No more Orphange stuff here, just solely for travelling and travelling stories now. You can unsubscribe from them at any time, just click on the link in your e-mail. 26.02.05 - 28.02.05 Spent the weekend at Panajachel, on Lago de Atitlan. Used my first chicken bus! Desptie all the scare stories it was completely fine. It took 6 hours altogether. All the locals use it and it is very cheap. The scariest thing was the driving, which left much to be desired, overtaking on almost blind bends. I think the word chicken is given by gringos as you play chicken witht [View Full Entry]

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Hey everyone. This is my last BLOG. Due to circumstances out of my control, i am not able to continue sharing my experiences. I know that sharing confidential information is wrong, but i honestly thought that this site would only be accessed by my friends, family and spónsors. And any information would not be used that would put pressure on me or the people that work in the orphanage. I feel that i cannot write the truth becuase i have to censor it now, so there is not much point continuing with this. I may still use it for when i [View Full Entry]

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Today was my first day of classes. It was strange getting ready this morning. I was a little nervous, like everyone is on the first day of school I suppose. I slept much better last night, thankfully b/c I had to get up around 6:40. Breakfast with the family was at 7:15 and then I walked to school. I got there early, no one was around and the doors were closed. I'm thinking, I am gonna be the only student here. I walked around a bit and came back to find 5-6 students, each with their own teacher. First, I took [View Full Entry]

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Finally, I made it... I´m here, safe and sound in Xela!! (prounounced "Shayla," if you´re not sure) All has gone really well so far, and I´m loving it. I made it into Guatemala City and on the way, I met an Australian girl named Amy going to the same place. Myself, Amy and her friend Gina were picked up at the airport by Gustavo, who was holding a sign with our names, as promised. He packed us and our giant backpacks into his tiny car and drove us through Guatemala City to his house. There were already three guys there, two [View Full Entry]

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Its probably not the right Spanish, but i want to say Tumble Dryer, which is on the forefront of everyones minds since the weekend. Monday 21.02. A child hurt himself on the slide, he was under my supervision, and i assumed that he would be o.k. on the slide. He cut his head, there was blood and tears and i felt pretty awful for a bit. He kind of looked at me in a way that made me know he was annoyed with me. He is o.k. now though, its just so easy for something like that to happen. Every day [View Full Entry]

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Just finished my first week and weekend at Fundaninos, all is well. Friday 18.02.05 Starting to get to know the kids more and their characteristics. Not sure how much it is appropriate to share on a public site, so i won´t mention names. So far my favourite characters are - a 15 year old, who looks 12, and he always hugs the female volunteers, his height is just the right size so that his head reaches their breats. He is one smart kid! Another is the boy with the scars. I have now got him to sign a bit, only thumbs [View Full Entry]

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Hola chicas y chicos, Ik dacht bij mezelf dat het weer eens nodig tijd was om mijn update te schrijven! Ik zal even beginnen bij waar ik was gebleven. Mijn gedoe in mijn gastgezin! De rust is weder gekeerd, het heeft even een paar dagen geduurd, maar ik denk dat ze ook wel door had dat wij haar absoluut niet wilden beledigen! Wel een opluchting hoor, ik mag haar namelijk erg graag! Even over mijn vrijwilligers werk! Vorige week ben ik opnieuw op het schooltje met de kinderen geweest, samen met mijn contact persoon Josan. Ik weet niet of ik dat [View Full Entry]

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From Guatemala city we stopped to see the stelea at Quirigua on our way to Copan, Honduras. What a beautiful green setting. [View Full Entry]

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Yes i am finding most of my conversations are about bodily functions on a day to day basis, its all quite surreal really! And it also feels quite normal now. I had not expected to be doing so much personal care as i am doing, but its actually fine, it just takes a couple of days to adjust. General routine of a day is (when the kids are at School): Up at 4.15, throw some clothes on, get the children up, changed, showered, have breakfast, they set off to School about 6ish. Then clean the house and get the washing on, [View Full Entry]

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Hey guys! Arrived now in San Jose, will be here for 11 weeks. Small, dusty noisy town on the outskirts of Guatemala City. No more Antigua for a few months, i return for their religious week - Semana Santa, which is supposed to be pretty amazing. Last few days in Antigua, spent chilling out soaking up the atmosphere. Sunday we went for breakfast and were treated to a trio of two guitar and one musical saw, just great! Arrived at Fundaninos last night, to chaos! 35 kids here, most are young and require much attention. Last night changed my first nappy, [View Full Entry]

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