As you all probably know, 2011 is our 25th year anniversary. Buck and Patty did an absolutely WONDERFUL job of making a video that represents what Common Hope has achieved over the past 25 years and what we stand for.
Please check it out!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYY-5oWCvZg&NR=1
Friday, May 13, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Yes, I do realize its been almost 2 months since I´ve blogged....
...Which can only be an attest to one thing: BUSY. AT. WORK!!
The months of March and April were so crazily insane that I literally did not notice April go by. All of a sudden, its MAY!? How did that happen?
Maybe it was my 10 day vision team who came April 26th and just kind of slipped into May without my noticing. Maybe its the Vision Teams we´ve been attending every week since March that make us forget where the time goes.
To sum it all up, Shelly and I have had teams almost nonstop since...I got back from MN in March.
I kid you not.
I was able to manage a few long weekends here and there to get out to the beach to celebrate my 23rd birthday, get to Xela (twice!) with Jenna to visit our friends and re-live our wonderful 4 months (that were now 2 years ago,) (wow) and also make it back to Antigua to celebrate Semana Santa, the most beautiful and Catholic time of the year to be here.
Pictures to come, I promise!
For now, I´m off to Xela for the long weekend--I just despedir-ed my last Vision Team this morning. (Yes, my very last own team--from the Guatemalan side at least :))
Whew. Finally time for a deep breath and a little relaxation. And what better place to do it than Xela!?
A few shoutouts before I go--To my lovely mother, HAPPY EARLY MOTHER´S DAY! I will skype with you on Sunday :) Love you lots.
Jenna Miller- THIS IS YOUR LAST WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY GIRL, LETS DO IT UP XELA STYLE! (Ps please don´t go, I will miss you so much)
Nicole Magedanz: HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY! I really dislike the fact that this is the first year of 4 that I have not been able to celebrate with you. Dislike. We need a poncho night. Love you wife.
And for the rest of you, I leave you with my favorite photo of the week. The darling Nataly, with her arm wound around mine. (Grandaughter of one of the taxi driver´s that works for us when we have teams.)
Isn´t she adorable?!?!?!?
The months of March and April were so crazily insane that I literally did not notice April go by. All of a sudden, its MAY!? How did that happen?
Maybe it was my 10 day vision team who came April 26th and just kind of slipped into May without my noticing. Maybe its the Vision Teams we´ve been attending every week since March that make us forget where the time goes.
To sum it all up, Shelly and I have had teams almost nonstop since...I got back from MN in March.
I kid you not.
I was able to manage a few long weekends here and there to get out to the beach to celebrate my 23rd birthday, get to Xela (twice!) with Jenna to visit our friends and re-live our wonderful 4 months (that were now 2 years ago,) (wow) and also make it back to Antigua to celebrate Semana Santa, the most beautiful and Catholic time of the year to be here.
Pictures to come, I promise!
For now, I´m off to Xela for the long weekend--I just despedir-ed my last Vision Team this morning. (Yes, my very last own team--from the Guatemalan side at least :))
Whew. Finally time for a deep breath and a little relaxation. And what better place to do it than Xela!?
A few shoutouts before I go--To my lovely mother, HAPPY EARLY MOTHER´S DAY! I will skype with you on Sunday :) Love you lots.
Jenna Miller- THIS IS YOUR LAST WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY GIRL, LETS DO IT UP XELA STYLE! (Ps please don´t go, I will miss you so much)
Nicole Magedanz: HAPPY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY! I really dislike the fact that this is the first year of 4 that I have not been able to celebrate with you. Dislike. We need a poncho night. Love you wife.
And for the rest of you, I leave you with my favorite photo of the week. The darling Nataly, with her arm wound around mine. (Grandaughter of one of the taxi driver´s that works for us when we have teams.)
Isn´t she adorable?!?!?!?
Friday, March 18, 2011
Making Monster Toast!
Yesterday with Shelly´s Vision Team, in the daycare, we had a ¨monster morning¨ :) We read the book ¨Where the Wild Things Are¨, had the kids impersonate monsters, and then made their very own monster--on a piece of toast.
This idea was inspired by the Monster Toast Karsten and I made as kids--you make little cups of milk with food coloring, and then paint the mixture onto a piece of bread with paintbrushes. Upon toasting, the food coloring becomes vibrant, and voolah, you have Monster Toast!
The kids LOVED this activity--so, thanks to my youth, and the Kinder Munchies book, we had a great time yesterday morning.
To the left: Beberlin and Flor painting their Monster Toast.
Right: Moi, eating his Monster Toast creation!
After the activity, we had a little playground fun :) 
With the doll Maryana, who, if she wasn´t one of the social worker´s daughters, I would probably take home.
CUTE CHILDREN ALERT
These are the wonderful children of our Common Hope daycare. Don´t they just make you want to adopt? (Or, rather, since you can´t adopt from Guatemala anymore, sponsor?!?!)
Beberlin
Renee
Maryana pushing Moises :)
Maryana
Maryana
BeberlinRenee
Maryana pushing Moises :)
Maryana
Maryana
The mid-march update
I realize that during the ¨summer¨ season here, I do a lot less blogging! It´s just not quite as cold and rainy and gloomy, so at nights instead of staying huddled in my bed and writing blogs to post the next day, I am out enjoying the beautiful weather.
Still gets dark around 6:30 here, though, despite the fact that we are mid-¨summer¨.
Last weekend, Kevin, Kristin, Mario, and I went to the lake, (Lago Atitlan) and it felt about as close to a MN summer as I am going to get. (At least until June). Here are a few pics:
Is that not about the most beautiful scenery you have seen, in a long time? For me it is :) It was so so great to get away to a beautiful relaxing place, with clean air to breathe! It was only Saturday-Sunday trip, but it felt like a long vacation.
What else is new around here...
My friend Jenna comes tomorrow! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO EXCITED to have a visitor. (She will be my first one!) She is going to spend a week in Antigua with me, and then we will head to Xela together for the weekend, and she will stay in Xela and I will come back to Antigua on Sunday evening. It should be a great time, and I am so glad to have her :)
I have also started a scarf ¨business¨ to help fund my plane ticket coming home to Guatemala. I buy scarves from Angelica a local artesan, (and Common Hope affiliate) and then sell them to family and friends in the states. (So let me know if you are interested!) You are simultaneously helping the Guatemalan economy, Angelica´s family, Brianna´s plane ticket home to MN, AND getting a beautiful Guatemalan scarf, all for $20 or $25.
Again, if interested, or if you have friends interested, feel free to contact me :) It´s for a good cause.
I think thats all for now folks, keeping busy with new adventures as always, and preparing for my next team, which comes April 2nd.
Love to all from Guatemala!
Peace.
Monday, March 14, 2011
The First of the Lenten Processions
Yesterday marked the first Sunday of Lent, and along with it the start of the Lenten processions in the streets of Antigua. Every Sunday until Easter there will be different processions, and I absolutely cannot wait to see them. I have seen quite a few processions in Guatemala before, keep in mind, but this one last night was BY FAR the coolest I have seen so far. (And they say they get even better during Holy Week)
First come the Roman soldiers. This is actually quite eery to watch, because from the helmets down to the sandals they look authentic. Even their facial expressions are so stern and serious, seeing them march down the cobblestone streets made me feel like I was in literally in...Rome. Or Jerusalem.
I wish I had a better picture of this...but you can kind of get the idea of how many soldiers and people there were leading in the procession. In the distance you can see the float on its way.
To the average person, it doesn´t sound like a big deal. Even until I saw it yesterday, I was like, ¨oh, yeah, processions, that will be cool¨ but I didn´t know just HOW cool it was going to be.
These processions are elaborate. Very very elaborate. And they are done at night, and in such a serious manner, that you actually kind of feel like you are witnessing Roman soldiers march by as they lead in the procession.
These processions are elaborate. Very very elaborate. And they are done at night, and in such a serious manner, that you actually kind of feel like you are witnessing Roman soldiers march by as they lead in the procession.
Here are some pictures from the night:
First come the Roman soldiers. This is actually quite eery to watch, because from the helmets down to the sandals they look authentic. Even their facial expressions are so stern and serious, seeing them march down the cobblestone streets made me feel like I was in literally in...Rome. Or Jerusalem.
I wish I had a better picture of this...but you can kind of get the idea of how many soldiers and people there were leading in the procession. In the distance you can see the float on its way.
This is the second statue on the float...the first is of 2 angels, then followed by this statue of Jesus. I wish I had a clear picture of the front of this one to show his facial expression. The facial expressions on all of the statues are quite powerful. 
The back end of the float. You can see how many people it takes to carry--very heavy. You can also see how ornate it is--I can only imagine how much time and money went in to making such beautiful statues and floats. 
And finally the last part of the procession--the statue of the Virgin Mary. She had her own little float, carried all by women. This picture only does a little bit of justice to the look on her face--I honestly don´t know how they get statues to have such powerful, real-looking faces. 
They also had musicians (think marching band, but a lot more somber music) following the procession.
All in all, it was a very cool experience. Although these pictures can´t describe the atmosphere and the experience entirely, hopefully they give you an idea.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Bad Guatemalan Karma
I don´t even know where to begin. This past week has been the WORST karma that I have ever experienced in my life. (When I say karma I guess I don´t really know exactly if I believe in karma, but this has definitely been the worst train of events to happen seguidos, EVER.)
It all started with our Director of Finances in the St. Paul office, Kathleen, dying of cancer. We knew it was coming, but it was just SO fast and SO sad. This week we had a celebration of her life in Guatemala. Weighing.
Wednesday I translated a sponsorship visit where an un-born baby had died at 7 months, and the funeral procession INTO the house with the tiny white frilly casket happened WHILE we were there for the sponsorship visit. The poor father carrying the casket had tears streaming down his face.
Sunday night, Titus Goodew, a classmate from high school, committed suicide in Brainerd. He was always happy, go-lucky, and succeeding in everything he did. He loved to run, and was a really smart kid with a beautiful girlfriend. He left no reason for his suicide, just a video telling his family and loved ones how much he loved them. He called his girlfriend, told her to call the police, and then shot himself.
The mother of Silvia, one of the operations ladies here at the foundation, also died this week. So between that and Kathleen´s death, the atmosphere at work has been a little down.
On Tuesday, one of the trainers in the gym that I attend was shot and killed. In my neighborhood. At 21 years old. Luckily for us and the safety of Santa Ana, it was an inside job, and he was involved in some stuff, but still. The atmosphere of the gym all week was depressing.
Yesterday Rocio´s uncle died in Mexico. Accident with machinery at work. (Rocio is another compañera/friend at work)
Today, Rui´s dog got hit by a car. Still alive, thank God, but at the vet, condition unsure.
Also today, Caroline´s (and all of ours, really,) friend Carlos got in a car accident. I guess he is ok, but still in the hospital.
And its only 3pm on Friday. What else is going to happen this week? It´s scary. I am usually not a superstitious person, but this is just creepily eery. WHY all these deaths and accidents, and why all in a span of like 10 days??? Everyone please be careful. I know we are all taking extra precautions around here. Really. You can never be too careful.
It all started with our Director of Finances in the St. Paul office, Kathleen, dying of cancer. We knew it was coming, but it was just SO fast and SO sad. This week we had a celebration of her life in Guatemala. Weighing.
Wednesday I translated a sponsorship visit where an un-born baby had died at 7 months, and the funeral procession INTO the house with the tiny white frilly casket happened WHILE we were there for the sponsorship visit. The poor father carrying the casket had tears streaming down his face.
Sunday night, Titus Goodew, a classmate from high school, committed suicide in Brainerd. He was always happy, go-lucky, and succeeding in everything he did. He loved to run, and was a really smart kid with a beautiful girlfriend. He left no reason for his suicide, just a video telling his family and loved ones how much he loved them. He called his girlfriend, told her to call the police, and then shot himself.
The mother of Silvia, one of the operations ladies here at the foundation, also died this week. So between that and Kathleen´s death, the atmosphere at work has been a little down.
On Tuesday, one of the trainers in the gym that I attend was shot and killed. In my neighborhood. At 21 years old. Luckily for us and the safety of Santa Ana, it was an inside job, and he was involved in some stuff, but still. The atmosphere of the gym all week was depressing.
Yesterday Rocio´s uncle died in Mexico. Accident with machinery at work. (Rocio is another compañera/friend at work)
Today, Rui´s dog got hit by a car. Still alive, thank God, but at the vet, condition unsure.
Also today, Caroline´s (and all of ours, really,) friend Carlos got in a car accident. I guess he is ok, but still in the hospital.
And its only 3pm on Friday. What else is going to happen this week? It´s scary. I am usually not a superstitious person, but this is just creepily eery. WHY all these deaths and accidents, and why all in a span of like 10 days??? Everyone please be careful. I know we are all taking extra precautions around here. Really. You can never be too careful.
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