day in the life

I have been teaching my first grade students about colors.  Today when they learned all about colors and they understood what we were saying and they could do it on their own, I felt happy and successful.  I have also been talking every day with a third grader named Chris.  He helped me paint when we painted the school this weekend, and yesterday he told me that he skateboarded.  This helped me learn more about how I can communicate with people because now that we have a topic in common, we can talk more.

I have been learning new things in Spanish every day.  That is thanks to my teacher Vicky who taught me how to bargain.  Yesterday I helped Aaliyah bargain at the small market in the central plaza.

We have soccer matches a lot, at random times especially in the evenings when we are at Sevilla.  It is 3 people on a team and we play barefoot in the Sevilla courtyard.  Its fun, because its a bonding thing and playing soccer in Guatemala with Guatemalans like Chucho is something I wanted to do while being here.

Lastly, overall, I learned that I have a lot of things at home that I should take for granted but I don´t, and I realize that now. I realize what I have is great and I should accept it, and that people here actually live everyday to survive. Today I saw a little boy shining shoes in an ice cream shop, the customer was treating him terrible, when he had left, I went over to the boy and gave him three quetzales and he was very greratful. I had felt like I did a good thing.
- Emma Rippe (Ernesto)

Junior Journey + One Senior

I have been given a special opportunity by PHA to go to Guatemala with the juniors of 2012. Last year I was eligible to be part of junior journey but because of medical reasons I was not able to go to Guatemala. Thankfully PHA was generous enough to allow me to have a second opportunity to go to Guatemala and be able to experince on what I had missed out last year.Being on this trip with a bunch of juniors who I dont really know that well has been very interesting ride. At first I thought it would be diffcult getting to know them but in the short amount of time that I have spent with them since joining their advisory mid April and till this day on the trip I can say I was proven wrong. The juniors on this trip have been very accepting and welcoming that I feel comfortable and glad to be on this trip. Even though I am not part of their grade and I am only on this trip for a week and a half , I am just thankful towards PHA and the juniors for making this second chance for junior journey a extraordinary experience that I will never forget. David Acuna

Earings, Teaching, and Soccer

Guatemala is amazing. i love walking the streets of Antigua, I can't picture myself going back home, it seems weird to think of living in my big house and walking to Davis Sq. where the culture is so different. I love the markets as well, bargining with people is so much fun. I'm having a problem with buying earings though. I've already bought 6 pairs for myself! I'm obsessed. Teaching has gone really well with the kids as well, they remembered all the vocab we taught them. Sometimes it's a little difficult teaching 6th grade because they point out when I don't speak spanish correctly, whereas the little kids just look at you weird when you say something that doesn't make sense. However,today I talked a bit with this girl who kept asking me how to say words in english. I love how the kids want to learn, and it's nice to talk to them, they like to ask questions about my life and soccer teams. Speaking of soccer we've been playing a bit a barefoot soccer in sevilla which has been soooooo much fun! I can't wait until our game when we play the teachers, I really want ot win but I don't have high hopes because apparently the teachers win every year. I can feel my relationship growing with my own teacher from sevilla as well, and some of the other teachers too. They're so much fun to joke around with and talk to.
-Talia Aronson

Niños de Guatemala

Los niños de la escuela de San Pedro Las Huertas en Guatemala se ponen muy entusiasmados cuando nos ven  entrar a sus salones, pues tienen la oportunidad de aprender algo que ellos casi nunca han escuchado.  En mi primer día de clase yo pensé que me fue muy mal porque ellos no estaban poniendo mucha atención a lo que les estábamos diciendo, y también porque ellos están en el sexto grado. Algunos de ellos tienen casi 17 años, y es muy extraño tratar de explicarle a un muchacho con casi la misma edad que nosotros que somos sus maestros. Después de unas clases aprendí que a ellos les gusta jugar el fútbol mucho, entonces comenzamos a hacer actividades usando una pelota de fútbol y enseñándoles baloncesto. Al principio estaba muy nervioso porque tenia que enseñarles ingles, pero ahora siento que es muy divertido, y estoy muy contento de tener una clase con muchos estudiantes que les gusta hacer chistes, y a la vez aprender muy rápido. Espero que ellos tengan una buen experiencia al igual a yo.

Brian Arevalo Lopez 

It's been a little over a week, and...

I love the atmosphere here.
It's so relaxed (unless you're intensly bargaining) and everyone is very friendly. People seem to smile on the streets and greet each other much more.
My teacher, Cristina, is also very friendly, and filled with jokes, a good sense of humor, and wit. When we walk around the town, she greets everyone she knows with a big yell and smile, and then while we talk she is always making the best faces- like a goofy grin, or a 'what-are-you-doing-Poppy?' face. Honestly, learning from her has been an experience in itself- she is awesome.
In fact, most of the teachers are pretty nice, too. Sometimes during break we all get together to talk and laugh.
My host family is even more adorable now than they were when we first arrived. Talia and I have also met the sons and daughter of the family and gotten to know them a bit better. They dance (mostly salsa, but other types , too) and are amazing at it.Once, after dinner, Talia and I went in the front room to watch Geovanni and Wale (brother and sister) dance, and they moved so swiftly and beautifully. They make me wish I could dance as well as them!
We also all (for the most part) got these things in our hair, where they wrap strings around pieces of your hair... I forget what it's called. But they're awesome- I love putting stuff in my hair.

So yeah, Guatemala has been a wonderful experience thus far, and even though the days don't seem to zap by that quickly, it appears that we are on day eight of our trip. Hopefully, the next two weeks don't go by fast, too!
-Poppy

My Purpose Here

It has officially been a week and one day since I´ve arrived in Guatemala. Day in & day out, it is hard work but at the end of the day, it all pays off. I am slowly understanding the reason/purpose of me being here. This trip has made me understand the purpose of famiy. It may sound weird that I´m saying this but I have realized that even though I have left my family in Boston, I have also traveled into the beautiful country with my other family....the Junior Journey class of 2012. The juniors on this trip have become closer and closer to me to let me understand that wherever you may be, never forget those who love you. This junior class has provided the love and suport that my mother would have normally whenever I need to talk. If I was to choose one word to describe the moment I am feeling right now, I would say Grateful.
-Sophie Guerrier :)

Talking to Family

So today was the first time I got to talk to my family so far on my trip here and it was not what i expected. when i first heard my fathers voice I immediatly started to cry. I have never been so far away from my family for so long, and finally taking to them after a long and full week I was not ready. I was so happy to fianllñy talk to them and tell them about the adventures I have endured, and how I have changed. i cant wait until i talk to them again to describe to new expierences that I will have.
-Aaliyah Mercer

Aside from the multiple fevers and stomach pains, I have to say, all has been great. Yesterday I was bed-ridden for the entire day which was not fun at all. The kids are crazy, but I miss teaching them, they're a lot of fun. They like to comment on my hair a lot, and the girls like to giggle and not respond to any of my questions, which is weird, but I guess it's kind of cute. Some of the teachers at the spanish school have taken to calling me "Justin Bieber," which is kind of amusing because whenever I walk into a room they start singing. I have pretty much adapted to that and have learned to respond to "Justin" in a pretty thick accent. Overall I love this place. Everything is so cheap. I got gifts for friends and family and still have tons left over. Also I found a pair of fake Ray Ban sunglasses for 30 quetzales (about 4 dollars) which made me quite happy. Aside from all those things, I really appreciate the time I have with my teachers, and I wish I had more time with the kids. They have some sort of standardized testing, similar to MCAS, which made it so me and Poppy havn't been able to teach until today. Which sucks. It turns into a lot of sitting around. And aside from that, I really like these kids. I like seeing them try to say words like "mouth" and "teeth" listening to them makes me realize how I probably sounded like in my first year of spanish. A lot of the kids are really shy and are afraid of pronouncing something wrong. It's so adorable. Well besides all this, everythings been good. I'm enjoying my time, I guess i miss my family a little. We got to watch the Celtics lose last, which annoyed me, but it's all good. Hopefully next time I write on here I will have taught a little bit more, and have a cute picture of me and a little cute Gautemalan. That's all for now. So adios.
-Justin (Andrew McCrady)