January Events in Chivarreto

 This month we have been trying to do more activities with the family we live with and since they had been asking us for a few months when we were going to make pizza with them, we finally broke down and did it. Pictured from left are Melissa, Tilo, Brian and Carmen. They are making the dough.

 After we made the dough, Brian was very insistent on being the sauce guy and took his job very seriously, cracking up his mom Lydia and everyone else in the kitchen.

 Adding the final touches/toppings to the pizza.

 At one point Brian thought it would be more interesting in the fridge.

 Shortly after our Pizza night, we made cupcakes with the kids for their mom Lydia's birthday.

 The kids were very big fans.

 Brian was a little wary of Lizzy's advances on his cupcake.

 The town fair also took place during January and was celebrated in front of the Catholic church presently under construction in our town.

 They paraded the effigy of "Christo Negro" or black Jesus in front of the church for a while while lighting of fireworks and firecrackers. This is a smaller version of the famous Christo Negro in Esquiplas (?) Guatemala.

 As soon as the procession ended the costumed dancers came out onto the scene and danced for the next 3 hours.

 They had all sorts of routines and choreographed numbers.

 The character in the middle is supposed to be President Colom...and he was one of the best dancers.

 Fair Food!!! There was lots of fried chicken, french fries and mayonnaise based salads served on tortillas.

 

Here is the walkway down to the mainstage where they had an incredible band that played from 2 until midnight. It was a very festive time.

  

Trev and Eileen came to town!!!

Trev and Eileen came out to visit us for two weeks in December and January and we had an amazing time with them. Thanks again for coming. The pictures tell the story.

We went to the lake with them and hiked through the village of Santa Cruz.

For New Years we were in my training community of Sumpango. It was insane. These are frames wired with fireworks that men would strap to their backs. They would then run through the streets spraying fire into the crowds.

These men were in charge of safety that night and ran next to the men fanning them with blankets so they wouldn't get burnt by the sparks. The virgin of guadelupe was on hand as well making sure that no one got hurt...which was the true miracle of the night.

               


                                          
 We did make it to Honduras on our trip and visited the Copan Ruinas site. It was very impressive and boasts the most well preserved carvings of all mayan sites. Below is pizza...not the best.

They also had macaws flying around here. More than one almost whacked me in the face with their wings. They are fairly careless fliers.

We saw this coral snake on one of the ruins. Below is the crown jewel of the site. The staircase with the longest inscription of all mayan carvings. It tells all about mayan history and is still not entirely deciphered.

From Honduras we went to Livingston in Guatemala right on the Caribbean Sea. We hiked through the jungle to some swimming holes called the Seven Altars.

And here we are enjoying the beach at Playa Blanca.

From Livingston we went up the Rio Dulce and stayed in the jungle in these huts.

And we celebrated Lizzy's birthday here; kayaking, hiking through caves, soaking in hot springs and swinging on a rope swing.

Trevor and Eileen also visited our town and were able to play soccer with some of our friends and hike the famous letters of Chivarreto.

                                      

All things December

It's been a crazy month full of celebrations and visitors. We made it through both and are now prepping for school which may or may not be starting up again on the 17th. We hope that all of your celebrations went smoothly and that you are now in the process of starting the new year off with a bang. Included are a bunch of pictures from the different goings on here. Enjoy and happy new year!

The day after Christmas in Sumpango there was dancing in the streets from 3-8. These women in masks and costumes danced in the roped off area for hours.

 The masks were a little disturbing, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. We stayed for a few songs, they had a great live band but only the girls were dancing.

 Lizzy started the Christmas dance party at midnight. It was a lot of fun.

 This is what Christmas looked like from the roof in Sumpango. Right at midnight it started sounding like the town was under siege. We were happy to emerge from the holiday unscathed.

 The little kids loved shooting off fireworks in the street to celebrate at midnight.

 They were not the biggest fans of the firecrackers.

 Our Christmas package from the Reeves! Thanks guys! We loved it.

 Just before Christmas we showed a family how to bake in a pot over their wood burning stove. We made banana bread and then celebrated Miriam's 10th birthday.

 The kids with the fruits of their labor.

 This was the last day of our english class. Only half of the students showed up for the last day, but we all had a lot of fun together. We sang Jingle Bells for the last day and the students were very enthusiastic for the one horse open sleigh "HEY!!"

 December was also the month for opening up the newly constructed roads in town. We were involved in two such celebrations.

 We also hiked Santa Maria, the 2nd highest volcano (12,375 ft) in Guatemala with a group of friends from town.

 Lizzy was enjoying the view from the top.

 Here is a view into Santiaguito, one of the three active volcanoes in all of Guatemala.

 Liz with our friend Nery and the sea of clouds behind them on the hike up.

 Here is a view of our town post harvest. Everything is now very brown and very dusty.

 December means Christmas parties and Christmas parties mean White Elephant gifts. Here is just a sampling of the treasures that were exchanged.

 The theme of this party was second hand treasures, hence the very stylish dresses the ladies are sporting. Megan is our Christmas angel and Lizzy is the grannie with street cred.

Here are Lizzy and Brian doing the dishes in the Pila. He is our little helper whenever we wash dishes. He mostly just likes to pour water into dishes, but at least it gets him out of his bad moods.