treinta y seis temblores (36 small earthquakes)

At the top of Picaya!

I don’t know if it was the earthquake that woke me up at 6 am this morning or the marching band that is currently strolling down the street at 10:15 pm, but I am reminded once again that life here is constantly full of excitement. In fact, I have been woken twice this week by my bed violently shaking as if I were on a ride at Disney. By the time I finish this post, there will probably have been 10 or 15 more fireworks shot off, making sleep a futile endeavor. In between, the church bells will surely clang, with little regard for the accurate time . Although today is a festive day, “the burning of the devil,” these noises really aren't out of the ordinary. Fireworks explode daily, sometimes as early as 5:30 in the morning and parades happen for little to no reason. Bells chime at odd intervals and the ground shakes due to increased volcanic activity close by. It's happened 36 times in the last two days! When things do quiet down for the night, I often hear the small, grumblings of an volcanic eruption. These are some of the things to which I have grown accustomed.

The church I live near. They celebrate daily with fireworks!

Twice a week, I've started going to the gym here for pilates class. Except for the occasional piyo (pilates- yoga) class in the states that I attended (solely because my friend was the instructor!), I have little experience. Nevertheless, I was determined to prove myself capable. This would have been a worthy goal in the states, but following instructions in Spanish has provided added challenge. I understand most of the directions, luckily, but I’m not sure our very passionate instructor, Carla, knows that. If I am not holding my foot high enough, she will come over to me and continue to repeat the instructions, assuming that I am not understanding, when really, my foot is as high as it can possibly go! I’m hopeful that the more I attend, Carla will discover that my natural abilities are low, or better yet, maybe I’ll improve!

Christmastime in the park!

This year, I celebrated my first Thanksgiving out of the country. It was different celebrating a holiday not recognized by many people here! I spent the morning in school, where my teacher asked me to explain the origins of Thanksgiving, in Spanish of course. Luckily, I paid some attention in elementary school and was able to give some background on the pilgrims and such. (I was really missing Wikipedia at that moment!) After class, my friends and I braved the chicken bus once more (see earlier post if confused :) ) and went to the Kids Alive home for girls to celebrate with them. They were just as puzzled about the holiday as my teacher, but were happy at any excuse for a party. A team from the states was down visiting and decided to make us a traditional (southern style, denoted by the saturation of butter and sugar) thanksgiving dinner. It was so special to share the day with the girls at the home once again and to be able to eat a turkey dinner! I went home completely full, only to celebrate once again with other friends and crepes. I arrived home after two plates of thanksgiving dinner and a large banana, nutella crepe only to realize I was just in time for my host mom’s dinner. It was too late to tell her I was no longer hungry and so I indulged once again. What’s thanksgiving without a little gluttony?

Living in a foreign country provides many opportunities for making a fool of yourself, and I am definitely no exception. This occurs most often in my day to day Spanish. Last Sunday, while trying to ask a waitress to split our check in three ways, my friends and I actually asked her to help us do the math and figure out what each of us owes. Mortified, we had to watch the poor girl stand at our table with a paper and pen, calculating out each meal, tax, and tip and adding them together! I immediately realized our mistake, but the damage was done. Later in the same week, Spanish got the best of me again, this time worse. My host mom takes care of us so well here. She stripped our beds to wash the sheets and I really wanted to thank her for doing so, but as you can guess the word, “stripping,” is not used in Spanish for “changing the sheets.” Luckily, I have learned not to speak Spanish when I’m tired and did not see my host mom in time that day to share my gratitude or I might have thanked her for stripping for me! Although I am thankful I didn't speak this one aloud, I am reminded of the practice I still need!

My host mom gave me tickets to see this ballet!

Shower update: Thanks to all of you who sent advice on how to conquer Latin American showers. Unfortunately, the problem was not fully mine, as the water heater in my shower had never worked since I got here. And in my orphan “I can do it myself” mentality, I decided not to tell anyone in my host family that there was liquid ice coming out of the faucet. I really just thought that cold water was a normal part of life here! When they did find that out over lunch on Friday, they were horrified and ran to the store to buy a brand new shower heater. They have now paused at every meal to ask if there is anything else I have neglected to tell them for the last five weeks. I live with the best people!

My clean clothes are always returned looking like a present :)

This candle in my room makes me a little uneasy...

I finally got my chance to hike an active volcano here in Guatemala. There are many volcanoes near Antigua, but only two of them are extremely active. Don’t worry, Mom, there are sensors placed all around the volcano to notify the park of activity and ensure our safety. The one I climbed, Picaya, last erupted about eight months ago. The lava recently dried up so I wasn't able to see any, but the dry rock was still very hot. We brought some marshmallows and were able to roast them successfully on the hot coals. The scenery on the way up was surreal. I posted some pictures below of the three volcanoes surrounding Antigua. One of them, Fuego, was blowing out smoke all day!

Roasting marshmallows!

Small store amid the volcanic rock.

With fellow KAI missionary and friend, Tiffany!

Thanks to all of you who have made this possible. I’m truly blessed to be here!

November Newsletter

This newsletter was sent via email, but I thought I'd post it here as well. If you'd like to be added to my email list, please let me know! 

I’m excited to share that I've made it safely to Antigua, Guatemala, where I will be studying Spanish for a total of twelve weeks. I live with a Guatemalan family only a block from the school! The home is wonderful and they have taken two of us in as part of their family. Each day I go to language school from 8-1 where I am tutored by my teacher, Orquidea. She has a full curriculum for me, including speaking exercises, reading activities, written translations, pronunciation practice, and grammar homework. It’s a full day, but I love every minute. There are seven levels of Spanish in the school and I’m currently on the fourth. I have a long way to go, but am happy with the progress I’ve made. My teacher’s motto is “poco a poco,” which means “little by little.” I’m pretty sure she has to remind me of this every day!

In my free time, I have had the opportunity to explore the city and figure out the details of living in Central America. I’ve successfully gotten a cell phone, figured out how to weigh my laundry to get it cleaned, mapped out the closest locations for internet, and identified the ATMs that most likely won’t steal my credit card number. I also had the opportunity this past weekend to visit another Kids Alive site here in Guatemala. I attended a large Quinceañera at the KAI home for girls nearby. It reminded me a lot of the children’s home I will work with in Jarabacoa!

I seem to have found a new rhythm here, and am very content. I’m eager, of course, to be in the Dominican Republic, but happy for this time of learning and preparation. Thanks to so many of you who have helped me get here!

Warmly,

           Anna 

If you wish to join in this ministry, please visit:

https://secure.kidsalive.org/p-2988-anna-larson.aspx

small snippets

The fireworks here are ceaseless! There are constantly reasons to fire them off, from 6:00 a.m. to at least 10:30 p.m. The people here are very accustomed to the sporadic noises of explosions, but it still catches me by surprise. My host family laughs at dinner when I jump, yet after being here for three weeks, it still happens on the regular! 

I don't have firework pictures, but here's a beautiful photo from the mountains!

One day my teacher assigned me the task of asking my host family about the legends of Antigua, of which there are many. Antigua is an old town, full of ghost stories that are believed by many. We sat at the dinner table long after the food was gone, discussing the ancient stories. I heard stories of the Llorona, the crying woman that wanders around the town wailing in pain at the loss of her husband and kids. I’ve now asked three people about this story and everyone has told a different version, some more gruesome than others. Antigua has a rich history and the people here are eager to share it.

I think I have found my next race to train for: a waitress race! In the US, there are all sorts of fun runs such as color runs and mud runs, but our country is definitely missing out on the waiter and waitress runs. Hundreds of waiters and waitresses raced through the streets of Antigua last week with a tray in hand balancing four drinks on top. If any of the drinks tipped over, they were disqualified. They are running the entire race on uneven cobblestone! My teacher and I ditched the books to watch the race last Wednesday morning and I found it to be hilarious. The streets were full of waiters and waitress in uniform, some running precociously, while others walked, careful not to tip their drinks. I need to find myself a tray so I can begin my training each morning! (I didn't get my camera out quick enough to film the waitresses race, so here are some of the waiters.)

I was strongly encouraged to go visit the McDonald’s in Antigua. I really had no interest, as I have spent my entire life avoiding the establishment, but I was assured my experience here would be different. McDonalds is a palace here! It’s full of flowers, internet and ice cream, all things that I highly approve of! There’s a coffee shop as well. My friend and I have added this place into our rotation of study spots and we look forward to more afternoons in the McDonald’s garden.

After a few years of studying early elementary reading and leveling students for books, I was excited when my teacher brought me a book within my own Spanish abilities. Much to my chagrin, I now walk around town carrying my first grade reader, stumbling over words which I don’t understand. I was hoping to get more books, so I walked into the little used book shop nearby. The owner now recognizes me and takes me over to the corner with the children’s books. It reminds me of going to the library in elementary school and having the librarian show me around books I might like. Hopefully I’ll make it to second grade next week.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you at home in the states!

 I'll be extra thankful on Thursday, my first Thanksgiving in school :)

antigua antics

Well, things seem to be settling down and a rhythm is beginning to be established here in Antigua! I’m learning to live life with little internet, which leads to adventures in the city and sleep at an early hour. Usually, I get up each day and go to school for five hours with my teacher, Orquidea. She patiently helps me learn Spanish and keeps me practicing for most all of the five hours. Luckily, I like to talk J After school, I head home for our big meal of the day. I live very close to the school with another Kids Alive missionary, Crystal. My host mom is a fabulous cook and her family always eats with us and helps us practice our Spanish. I spend my afternoons doing homework or going for a walk around town. I even joined a gym here and have found pilates to be just as much of a mental workout following the Spanish directions as a physical one. Our favorite mini hike each week is up a hill to Cerro de la Cruz. It has 333 steps (says the sign, I promise I didn’t count!) and the view is magnificent. I posted some pictures below, but they can’t do justice.

I finally braved my first chicken bus here in Antigua. What’s a chicken bus you say? Oh, it’s only the public bus system here, made up of old American school buses which would never pass inspection. They are brightly decorated and make quite the statement. Even more, they hold over 100 people on the regular and drive about 70 miles per hour on the winding roads. They go up and down mountains, whipping around turns and passing all the other cars. It’s how I always dramatically imagined my bus ride to school as a child. There isn’t anything safe or sane about this type of transportation, but it is necessary if you want to get anywhere outside of Antigua, and so my friends and I found ourselves holding on for our lives. I wouldn’t mind a break before I ride another! (Also pictured below is a Tuc-Tuc… not sure if this little mobile is any safer, but I thought I’d share another common form of transportation here.)

This weekend I visited the Kids Alive children’s home, Oasis, here in Guatemala. I went for an incredible celebration of a Quinceañera for ten girls! They wore beautiful gowns and had a really special day. I arrived to help set up and get the girls ready (imagine people trusting me to paint their nails!) at 7:30 in the morning. As the day went on, I was able to hear some of the stories of the girls and how things work at the Oasis. I had expectations that the home would be similar to the one in the Dominican Republic, but was really shocked by the drastic differences. This is a home only for girls, most of whom have been sexually abused in their past. The juxtaposition of watching a joyful celebration and sitting next to my friend holding a baby whose dad and grandfather were one in the same really threw me for a loop. There was also a twelve year old mother holding her baby near by. How could the world be so cruel and so beautiful at the same time? It was an emotional day, but great to see God at work here in the Guatemala. The home is a safe place for the girls and the work Kids Alive does there is transformational.

All in all, life here in Guatemala is good! My Spanish has gotten better in these short two weeks and I’m surrounded by a good network of people. I look forward to school every day and am so excited to be learning for a specific purpose! I’m thankful for the ways so many have encouraged and supported me in getting to this point.

This is the orange tree outside my room! Some mornings we have fresh orange juice!

Shout out to CIT friends going to Cape Town!!