My last three weeks were spent volunteering, studying Spanish, spending time with my family and saying final goodbyes. At Common Hope, we wrapped up the onsite kitchen and constructed another house for a family in need. Kevin and I have been building panels together the past three months most Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons. He has another year here, constructing houses for Common Hope. I will miss hanging out with him.

Siesta time......  

Getting the roof on the last house I helped build...


Part of the family that was receiving the home.


There previous home.


Once up, the kids began playing with all the latches, windows, etc..


She was so excited!


Dedication of the new home and move in day!


I also spent my final afternoon with the babies at the hospital. I had a great day with them. I will especially miss feeding and holding Jose and Angel. With having a very small family, I have had very little experience with children/babies, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the hospital. Unlike some of the other volunteers that would often help with the cleaning or preparation of bottles….I spent all of my time feeding, playing or just holding the babies. At first, I felt a little guilty about not doing other jobs, but now, I am so glad I spent my time the way I did. I think it was best for them and I know it was best for me.

Cory and Heather, we also came up with a way to ensure the money you sent down with me went to good use. I toured a school that is supported by the American Legion. I had been informed that the library was insufficient, containing mostly religious books that had been donated and a set of encyclopedias that were in French. The primary items they requested were Spanish Dictionaries and Spanish Encyclopedias. The school had a room with several computers so we decided electronic copies of this information would be best. We also picked up a few hard copy Spanish Dictionaries for the classrooms. Thank you, thank you!

To the group at Wyndham that donated funds, many thanks as well. I used these monies to help the people whose paths in life happened to intersect with mine. Monday afternoon, on my way to the bank, Cesar, now 14, was at the entrance of the park with his ice cream cart. He usually shines shoes, but this day he was selling ice cream. His shoes were full of holes and looked to be a size or two too small. I asked him if he could leave his cart for a few because I had received some help and would like to buy him a new pair of shoes. His eyes lit up, he put a little lock on the top of his ice cream cart and we were off. On our way to the market, he proceeded to tell me how much better my Spanish was this year from the last two! I love being able to actually speak with the people now.

Cesar appeared to like most every shoe he saw. When he picked a cool pair of tennis shoes and asked for his size, we discovered that his foot had grown one and a half shoe sizes from the pair he was wearing. With that, I also bought him a nice pair of black leather shoes that he had been eying as we shopped. He was so ecstatic! After I gave him a hug and told him to have a great day, his eyes welled up, he thanked me (all of you) many times and then took off running full speed down the street. I have seen him every day in the park since, completely aglow. Today, he shined my shoes for me….let me tell you, they are like new! I paid him enough for lunch and dinner, gave him a hug, and told him I hoped to see him next year.

Cesar with his new shoes...

In addition, there were several kids that got to go to Campero for lunch. One afternoon I rounded up eight children that were working the park and off we went for our fried chicken and ice cream. What fun. I took Angela and her entire family for pizza and ice cream. They were all dressed in the new clothes we had bought at the market! The Mayan sisters I mentioned in my first blog received new shoes, a new book and lunch in a restaurant this time. What was left of the money went to Irma, the mother of Jose, the special needs child in my family. Irma works at the hospital, goes to university here, takes care of Jose, she does it all. She gets very little sleep and yet she is always a most pleasant presence in the room. The money will help relieve some pressure for her over the next two or three months. Thanks to all of you that donated funds to give someone here a much better day/week/month! 

 My last afternoon with Angela this year...it was hard saying goodbye!






One thing I have learned on this trip is how difficult it is to help a country like Guatemala. The problems seem so big, the suffering widespread. This country needs many things: a program that addresses the trash littering the beautiful countryside, waste management, landfills, spay and neuter programs to help control the population and suffering of dogs and cats, malnutrition is a huge problem with too many babies being born with mental and physical ailments that are avoidable, teenage pregnancy needs to be addressed, dentists and doctors are greatly needed, education is a huge problem, unemployment…on and on and on.

I understand that people feel we have all of these problems in the US. Yes, we do. However, you only have to come here for a short period of time before you will find yourself standing on the edge of a cliff looking out across the gorge that separates our version of these problems from their version of these problems. Our issues never appear the same again.

Maybe someday I will be in a position where I can help address a really big problem in our world, maybe not. For now, I have found great value in recognizing the little, solvable problems that are all around, waiting for us every day, ordinary people to pay attention. The smallest gestures have the power to give someone a better day than they may have had, had you not passed by.

In the end, it was the family I have been living with that made this trip so memorable day in and day out. Fun, intelligent, witty, thoughtful, caring, talented, and simply wonderful people, the Rosales’, holding nothing back, welcomed me into their lives. They have infiltrated my heart. This past week, they have stopped calling me Cathy Maquin (easier for them to say) and now refer to me as ojos humedos. I will miss them more than I could have every anticipated.

To my teacher and friend, Rosalinda, who patiently taught me Spanish a minimum of four hours, one on one, every Monday-Friday, thank you, thank you! As difficult as some days had to be, you continued to push me forward, further than I ever thought possible. You are one of the most talented teachers I have ever worked with. The gift of communication that you have given me is priceless!   

Below are a few of the moments we have shared these past three weeks.

Rosalinda and me....
 

Natalia and me...

Coco, Manuel, Christian and Willy.....

Manuel, Willy and Toby, the dog!

Irma with Willy's school project!

Natalia's turn..

Christian's turn...

Willy and me.....

Natalia, Willy and me...

This was a school parade that included all grades so Rosalinda and I skipped an hour of class!

Willy...
 

Christian....

Little Pedro with Dad (Carlos, brother of Irma & Rosalinda) helping carry the load..

Christian again...just a good photo!

This day, the hospital where Irma works and I volunteer, put on a program for the people who live there. Irm'a group won first prize!

Irma and me...

Another school event Rosalinda and I attended!
I think this is Pedro!

I think this was Willy!

On our way to Campero for lunch one day..Irma was off, so we were able to bring Jose!


Natalia (Mom), Irma, Rosalinda (sisters) and Irma's son Jose...

There were three things I wanted to learn how to make before leaving. Their homemade cheese tamales was one of them. They turned out delicious!!

We had a great time making them!



Wrapping the tamales....The green chiles were for the homemade picante verde that is out of this world! I think I have this one down as well. 


I learned from the best!

The third item was their lasagna! Yummy....

Dia de Maestras! I prepared a card and other items for Rosalinda, but she still needed her red pen to make a few corrections...but I was close to writing my  note correctly!

Alfredo (brother of Irma & Rosalinda), his wife Patty, their children and abuela Natalia...it was Patty's birthday!

Sunday, I planned to take the entire family on our final outing to Guatemala City to visit the zoo! What fun!

Natalia and Rosalinda.....


Jose got to come too!

Adrian....what a cutie...this is Natalia's, brother's, daughter's son! :)

Rosalinda, Natalia and Pedro..




What a beautiful family! Alex, Adrian, and Amparo.



Lunch at the zoo....all the food was brought from home!




Tomorrow night, we are having a fiesta and the entire family is coming. We are ordering Domino’s….Mike, the little motorcycle is going to come to our house this time stacked with pizzas! I’ll make a photo!

When I think about these three months, what amazes me is the fluidity that seemed to always be present. There is not one thing I can think of that could have happened that would have made more of this experience.There is just nothing! Increible!

I will post one more blog after I return home.  

Until next time,

cathy