here goes...

I am slightly hesitant to blog about my Guatemalan adventures because they are so amazing and vibrant and I almost don't want to belittle them in the blogging world. So I'll try to make them as cool here as they were when they happened.

here it is...week one in guatemala.
(but not really in order)

The first Saturday we took a break from working and went to the ruins at Ixichme. We were there in the early morning and it was so peaceful and green. Mayans still use these temples and altars for some of their traditions.

A group of us took the bus about 45 minutes outside of Chimaltenango where we were staying to work with Habitat for Humanity. Santa Cruz Balanya is a beautiful town, very colonial and very empty. We were walking through town when we came across the empty plaza with this beautiful church.
We were the first group of gringos to ever visit this village, atleast an hour truck drive outside of San Martin. We met with the women to discuss building adobe stoves with them.
The Guatemalan highlands are beautiful...espeically from the back of a pick-up truck!
The San Martin market is one of the largest Mayan markets in all of Guatemalan. I don't think they knew what to do when they saw gringos walking down the aisles! It is full of fruits and vegetables and spices and people speaking Quiche. So cool and energetic!
The kids at the orpahange in Chimaltenango loved playing with oobleck. Mangi and Tania were super cute
I loved the kids at the orphanage! They were so cute and good-natured even though they had been through incredibly difficult things in their young lives.
Our first typical Guatemalan meal, with tortillas of course. so good!