My Fourth Grade Class By Nathaly Lopez Marroquin

It has been a week and a half into the trip here in Guatemala. Time seems to go by so fast here. From teaching my fourth grades kids in the morning to 4 hours of Spanish lessons in the evening to late night activities, its no wonder time flys by. My kids are amazing. They love to greet us every morning with smiles and hugs and it just makes me so much happier in the morning. I never like to wake up early in the morning but when I think of the smiles on my kids faces when we teach them songs and colors in English it puts a smile on my face every morning. There is this one girl in my class who I absolutely love. Her name is Daniela and she is just the sweetest thing ever. On friday she made me a poster with a bunch of little figures on it and my name in the middle. It warmed my heart so much when she gave it to me. I can see just how much she appreciates me with just that one poster. I feel blessed to be apart of this trip because I love knowing that I can make a difference in these kids lives with just teaching them English.
 Even though I am from Guatemala and I travel here almost every year, it feels good to come here to experience something different and not just for vacation. All 32 of my kids will hold a special place in my heart and I know I will miss them all deeply. I hope in the future when I come back here I can visit them again and they will remember me and I will be able to see their beautiful smiles again.