I really really miss you Guatemala...

Last Day!

Last night... spending it in Antigua. Too tired to go out and do anything though, many of the group went salsa dancing but also many of the group are not flying out tomorrow. Cant wait to come home and see everyone! I have so many pictures, stories, and souvenirs!

I plan on getting McDonalds in the airport... everyone made fun of me when I told them... But I dont care I want American food and I want it ASAP!

I definitely think I will do this again... Maybe not Guatemala again but this trip has been amazing. Thank you again to all those who made this possible, it has been a life changing experience that I wouldnt trade for anything in the world!

I love this place... But I am ready to come home.

Flight leaves at Noon tomorrow!

Love,

Kelly

Last day in Quiche

Today is our last day in Quiche... we had to say goodbye to the families we were building for and they had a going away ceremony for us. It was very nice. I fed Pepito my Guatemalan stray dog one last meal of mine lol. It was sad but I think he will be ok atleast I hope so. Tomorrow morning we leave for the lake and then we go back to Antigua where hopefully I will be able to climb the volcano and get some glorious pictures. I have way too many to go through as it is but it will all be worth it in the end.

I should let you know that no matter how good the food tastes here it is a destroyer of digestive systems haha. We are all having a terrible time with illness here. I am not very sick but I am having problems to say the least. We all have some issues... and its very sad bc the food here is really good but it makes you sick... which doesnt make much sense but oh well I guess I just dont understand or want to understand how or why. I´m just ready to come home to normal food and normal life that doesnt make my stomach hate me... because it is a hater at the moment. Hopefully I will be able to start posting pics soon... still havent come across a good enough internet connection yet tho. oh well... will try again soon.

miss you all!
Kelly

Monday Monday Monday

Over the weekend made a trip to a coffee farm here in Guatemala. It was the hottest weather we have experienced here on the trip thus far. It was a tropical climate and the mosquitoes were out in full force. The first time I´ve had to pull out the bug spray all trip. It was a lot of fun. We took a 3 hour hike through the coffee farm and down to a river and climbed straight up a vertical cliff, using only roots of trees to scale the side. It was loads of fun... Until Cassie fell, but she didnt fall far and didnt get to hurt. We walked through a bamboo forest and forded a river haha. We had our best breakfast yet on the coffee farm... we finally got to drink REAL coffee not the instant crap they have been feeding to us all trip. The man who owned the farm was a Gringo like us but a very world traveled gringo... he inherited the farm through his wife who was Guatemalan. We had an armed guard to protect us the entire time, which was strange bc we havent needed protection at all this trip and no one had ever mentioned anything about impending doom. Anyway the story behind that was this man Marc the owner of the farm has a lot of land that he plants coffee on and this other guy he called him a Qihote (?) which basically means he does a lot of illegal things one of them being a transporter of illegals into the US. Anyway this bad guy has been coming onto Marcs property and cutting down coffee plants and planting his own crops... so marc and this guy have been fighting for some time both in and out of courts. So Marc proceeds to tell us that last week there was a gun battle between him and his ¨hitmen¨as he called them and the bad guy. He said it was 4 men vs. 11 (the 4 being the good guys) and some how the good guys were able to turn the bad ones back... so needless to say we had an armed guard with us incase the psycho tried to pull any other stunts. An interesting weekend to say the least.

We are back in Quiche today and tomorrow to finish work on the houses... then its off to the Lake aka the Energy Vortex (some call it the center of the world) idk why but they do.

Cant wait to come home. Miss everyone terribly... Miss American food oh any being able to communicate with people on a daily basis... I´m trying very hard to learn spanish but its very difficult. Keep you all updated... have taken over 800 pictures so far... have plenty more stories to tell everyone when i return!

Love,
Kelly

July 7, 2009

Second day of work on the houses... The first day kicked all of our asses. My muscles are still very sore, but I bet I will have many more after this experience is over.

So far everything is great.

Made a dog friend today... It was totally a Dances With Wolves kind of situation. Except this was a dog and not a wolf and he was much smaller. I named him Pepito or *No Socks* since in the movie the wolf was called *Two Socks* get it??? ha ha. Anyway the stray dog situation here really saddens me. I´m starting to think I would like to work for an animal rights organization. There really needs to be an effort made to spay and neuter here and I´m sure in many other Latin American countries. I have probably seen atleast 75 - 100 stray dogs on the streets so far on this trip so I`m sure there are hundreds of thousands more throughout the country. It deeply saddens me. They are all dirty and starving, living in filth, with no care available and no one who is even willing to care for them. Most probably have rabies or worse and I am not supposed to touch them so I usually do not. But I feed Pepito my sandwitch at lunch everyday well... he wont take it from me so I have to throw it to him bc he is afraid of us *gringos* ha ha. Maybe he will come closer by the end of the 2 weeks. I`m going to try to find some more food for him in the city something with more protein. I just feel so terrible for him and all the other dogs here. Hardly anyone actually keeps an animal as a pet here it`s very sad how unloved they are.

It makes me miss my dogs terribly... they are really living the good life compared to this fate of dogs here in Guate.

We are eating Guatemalan fast food tonite for dinner I am excited... It is called POLLO CAMPERO. its like Latin American KFC.

Well I miss everyone and hope everything is going well for you all back in the states.

Love,
Kelly

Dia Uno!

What a crazy day! Had a blast on day one!

Antigua is amazing... so is everything really.

Very exhausted from a long day of flights and trying to be a tourist. I am fortunate enough to have internet today but I doubt I will have it again until later on this week so I am trying to be quick to post my status here in Guatemala and some snapshots.

The food is really good here... the guacamole is to die for! SOOO GOOD!

The most amazing event of today... was that they DID NOT lose my luggage! YAY!

Had my first Guatemalan beer today called Gallo... pretty good I guess, still not a huge beer drinker really. Went to a craft market... saw some great things that I might buy as souvenirs.

I miss everyone already... But I am having a great time roughing it here on Day One... 12 more to go!

Support another great cause!!!

TOMS - ONE FOR ONE

We are the world...

Song of the day... 8 more days...

You hold your head up to the sky
You say what kind of blue
are you? Are you?
Then you ride your pony round and round
It’s diggin’ a hole, right through, right through

You stumble down a yellow brick road,
Spinning your shoes in the air, the air.

Then you, hold your breath, and count to nine,
Hoping that soon somebody will find you, find you,

Go on, go on, go on, the stars are watching,
Just say, just say, just say, what you’re feeling,
You know, you know, you know, you gotta take a bow and do it your way,
It’s okay, ladadadadadadadada, it’s okay, ladadadadadadadada

You’re 15 miles over the speed,
You’re going fast as you can, off to your daydream
Ohh

On your mark, get set, hurry
and have a serious talk with your, champaign.

Go on, go on, go on, the stars are watching,
Just say, just say, just say, what you’re feeling,
You know, you know, you know, you gotta take a bow and do it your way,
It’s okay, ladadadadadadadada, it’s okay, ladadadadadadadada

It’s time for you to prove,
Within your ruby shoes,
You deserve a smile with no regret,
Look at you
Kicking off your shoes,
Dancing for the world to see,
You got the power to believe,
Now Open up and see,
And go be free and fly away,

Go on, go on, go on, the stars are watching,
Just say, just say, just say, what you’re feeling,
You know, you know, you know, you gotta take a bow and do it your way,
It’s okay, ladadadadadadadada, it’s okay, ladadadadadadadada
It’s okay, ladada ladada, it’s okay, ladadadadadadadada

9 DAYS!

I leave for Guatemala in 9 days!

Can't believe it is finally here... Hope I will get the opportunity to update this a few times while I'm down there to let everyone know how I'm doing and how things are going.

Can't wait to get down there!

I will miss my boys though... a lot :(

Getting there...

Have collected $770 so far...

... Only $630 to go! 

Thank you everyone who has donated thus far!

God Bless!

Love,

Kelly

Thank you...

Today I received the most amazing gift from my cousin Jody. He has the biggest heart of anyone I think I have ever met. I am so grateful for his support, he truly is a blessing.

Kelly, my money is not my money. It is God's, I wouldn't give it to you if i did not think it was for a good cause. You are doing His work, why wouldn't i support that. I have extra right now, and i am more than happy to give it to you for your cause. Like i said, I got $200 from my union, and i am going to give $200. so that's $400. I have a plan to for at least $100 more. You said you need $2000, I figure $500 at least would help you on your way. If things go the way I think they will I will be able to do more. This is not just me donating, this is other people stepping up too. I am asking every one I know to help out. So I hope that by Mike's wedding i will have at least $500, hopefully more. Let me know if there is anything else I can do for the cause. 

God Bless, 
Jody

I have never felt so much love and support for a cause in my whole life. I am so passionate about this trip and helping as much as I possibly can. I never expected the outpouring of support that I have received from my friends and family all so willing to help despite their own economic situations. I feel so very blessed and am so happy to be apart of something so great!

Thank you all!

Love,

Kelly

Blessed!

Today I received another $100 towards my goal and two people told me they would be donating possibly a little more than they can spare because they care so much. I can't express in words how grateful I am to those so willing to help and give. It makes heart melt almost, I am so grateful and thankful for being blessed with the people in my life. Everyone has been so amazing and I cannot wait to get to Guatemala and start helping. I can't wait to put these donations to good use. So I can have stories to bring home with me and share with everyone. 

God bless,

Kelly

$1050 left!

Clif Bar...

CLIF BAR®, Nutrition for Sustained Energy® is the leading all-natural and organic energy bar offering the optimal nutritious blend of carbohydrates, protein, fiber for sustained energy

Taking these to Guatemala...  :)

Donations

I sent out about 60 letters and only 2 people have donated money. So far this has been a pretty unsuccessful fundraiser. I'll try to be patient and see if anymore donations come in... But the outlook may be grim. Hopes are high though, only need $1150 to reach my goal. Fingers crossed for more donations!

Love,

Kelly

Now $200 closer to my goal of $1500!!

Meeting on Sunday! Can't wait.

Thanks Paupi!

Love, 

Kelly

Meeting

Meeting on March 8th to discuss fundraising and such for the trip... Less than 4 months now!

Things to do:

Apply for passport

Collect remainder of funds

Purchase plane ticket

Buy a rain coat and rain boots

I'm sure there are plenty more things to do, I just can't think of them at the moment.

Love,

Kelly

Four Months!

I believe today makes it exactly 4 months until my departure to Guatemala with Habitat for Humanity.

I'm so very excited and cannot wait to go!

Everyone has been so supportive of this trip and that makes me so happy... My uncle even offered to pay for the trip in its entirety if I needed it! Hooray for family with big hearts!

I'm so looking forward to going and meeting the people we are going to be building for. I am ready to get dirty and do some manual labor for a good cause. We are supposed to be building 3 houses in 2 weeks time. I can't wait to help! I just hope the rain can hold off a bit, since we will be going during their rainy season :( Oh well time to invest in a good rain coat and a pair of rain boots I guess. :) 

So far I have collected $100 towards my goal for this trip... Keep it coming!

Love,

Kelly