Una Aventura en Guatemala

So every other year my youth group takes a week long trip to Guatemala, and this summer was one of those years. I first went two years ago, and I was super excited to go back. My church has a special connection with Guatemala, and I fell right into that on my first trip. We worked with an organization called HELPS International. HELPS has a medical and a community development branch. Considering none of us actually have medical degrees (except one of the chaperones), we participated in community development pouring concrete, putting together water purification systems, and building stoves.

at least we had a nice view

We flew into Guatemala City early Saturday (July 28) morning. Ok, it wasn't actually all that early. Our flight was at like 9:30, but we had to meet at church at 5:45! The parking lot was filled with not happy teenagers. Anyway, we spent Saturday night at a seminary in the city. The next morning we embarked on an 8 hour bus journey through the mountains to the village of Nebaj. Now Nebaj is actually only 146 miles north of Guatemala City, but the road goes up and over countless mountains, so it takes awhile.

no parents, there weren't seat belts...

So we stayed in the village of Nebaj, but we worked in a village called San Juan Cotzal. It took over an hour by bus to get there every morning (San Juan probably wasn't that far away, but again, mountains and the eventual end of paved roads). Speaking of roads, we eventually hit a dirt road and it would be unsafe for the bus to try to drive up it. So instead, we all piled into the back of the 3 old pick-up trucks and rode the rest of the way up the mountain. It was like a crazy and bumpy and not entirely comfortable roller coaster ride, but it was SO MUCH FUN! I thought I would be thrown out of the bed on more than one occasion, but hey, it just added to the adventure.


So our first day of working consisted of mixing and pouring concrete. We were split into 6 different groups and each groups took 2 families. It was hard manual labor, but very satisfying. Before they get the concrete, families just live on dirt floors. Concrete floors are easier to clean and therefore healthier to live on.

On our second day we visited 2 schools. We installed 4 stoves at each school and gave them water purification systems. This was probably my favorite experience of the entire trip. Each school put on a welcome ceremony for us. All the children were lined up waiting for us, and then they performed for us! Different grades sang, danced, and recited poetry for us. At the second school, some second graders were performing a dance, and at the end, they grabbed people from the crowd to dance with them. I was one of those people. I felt privileged! Since there was only room for a few people to build the stoves in the schools' kitchens, most of us spent our time playing with the kids at each school. I work with the children at my church, and I love them, but the kids in Guatemala are different. They love you immediately, without question. All they want is for you to pay attention to them. Beyond names and age, we couldn't communicate much, but that really didn't matter. As soon as the welcome at the first school was over, a group of girls came up to me and my friend and asked for a picture. Several photos later, they grabbed hold of our hands and stuck by our side the 2+ hours we were there. We tried to teach them games and dances (ultimate frisbee, the hokey pokey, the chicken dance, football), but they also just spent a lot of time climbing all over us. Those kids reminded me what is was like to truly love people, a concept I fear our society hasn't truly grasped.

my favorite!

Day 3 we went back to our families and installed stoves. Families (and when I say families, I mean the women) normally cook on big open fires. This causes a couple issues. Problem 1 is smoke. Fires obviously produce smoke, and women and children spend most of their day breathing in that smoke, and prolonged smoke inhalation is not good for your lungs. Problem 2 is safety. Small children running around + large open fire = scary safety hazard. So I really enjoyed installing these stoves because I knew I was doing something genuinely helpful. Each family received 2 stoves, an indoor and an outdoor stove.

I think I've already mentioned that Guatemala is a beautiful country, but adding to that beauty was a waterfall right outside of the village we were working in. After all the groups had finished installing the stoves, we met by this waterfall to take pictures and have a closing ceremony with the families and village representatives. This was another highlight of the trip. I saw the very same waterfall on my trip two years ago, and being able to appreciate it again was awesome. It's kind of a magnificent sight.

The next day consisted of another 8 hour drive back through the mountains, and that afternoon we arrived in Antigua. Antigua is the cultural capitol of Guatemala, and it's kind of a shock after spending several days in the rural portion of the country. Antigua is popular with tourists, so the atmosphere is very different. Regardless, we spent the last day of our trip hanging out in the city. Well actually, in the morning we visited a special needs school right outside of Antigua. It's called the New Hope School, and they take kids with all sorts of needs, from learning disabilities to physical disabilities. Children with disabilities don't normally do well in Guatemala, so this school is a huge blessing to some. After visiting the school, we spent the rest of the day exploring Antigua. Fun fact: Antigua is built in between 2 volcanoes: Volcan de Agua and Volcan de Fuego. Can you guess which one is dormant and which one is active? :)

famous street!

taken in the ruins of an old church

One final thought. A very popular mission trip questions is "What did you learn on your trip?" or some such variation, and I have been asked that more than once. So here is my response (I'll try not to sound too cliche): The thing that I kept thinking about throughout the trip is the importance of community. Yes, I am aware of how privileged I am to have a roof over my head, reliably clean water, plenty of food, and a superb education; and yes, I believe that the least I can do with all that is to help people who don't have that. But there is so much more to the story. Material goods aren't bad. It's not bad that we have what I just listed, but material goods aren't everything. Love and community is far more important than anything we could ever own, and I think the relationships we formed will survive longer than any stove or water purification system we provided.

Wilderness 2012

So five days after I got home from London, I headed up to Colorado for a week long backpacking trip! I've always enjoyed hiking, and I went on my first backpacking trip last summer. I absolutely loved it, and when I heard about the opportunity to go back, I jumped on it immediately! I went with the small group that my senior Bible teacher and his wife led.

Look how clean and fresh we look!

It was a great trip, but there were some interesting moments! First off, we drove to Colorado. If you include stops, that is a 20 hour journey. That is a lot of time on a coach bus. It wasn't actually as bad as I thought it would be. I was able to sleep during the night, which tremendously helped to pass the time. So, if you ever find yourself on a 20 hour bus ride, here are some tips:

• Make sure your ipod is fully charged! But also ration your ipod. If you are content to talk to people, read, sleep, or just sit, then do that. Save as much battery as possible for when you really need it!
• Bring a blanket and pillow! Buses get cold and pillows help you sleep! Special thanks to Alexandra for lending me Peels, her panda pillow pet.
• Have some travel toiletries in your carry-on. Remember, it's 20 hours before you can properly brush your teeth or wash your face!

So we finally got there, and our guides were there to greet us. Our base camp was at Wilderness Ranch, a YoungLife camp. We got our gear, packed up, ate lunch, and headed out. It's a good thing it was only a half day. We weren't fully acclimated to the altitude or adjusted to our packs yet, so the hiking was pretty tough. We were extremely grateful to get to our campsite that night!

Whenever we took long breaks, we did two things. At meals, we answered "meal questions." Those were just random questions that ensured that everybody got involved in conversation. Examples include: "What is your patronus?" (owl!); "If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could have 1 book, 1 movie, and 1 CD, what would it be?" (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a Bourne movie, and Ceremonials by Florence and the Machines); and "If you could play a minor role in any movie, who would you play?" (a pirate on the Black Pearl in Pirates of the Caribbean). We also told life stories, which were kind of like faith journeys. The point was so we could all get to really know each other. 

So here are some highlights from the week:

Climbing through deadfall: I woke up our third morning feeling pretty good. I was finally fully acclimated to the altitude, and my pack didn't seem as heavy. The morning hike felt easy and all was good up to lunch. Things went downhill in the afternoon (only metaphorically though; literally, everything went UPHILL). The trail disappeared, so we were hiking along the side of a mountain on really rough terrain. Then we hit the deadfall. Colorado has had a problem this summer with pine beetles killing trees, so there are dead trees littered all over the place. And the problem with these dead trees is that they also have sharp branches sticking up all over the place. We then spent the entire afternoon climbing over dead trees and cutting ourselves on branches. It was exhausting, challenging, and we all came close to breaking down, but looking back, we decided that it was a part of the experience that we would not have changed.

Goose Lake: When we finally set up camp after battling the deadfall, our guides told us that we would be summiting the next day. I was super excited about this because my favorite part of backpacking last year was reaching the summit. So we got up unnaturally early (3:30) and covered a fair bit of ground before the sun even came up. It was another rough hike; the trail still hadn't appeared, the deadfall was just as bad, and we were being eaten alive by mosquitos. After hiking straight up for several hours, we reached a huge, gorgeous lake and set up camp near the shore. Our guides told us that we weren't going to make it to the summit because the weather was a bid dodgy, but we did get to spend the rest of the day relaxing by Goose lake. I was disappointed that we didn't get to summit, but after 2 days of intense hiking, relaxing by the lake was spectacular.

so intense!

Whiffle ball: My Bible teacher brought a whiffle ball set and we decided to have a game by the lake. This was a bit of a challenge for me because I've never played baseball, softball, or whiffle ball, so the others had to walk me through everything. I can't hit a ball to save my life, but at least I can catch and throw. After lunch, stakes were added to the game. The loosing team had to go jump into Goose Lake. The thing about Goose Lake is that it is fed by melted snow, so the water is freezing! Of course my team lost, and I had the privilege of leaping into the lake. At least it was refreshing...

Solo Night: The title says it all. When my 

my solo spot

teammates and I had recovered from our lake jump, our guides informed us that we would be having solo night. They found each of us a separate spot for the night and gave us some scripture to read and think about. Spending the night by myself in the woods was an interesting experience. It was extremely windy, and it sounded eerie through the trees. I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I heard an animal rustling near by, so I decided to hide deeper in my sleeping bag (though it was probably just the wind or a chipmunk). But the stars were incredible. Every time I woke up, I just looked at the sky and stared at millions and millions of glittering stars. You don't have many opportunities to see a night sky like that.  

Our last 2 days on trail were great! The trail magically appeared and we were beyond the land of the deadfall. We felt very accomplished by the time we got back to base camp. Taking a shower was amazing!!! Our guides also took us into a map room and showed us exactly where we hiked. We were on the longest trail (which is ironic, considering we were never on a trail!) and hiked 33 miles in 6 days. It was a great trip, and I would love to make backpacking an annual summer trip.

clean once again!

London review

So I got a little behind on blogging about my London trip! Here are some of the highlights from my second week there.

Henna: I got henna done on my hand! I've wanted to get a henna design ever since my sister came home from India with an authentic one. Alexandra and I both got it done at a Green Festival in Regent Park. Alexandra has a blog post dedicated to this. 

Rock of Ages premier: The Rock of Ages movie premier was happening at Leister Square, so we decided to stop by. There were the hard core people who had been camping out since 8:00 that morning who had the best spots right up at front, but considering we got there at like 5:00, we were able to get up fairly close. They had music from the movie playing, and at one point a band got up to perform the same music live. It was fun to listen to, and I had those rock songs stuck in my head for the rest of the evening. Oh, and I saw Tom Cruise, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Russell Brand, and the rest of the cast! Ok, from a distance...but I still saw them. There was a stage set up, and all the major cast members got up and did an interview.

Harry Potter Studio Tour: We went to the Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour. It was really incredible! This is a tour of all the sets, props, costumes, and designs for all the Harry Potter movies. For example, I saw the Great Hall, the Gryffindor common room, the boy's dormitory, Dumbledore's office, 4 Privet Drive, the Knight bus, and a whole bunch more. This is where they filmed the majority of the films. I felt like I was reliving my childhood since I grew up with the Harry Potter books and movies! Parts of it were just too much to handle! I think I took over 100 photos ( I promise I won't post them all!). And then there was the gift store...oh my goodness. It's this huge space with every Harry Potter item you could ever imagine. I got a pair of mittens that had the Hogwarts crest and colors. I really wanted one of the concept drawings. They were beautiful, but so expensive! Oh well, I'm happy with my mittens. I'll use them in Scotland. 

ahhhhh!!!!!!! We're so excited. :)

Gryffindor common room

Knight bus (all destinations except under water!)

Diagon Alley (strange lighting...)

model of Hogwarts Castle

and cue tears.....

Frankenstein: So a year ago, the National Theatre presented Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Lee Miller. They switched playing the roles of the Creature and Dr. Frankenstein every night. So Alexandra and I went crazy last May, knowing that it was playing in London and we couldn't see it!!! But alas, the National Theatre filmed in and showed it in theaters in June. When we saw it, Ben was Frankenstein and Johnny was the Creature. It was an incredible, beautiful, heart-breaking production. The acting was phenomenal, and I wish we had been in London to see the second showing so I could see Ben and Johnny switch roles. 

Other Shows: Besides Frankenstein, we also saw The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at Kensington Gardens, the musical Matilda, and Henry V at the Globe. They were all very different shows, but I liked them all! I love the London theatre, and I'm definitely planning on taking a train down from St. Andrews to see some shows. 

inside the Globe! 

221b Baker Street

So I've been in London for several days now, and we are steadily checking things off our list of things that we must see. Alexandra and I decided that Monday would be Sherlock day! The first thing we did was head off to 221b Baker Street itself. There is a museum and a gift shop there. For the museum, they've taken a flat and have transformed it into the actual flat that Sherlock and Watson stayed in. There is Sherlock's room, Watson's room, the study, Mrs. Hudson's room, and a room containing wax figures of different characters.  I really enjoyed it! The flat had a lot of details that only people who have read the book would pick up on. For example, a book about bee keeping in Sherlock's room! They also took portions of some of the stories and had them written in journal form in Watson's room.

Bee keeping!

Watson's journal!

Sherlock's violin

creepy Moriarty wax figure

After we left the Sherlock Holmes museum, we trekked over to 187 North Gower Street, the other 221b. This is where the filmed the BBC Sherlock! Honestly, there isn't much there except an empty flat and Speedy's cafe (which was unfortunately closed!) But it was definitely worth the visit!

us FREAKING out :)

the other 221b

Oh, and this doesn't have anything to do with Sherlock, but WE FOUND A TARDIS!

TARDIS!

Diamond Jubilee

So on Thursday I graduated from high school! Summer has officially started (even though I've been done with classes for 2 weeks). On Friday I flew to London with Alexandra and her family, and we are here for the next 18 days! Yesterday was kind of rough because of the jet lag, but we were able to walk around Hampstead Heath a little, the area where we are staying.

Pond in Hampstead Heath!

So this whole weekend Britain is celebrating Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, meaning she has been on the throne for 60 years. Today a thousand boats sailed down the Thames, and there was a huge fancy ship that carried the Queen and some other members of the Royal family. We, along with 1.2 million other people, traveled down to Central London to watch the boats and attempt to get a glimpse of the Queen. It was absolutely chaotic! People were maxed out in British gear, and Union Jacks and pictures of the Queen were hanging from every possible surface. They were handing out free cardboard periscopes outside the tube station. I questioned how well they would work, but they were actually really fantastic! By the time the boats started to come down the Thames, the bank was so crowded that I couldn't actually see the river. At least with the periscope I could see a white speck that I took to be the Queen and three other specks that turned out to be the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince William, and Prince Harry.

Yes, we have matching t-shirts. Yes, we're cool.

Some people went all out!

Let's just climb up on top of a building to watch the boats.

On another note, IT'S FREEZING HERE! It was about 100 degrees when we left Houston, and today it was rainy, windy, and never climbed above the mid-50's. It's June. I don't think it got that cold in Houston this past winter. We've been borrowing all of Alexandra's aunt's jackets and scarves. I guess I better get used to this...

Summer???

Well, that's about it. Tomorrow is Sherlock day, and we head over to Baker Street!!!

Updates on St. Andrews, Senior year, and everything in between

Hello! I guess I'll go in order of the title.

St. Andrews:
I received an email from the registrar a few weeks ago, and now I have everything I need to set up an email, register for classes, and find out information about orientation. I set up my email, and I feel really official now! I can sign up for classes, but nothing will be official until I meet with my advisor during orientation week. I have to take 3 classes each semester, each class worth 20 credits. I know 3 classes doesn't sound like a lot, but they meet more often then classes at American universities usually meet (like 4 lectures a week plus 1lab). So I'm obviously taking a Psychology course (Pretty much Intro to Psych.), but I have no idea what I want to take for my other 2 classes. I could do biology because that would help me if I want to go into neuroscience. I was looking at the Classics courses, and I saw some really interesting Greek and Roman history classes. Then my friend warned me that those classes might be really difficult, and I should be careful with what I'm getting myself into. But, I'm already throwing myself into a new country, and I have no idea what getting myself into anyway, so why start now?

Senior Year:
I'M FINISHED WITH HIGH SCHOOL!!!!

Today was the last day of classes for seniors. Since my first 3 classes for today were A.P. classes, I only had to go to my last class (Bible). It is so weird to think that I am done with high school. It is also four months to the day until I start classes at St. Andrews. I don't know what to do with myself now!!!!!
My mom told me to relax, and my friend told me to sleep... those are two words that dropped out of my vocabulary long ago.

Anyway, here is what I've been up to the past few weeks. About a month ago, our choir, band, and orchestra went to competition in San Antonio, and we came first in every category! It was a fun trip and there are some really great memories and jokes that came back with us. (Like the crack in the wall...if you are ever in a hotel room and you hear strange voices, always check to see if there is a crack in the wall!) My final spring choir concert was a week after that. Let's see...two of my friends and I hosted a graduation party the last weekend of April. It was Dr. Seuss themed, and we based it off the book Oh The Places You'll Go. It's a pretty classic graduation book. We had tea and dressed up super colorfully! We also had an ice cream bar, bubbles, and The Lorax soundtrack...what else do you need for a party?

Then we encountered the dark days, the journey to hell, the pit of despair...also known officially as A.P. testing. For some reason, I thought it would be perfectly reasonable to take 5 A.P. tests. Four of them were in the same week. I took Psychology (Monday), AB Calculus (Wednesday), English Lit. (Thursday), European History (Friday), and Biology (Monday). Yeah.... but I got through them; we all did.  Now we get to wait until the third week of July to get our scores...

So coming up: Tomorrow is prom!! Pictures and probably another blog post will come! To celebrate the fact that we actually have free time, my friends are throwing an Avengers marathon next week! We have the Senior Awards Ceremony next week, graduation rehearsal the week after that, and then graduation on May 31st!

Colorful dresses!

Fancy table setting 

Last time wearing a school uniform EVER!!! Goodbye pleated khaki and plaid skirts!

Everything in between:

Well, the second season of BBC's Sherlock has been playing the past couple of weeks. The third and final episode, "The Reichenbach Fall," is tomorrow on PBS. About time it airs in the U.S.! I'm not liking the whole 5 month difference between Britain and here! Fortunately, I have a friend with a multi-regional dvd player... But when I'm in Scotland, I won't have to wait!!!

Since I have this thing called free time now, I've actually gotten to read...for fun. As much as I enjoyed reading about the depths of human greed and depravity in Heart of Darkness, something a little lighter is nice. I just finished a book called When I Go to Sleep, which is a story about an amnesiac who forgets everything when she goes to sleep at night. The amnesiac is a woman who is trying to piece her life together and figure out exactly what happend to her. I just realized how much this sounds like the Bourne trilogy.... Anyway, coming up on my list is The Language of Flowers and The Informationalist.

So, I think that's it. I'm going to go face paint at the Greek Festival now...

Travel destinations!

Since I'm moving to Scotland, the rest of Europe will suddenly be much closer! It's probably obvious by this point that I love to travel and explore, and I cannot wait for the chance to travel more. St. Andrews has a student travel agency that will help you book tickets and hostels and all of that stuff. So here is my list of places in Europe I want to visit while I'm at St. Andrews. I've had to narrow it down (because if I didn't, this post would take me a very long time to write!), but here I go!


1. St. Petersburg, Russia: I've always found Russia fascinating. It has a bit of a rough history, but it encompasses such a vast amount of land and culture. St. Petersburg seems to be the cultural capital of Russia, and the influences of Peter the Great are still evident. It looks like a beautiful city, and historically, there is so much to learn and see in St. Petersburg! The song "Once Upon December" also plays through my head when I think about St. Petersburg...

St. Issac's Cathedral











2. Germany and Austria: For some reason, I always group Germany and Austria together in my mind. This may be a result of A.P. Euro... Anyway, Germany and Austria just seem like places you have to visit. Berlin sounds like an interesting city. I've heard that while it still has it's historical charm, Berlin is also modern and fun. Then there is Vienna in Austria. My mom studied abroad in Vienna for a year, and my sister has visited. My mom still talks about Vienna, so I want to go see what she is talking about! Plus I want to go hiking in the Alps! :)







The Alps!










3. Croatia: Perhaps ridiculous, but I've had an obsession with Croatia for the past couple of years now! I'm not sure why because I don't really know anything about it except that it is in Central Europe on the Adriatic Coast. I want to visit Croatia simply because it is a country that not a lot of people visit. You don't hear much about Croatia, so I don't think I would be caught up in the same tourist traps that may be a problem in other countries. Since it's on the Mediterranean, I think it would be fun to experience the mix of European and Mediterranean culture.

Dubrovnik, Croatia
(seriously, just look at that!)








4. The Netherlands: A good friend of mine from school is from the Netherlands, so now I have to go! She grew up in Delft, which is in south Holland. I don't know all that much about the Netherlands, except what I have heard from my friend. Amsterdam would be cool to visit. There's a whole lot of history and culture to experience. Apparently Amsterdam is a very bike friendly place, so I should go rent a bike and ride around. I also want to visit Delft! I'm betting it will be a little less crowded than Amsterdam, and I actually have a source that can help me out!

Delft!












5. Spain: So, I was supposed to go to Spain during Spring Break of my Sophomore year, but my school canceled the trip because not enough people signed up. I was so disappointed! But, on the upside, I went on the trip to Scotland and Ireland over Christmas Break. Had I not gone on that trip, I may not have ended up at St. Andrews. But, I want to make up for that trip! I've taken 4 years of Spanish, and I would really like to use that in a real setting (though I was never all that good at it). My sister spent six months in Salamanca one summer and loved it! Madrid, Barcelona, and Salamanca are all on my list.

Barcelona skyline











So these are just a few ideas. I'm open to any suggestions!