Adios Amigos!!

Name: Brittni Palkert Date: 6/22/09

Padre… Lo Siento the computer was occupied like all night yesterday but happy fathers day!! See you soon


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: 6-22-09

Hola everyone! Alrighty, so we have one day left, and I am for sure going to miss this place. BUT, I miss all of you at home so so so so much! Ok, so today everyone went to Antigua, but Maria, Natalie, and I stayed at the casa for multiple reasons. So we spent our day hanging out with the kids. We watched them play soccer and chatted up a storm with them. Maria and Natalie decided to design my “cast”. They did a sweet tye-dye design. Then, after the rest of the group returned from Antigua, we all headed to lunch. We spent the rest of the day just hanging out with the kids. So basically today was a very low key. Yup. That’s pretty much it.
I can’t wait to see you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Name: Erin Date: June 22

Reality check: We leave tomorrow morning. We’re all finally realizing, especially the pequenos, that in less than 24 hours we will be back in Los Estados Unidos – away from all of the new amigos. Melvin is in a depressing mood, which is totally not the Melvin I’ve grown to know over the past two weeks and Gustavo won’t stop giving all of us hugs whenever he can. I can’t even count the number of LAST futbol games I’ve agreed to play tonight. Before we left, I thought two weeks in a foreign country, with a limited Spanish vocabulary, inexperience with machetes, and with 24 (plus) other teenage girls would go by slowly. I am so glad that none of those things hindered my experience or interaction with NPH and the kids. I am definitely going to miss all of the mountains and volcanoes, the delicious food, the numerous basketball and futbol games, trips to Antigua, the daily rain and thunder storms, the simplicity of their lives, and the constant translating (I still HATE the flies!!) As cheesy and as cliché it may sound, I honestly wish there was a way to capture the moments I have had here (better than what a disposable camera could do) and be able to share them. I will see you back in good ol’ Minnesota! Mucho amor! (Sorry for the constant Spanglish)


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: June 22

Well all I can say is that these past two weeks have been incredible. I can’t believe that we leave tomorrow! Last night and early this morning, I was almost ready to go home, but after our last day today, I am not ready at all. Today, we were able to see the realizations on the kids’ faces that we are leaving tomorrow. The kids kept giving us hugs and whenever we tell them we’re leaving tomorrow, they get all quiet and sad. Even though I miss home a lot, I am going to miss NPH so much! I will miss the constant warm smiles that we receive from the kids every time they see us. I will miss the simple lifestyles that the Guatemalans live, the lively energy of the kids, and just the entire experience as a whole. I have gained a lot of knowledge and understanding of the Central American culture. The thing I will miss the most though is playing soccer with the pequenos. Not going to lie, it was the sweetest thing ever (even though I got hurt). Friends and family: I can’t wait to see you tomorrow, and I love you all!
P.S. Mom: Remember to tell Tannie about her friend Elmer

Name: Devon FitzGerald Date: 6-22

Post: Right now it is raining, but in about twenty minutes the group is going to head up for our farewell FIESTA!! There’s said to be some sort of treat, dancing and games…the Guatemalans sure know how to party! Unfortunately, we had to work in the fields again today – planting trees and hoeing, but luckily that was our last day of working in the fields, at least until next year! Tomorrow we leave NPH at 10:30 and arrive home a little after midnight, so I’m sure it will be a long, yet fun day. Don’t worry Pauline and Rick I still have a whopping twenty dollars I can spend tomorrow during our 3+ hour layover in Texas. Adios mis amigos.

This is the last entry! We hope you enjoyed it and we'll see you back in Minnesota, Estados Unidos.

Days 10 and 11 (Fiesta and Volcano)

Name: Hope Sexton Date: June 20

I forgot to report this yesterday: we have a friend here named Melvin. We were sitting with him after lunch yesterday and he had a stack of around 20 tortillas. He was very protective of his plate and wouldn’t share for anything. Then we were going to play somewhere but he wasn’t done with his food or with his chores. So he threw his broom that he was in charge of in a tree. Then he walked to a bush right next to the tree and stuck his plate in it to save it for later. Right before dinner it started to rain and we said “Melvin tus tortillas!” so he ran back to his bush and took his tortillas back out and started eating them. It might not sound funny now, but it was very entertaining at the time. But today we had a birthday party for everyone who had their b-day in June. We blew up balloons and were throwing them around for a long time, then we colored and ate lunch. There was this weird ice cream in a packet and they were teaching me how to open and eat it. It was gross but interesting. And they all put ketchup on their pizza. But it was rainy today so I haven’t been outside much, but for the past few nights we have been playing basketball so that’s the plan for esta noche. I want to take Jonathan home with me, so Cindy if you don’t mind, there is room in my suitcase. But he has one brother and two sisters so…I guess you have a lot to think about. Ok this was a really random blog with no order but those were the things I had to say. Oh! Guzy just told us yesterday that our casa was the only one without hot water! So everyone else, including her, had nice showers while we woke up and froze our butts off. So I’ll be making trips over to casa 2 from now on. Ok I’ll see you in 4 days. Hasta la vista


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: June 20

Hola mis amigas y familia!!! Ok, so I know that my other blogs are really long so ill try to keep this short. So, today we had a fiesta!!!! It was so much fun! I danced with some of the boys (they are all really good dancers) and jump roped/colored with the girls. After, some of us girls (well…just Melissa and I) played hair salon in our casa. Kathleen was the judge. I took a nap too J Then, we watched the older boys (18-22) play a soccer game. It was so cool. They did every type of move known to man (ok maybe that’s an exaggeration, but It was still really cool). Oh, wait side note: at the fiesta, the boys Melissa, Erin, and I sat by were so funny. They were 11 years old, so it was clear that they had just hit puberty. HAHA. After dinner, us girls went out to hang out with the pequenos. It was so much fun because Melissa, Brittni, Kathleen, and I went to the older boys house to get them to play futbol with us. We got the most intense game going ever!!!! I mean the footskils, the shots, the men, and the magic all together created the most memorable night of my lifeJ BUT then…everything came to a dramatic halt!!! Dun dun dun…..I fell. I fell hard. I rolled my ankle landing from a shot, and I had to go to the clinica. They did absolutely squat! O, well. The woman started mumbling Spanish and almost didn’t let me into the clinica. The plus side was some of the boys we played against helped carry me to the clinic, and then Jason carried me on his back all the way back to mi casa! Ya-hoo! So, all in all, I’m ok. It’s just undecided whether or not I can hike the volcano tomorrowL Alritey, Buenos noches!!!! JJJJJJJJ
P.S. For the past few days, Brittni and I have entertained this kid Alexander with our singing and dancing “abilities”. Basically, we serenade him. It kinda gets awkward at some times considering he stares at us……but o well Brittni and I have fun doing it and will continue to do it hehe


Name: Melissa Plooster Date: June 20

I was woken up today by a swarm of disgusting, black, buzzing flies that I personally want to murder; I’ve never felt so much rage in my life. I shouldn’t even say “woken up”.. I should say kept up by all of them because I wasn’t able to even fall asleep with their constant buzzing. But on another note, yesterday we worked clearing another field. I made a fatal error. I woke up in the morning… the sky was completely overcast. And I thought that I didn’t need to put on sunscreen. Falso. I guess Guatemala sun can blast through clouds, and I got sunburned. Surprise, surprise. Today we had a fiesta for los ninos to celebrate their birthdays; it happens once a year to celebrate everyone’s together. We had pizza and pastel (cake) and helado (ice cream). But Kelsey, Erin, and I were sitting with 11 year old boys. Their bodies were full of pubescent hormones, and they couldn’t seem to keep their thoughts in their heads. Awkward… oh well, it was still funny. Then later at night we went to the young boys’ dorm, but when we went inside, they all were running around without shirts on. And we couldn’t find the tio (the adult in charge of them).. so we stood around awkwardly until he explained they were all going to shower. So we left and went upstairs to the older boys home and we joked around with them for a while, until we got a group of guys to go play futbol with us on the field. It split up the teams and my team was winning 4-0 for quite a while with like 3 less people. The boys here have some SERIOUS soccer skills (jugadas), they could dribble circles around the guys in America. Not to mention that the boys playing with us were pretty good looking (one was actually taller than me for a change!). But then Kelsey rolled her ankle, and the person in the clinic had no idea what she was doing. But tomorrow we’re going to an active volcano and we’re going to roast marshmallows over the burning lava. I’m pumped, not gonna lie.


Name: Devon FitzGerald Date: June 20

Today was crazy! We had a fiesta for the kids with Domino pizza, cake, and “ice cream” (I don’t think you could really call it that!). The kids went crazy with all the balloons—they loved playing futbal with them. Another nice thing about today is that we didn’t have to work!! I think yesterday was our last day working, as the next few days will be spent at the VOLCANO, Antigua again, and just a day cleaning and playing with the kids. YAY!


Name: Erin K and Kelsey H Date: June 21

It’s hard to keep track of days here but I surprisingly know that today is Fathers Day! So…happy father’s day, Dad!!! Today was the best day here in Guatemala for me…even though I haven’t seen much of the kids today. We took an hour and half bus ride (extremely bumpy and cold) to a town outside of Antigua for our long anticipated hike up Volcan Pacaya. It was the most intense five hour hike of my life (the first five hour hike of my life) and it felt like I was a part of a documentary for the Discovery Channel. We hiked through a rainforest-like area with the rain and after getting to the end of that and getting use to the high altitude, we thought the beautiful scenic view (of the two other volcanoes, “Agua” and “Fuego”, and the other cities and green hills below) told us that our hike was over – we were dead wrong! Looking even more up the mountain, where the volcano actually was, were small dots of colors, which we realized were people. No way did any of us actually think we were allowed to go up the mountain of black molten rock, let alone equipped or physically prepared for what was ahead of us. Sorry for the novel (again…) but it’s so hard to describe the scary trek up and all of the bruises and cuts we got from the coral-like rocks surrounding us. I thought all of the rock climbing walls I use to climb when I was younger would help me in this situation, but I was wrong…again. I don’t know how we made it to the top but it was the most rewarding feeling! REAL LAVA was flowing through the crevices and the intense heat would randomly sting out legs as we walked around roasting our hundreds of marshmallows on our walking sticks. Surreal may be the best way to describe today and I hope the pictures on my disposable camera turn out. We realized that we didn’t need the sun out for us to have an unforgettable experience above the clouds on a volcano.


Name: Mariah Morris Date: 6/21/09

Today we climbed the volcano Pacaya which was amazing and I will tell in great detail later because it was way cooler than mount Vesuvius. Also if dad reads this HAPPY FATERS DAY I am sorry I had to miss it. Love you tones and miss you and will se you soon


Name: Meredith Lawlor Date: June 21, 2009

Hi everyone!! As you have already read today we climbed up volcano Pacaya, which we believe to have been 12000-13000 ft. I think we were all very surprised to find that it was not a leisurely day hike along a paved walkway but rather an intense hike up loose rocks that covered the “trail”. When we all successfully reached the top and caught our breath we looked up to see an amazing view. It stretched for miles making every scrape and bead of sweat well worth it. This post is for you dad, I know you and mom wanted me to blog. It’s the best/only gift I can really give you today. Hope you had a great one. HAPPY FATHERS DAY! Love mimi
P.S. Say hi to g-man and paiger for me.


Name: Kelsey Hennen Date: June 21

Happy Father’s Day Dad! I climbed the volcano in celebration for having such a great dad!


Name: Maura Kelly Date: 21 June 2009

Today was FLIPPING AWESOME! Honestly one of the best days of my life J We hiked thru a rainforest, up the side of a volcano, and roasted marshmallows over flowing lava!!! Amazing. I cant wait to tell u all about it when I get home! Happy Father’s Day DAD! I miss u all and I will see u in 3 days! O and say hi to grampa for me and tell him I love him J…and gramma too! And hi Meg and Mom and Carol
<3 MK

Name: Melissa Plooster Date: June 21

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY, PADRE!!!! I love you! Today we went to Volcan Pacaya, which will remain one of the most memorable days of my life. I loved it! It is Maura’s and I’s new goal in life to climb five volcanoes and then get a fire tattoo on our ankle. It might take a while… I really want to describe in detail what happened at our awesome excursion, but it seems like everyone before me already said it, and I think it will be some much better to tell you in person. Words don’t describe. But later tonight we hung out at the guy’s house again, but we didn’t play soccer because Kelsey is a cripple. L We did set a time for tomorrow’s soccer match: tomorrow at 7pm. I’m pumped. We’re going to Antigua tomorrow. It will be a great day. I love you dad, and I’m missing you! Sorry I couldn’t be there for Father’s Day.


Name: Devon FitzGerald Date: 6-21

Post: Happy Fathers Day, Dad!!


Name: Hope Sexton Date: june 21

Happy father’s day Dave!!!!!!!!! There is so much to say about today but it’s super late and I’m really exhausted. But basically I climbed up a volcano and roasted marshmallows over the lava. The rocks were like coral so if you fell, it hurt SO bad. But basically I’m a skilled climber now haha. But really, I love you both and Happy Father’s day!!!


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: June 21

Happy Father’s Day Daddy!!! I miss you and love you! I’m so sorry I couldn’t be in Minnesota with you on your special day! Ok, so my day was different than everyone else’s. I stayed home with Maria, Chris (Mr. Pohlen’s wife), and Olivia (Pohlen’s daughter). Maria, Olivia, and I were not in adequate condition to climb a volcano todayL So we went to Antigua and drove around the town. Es muy bonita! Then we watched a movie- Marley and Me. We had quite the tear fest. After Maria and I went to go watch some of the boys play soccer, and we bonded with them. They are all so niceJ Then the rest of the girls came back to the casa! Thank the lordy! We ate a muy bueno dinner. After dinner, Melissa, Devon, Brittni, Kathleen, Hope, and I headed over to the older boys house. It was hilarious. We were showing them American dance moves, and they were showing us Guatemalan dance moves. We also taught them a bunch of English words, and they wrote them down. So all in all, it was another awesome dia en Guatemala!!! I still miss all you Minnesotans and can’t wait to see you on Thursday! Buenos noches mis amigas y familia!


Name: Natalie LeSage Date: June 21

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY DAD!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!

Day 8 and 9 (Scraping, Painting, and Farming)

Name: Maria Cass Date: June 18, 2009

So far today some of us planted in the fields as part of our work project, the rest of us (who were well enough) cleaned the houses with Clorox to try to keep other people well. We are eating with the kids today and at 3 there is a big boys versus girls soccer game for all the pequeños to participate in (we just get to watch.) So far as we know the rest of our day is hanging out with the kids. Last night we split up and went to different sections to play with the kids, I went to the hang out with the little boys and they were INSANE! They were running around, jumping on mattresses, and jumping on our backs. One little boy whose name I can’t remember was so sweet, he kept saying “todos estan loco, pero no estoy loco” (everyone is crazy but I am not crazy) all he wanted to do is hold someone’s hand J After that we went to see if the older boys wanted to play soccer with us, but they were all watching the Italian Job in Español L I don’t know what we are doing tomorrow, hopefully going to Antigua again! Adios!


Name: Hope Sexton Date: jun 18 2009

Haha, things are still fun here but it’s getting crazy. Flies are everywhere and we occasionally have killing sprees. It’s actually really nasty… And our light in the bedroom burnt out last night, so we now have a week without electricity in our room. But hey, it just adds to the experience! I love you guys and hope your little trip to SD was exciting…..oh Cindy…. Now we’re going to watch a boys vs girls soccer game….. I just realized I really don’t enjoy blogging…. But whatever. Adios!


Name: Kelsey Hennen Date: June 18, 2009

Today we got to watch the boy soccer teams play each other. I was surprised at how good they were. After dinner some of the boys challenged me and the Poland kids to a soccer game and even though we played four against two, Erson and Axcel kicked our butts. My goal is to by the end of the trip to have the Minnesotan team beat the Guatemalan team.
We also have a new chaperon joining us now, Mr. Guzman. Hopefully he will be able to survive with all these girls.

Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: 6-19-09

So yesterday we planted corn in our beautiful field that we created a few days ago. It was super fun! We had a great system going where one person would dig the hole, the next drop the fertilizer in, then drop the corn in, then cover the hole back up. We were sure the speedy demonsJ The sun also surprised us with its glory for a little bit too. I took the opportunity to catch some rays and darken my tan. Then us girls headed over to watch some boys’ soccer games. They are so good and entertaining to watch. After the games, we went to a concert that was put on by some of the kids. They were playing the bass, guitar, violin, drums, and piano. Then Allie and Hope showed off their skills with the violin and bass. All the kids were staring at Hope (violin) with open mouths. Then Brittni and I danced and sang for some of the kids. I’m not sure if they were impressed. We ended the night with SPAGHETTIJ (the best food in the entire world) and the usual casa talking.
Today, we cleared another field. This one was a lot easier because there wasn’t a jungle growing there. This took about 4 hours to do. Instead of clearing away plants, we cleared away grass. This was extremely tedious! We would first hoe the entire field but then when we were finished, we realized that we had missed huge masses of grass! O well, we kept ourselves busy singing Disney songs. This little boy Jason kept saying “Silencio chicas!” We did not silence ourselvesJ Then Natalie, Melissa, Erin, and I watched the older boys play an organized full field futbol game. It was really cool. Today, there was a dance competition too! It was so funny because they were interpreting American dance moves. It was highly entertaining! Ok, well apparently I write too much according to the other girls so I’ll talk to you guys laterJJ Buenos Noches!


Name: Keelin O’Neil Date: 6/19/09

I normally put on enough sunscreen to protect three of the Guatemalan orphans we play with each night, however, I happened to miss the tips and backs of my ears. Fortunately, the festering blister stage has passed and now begins the peeling new skin stage. I have yet to decide which is worse. This is only meant to be informative to my mother, and possibly my skin doctor, who I know is greatly worried about the condition of my ghostly skin. I am proud to say the rest of me is sunburn free and nearly the same color as when I came.
The ongoing war between Melissa and Lucie has been keeping me endlessly entertained when we’ve been having down time.
The food is probably the most delicious food I’ve ever had. There is this jalapeño sauce that I have come to put on everything from green beans to chicken.
Time is going by much faster now that we are at the rear end of our trip, and it makes me sad as I have officially made two new friends, Chochita, whom I’m required to call Choncha, and Tonya. Choncha, last night, gave me a necklace that I have yet to take off, and Tonya supplies me with endless hugs and translations when my Spanglish is more on the English side.
To my mother and Whiskers (no this is not my cat) much love and I am safe and knowledgeable in the art of the machete so no need to worry


Name: Brittni Palkert Date: 6/19/09

To start off, I officially have a rainbow bruise… during our machete mission, I fell on a root and almost died, leaving a welt on the inside of my leg haha… But that wasn’t nearly as bad as the killer ants that attacked Lucie and I while we planted our corn (p.s. we were singing Disney songs throughout these tasks and my personal favorite was the harvesting song from Pocahontas J ) The kids are amazing and I am seriously considering kidnapping an eleven year old named Antonio. The only thing holding me back is the fact that he has three brothers and I don’t think I could handle all three. Another favorite memory is Kelsey singing High School Musical to mi amigo Alex while I did an interpretive dance. The highlight of today was for sure watching twelve year old boys break dance during a dance competition to “Yeah” by Usher. My goal by the end of this trip is to learn some of their sick moves. Love you familia and see you soon! (ps thank-you for letting me go on this amazing trip… I will never forget it!!! Oh and I saw Ceci in Antigua and it was sooo fun!) Adios


Name: Katie hoesley Date: 6/19

In response to Melissa’s blog…the volcano is dormant and is actively monitored, no need for chaos to ensue back at home. But, on Sunday we are going to a volcano and I think we get to roast marshmallows over the lava!! Today we ho’ed another field…our forté apparently? We did that from 10-1 o’clock and then ate lunch with the niños. At 3, we went to a dance competition during which the boys danced to American songs like “Low” and “Yeah” and we also got to watch a traditional Guatemalan dance performed by the oldest female residents here. Our Spanish is developing quite nicely, however snickers from the native-Spanish-speakers are still common. As a resident of casa 5, the “reading room” and more recently dubbed the “sick cabin”.. we’re banned from eating in our cabin and have to bleach the floors daily to prevent spread of the sickness which has plagued a couple of girls. Lucky for Analisa, who has yet to eat a meal provided for us and has sustained her livelihood on cereal and Oreos, she has yet to get sick, as do Melissa, Lucie, and myself- thanks to Imodium. My sunburn turned blisters has developed into peeling disgusting-ness so needless to say I’m looking good. Tomorrow is yet another work day, and we’re all excited for the party tomorrow night which celebrates all the birthdays of the ninos from throughout the entire year. Not much else to say, Love you mom/dad/will/and sarah stay out of my stuff.


Name: Maria Cass Date: June 19, 2009

Wow, today was exhausting, we worked in the fields for around 5 hours (I had to cut out early because of blisters L) We also ate with the pequeños and had multiple pickup games of futbol. Oh, I almost forgot, the pequeños had a dance contest where each section (mostly little kids,) made up a dance to perform, it was adorable!!!! The little boys tried to imitate music videos and they danced to “Low” by Flo Rida, it was so fun, and they are GOOD (Backflips, cartwheels, the worm, you name it!) The girls were amazing dancers as well. Adios, hasta manana y te amo mama, Chelle y papa!


Name: Margo Graff Date: June 19, 2009

hey mom and dad well today I am no longer sick so that is a relief. For work today annalisa, mcclurg and I painted again and I have paint all over my face (oil paint to be exact.) which means that I cannot get it off with out using paint remover. The paint is on all of my eyelashes and up my nose, so my nose sticks together. When the paint remover gets in an open wound or for instance up your nose it stings for about 2 min so therefore I am stuck with white hair for eyebrows, eyelashes and white nose hairs, funny I know. Anyways after dinner I finished my third book and then went to play with the little girls. I am very proud of myself because I saw a girl, iris, crying and asked her if she wanted to take a walk and tell me what happened (remember this whole conversation is in Spanish.) I helped her solve her family problems with her brother and her boyfriend and we had like a 45 min conversation, you have no idea how hard that is until you experience it for yourself. Anyway we are going to town Monday and I will go to an internet café and try and either email you but I’m pretty sure that they have phones so I will try and call you tomorrow love you guys and miss you!!! and mom call sam and tell him I will try and call him Monday in late morning early afternoon love you guys. And p.s. for the first time in my life I am officially home sick.


Name: Molly Gorrilla Date: 6-19-09

Well I haven’t blogged in a few days so I will get you up to date. Yesterday we took the baby lockers out and scrapped the paint off of them so they could be painted. We were on a good role until Allie and I confronted the lockers with sticker paper on the shelves, which took 2 hours to do approximently 3 little shelves. Umm the rest of the day we just chilled. Allie, Alicia and I sat with the little girls at lunch. It was so fun. They asked me to sing all of the High School Musical songs that I knew, so, while they chowed down, I belted out every song I knew. I was so happy to finally get to know them. One girl, Margarita tried to convince me that the 4 girls sitting near me were all named Deborah, which I believed. Since then, every time I have seen al if those girls, they yell mooollly…it sounds like they are saying “mole-y” but its so cute, so I don’t correct them. O yes, and at the end of the day we got some teams together and played basketball with the older kids. It was sooo fun. Today, Alicia and I cleaned up our house, it was our day to do the chores. When we were done with that we went out and helped the rest of the group pick up grass that they hoe’d in the field. After that, we went to lunch. We sat with the girls again, which was fun again. Then, at 3, there was a dance contest. I thought that was one of the best times I have had so far. There were about 10 different groups who did their own choreographed dances. The little kids were so cute and very talented. Some of the groups did break dancing, which was so cool. The rest of the day we just chilled. Tonight we played basketball again. It wasn’t as much fun as last night but it still was some good exercise. I guess for tomorrow we get to sleep in a little and we don’t have any work to do, so hopefully we can spend a lot of time with the kids.
Peace and Love


Name: ALLIE FAN Date: June 19, 2009

As far as daily activities go, ill just let you read all the previous blog entries and and im sure you can compile a good sense of what ive been up to. Some other things to note would be that all the kids call me “chinita” now…ill give you 3 guesses as to what that referes to (if u need a hint im sure kasey can get it, haha). Another thing is that I bought a hammock when we went to Antigua for the day a couple days ago and so everyday since then after work and before lunch with the kids I string it up between these 2 trees next to my casa and take a siesta out in the sun. Its incredible, even more so than the price I paid for the hammock…which by the way was 8 dollars. Im officially a bartering genius. Talk to you soon, adios.


Name: Erin Katopodis Date: June 20, 2009

Flies: My morning wake-up calls with no expense. There are SO many of them and they think they own the place and inhabit every corner of our casa. You might think you know what we’re experiencing with these unwelcomed guests (with the casual appearances they may make at our cabins or own homes during the year), but, here, they are a constant annoyance and distraction. We fall asleep to them buzzing in our ears, we dream about them buzzing in our ears, and we wake up to them buzzing in our ears. As one week has ended, I thought I would have developed a tolerance but my premonition was completely false. Easily, the flies are the only things that I have to complain about here in Guatemala…which is the optimistic way of looking at these pests…I guess. Even our daily deep clean in las casas and rooms don’t ease the tension that has come between every single person and the flies. Sorry for the rant but there are too many flies buzzing around the computer attracted to the dim light from the screen for me to concentrate on writing about how wonderful and outgoing the kids still are – even after nine days.

Day 6 (Tourists in Antigua) and Day 7 (Lots o´ Rain)

Name: Maura Kelly Date: Jun 16

Today we took our first trip to Antigua. We spent most of our time en el mercado and got our first taste of bartering. I think we all realized that we were terrible at it and I believe that we paid about twice the price of any good barterer. Haha! But it was still really fun to immerse ourselves in the culture of Guatemala, even if the shop owners were blatantly ripping us off. For lunch we had the best chicken quesadillas I have ever eaten! Son deliciosos! I have to say though that at times I felt really awkward because the natives would stare at us wherever we went and we heard a few ,”Hey pretty ladies!” and ,”Gringas! Gringas! Gringas!” But you cant really blame them, we totally looked like tourists in our backpacks, sunglasses, friendship bracelets, and tennis shoes, wandering aimlessly around a city we were totally unfamiliar with. I think we all ended up buying way more stuff than we needed. From bracelets to backpacks, and pirated music to colorful purses, we definitely did our part to stimulate the local Antiguan economy. Guzman said that we would visit Antigua later on this week and I know we are all excited to return and get scammed out of all our quetzals. J Adios! Y se amo a mi familia!


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: 6-17-09

Today, we jumped on a bus and headed over to Antigua. When, we got there we immediately exchanged our dollars for quetzals. Then a few of us headed off to the market. We went to the outdoor market. This was really upsetting because everything was Americanized. Then we headed back to the bank and jumped on a bus to take a hike up a mountain. It was so pretty. We climbed to a lookout that looked over all of Antigua. We took thousands of pictures. It felt like prom. Then we went back to the shopping area. Natalie, Maria, Melissa, Mariah, Kathleen, Kelsey H, and I went out to lunch at a very cute café. We got quesadillas. They were really good. Then we hit the indoor market!!!! And Oh my god, it was so so so so so cool!!! They had a million things. Pretty sure I bought the entire marketJ All of us girls had so much fun and came back with a lot. Then Devon, Brittni, Natalie, Kathleen, Maria and I went to some of the kid’s casas. We bonded with them. It was fun! We finshed the day with all of us girls watching a movie. Before bed, Erin and I did a rigorous ab workout. All in all, today in Antigua was so much fun!!!! J

Name: Erin Date: 6/17/09

I think we’ve been getting pretty lucky with the weather here so far. Yesterday was beautiful in Antigua until we got home and Guatemala started to show what their “rainy season” was really like. Antigua was the epitome of what I had pictured before coming to Guatemala for the first time. It was filled with bright colors, hundreds of small shops and Iglesias (churches), stone roads, lots of traffic but a lot of fun. It was hard not to buy and eat everything…which was almost the case! Bartering was a lot harder than I remembered and pretty sure we got ripped off a few times, but I expected that. After all, we were tourists! Today, after a small project of sanding down lockers for the babies rooms in preparation for paint, the rain came once again and is still going. Perfect day for some siestas and time to ease any minor illnesses and exhaustion a few of us have acquired. Can’t wait to see and play with the pequenos once again tomorrow…feels like forever since we’ve been able to see them. Asterid is my new mejor amiga (BFF) and she painted my nails with almost too much delight :]. Even with the dreary weather, it manages to stay beautiful. Buenas Noches!


Name: Alicia Vertin Date: 6/17/09
Today we got up and the weather was rainy and cloudy but everything was green and lovely outside. I am having a lot of fun today I really don’t know how to explain everything I want to tell you guys but just to sum it up even though it was rainy I still had fun =). Talk to you tomorrow.

Day 4 a la Playa (beach) AND Day 5 Farming

Name: Hope Sexton Date: Jun 15

It is getting better and better here in Guatemala! My Spanish is coming much more fluently with the occasional stare and awkward pause from the children. Yesterday was really fun….if you look at the whole day. We took a 2 ½ hour bus ride to a beach that had black sand, so it was incredibly hot. All I can think of when I think of the beach is the battle I had with my swimsuit. The waves took you under and tossed you around so hard, your swimsuit was a gonner. Not my finest moments. And then today we spent just under 4 hours hoeing a field where they will plant corn. Hahaha their technique looked easy and productive, but when I attempted to copy them I made it so much harder. What’s new? So we cleared a huge plot of land for them. And tonight we’re planning on having girls night with the young teenage girls (around 13-15 I think) so that will be fun. I must say that this has been one of my more interesting birthdays…. Oh! And we hung out with Juan Jose more, he’s the guy that’s coming to BSM next year. He drew me a picture that was really good J Es todo. Kelsey gave me your card. Thank you love you guys!!!! Hope your enjoying keeping up with our trip on this blog! Hasta Luego.


Name: Molly Gorrilla Date: 6-15-09

Yesterday was like a vacation day, We went to the beach, on the ocean, which I was so happy about because I had never seen any of the oceans before. It was steaming hot and the sand was black, which made it even more hot. We walked through the little town and got some treats and water. Then, we got to swim at a hotel pool and chill in hammocks on the second floor balcony which was really fun. Even though I had a lot of fun at the beach, I couldn’t stop thinking about the kids. It was a nice break but I kind of felt guilty that we were having a vacation day. At the end of the night we watched 17 again, a movie with Zac Efron, so, basically a good movie for over 20 girls to watch. Today we went into a field with a lot of grass and weeds and used hoes to make 5 or 6 rows in order to be burned so the workers can plant corn soon. It was a long 3 hours and the heat seemed to get to everyone. Even though there were a few fights here and there we managed to finish. We all were full of dirt and it was in our shoes so we went to wash off by the little boys house. After all the hard work we got to hang out with the kids. I finally got to play with the little girls, the youngest besides the babys. They were soooo cute. I attempted to ask them if they remembered my sister who came here the last two years but they didn’t remember. It was one of the first times I wasn’t with Alicia, which was a good because it was a good time for me to practice my speaking without getting help.. Alicia I still love you (; . Again I found my friend Jorge and hung out with him on the jungle gym, it seems to be our play place now. Today has been another good day and the fun just never ends.
Peace and Love


Name: Erin Katopodis Date: June 15 2009!

Post: today is Esparanza’s birthday (Hope) and also our second day or labor after a really fun day at the beach yesterday. The water in the ocean was surprisingly warm and the sand was black…which was new and I was surprised my flip flops didn’t melt. There were so many stray dogs and I enjoyed seeing a small town and experiencing more of the culture here in Guatemala. I still love it here and the days are going by slowly. I’m not complaining. We worked in the fields today and cleared all of the weeds which sounds easy but after three hours, una siesta was definitely necessary. It wore me out but didn’t keep any of us from playing with the kids. I was given un regalo (gift) of a dirty pink teddy bear from Armando, who said that he fell in love with me after only 10 minutes of playing soccer with him. I’m finally realizing how self sufficient they are here at the orphanage and feel fortunate to help them out in any way I can. We’re having a girls’ night tonight with the teenage girls and they seemed extremely happy and excited! Adios


Name: Maura, Kelsey H, Kathleen, Meredith L, Hope, Mariah, Maria Date: June 15, 2009

We had an epic dance party with las chica tonight! We decided that we needed to get to know the girls and so we brought nail polish to their casa. We painted the girls nails and they painted ours, they turned on the music and we had a DP (dance party.) Conga lines, High School Musical, and break dancing were some of the highlights. Aside from the dancing, it was great to see the girls break out of their shells and make an effort to talk with us. The first day we came here they were so quiet and somewhat guarded (which was expected due to their society) but today they were so eager to share their likes, dislikes, and the beginnings of personal experiences. Yep, we bonded through our impersonations of Shakira and belting out “We’re Breaking Free.” It was an experience! We all had an awesome time and we are going back tomorrow night, after we go to Antigua for some shopping J


Name: Melissa Plooster Date: 6-15-09

Hey Mom and Dad! Love you and missing both of you! It is so much fun here. It’s unbelievably beautiful here; you’ll be playing soccer on the field, look around, and realize that you’re surrounded by mountains. Yesterday, we went to Montericco, which was on the beach. It had black sand, which made it unbelievably hot, and the oceans were so strong and tall that when they hit you, they pulled you under. My bathing suit had an issue—it would never stay on. So I decided I didn’t want to die and be sucked under, so I left the ocean. The immediate area around the beach was nice though; you could tell that it was trying to become a tourist area, but it still was small enough to have that “local” feel. Today we cleared land for them to farm on, and after dinner, we hung out with the normally shy girls. We painted each other’s nails, braided hair, danced, and chatted. It was really nice to get to know them, especially two named Maria and Cindy. However, its hot, I’m always sweating, we can’t flush paper down the toilet, and there are bugs everywhere. But you know me: I like to feel rugged like that. Haha—love you! See you soon!


Name: Katie hoesley Date: 6/15/09

hola shell joe will and sarah..today we ho’ed in the field for probably 100 hours…ok actually from about 10:30-1 or so and we cleared a big field for the orphanage. Meredith lawlor and I rocked our over-alls and “hick” hats and looked great…and being distracted by how good I looked I neglected to apply any SPF and am currently suffering the consequences…I have a perfect beader-tan-line on my back…and I wish I could tell you it was tan and I don’t look like I laid on a frying pan for an hour. Im scorched. But other than that today was great- it was the first time we got to hang out with the girls (we usually play fútbol with the 5-16 year old boys in the fields and mess around with them…we usually don’t’ see the girls because they approach us much less) and it was really fun. We talked about typical stuff and although the language barrier is an obvious challenge, and it’s a bit discouraging when girls ½ your age giggle at your attempts to communicate, we pulled through and it was really fun- we went back a couple hours later to their house and played again tonight, we danced and painted nails..one girl named Astrid painted my nails silver with white dotted flowers- needless to say I resemble a fashion icon. Oh and dad, you know how you were concerned about me coming to Guatemala? Well to sooth your anxiety, two days ago we used Machetes, and no I’m not making this up, and we chopped down an entire hill-side field. Feel better J hahahahaha I’m laughing as I write that. ONE WEIRD THING…make sure Will reads this..there is a boy IDENTICAL to him, well I mean he’s Guatemalan..but he looks just like Will and his name is Elemar. I’ve taken pictures, don’t worry shell you’ll be able to relive my entire experience through the zillion photos I’ve taken. Tomorrow were going into Antigua for the day and were all super excited. Miss you guys a lot! Tell the Wayzata kids I miss them, I’m sure they’re dying of with-drawl without coming and eating us out of house and home every day. Xoxo. Check ya later


Name: margo graff Date:6/15/09

hey dad and mom, it’s been four days and it seems like we just got here. Our first day we just sorted all of the cloths and the second day we used machetes!!! I’m a pro and yes your should be scared but kids who are like seven here use them, which is so weird to see but yea we mowed a huge hill with machetes and then the next day we went to the beach. Mcclurg, Annalisa and I road horses on the beach and Annalisa was trying to get her horse to run and she smacked it in the butt and it hiked up it back legs like it wanted to buck her off, it was so funny. We shopped, bought some movies, played on the beach (the sand is black, it is so weird but it is from the volcano ash) I almost got eaten by the waves many of times as well. Because of the huge undertoe, you could berly keep your stance when it as pulling you back. Today we had to hoe a whole field for planting and I was so dirty I turned a different race. Anyways the scenery is beautiful. We look outside your window and see huge mountains and huge grassy hills. On our way to the beach we saw the volcanoes and it is actually serial here. We have been playing with all the kids and the rules for the girls and boys here are so weird, they can have boyfriends at 10 but can’t kiss them till 18 and if the girls want to go play out side they have to ask permission to go outside but their tias or aunts don’t really let them go. Oh and we have to throw all the toilet paper in the trash because the toilets cant handle it so if you accidentally drop it in you have to fish it out-its utterly disgusting because I always forget! Oh and I fell in love with Nutella so looks like we are getting some at home! We are also running out of snacks and it` is going t be a disaster for the girls who don’t eat anything but cookie crisp cereal aka Annalisa. Oh my God! I forgot you are going to me so proud of me! I read my first book that was 445 pages in two days and now I am on my second one and have been reading this for a day and I am half way done, our cabin is called the reading cabin because we all read so much. Oh and lastly we freeze our water bottles and mine broke so looks like I am s.o.l. because I drink about 3 bottles a day. Sorry I didn’t email you yesterday when I was at the internet café Sam was the only lucky one but I miss you guys and love you!!!!


Name: ALLIE FAN Date: June 15, 2009


HOLA, bloggings not really my strong suit so im just going to give a few funny stories and reaccount the rest for you upon my return. First of all, yesterday we took a bus ride down the mountain that the orphanage is on top of but after 3hrs on a hot bus we made it to the ocean. It was amazing! Like nothing I’ve ever seen, seriously. Literally 12ft waves with an undertow that could drown a house. But of course I was too excited to think about that so I ran in first while everyone was putting their stuff down on the beach, which by the way was black sand, and I was brutally thrown into the ground and then swirled around in circles a couple of times before finally finding the surface again. The unfortunate thing was that although the first time was fun and voluntary, the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th times were NOT and it was impossible to get back to land. The other fun thing about going to the ocean was that the small city it was in wasn’t a tourist city at all so no one knew any English and we had to totally rely on our mediocre Spanish skills to get by. Of all our vacations, that was a first for me. Today we hoe’d a field, it was draining but satisfying. More to come...adios!




Name: Natalie LeSage Date: June 16, 2009

Hola from Guatemala!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!! I hope you have a fantastic day!!! But I will fill you in on what has been going on down here!!! Everyday it has be extremely hot (and so far I haven’t gotten burned)! Our first work project was sorting all of the donations and then working in the fields with machetes (of course I got blisters!)! But we got so much work done!!! The next day we went to the beach, which was absolutely beautiful… the sand was black and there were gigantic waves! Then yesterday we worked for 4 hours in a field with hoes…. It was so tiring but it felt so good when we looked at how much we accomplished! And today, we are going shopping in Antigua (I will try not to spend all of my money!!!) As for the kids!!! They are all so much fun and I am definitely starting to improve my Spanish! This was a perfect time to come down here because the kids are al out of school so we get to see them more! The culture it so much different then back home: we never see the girls! One day we went to go and get them to play soccer, and told us we could play in their hilly back yard. But we were like NO we are going to the big soccer field! So we player on the field but they were very careful around the boys! But last night we went to the girls room and painted their nails!!! But anyways I am have the time of my life down here!!! I miss you all!!! And thanks for the many random notes… they always make me smile! Right now Maria and I are going to go sit out side in the beautiful sunny day before we leave!!! And once again HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! I love you!!!!

P.S. Sorry for any typos I want to go outside!!!!

Day 3 - Machetes in Hand

Name: Maria Cass y Natalia LeSage Date: June 13, 2009

FYI: We now know how to use machetes! We cleared brush from a hillside for about 3 hour and the rest of the time we played soccer and baseball with los pequeños! Day number 3 was perfect, except for the fact that we currently can’t find the key to unlock a room, which contains our suitcases. We wake up SUPER early, definitely the first ones everyday…we get the cold showers first which is a plus (sort of…) Iramos a la playa mañana!

Name: Erin Katopodis Date: June 13, 2009

So…using the machetes was an interesting sight. My right arm is officially stronger than the left and I have the scratches and darker tan lines to prove my three hours of work. Today was Antonio’s cumpleano and I gave him a Twins hat (he wouldn’t take it off). I would write all about how we couldn’t understand a word of their mass this evening, how the girls started to finally interact with us, how we are all pro bracelet makers, and how we are slowly able to form complete sentences with the kids (with them laughing at us of course), but I learned from Melissa to keep these blogs short and sweet. Tomorrow we go to the beach for a break and Monday we are going to continue to work on the area we tore down today with the machetes. Buenas Noches.


Name: Mariah Date: 6/13/09

The third day was a lot of fun. We learned how to cut brush with huge machetes the size of my arm! It was hard work but a great way to relieve your anger. Also because there are so many of us we got a lot done. It would have taken the volunteer at the orphanage weeks. Then we had free time, which was a lot of fun because I got to talk to Jose who will be coming to BSM next year. He knows some English so he helped me pick up more Spanish. It has been really hard because everything sounds different than it is spell, so I understand when it is written but really hard to speak it. I am picking up a little each day. Tomorrow we are going to the beach, which I am really excited for. Love you mom and hopefully I will remember to blog again.


Name: Sra. Prentice Date: 6/13/09

Parents should know that your girls are absolutely wonderful. They are working really hard at their chores and projects and are so enthusiastically playing with the kids here. The kids are in love with these girls. By the way, their Spanish is great—they’re putting it to good use! Even the Latin and French girls are hablando!! Today we met Juan Jose, one of the orphans here, who will be a BSM student next year if everything works out. He’s a very courteous, industrious kid who will be a great addition to our community and he’s learning all about snow tubing, winter clothing, and life at BSM!! Everyone’s having a great time!


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: 6-13-09

Well hey friends and family! I still miss you all so much! Hmmmm let’s see, what did we do today? Well, apparently I was really tired because I was the very last one to wake up this morning. I woke up to Melissa whispering in my ear that if I wanted any breakfast at all, I had to wake up now. Then, we headed into the “jungle” with machetes to chop it down to make room for planting trees. It was very buggy and very hot! I think I discovered about 100 more bugs today that I never knew existed. Surprisingly, we didn’t have an injuries due to the machetesJ I did cute myself with the end of my blade on my leg, but it was just a tiny scrape. Then, we ate breakfast and played kickball with the kids! The kickball started when Borer asked a boy named Willy if he liked soccer, and he said no (this is considered a sin in the Guatemala world). He told her that he loved baseball, so she decided to start a baseball game but the bat broke on the first hit so we played kickball instead. Then we went to church and unfortunately didn’t understand a word of the mass:(. Finally, we ended the day with more soccer and teaching the kids some fun games. And of course, we all met out on the grass to do abs with Ms. Leahy. I’m having so much fun and can tell that us girls are getting closer, and I just love all the kids! Tomorrow, we go to the beach and fiesta!!! xoxoxo

Name: Molly Gorrilla Date: 6-13-09

Well today we got to use machetes in the forest, to clear it out in order to plant trees. It was a long 3 hours but the results showed how much we accomplished. After we had lunch. Alicia, Natalie and I went and ate with a couple kids outside since they needed the cafeteria to stay clean for mass later. Then we got to chill with the kids. I met my new friend Jorge. He is such a cool little kid. I noticed that he had brace thingys on his ankles, he struggled a little when he walked. He clinged on to me like a magnet throughout the entire day. Sometimes when we would go up stairs I would pick him up, he was very happy about that. I have become very close with him and I am so glad because yesterday I struggled to create good relationships with the kids. Today was a big step in forming bonds with Jorge and a few other kids and I am soo happy about that. Alicia and I seemed to create a “meeting” spot with our new friends on the blue bleachers today. Every time we had free time, Alicia and I would walk down to our spot and our friends from the first break remembered and came down to visit with us. By the end of the night, we had about 15 of us hanging out, which was really fun. One of the kids by the “meeting” spot showed us amazing break dancing moves from movies like Stomp the Yard and Step Up, which are two great movies that I love. Also, Alicia and Natalie and I went into the little girls house and got them to come out and play soccer with us, which was such a big step since yesterday we didn’t see much of the girls. Tomorrow, our new friends said they would teach us some salsa, hopefully all will follow through. O yeah, the beach is tomorrow too…which sounds so good. So despite the sun burn and tiredness, today was so fun and so far it had been the best day.
Peace and Love



Alicia Vertin Date: June 13, 2009

Hello =) well today has been amazing. We got up and ate very yummy pancakes and fresh fruit. Sunny blue skies. Then… we all got ready to go work for the first time It was hard work using that machete in the fields. I got a little dehydrated though so I need to make sure that I keep drinking water. Poor Meredith got stung by bees ahhhhh that’s scary. Yesterday though Molly, Natalie, Kathleen, Allie and Maria and I got invited to lunch by a few kids it was so nice. We thought we would follow though with that and we dicided to go eat lunch with them but… they were no where to be found. We found out later it had something to do with the mass we went to. Like Molly said we have a new meeting place which was fun because we would sit down and every one would flock to us. We tried our best to break the language barrier and talk to every one. They were full of energy, and they liked doing cart wheels and summersalts in the grass with us. We had a blast. Today was really fun, and tomorrow we go to the beach so yay!!!
Hasta Luego
alicia

Name: ALLIE FAN Date: June 13, 2009

So today molly almost killed me when she lost her grip on her machete and threw it off the cliff down the drop off and into the thick part of the field that we hadn’t cleared yet, so sure enough I had to climb down stabbing my machete into the weeds and descending into the weedy abyss. Luckily I conquered the steep hill and returned to safety, using both of the machetes to hack my way back up. Please don’t think that this was all I did today, im just way to tired to fill u in all the way, so I hope u enjoyed my brief story but other people are better at this blogging thing than me, so read theirs. Adios!

Day 2

Name: Katie McClurg Date: 6/12/09

Today has been really fun because we got to go on a tour of the entire campus. It was amazing to see how self-sufficient they are and how much these kids can already do at such young ages. The best part for me so far was going to the babies’ house and getting to play with all of the cute little kids. They were all so welcoming and loved the attention from us, especially taking pictures with and of us. Then when we went on the playground with them I had to have Mr. Pohlen’s daughter Anna help translate to the kids, but even if they didn’t know what we were saying they went along with it. So far my Spanish has already improved so much and I think we all have made a lot of new friends.

Name: Brittni Palkert Date: 6/12/09

Hola Mami y Papi! My experience up until now has far exceeded my expectations. The kids are crazy, outgoing, and make silly jokes. Today, I asked a kid how he broke his arm and he told me that Molly Guerilla karate chopped his arm; they just say crazy things all the time, but many of their jokes I can’t understand which is a little frustrating. We have played duck, duck, goose, soccer, and in the sand where a little boy taught me how to say zebra, tiger, and giraffe in Spanish. Another thing the kids LOVE to do is take my camera! We’ll have to see how some of their pictures turn out… Lunch was muy delicioso and the kids surprisingly know much of the music we do; Selena, Daddy Yankee and even Hannah Montana. I feel like I’ve already been her for weeks and it’s only been a day and a half and I love it. Bye for now but we’ll keep you up to date on all the other adventures that occur later in the week! Love you J


Name: Devon FitzGerald Date: 6/12/09

Today was quite a day! It’s pretty hot here during the day, but at night it’s very cold. The kids are so much fun to play with, as soon as they see us it’s:“Como te llamas, como te llamas?” They also love to make fun of us when we don’t understand what they are saying! I’ve gotten many nicknames like “pequito pero” or “little dog.” It’s exhausting, but it’s so much fun!!


Name: Erin Katopodis Date: 6/12/09

Hola a mi familia y mi abuela! We woke up this morning and few of us in “Casa tres” tried to go on an early morning run. Unfortunately, the elevation hindered our endurance and we cut the run short (or at least that was our excuse!). We arrived last night and realized how many bugs we were going to have to kill, so our casa is now keeping track of who can kill the most bugs each day. Besides sleeping on a thin mattress, using a towel as a blanket, and getting a great farmer’s tan (and not being able to flush toilet paper), the weather, scenery, fruit, constant futbol playing, and energetic kids definitely make me realize how fortunate I am to be able to be here. Today, we were able to actually interact more with the kids than we did yesterday and they all find it extremely amusing how we don’t know what they’re saying sometimes (using this to their advantage). The kids all took us on a tour of the orphanage today and we saw muchos chickens and pigs…during mating season. Enough said. So far, my most used Spanish phrases have been “Cuidado!” “Fotos!” “Estoy cansada” “Necesito agua” y “Como se dice ____ en Espanol?” I can’t wait to do actual service tomorrow for the orphanage. I think it has something to do with their crops. Hopefully I’ll be able to sleep through the roosters at four a.m. tomorrow morning because I realized how important sleep is while you are here! Adios y mucho amor!

P.S. They all wanted me to “blog” an additional story from the day: Theo (Mr. Pohlen’s son - 5 years old) got frustrated today during our one of many games of soccer and one of the pequenos (orphans) asked what his name was and voluntarily cheered Theo up and he instantly came back to play futbol with a smile on his face. It’s interesting to see how welcoming and selfless all of these kids are and how appreciative they are of our visit and the interaction we have with them (even if there is a bit of a communication barrier). – sorry for the novel! I’ll keep it short next time..I promise


Name: Hope Sexton Date: jun 12

Ok, the kids are adorable!! We became friends with so many of them today. They remember our name better than we remember theirs. But we’re trying really hard to talk to them. They are so patient when we struggle with Spanish and they get a lot of laughs out of it. I attempted to play soccer….and failed, but I got hit in the arm really hard so I can look intense. After we were exhausted we made bracelets for anyone who wanted them. Wow, who knew someone could sweat so much. Haha, everyone is gross by breakfast! My favorite part of being here, though, has by far been the different culture. They are so willing to help with anything and they care for everyone. It is so obvious that they never put themselves first. I really look forward to learning from them. I don’t have much to say now, but I will in a few days. Oh and the mangoes are delicious!! I love you guys a million J Se amo.


Name: Maura Kelly Date: 12 June 2009

So basically…Guatemala is AMAZING!!!! These last two day have been amazing and I even have a new boyfriend J Haha his name is Melvin and I think he’s 11 but I’m really not sure. Today we played soccer and basketball together for hours and I’m really tired. We made each other friendship bracelets and played more soccer even after dark. This morning we took a tour of the grounds, which are WAAAY larger than I ever imagined! The pigs smelled bad but the toddlers were cute. I even got to find buried “Tesoro” with my new bud Antonio. We ate lunch with the kids for the first time today and it was really fun! I met little boy named Armando and he is really awesome J It was really weird to be totally immersed in a language that I am not fluent in. But it amazes me how we are becoming faster and more fluent with all of the kids. I have lots of pictures so far, although most are from when Antonio stole my camera and took pictures when all the other boys were throwing dead bugs at me. EW! But overall I would say this was one of the best days of my life. Haha well I hope you all are doing well…especially you grandpa! J I love you and I will see u later! Buenas Noches a todos. <3 Maura


Name: ALLIE FAN Date: June 12, 2009

HOLA from Guatemala, from looking at today you would never guess that I was bad with kids, I played with so many of the kids. We went to the “baby house” which is kids 0-7 and one of them asked me to push him on the swing in the little sand box and as soon as I did it he started laughing so loud that a line form at the swings 6 kids long for me to push them all. Then I had to speed up process so I would yell “listos, uno, dos, tres, salta” which for all you non-spanish speakers is “ready, one, two three, jump” haha. It was really cute tho because they would try to cut in line to get extra turns. That was probably my favorite moment of the day. Our project for the day was to unload and count all 32 suitcases of donations so that also kept us busy, the best part of that was seeing someone put an old carondelet sweatshirt into the bag with Fan on the back, I got really excited. A close second to the was seeing one of the little boys proudly wearing his Minnetonka dance team shirt. It gets dark at like 7 but for some reason the day still feels like twice as long, although that could be because of the 5am roosters calls, im sure ill sleep through it tonight tho, I am exhausted. Goodnight, love u guys, hasta luego!


Name: Molly Gorrilla Date: June 12, 2009

Greetings from Guatemala! We started the day off with sorting through the donations that we collected from the drive at school. Then we went and hung out with the kids. Today we had about a core 5 boys( don’t worry..they are around the age of seven)that really stuck with the group and visited us very often to chat, make bracelets and play soccer. Getting to know the kids is so awesome, they are all special in their own ways and it seems like we have all known them for our whole lives. The sun was out today, which was amazing since the last week in Minnesota was cloudy and cold. We got a tour of the whole place today, its cool to hear about the groups that have been here the last few years that have planted grass (which is fully grown in now) and the buildings they painted. It seems like the little boys are the most outgoing to far, but hopefully we can immerse ourselves more with the girls, since they seem the most shy. Luckily I have ALICIA VERTIN with me at all times because she is practically fluent and she can make numerous conversations with all the kids, so, hopefully by the end of the trip I will be able to have conversations without making mistakes. Basically the trip is so fun so far and the kids are amazing…Well now its thundering out…cool…o yeah…the mountains are soo tight…I better go now since there is a line of people who want to blog too.
Allie is going to go teach me how to play some card games and cribbage now..cant wait..
Hasta Luego!!
Peace and Love
Molly Gorrilla


Name: Kelsey Hennen Date: June 12, 2009

Finally after all of the after all of the after school packing sessions and the ones during class are all of the items counted and given to the orphanage. All though we have only been in Guatemala for a day and a half, our hard work is already starting to pay off…just seeing how much the children enjoy having us here is worth all of the fundraising at the plays and packing millions of socks. I am amazed at how welcoming they have been to us and how even though we have language barriers we can understand each other. We are all having so much fun and are excited to start our project tomorrow.


Name: Maria Cass Date: June 12, 2009

Post: Day number 2 was super long, but of course super fun. We hung out with the kids and tried to explain to them with our broken Spanish how to make bracelets from cotton string, they nodded and tried to act nice but it was pretty obvious they didn’t understand. My Spanish is getting better, mostly I am learning to use commands and stuff in the Tú form. We took a tour of the facilities, they were really nice, I don’t know what I was expecting but it is a really beautiful place. We are in the middle of the mountains with volcanoes on either side of NPH compound. The kids are really friendly, the little boys more than the other of course J I got some lovely tan lines from my socks and tee-shirt but all in all it was a great first full day at NPH. I miss everyone back home and I hope you are al having a fabulous time in Minnesota!


Name: Kelsey Jacobson Date: June 12, 2009

Post: Hey everyone! Today (Day number 2) was super fun! We woke up, and Maura, Melissa, Hope, Erin, and I went on a run. It was pitiful. We ran one lap around the field and died due to the altitude change. Then we ate a fabulous breakfast with each other consisting of scrambled eggs and fruitJ Then we got to work counting the donations. There were a ton! After counting, we went out and began to get to know the kids. They are so much fun and really fun! We played soccer (they are so good!!!) This one kid, Elmer, was owning all of us! We went on a tour of the entire orphanage. This was super fun because we got to see all the kids (the babies, little boys, and little girls). Then we ate lunch (spaghetti, my favorite food in the whole entire world) At first we all sat together but the Guzi encouraged us to mingle with the kids) This was fun because we got to know a lot more kids and practice our Spanish. I am finding my little knowledge of Spanish to be very frustrating being that I take French, but I’m learning surprisingly fast! At lunch, I learned lots of new words including one word that many of the guys kept saying that I later found out was very inappropriate. I was very embarrassed. The guys are funny here because they think it’s amusing to make fun of us girls when we aren’t able to speak Spanish. We spent the rest of the day playing basketball, making bracelets, taking photos with the kids, and hanging out with the kids. All the kids are super nice, accepting of our inadequate Spanish, and extremely loveable. We have all chosen our “novios” also haha. But don’t worry parents, we’re making good choices;) I can’t wait for the rest of these next two weeks! Tomorrow, we are going to work in the fields and use machetes! It should be fun! All us girls are also getting along really well. We’ve got a great group of girls down hereJ I really really really miss all of you at home and can’t wait to see you all! I love you all and thanks for your support!


Name: Melissa Borer Date: June 12, 2009
Post: Everyone keeps telling me that less is more when it comes to blogging so I’ll keep it short and sweet. It’s awesome, it is kind of hard to communicate but for the most part they are really good and slowing down for you and help you understand. I feel super awkward when I can’t understand them and I have to say repite like 8 times but for the most part I’m doing good. I met the only boy in the orphanage that has green eyes like me and they all were in awe. Apparently they call him gato because he looks like a cat, which means I look like a cat to, yikes. But it’s really fun and each day is going to get better, but harder to leave. Adios!!!!