staff seemed concerned that I'd be put off by the kids not talking and were pushing them a little and reminding them I'd come a LONG way to see them (helps to speak some Spanish & know what they're saying lol), so I reassured them that I understood and I wasn't offended at all.  I hope that the concern hasn't been triggered by past sponsors who WERE offended, but I know some sponsors visit and post that they didn't feel a connection to the kid(s).  I suspect there have been sponsors who visited and ended up not continuing with a sponsorship, which is a sad thought . . . and it bothered me a little - not that the staff were concerned, but that they felt there was anything to be concerned about.  Having been a shy child myself, I can only imagine the pressure to be "likeable" so your sponsor stays your sponsor!  Keisy, on the other hand, was peppering me with questions so fast that I couldn't keep up with her.  She wanted to know everything about how we celebrate Christmas, what we normally eat, did I drive a car, what are houses like in the US, etc.

One thing I noticed WAS consistent is that all of the kids wanted American food.  Out in the rural areas, there wasn't fast food, but the kids wanted hamburgers still, while I ordered a native dish.  Juan wanted pizza and my kids today were DYING for some McDonalds.  The staff does a great job of trying to keep things simple by having everyone order the same thing (since we were a HUGE group), but it was funny that when I tried to order from a different place to get something local, they were going to have everyone eat there . . . so I had McDonalds also.

Despite eating fruit, coffee cake and coffee at the homes of my kids, the only day I was sick after eating was within hours of eating at McDonalds - boo.  Of course, hard to say exactly where I picked up a bug at, but I did find it ironic.  Having said that, it was just an upset stomach, so I avoided any major issues during my whole trip.  I did have to soak my toothbrush in iodine water after accidentally rinsing it in the sink though!

More great pics of the families from the end of the day:

I also had my only "unsafe" feeling moment after returning to my bed & breakfast.  The B&B staff suggested it was safe enough to walk to a small market a few blocks away.  I felt fine the first couple of blocks, but was waiting for a break in traffic to cross, when I heard four "rough" looking guys talking about the gringa across the street.  Fortunately, I understand enough Spanish to realize that if I didn't want to lose my possessions, I should come up with a plan quickly.  I was in front of stores, so I went inside one to browse until the men left.  I went promptly back to my B&B and decided that walking around alone, even a short distance, wasn't a good idea in Guatemala City.