Before we get to the new content one thing I forgot to mention yesterday. During sick visits one of the groups visited an elderly man who lived with his children and grandchildren. As they were getting ready to leave one of the little girls ran into the bed room and came out with thank you cards that she made herself for all of them. The front says “thank you” and the back has a picture of her grandpa.

This morning a large portion of the group went on a long hike up part of a mountain, it was about 4.5 miles long. I chose to stay back and get some prayer time and reading in. It was so quiet with most of the people gone. I sat on the rooftop deck of the convent, enjoyed some delicious Guatemalan coffee and the view of the mountains and the fresh air.

We left around 9:30am via tuk tuk for Valle del Durazno, a local school for special needs children, where we put on a carnival. There were different stations for games like Bingo, a fishing game and bowling. After all of the kids rotated through the stations there were two piñatas for the kids to break open, once the candy started falling it was a free for all among the kids and adults to get as much candy as they could, they loved it! We then had a dance party and I got to dance with a little boy named José he wouldn’t let go of my hand and I wasn’t mad about it! 🥰

After the dance party we had a snack which consisted of a chuchito (like a smaller version of a tamale), cake, jello and apple juice. Once all the kids (and us bigger kids) had eaten we cleaned up and said our goodbyes before walking back to the convent.

We had about an hour before lunch so I got some more reading time in. Lunch was lol fritters, potatoes (it was like mashed potatoes stuffed with butter and cheese and then pan fried) and salad.

After lunch we loaded the bus to head back to Parramos. The program that Yeimy runs has another part of it for women only. There are 125 women enrolled and they meet twice a month. In the classes they learn how to cook, about values, spirituality and politics and just overall empowering skills for women. We went to Maynor’s house first and had an opportunity to meet some of the women as they shared their names and some of the skills they are learning. They then presented each of us with several thank you cards with pictures of their family. (I forgot to take pictures of these and at the time of me writing this I am not near them – I’ll try to edit the post later to add them in.) We then gave each of the women a bag of food (cereal, rice, sugar, oatmeal, honey, instant coffee, powered milk, laundry detergent and shampoo). They were all extremely grateful for this gift.

We then walked down the street to the center where the women normally meet for their classes where more of the women were located. They had the room decorated with balloons and as we all came in they were clapping and cheering for us. They had some of their homemade goods with them for sale (jewelry, headbands, bags, etc.). The sweetest surprise was that the woman we built the tiny home for (Emiliana) and the woman we put in a new roof for (Alma) were there and gave our group thank you cards with pictures of their family in front of the new home/roof. It was so kind and wonderful to see them again!

We said our goodbyes and then went back to the convent. We had about 30 minutes of free time and then we walked just around the corner to the local school where we met up with some of the sisters and played soccer. They play in their full habit, but it doesn’t slow them down one bit and they are still extremely competitive!!

After soccer we went back to the convent for dinner. Tonight we had sausage, sautéed snow peas and mushrooms, asparagus soup, bread and tortillas. After dinner we presented the sisters with the goods we brought down for them. They asked for sandals, sweaters and toiletries. We’re were able to provide 5 full suitcases of donations for them. They were very thankful and full of giggles and smiles.

Then myself, Kara, Charles and Lindsay met up and got the remainder of the donations sorted out into piles for men’s clothes, women’s clothes, children/baby clothes, shoes and socks and then miscellaneous. It took about an hour and a half to get it all done and then it was time for bed!

It was a VERY fun day between playing with the children and getting to see the families we had served earlier in the week. I am going to be sad to leave the people of Guatemala. They are so generous with what little they have and so joyful!

Mileage tracker:

• 10,657 steps
• 4.63 miles