"Buenos dias, Profe."

Another beautiful day in Guatemala! For the past few days, the skies have been hinting at rain with darkening clouds and rumbles of thunder over the nearby volcanoes. Last night we did get a bit of rain and it was nice to hear it pattering on the red tiled roof. But today we awoke to another beautiful day in Guatemala.

Today was similar to yesterday with our teams splitting, some of us going to schools in the morning and the others working construction and reversing roles after lunch. We woke up early, as we have been each morning. The sounds of the city coming alive as cars, trucks, and "Chicken busses" passing by on the road outside the complex walls has become the norm. Birds sing and we begin to hear the din of construction and children laughing as La Familia Esperanza (Common Hope) awakens to another busy day.

We (Betsy, Steph, and I) taught another round of lessons to the fourth and sixth graders. These kids are amazing with thier bright eyes, laughter, and welcoming grins and greetings of "Buenos Dias Profe'". Yesterday the kids worked on some pages for an A-Z book, and this morning we were able to present the completed book to the class. This was accepted with thank you's and a hearty round of applause. We, Betsy really, led a typical morning meeting with the class which really isn't typical here in Guatemala. After the meeting we read a book about popcorn as the students munched on some popcorn we brought for them as a little engaging snack.... popcorn book, popcorn to eat.... you get the idea. Following this, the kids worked in small groups on a "Waterfall" activity. On this they worked off the lesson from the day before, writing short eight word poems accompanied by rhythm and movement which was shared for the whole class. The kids were excited, though a bit nervous, to do such an activity. It seems that these types of lessons that involve group work and/or movement are rare and it seemed to be a fun way for these kids to play with language and learn. We see that our role here is to teach the teachers as much as it is to teach the kids. We are hopeful that sharing these and other simple strategies might have a lasting impact on the teachers and the system as a whole. Much of what we have done over the last couple of days has been way outside of the Guatemalan teachers' boxes.

Teaching in these classrooms has been an amazing blessing. The rooms are sparse and lack pretty much everything we have grown accustomed to each day back home. What they aren't missing are kids who are excited about learning and welcoming visitors. So much like home in so many ways. But, this does give one room to pause and appreciate all that we have been given. For thse who have been given much, much is to be expected.

After teaching our two lessons we returned to Common Hope for lunch and then got ready for an afternoon of construction work. Today we did a finish troweling job on the cement floor tiles the other group made earlier this morning. This was pretty new for most of us. It was fun to learn a new skill and pick up our first Guatemalan blisters in the process. After finishing the tiles we worked on building a few wall panels for an upcoming house that will be assembled. Steph and Betsy really enjoyed the cahnce to swing some hammers and use a power drill! The houses Common Hope builds are totally prefabricated and assembled on site. They are sturdy and provide a much cleaner and safer living condition than these families currently live in. Our construction hefe (leader) Pablo (aka, Pablito) is excellent at his trade and very kind the the gringos who don't know what they are doing. We have really enjoyed the diversity in work experiences while here. A little teaching in the morning and construction in the afternon. Tomorrow we will assemble a house and go on some social work visits. On Friday we will give a house blessing and spend some time with the preschoolers here at Common Hope. It is sure to be an great ending to an already fantastic week.

We rounded out the day with a little reflection with Jeff from Common Hope, and Lys who has been our coordinator and friend throughout the week. She has an amazing gift of hositality and has done so much for us this week. After this we ate another delicious dinner and chilled. Some read books and relaxed while the rest of us played some fooseball and ping-pong. Just a typical evening beneath the volcanoes in Antigua, Guatemala.

Peace,