This one is long overdue.... Sorry bout that

(THESE ARE COCO BEANS)

# of pebbles found in my instant pudding mix- 5

Guatemalan Proverb- When the rain cometh, moveth thy clothes lineth to a covered part-ith.

Important Life Lesson- Indigenous people don’t find it funny when you accidentally miss watering the plants and get them wet

When Your Sick- So many Guatemalans have this thing that when your sick you bundle up. That is understandable. But when its sunny and warm out, and your wearing a sweater, jacket, scarf and hat. That just seems that can’t be that helpful. In the more rural communities, when babies are sick they will bundle them up in several blankets when its already hot and I can imagine that baby is just roosting in the blankets.

April Fools! So Marsha sent me a text message saying ¨-Ï have ET´d (leaving PC early) and I am going home Thursday¨ I was so shocked because she is my closest friend here (even though she lives 12hrs away) and so I called her and she told me she was just not happy and feeling like she wasn’t getting any work done. So I told her I would call her back because I was working. So I called her back after work and meanwhile I had been bummed about her leaving and then she answered and said ¨April Fools!¨ Yea…she got me GOOD

Hot Chocolate Festival- So, my dream came true. My love for hot chocolate came to life and I got sent to sell our products at the first annual chocolate fair in Xela (3hrs away). There were 10 different vendors there with hot chocolate samples. Real, hand made, hand ground, hot chocolate is very good and one of my favourite parts about the food in Guatemala. So all day I would sell some peaches here and there, bit of honey, run and get some hot chocolate (or chocolate covered anything else you can think of ) and run back to my little booth. Yea.. I also discovered it is possible to drink to much hot chocolate. Didn’t feel so good at the end of the day.

News Alert! So my cat got out while I was at the chocolate festival. He pulled down a plastic wall I put up to keep bugs out where there is a hole in my kitchen. So he was gone for a day then I heard him meowing on the patio. So now he only comes back for food and then leaves again. He isn´t even friendly and is still hissing at me. Yea… next time I am not being sympathetic to the old cats and I am going with a happy little kitten.

Gordita- So in Guatemala, people have no problem what so ever saying you look fat-er today. All the time I am getting ¨Oh Olivia, your getting a little more gordita¨ Funny thing is, everyday to different people I am either losing weight or gaining weight.

Whew! Prayer Answered- So you know how I was worried before I left for PC that I wouldn´t have anyone to talk to about God here in Guatemala. Well! God has answered my prayer and after having another talk with my sitemate Angel, he told me he is starting to read the Bible and is going to start a prayer journal and so now I see that we are definitely on the same wave length here and we had dinner last night together (no beans tortillas or eggs, wehew!) and had a good chat about Jesus and God. Praise!

I Sampled some Butcher- The other day I was talking to my counterpart and I was telling him that I had tried Sheep for the first time. Well, in Spanish what I said was ¨Yea, I had butcher (meat shop attendant) for lunch for the first time¨and he said Are you sure Olivia?¨ and I said ¨Yea.. Butcher, I don’t think I really like it though and then I described the animal for him and he figured out what I was talking about. Butcher in Spanish is Carnicero where as Sheep meat in Spanish is Carnero. So they are similar words.

Hmm..they aren’t so bad after all- So have you ever had someone in your life that you just didn’t really take a liking to even though you didn’t know them that well. It was based more off of a bad first impression. Well, God has definitely shown me that you need to give people a reasonable chance before you make a judgement about them. Three people come to mind that in the last year or so, I wasn’t to fond of them but also didn’t really know them. Now 2 of those people I am friends with where as the other one I am slowly getting use to. Its almost like when I start to dislike someone I should know that God is going to change my heart at some point.

Can You Believe This!?!?! So my counterpart was injured in a motorcycle accident while working. He fractured one of the bones in his lower leg and is out of work for a month. I saw him the other day and asked him if Intervida was paying for the medical bills since the accident happened on the job. Nope! In Guatemala most companies don’t pay for medical for their employees regardless if they were hurt on the job and he also isn’t getting a salary for being out of work for a month either. So now, we can´t complain about the US Medical Care not being great because hey, at least we have medical care. This guy is now paying half his salary for I don’t know how long to cover medical bills.

Yea..Still Not a Soccer Player- So the women wanted to play soccer again of course, they ask me to be goalie. Did they not see the last game? I am HORRIBLE! Tracy Simmons, I give you props for being a goalie for so many years. I think its mental torture ot make someone stand in one area and have people constantly threatening to kick a ball at them and you have to try and stop it. So yea, the other team won again. I am getting better though. However, I am determined to let this be the last time I play.