1. Happy birthday to my host mom! I am so happy that I was able to celebrate my host mom's birthday while I am here! It resembled the birthday celebrations in my house in that it wasn't just a birthday but a birthday week....by the fourth day of saying happy birthday the kids starting saying "Mom please not again!" haha. It was so wonderful to get to celebrate and be part of a family celebration. I brought home a chocolate cake for my host mom which she loved! It was a wonderful celebration all around :). My host sister Alejandra was at sleepover the night of the cake but we went out that Sunday and had a fun filled family dinner in town.
2. Learning to be flexible. This is a photo of the work space that my friend Taylor and I have at out organization Mayan Families. I think we've been shuffled to a million different places while in the office and there used to be a couch where we are sitting here but that was moved to the new office. I feel like this picture is the perfect representation of this trip...being flexible!
3. New friends! Amber and I met randomly at church one Sunday and immediately bonded over our love for Army Wives haha. It has been wonderful getting to know her and to feed off of her encouraging and positive spirit!
(3.5 haha). To say that Julia has been an encouragement to me this trip is an understatement haha. She has been such a positive and encouraging friend from day one! This is a picture of us at our friend's 21st birthday dinner!
4. If you can't go to the party, bring the party to you. Happy 4th of July from Guatemala everyone! Although I haven't been home for every 4th I have at least been in the country lol. This was a vastly different 4th of July than any other I had experienced but it was so much fun all the same :). Lindsey (far left) went across the lake to visit with some of the girls in Santiago and we celebrated the 4th in Guatemala in style haha. We went to a restaurant owned by an American couple where they had burgers and red, white, and blue shots (haha) and brownies with ice cream. So so much fun :).
4. Puppies! Okay if these aren't the most adorable little puppies I've seen, I don't know what is haha. While on a home visit to a sponsored students house, one of the staff at Mayan families found a mom and her new born puppies in San Antonio. They were so precious! :)
5. My host brother and sister always know how to make me smile :). On Wednesday evening I spent the night in Santiago for the 4th of July and then when I came home on Thursday evening my host sister Alejandra gave me a hug and said how much she missed me. After unpacking, Alejandra, Jerico, and I played pictionary! Who says you need the game with the boards and papers? We just had fun together and enjoyed being together...no need for the name brand to make the time special.
Tonight after dinner, I was talking Alejandra and Jerico about fall and the way the leaves change colors. They ran off to find a book on fall to show me that they had heard of it and while they were gone my host mom came up behind me and quietly told me the cutest and saddest thing. She said that before dinner, Alejandra had turned to her while they were in their shop and said "Why does Rachael have to leave? This is too sad. Is she going to come back soon?". Talk about breaking my heart. Part of the issues with my anxiety is struggling with people's approval...even the approval of a 9 year old. To hear that Alejandra loves me like family and has been as blessed by our time together as I have been makes every hard time on this trip worth it. I'm so excited to see home, family, and friends very soon but I'm not sure how to leave the people here who have become my second family.
6. Say cheese! This coming week is going to be my last week with my kids at the preschool! They have made my time here so amazing and all their hugs and smiles have helped me so much! This is a class photo that my host sister took last week when she came to work with me. I'm planning on printing it off for each of the kids as something to remember me! It's gonna be hard to leave these faces.
7. Birthday celebrations! I think we've had a birthday almost every week for someone in our study abroad group haha. This past Friday a bunch of the girls and I went out for Lindsey and Emily's birthdays. It was so nice to have a girls night out! We went to dinner and went dancing! Literally so so much fun haha.
Tomorrow is zip line day!!! Wish me luck! hahah. Can't wait to post some pictures! As always God bless and thanks for reading :).
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