Volcano
Maria and Deane, thank you for your note! Carolyn - the title of the book is EACH DAY A NEW BEGINNING. Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey.
The volcano is indeed spilling lava and the smoke can be clearly seen. Mike said that at night the flames are visible. I met Mike yesterday evening. Mike has lived in Guatemala for over 20 years and is part of PAVA Foundation, a non-profit organization dealing with building schools and bridges, reforestation and setting potable water systems in villages in central Guatemala. Mike recommended the Spanish language school which I also found on the internet earlier: PROBIGUA i.e. Projecto Biblioteca Guatemala which is also a non-profit school enhancing literacy and establishing libraries in rural Guatemala. I went there in the morning and met Allison who volunteers at the office and Rigoberto who runs the school. I registered for next week. I will be taking Spanish classes from 2-6 (there are morning classes available but I think I am more productive in the afternoons) for three weeks and then I will travel around the country. This is what Mike recommended and maybe I can do some of the traveling with him when he goes to the remote villages where he is establishing new schools. At Probigua I ran into Mike (coincidences run my life lately) and his assistant MariaElena - they are both amazing people - and we went for a walk around the town. I followed Mike and MariaElena with their various errands (during our walk we also ran into Rob and Rubberhead - coincidence again) and then MariaHelena left us and Mike took me to some very nice book stores, a textile store and other places owned by his friends. In the end we went to a place which organizes volunteer work and I met Frank who coordinates the work. I looked through a book listing various organizations and projects and I found a few which would be good for me. Some involve work at hospitals and health clinics, schools, teaching and tutoring, work with disabled kids. There are also house building projects, work in agriculture and reforestation, and also work in turtle and iguana sanctuaries. When I know Spanish well enough to communicate and I have seen a little more of the other parts of Guatemala, I think I will spend a week or two at the turtle sanctuary (collecting freshly hatched turtleeses) and then I will get into something which will involve help for the people.
I am meeting Ann tonight and if Ann and her husband go back to Panajachel tomorrow, I will go with them and I will go visit the small villages around the Lake Atitlan (I will go to San Marcos about which I read in Joyce Maynard's article in the NY Times.) I am taking my swimming suit with me!
I forgot to mention two wonderful presents which I got, and which are very useful and I myself would not think of getting them myself, so thank you so much for the guide book and the address book. The address book already has a few entries and it's indispensable. The guide book is THE ROUGH GUIDE TO GUATEMALA and it's really amazing. I didn't have much confidence in guide books (Michal Gastropoda says that if he was to go by what he finds in the Lonely Planet, he would not leave home - the world presented there is a very scary place). But the Rough Guide is really different. It it very up-to-date and includes very detailed information. I found there description of Semana Santa celebrations. Semana Santa is the Holy Week. The guide book says it is "the most extravagant and most impressive in all Latin America." The whole town is involved in the processions and celebrations. So maybe you can visit me during the Easter week? I am sure it will be an unforgettable experience. You can read more about it on the Internet - on websites devoted to Antigua.
Do you know what I forgot to take with me? A Spanish-English dictionary! which I bought two months ago planning to put it first in my backpack. It wasn't the first, it wasn't the last, it just stayed home peacefuly on the book shelf. Rats!
The volcano is indeed spilling lava and the smoke can be clearly seen. Mike said that at night the flames are visible. I met Mike yesterday evening. Mike has lived in Guatemala for over 20 years and is part of PAVA Foundation, a non-profit organization dealing with building schools and bridges, reforestation and setting potable water systems in villages in central Guatemala. Mike recommended the Spanish language school which I also found on the internet earlier: PROBIGUA i.e. Projecto Biblioteca Guatemala which is also a non-profit school enhancing literacy and establishing libraries in rural Guatemala. I went there in the morning and met Allison who volunteers at the office and Rigoberto who runs the school. I registered for next week. I will be taking Spanish classes from 2-6 (there are morning classes available but I think I am more productive in the afternoons) for three weeks and then I will travel around the country. This is what Mike recommended and maybe I can do some of the traveling with him when he goes to the remote villages where he is establishing new schools. At Probigua I ran into Mike (coincidences run my life lately) and his assistant MariaElena - they are both amazing people - and we went for a walk around the town. I followed Mike and MariaElena with their various errands (during our walk we also ran into Rob and Rubberhead - coincidence again) and then MariaHelena left us and Mike took me to some very nice book stores, a textile store and other places owned by his friends. In the end we went to a place which organizes volunteer work and I met Frank who coordinates the work. I looked through a book listing various organizations and projects and I found a few which would be good for me. Some involve work at hospitals and health clinics, schools, teaching and tutoring, work with disabled kids. There are also house building projects, work in agriculture and reforestation, and also work in turtle and iguana sanctuaries. When I know Spanish well enough to communicate and I have seen a little more of the other parts of Guatemala, I think I will spend a week or two at the turtle sanctuary (collecting freshly hatched turtleeses) and then I will get into something which will involve help for the people.
I am meeting Ann tonight and if Ann and her husband go back to Panajachel tomorrow, I will go with them and I will go visit the small villages around the Lake Atitlan (I will go to San Marcos about which I read in Joyce Maynard's article in the NY Times.) I am taking my swimming suit with me!
I forgot to mention two wonderful presents which I got, and which are very useful and I myself would not think of getting them myself, so thank you so much for the guide book and the address book. The address book already has a few entries and it's indispensable. The guide book is THE ROUGH GUIDE TO GUATEMALA and it's really amazing. I didn't have much confidence in guide books (Michal Gastropoda says that if he was to go by what he finds in the Lonely Planet, he would not leave home - the world presented there is a very scary place). But the Rough Guide is really different. It it very up-to-date and includes very detailed information. I found there description of Semana Santa celebrations. Semana Santa is the Holy Week. The guide book says it is "the most extravagant and most impressive in all Latin America." The whole town is involved in the processions and celebrations. So maybe you can visit me during the Easter week? I am sure it will be an unforgettable experience. You can read more about it on the Internet - on websites devoted to Antigua.
Do you know what I forgot to take with me? A Spanish-English dictionary! which I bought two months ago planning to put it first in my backpack. It wasn't the first, it wasn't the last, it just stayed home peacefuly on the book shelf. Rats!
posted by Asia Kabat at 1:41 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home