"It's the end of the world as we know it...."

Antigua at Night from Cerra de la Cruz

Contrary to popular believe, it was obviously not the end of the world the other night, but was just the new cycle of the Mayan calendar. But I must say, it was pretty cool being in Guatemala for the supposed end of the world, especially since several Mayan dialects are spoken in the country and many people still live in the modern Mayan tradition. There were some celebrations around Antigua, so we went to the park to watch a bunch of Chinese latterns get sent into the sky. And then a little bit later, we walked up to the postcard viewpoint for an awesome view of Antigua. Other than that, none of the volcanoes erupted and no tidal waves hit, no meteors crashed into the city, etc, etc, etc.

An intense game of Uno

The other day was my last day volunteering with the kids. Earlier in the week, I taught them how to play the card game Uno, since I could incorporate numbers and colors in English and Spanish into the game. Plus, the directions were in English AND Spanish, so how difficult could that be? Fast forward to when I was trying to explain the "skip" card. Since the word for "skip" was in the directions, I kept saying it when I was explaining how to use the card. I repeated it a few times too many, and then a few of them got up and started jumping! I realized that the word for "skip" in Spanish must be the same as jump. Oops. But then they eventually picked up the meaning of the skip card and managed to learn how to play the rest of the game. They absolutely loved it and asked to play again later in the week. I'm glad I was able to explain this game to them and be able to leave them with something they'll all get to play with for a long time.

Spending time with these kids was awesome. When you are outside of these poorer communities, you don't really realize how little they actually have. At one point, I went to use the bathroom and there was no toilet paper; they use newspaper and there is no soap. They eat the basic rice, beans, some veggies and fruits. The redeeming factor is that they all seem like super happy kids who like to play and have fun. And I'm learning that English is actually really important for them to learn, even moreso than I originally thought... If they can one day speak English fluently, they may be able to take on jobs that can help make money for them and their families someday. Guatemala has unfortunately been known for its gangs, especially in the City of Guatemala, and it would be great if these kids have some reason and way to stay out of them.

As a special last-day treat, we took the kids out to the ball field and presented them with a brand new soccer ball to replace the one that rolled down the hill and was lost. They were all really excited, but a few in particular were super pumped. I brought my camcorder this day, planning on recording them playing soccer or doing relays. But instead, each one of them wanted to take turns using my camcorder. Some of them thought the zoom feature was funny, so they would zoom super close on someone's face and laugh. Others would follow the soccer game, doing commentary (I think I caught a lot of it, but I would love to get it translated).

I've got just a few more days left in Guatemala and a few more blog posts before I return to the States... I can't believe how these fifteen days have just flown by!