Tia Time

How to entertain twenty girls between the ages of 12-14 for four days....

This past week was Semana Santa and all of the native employees left and spent the week with their families--that left all of us volunteers in charge of the children for four days. Scary! We all took over in the roles of tias/tios (cargivers) in our respective sections from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday morning. Most sections have two volunteers and then they had one or two años de servicio (older kids doing a year of service at the home before continuing school) to help out throughout the week....in my section just me and one año de servicio and twenty girls.

I was so nervous going into the week. What am I going to do with them all week? Will they listen to me? Will they do their chores? Will they go to bed on time? There are so many more of them then me. To my surprise, with a few glitches, the week went better then I could have imagined. It was so nice to be able to spend the time with my girls and get to know them even better. When you spend twenty four hours a day with someone you get to know them on a whole different level. They were all so responsible and did what we asked of them, which allowed us a lot of free time to fill with fun activities. And what did we do to pass the time you ask? We got creative.

We painted easter eggs to hide for the big easter egg hunt on Sunday morning.

We went on walks to visit the animals at NPH and feed the baby goats.

We dressed up in funny costumes and had a photo shoot.

We made guacamole and watched movies and latin american soap operas.

We had a bonfire with all the girls in the girls house and roasted marshmallows.

It was a very long week--but dare I say... it was fun!!!!! I have so much respect for the tias/tios after spending a week in their shoes. It is not an easy job to try and raise twenty kids. I am glad I was able to give it a try and this was only a practice round for the three weeks we spend in the sections over Christmas! Wish me luck.

Semana Santa

Take 3: NPH

This past week we did not have any classes because of Semana Santa. On Tuesday the kids all came to school and created their own alfombras (carpets) and alters to have our own procession here at NPH. Creating alfombras is part of the culture here...just as common as children in the United States having easter egg hunts. Children grow up helping their families and friends make the alfombras for the processions to pass over.

The girls getting the flowers ready for the alfombra. 

Helping the girls pluck the flower petals.

Making the circles in the centers of the alfombras.

The tios and teachers collected flower petals and different materials for the kids to make their alfombras and the morning was spent putting the materials to work. The kids spent a few hours making very impressive alfombras and each class made an alter for the procession to stop at. The kids used rulers, buckets and different things to create lines, circles and other shapes in their alfombras.

Flowers!

Flower petals to make the alfombras.

The finished product.

The kids used plates to makes the circles
in the middle perfect!

Básico's alfrombra stretched the whole
length of the road.

First grade's alter and mini-alfrombra.

Alters-this one has a waterfall!

When the masterpieces were complete the procession began and each class was given an opportunity to walk in the procession holding the wooden float of Jesus. The procession stopped at each alter and the class either had a reading or sang a song and then the wooden float was passed off to the next grade to carry. Here are some pictures of my classes and my girls carrying the float and participating in the procession. 

Semana Santa

Take 2: Parramos

The Semana Santa processions continued this week in Parramos. We took all the kids down from the house into town to walk through the stations of the cross. We walked for four hours throughout Parramos and stopped at various alters/crosses made of fruits, vegetables, flowers, grass and hay. Here are some pictures of the day!

Flor and Enma during the procession.

Esme and Lourdes at one of the stations of the cross.

One of the processions leaving the church in Parramos.

The processions being lead by men holding
 crosses and incense.

One of the crosses made of flowers.

Cross made of mangos.

Afombra made of grass and flowers.

                                                    

 Onlookers from the day--we kneeled at
every station of the cross.

Colorful traditional dress of the women
in Guatemala.

A family walking in the procession.

The crowd.

Boys watching from their window.

Semana Santa

Take 1: Antigua

Semana Santa, also known as Holy Week, is the week before Easter. The week leading up to Easter is filled with processions. During the processions men dress in purple robes and women dress in black and white and they walk through town carrying statues of Jesus on floats or wooden planks. Before the processions occur men, women and children spend hours making the most intricate and beautiful alfrombras (carpets) for the processions to walk over. The alfrombras are made out of flowers, straw, leaves, fruit, vegetables, and sawdust and the cover the streets throughout the city during Holy Week. The purpose of the alfombras are to welcome Jesus to town similar to when people laid palm leaves and their cloaks on the ground to welcome him years ago.

Alfrombra made of grass, hay, and flowers!

Colorful sawdust alfombra.

More sawdust alfombras!

Procession in Antigua--little boy leading the way.

Procession walking through Antigua-everyone
dressed in purple.

The float that took 40 men to carry through the streets.

Procession!

Waterfalls, Rivers and Caves....OH MY!

This past weekend Molly, Jessica and I (as if we don't already spend enough time together in English) took off to explore Semuc Champey. Semuc Champey is series of natural pools and ponds within a beautiful jungle....in the Myan Kekchi language Semuc Champey means sacred waters. After spending the weekend there I can understand why.

We took our half day on Friday and grabbed a 2pm shuttle from Antigua to Lanquin (8 hour trip), which is the town right outside of Semuc Champey. The trip there was long and..shall we say interesting. We passed by a huge forest fire, we were pulled over by the police, and the last hour of our trip we added extra people to our shuttle so I had a dutch girl sitting on my lap. After a longer then necessary and uncomfortable trip...you can say we were happy to have arrived. We stayed the night in Lanquin because we got in so late and woke up bright and early to grab a ride into Semuc on the back of a pick up truck. The roads are too small and windy for normals cars and trucks to pass through so we all pilled into the pick up truck to start our adventure. We stood in the back of the truck and drove through the jungle for thirty minutes...it was so beautiful, lush and isolated.

Jess and I holding on as we rode through the
winding roads  to Semuc.

Molly helping out and holding down some coolers so
they wouldn't tip over on the ride.

Drive to Semuc!

Beautiful view.

View crossing the bridge..our hostel is up on the left.

We arrived safe and sound at El Portal, where we would stay that night, which is a rustic yet charming hostel only footsteps away from Semuc. Our tour began moments later. We headed into the park and began our hike up a VERY steep hillside to reach the mirador (the lookout point over the pools). After an hour or so of hiking we reached the most breathtaking sight....clear turquoise pools and waterfalls set in amongst the trees. The group quickly climbed down so we could swim and relax for the afternoon. We spent the next few hours swimming in the crystal clear pools, swimming though waterfalls, jumping of rocks and relaxing. I could of stayed at the pools for hours longer, but the group set off to tube down the river.

The amazing view from the mirador...I really did see this, 

but this is a photo from google.

The crystal clear pools we spent the 

afternoon swimming in.

After tubing and lunch we headed to the KanBa River Caves....ahhhh. You enter the caves with a guide and everyone is given a candle to light their way (the guide also has a head lamp). We entered into water about ankle deep and we all lit our candles to begin the tour. The tour lasted about one hour (and that was long enough) and we walked, swam, slide, and climbed threw the caves. Throughout the tour you had to try and keep your candle above water the whole time...even when you were swimming and trying to repel down a waterfall. There were two portions of the tour where the space was so small that we were trying to fit through that they guide has to help pull you through. The caves were beautiful and fascinating and I am glad we braved it and went on the tour, but I was really happy to see the day light beaming into the cave when we were done.

Molly and I at the entrance to the caves with our candles.
(Before Molly decided to ever so gracefully bow
 out and leave the caves to me and Jess.)

When we were done with the caves we basically crawled back to the hostel we were so tired from the days events. We finished off the day with dinner, beers and bananagrams. The next morning we were picked up by the pick up truck to head back into Lanquin and start our long journey back to Antigua. We drove back through the windy roads and jungle as the sun was rising....amazing!

P.S.- We thought it would be a good idea to bring a child's waterproof spongebob camera with us (because we did not want to risk getting our cameras wet), but unfortunately spongebob failed us and we don't have any pictures of the pools---I added a few from google so you could get the idea and I plan on going back and will bring my real camera...so more to come then.