So hey!!

REALLY sorry it has taken me so long to write a new blog but Chelsea's laptop charger broke so I haven't had a chance to get onto the internet much as I've been too busy and tired to go to internet cafes!

Right, Jack was disappointed that I didn't write about him in my last blogs so here's your mention Jack -REPLY TO MY EMAIL YOU MEANIE!!!

So a lot has happened since last time I did a blog, I have been really really busy. Monday 12 days ago was my first day in the school in Itzapa and I was assisting a lovely girl called Jen in her class. I have to get up at 6am every week day now as breakfast is at 6.30am then I have to walk down into the centre of Antigua which takes about 20 minutes to get a bus to Itzapa at 7.30am. The countryside around Antigua is just stunning - lost of mountains and volcanoes and just a very rugged, natural landscape. There is a different class in the morning to the afternoon and all the kids are amazing. My first morning I was so nervous and thought I wouldn't be able to understand any of the kids but my Spanish has come on enough to be able to understand the majority of what they say. It is made simpler because their first language is not actually Spanish, it is Cetchucal which is the local Mayan language, so most of them don't conjugate their verbs and it is a lot simpler to understand. In lunch breaks we walk down to someone in the town's house who sells "choco-fruta" to get chocolate covered fruit (yum yum!). Being in Itzapa is a real eye opener, it couldn't be more opposite to Antigua. Antigua is an old colonial town, very beautiful with cobbled streets and lots of tourists (or "gringoes" as the locals call us). Itzapa is extremely poor, I was immediately struck by a wave of sadness when I walking down into the town that people actually live in those conditions. The streets are pretty dirty with rubbish lining them, scraggly, thin, ill looking dogs lying at the sides of the roads, and lots of people looking at you as if they've never seen a white person before. Despite this, the kids who come to the school are some of the happiest I have ever met. They are so friendly, coming for cuddles constantly. It's quite hard at times because they all want all your attention at the same time but you can't give them all it. I had two weeks to take over the class from Jen, so the first week she lesson planned and I assited her then this past week I had to lesson plan and she assisted me.

Last weekend I went on a bit of an adventure trip to Lake Atitlan (in the picture) and it was SO much fun. On the Saturday we got a minibus to the highest point in the area near the lake, which took about 2 hours to drive, then we cycled down the mountain to a town called Panajachel which is nicknamed by the locals "Gringotenango" - tenango meaning "the place of" and gringo being tourist (typically Americans). It was so much fun apart from me nearly dying on the way up one steep incline near the start! When I say nearly dying I'm not actually overexagerating too much, I had a bit of a hyperventilation attack for like 15 minutes and had to sit at the side of the road - scary! I think it's because it was a much higher altitude than I'm used to in Antigua and in England. Anyway, the majority of the ride was really fun with gorgeous views. It took about 4 hours and we stopped half way for lunch at a beautiful viewspot of the lake. When we finally got to Pana we had about an hour and a half to wonder around and explore the market there which was very cool! We then got on a private boat to go to out hotel which was on the lake. It was really fun but Mum would have hated it because she's a wimp when it comes to boats and the lake was choppy because it was the afternoon and winds come over the lake from the north in the afternoon. The hotel was really idyllic with exotic plants in the garden and really comfy hammocks and hammock seats. In the evening the food was deilicious - 3 courses! and we bought a bottle of barcardi to drink between the 7 of us hahaha it made for quite an amusing evening! The next morning we got up and were in our kayaks by 9.30am. The lake in the morning was crystal still in places, a gorgeous colour, and we kayaked for about 2 hours along to a cliff which we (some of us) climbed up and jumped off into the lake. I, being the wimp I am, only jumped from half way as I knew that when I got to the top I'd be really scared but you can't climb back down, you have to jump, so I jumped from half way which was still fun but not scary haha - I did better than some who didn't jump at all! We then hiked (I say hike as that's what it says in the information pack - it was more of a long stroll which a few tricky places) back to our hotel for 2 hours. It was SWELTERINGLY hot, I mean, I was literally covered in sweat (as we all were) by the time we got back to the hotel - my skin was wet. Pleasant thought I know hahaha. We then had the most delicious smoothies in the world and drove back to Antigua which took 2.5 hours. I was pretty pleased that I didn't get burnt or bitten by mosquitoes the whole time I was there - I was slapping the sun screen on and the mosquitoes seemed to go for Anne and Libby instead! The only place I got burnt was down my parting on my scalp because I forgot to put the sunscreen on there! Our tour guide was really funny aswell, he was like monkey man!

So by the time I got back to Antigua I was really exhausted but hadn't had time to do my first lesson plan yet! So I took my books with me to Rainbow Cafe where we go to eat every Sunday as there is rice and beans (lots of rice and beans are eaten in Guatemala!) for only Q19 which is equivalent to roughly 1pound40 - bargain! I love Guatemala, everything is so cheap! We also watched a band called La Raiz play, a group of Guatemalan lads who we have made friends with, they are all really nice and funny.

Monday morning came and I was really nervous again as it was the first time I actually had to teach myself instead of just assisting Jenny. I was sooooooooo nervous but it turned out not to be so bad and Jenny said she is really glad that I'm the one taking over her class because she trusts that I'll to a good job hehe. As the week went on I got more confident and I already can't bear the thought of leaving the kids. They are all so adorable. Some need a lot more help than others so it is quite hard to lesson plan as I always have to have something more for the cleverer ones to do because they undoubtedly always finish really early. There are some kids who cause problems sometimes but something I always have to bear in mind is that they all have a lot of problems at home so I can't just immediately punish them as they would be in England. For example, Andy said that one girl in his class who is usually really good and clever wasn't doing anything all morning and ended up actually crying when he asked her what was wrong and wouldn't tell him, but then after break when she'd eaten her fruit she was back to normal, so we figured she must have just not eaten anything for ages because they just can't afford it. Lessons start at 9am and a lot of them have been up since 5am working in the fields. A lot of them have bad attendance because they have to work with their dads in the fields. There is one girl called Floridalma in my afternoon class and I think she is an absolute sweetheart she is so kind natured. However, when I first saw her she looked so sad and Jen told me that she is a lot happier now than when she first started. She is bullied by some of the kids because she is poor even for their standards, her Dad left them a year ago for another woman, she has poor attendance because she is one of 15 so has to help her mum provide for the family as best she can, her older sister is a prostitute, so it is no wonder she is a very sad girl. She is only 11 but is tiny as are all the kids. This is a mixture of genetics as the indigenous here are naturally smaller, and malnutrition. Apparently when she first started her skin was peeling off and she was really thin. The other day they had to write about their ambitions, they had to write what they wanted to achieve by the end of the year, by the time they are 15 and what they want to do when they are older. It was sad because a lot of them wanted to be doctors and vets etc but they will most likely not be able to because of their lack of education (that's where we can try to help) but also because they will have to work with their family as they are so poor. Floridalma's goal for the end of the year almost made me cry. She simply wrote "jugar", which means "to play". My morning class is bigger than my afternoon class - 24 as apposed to 14, so it is harder to control them haha but they seem to have taken well to me and on the whole are respectful and do what I ask them to. Some of the kids are SOOOO cute, I'm going to upload some pictures onto facebook. One girl called Iris is so so so stunning, she's going to be batting the boys away when she is older! Yesterday was really fun, because it was Jen's last day we did facepainting (I'm no art expert as many of my friends know haha but it was good fun) but it was really sad because when people leave they sit on a chair by the gate and every single child in the school gives them a hug goodbye. Jen has such a good bond with the kids as she has been here 4 months and it was so sad to watch her say goodbye to my class! I'm going to miss her next week but at the same time it will be good to really get my teeth into teaching solo haha. Although lesson planning is a pain haha.

What I want to do with my time out of the country has changed. I originally just wanted to travel and see the world and wanted to teach just as something to do, but now I want to get to know one place really well and I think I'll be able to help these kids more if I stay for longer so they are not just constantly changing teachers. I absolutely love Antigua and Guatemala in general aswell, so I have decided that I'm actually going to stay in Guatemala until mid April, and go to the other countries (Honduras, Ecuador, Peru) for shorter. Also, if I have no one else to travel with from 3rd July to 15th Aug, I'm going to change my ticket to either spend the last 6 back here in Guatemala, or get an earlier flight home (but I don't really want to come home earlier than planned - even if I really do miss my friends and family a lot sometimes!!!

This weekend I'm just chilling at home (funny that I've started calling it home here) so this morning I went to a really cool place for breakfast called cafe sky but I think the salad I had was bad as I've been feeling ill all day. I had a nap this afternoon and am feeling a lot better now but it hasn't really been that pleasant a day! I'm going to Rainbow Cafe again tonight to see a band play who I met there two weeks ago. They are from England (Portsmouth) and the singer/guitarist is 20 and moved out here with his family when he was 15. He is really cool.

Saying that, I should probably go and get ready now. I hope I haven't missed anything out, it's been so long since last time I updated this! Hopefully it wont be quite so long until next time now! Haha wish me luck for teaching all alone next week! Love you and miss you all!

Joelle

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p.s. Verity you actually used ALL of my credit when I rang you from my Guatemalan mobile! and Amber, shame on you for not answering! hahaha