Well, I have made it back to Seattle safe and sound and in one piece!

So pizza party by the pool with the gang didn't exactly turn out the way it was supposed to happen...it started POURING. So poolside became a little soggy...and in turn, we all sought shelter in the exercise room. With pizza, beer, wine, and water. Hahaha...sat around, talked, ate (duh), and just had a good time enjoying each other's company and taking some time to relax before jumping into surgery the next day, First Aid class #2, organizing EVERYTHING, or hopping on a plane back home. =p After awhile, things began to wind down and we took some group photos before we all headed off to bed or whatnot. (The team has to get up at about 5 or 6am every morning to get ready).

So then after the pizza party, I stuck around and talked to Dr. Joe and Dr. Mark for a bit, and Diane showed up. So then we all got to talking (which was a ton of fun -- those guys are freakin' hilarious!), in which Diane kept saying that it was like being around 16 year old boys (which it basically was). Pretty funny I tell ya! So then we got kicked out of the workout room around 11pm or so, said goodbye and went to bed.

Woke up this morning a bit later than planned and rushed the extremely last minute packing and ended up forgetting a pair of socks and my mom's sunglasses that I had borrowed for the trip since I had left my own sunglasses at Jared's house when we had the bbq before I left. Took the 9:10am shuttle to the airport, Terri had gotten stamps so I was putting them on all the postcards and when we got to the airport, I mailed them off...so if you get a postcard, expect it in a bout a month or so...snail mail...literally. Hung around for a bit and Terri caught the shuttle back to the hotel so that she could catch the other shuttle that would pick her up to go to Camino Seguro (so she could help Terry teach First Aid).

Turns out I didn't actually have to pay any sort of airport tax fee whatever this time. (It would have been $30). I suppose it was all included in my plane ticket costs. Yay!! So I went through customs and the first round of security checks. Then got a mocha and a little sandwhich thing since I only had plastic and they required a Q25 amount or something to be able to run the credit card. Bleh. Then headed in for the 2nd round of security checks. And apparently those wands are quite sensitive to metal, because the underwire and metal clasps in my bra made it beep...interesting...

Got on my flight to Houston, then passed through customs at Houston 2 times, and ran across George Bush Intercontinental Airport to make it about a half hour before the plane to Seattle left. Eek! And it took me FOREVER to get my ONE bad from baggage claim at Houston (to which I waited in line to pass customs #2 in Houston and drop my bag off to be checked to Seattle, had my plane ticket and ID checked again and ran across said airport). The flight from Houston lasted longer than I had expected and I was fairly wiped out by the end. Got into Seattle, went to my aunt Agnes' house where the family had been having dinner, and then finally went home around 11pm. So my day was long. And tiring. And then I was so retarded because I went to bed around 4:30am and then woke up around 9:30am to go to the Husky game today, which we won...

Then after the game went to the Village with Candace and got Jamba Juice, then went to Erin's apt, then Red Robin, back to my house, and now here I am at the boy's apt. And that's all. Going to bed sometime later tonight and packing up all my worldly possessions for move in tomorrow or sometime in the near future. Take care, hope everyone's having a wonderful time in Guatemala...don't stress out!!!...and I'll talk to everyone soon.

Love,
Jessica

Well, here I am with my 8th and final update from Guatemala...sad!

Today started incredibly early! I got up around 5:30am, went downstairs with the team for breakfast, and we were on our way to the hospital for surgery. We got there, did rounds, then I watched Dr.'s Joe and Mark cast this little girl's leg. Cool stuff I tell ya!

After that, I went to the surgical area of the hospital to change into scrubs...I was dressed so haphazardly! I had a top that was a bit snug, pants that were too big, and mismatching booties. I was quite the fashion statement...even for being in scrubs...a sight to behold, I tell ya! LOL...anyway, I have a pic or two to show people. Hehehe...so this little 2 year old boy named Carlos was the patient of the day. (For the surgical team I was with and myself, of course). ;) He had 2 club feet, so the surgeons, Dr. Walker and Dr. Al operated as anesthesiologist Dr. Dan...anesthitized the patient, and charge nurse Mary and OR nurse Susan assisted. And I...well, I just stood around watching from start to finish without getting in the way. They put me to work...kinda...I helped mop brows in the OR. Pretty exciting stuff I say! ;) hehehe...

It was really interesting to see surgery in real life...experience I will never forget, is what it is! So cool to see what Carlito's (or Tiny Tim, as Dr. Dan called him) feet looked like beforehand and what they looked like after surgery. Absolutely amazing. Even though the room was sweltering with 6 people inside an OR the size of a bedroom, we all got along well and had quite a few laughs along the way! Dr. Walker and Dr. Al were sweating like pigs. It was so bad that they were sweating out their elbows of their surgical gowns...eyuck. But surgery was just under an hour...about 1:55 for the left leg and 1:40 for the right leg. So totally cool. I wanna watch some more! But alas, I can't...because I'm leaving Guatemala tomorrow!

So after surgery, we went to have lunch (that Healing the Children provides for us) upstairs on the unfinished rooftop (that was covered, thank God). Then it started pouring...but at least we didn't get caught in the rain or anything like that. During lunch, Terry and Dr. Dan had gone to a bakery nearby and gotten 40 pasteries for about $2. Amazing...and they were pretty darn good, too! So after lunch the surgical teams and I (minus Dr. Don and Terry) went to Camino Seguro to take a tour around. That was really exciting because I had been there the previous week (to teach First Aid, if you all don't remember) and I got to see about 6 or 7 of the people I had met and/or taught the week before. So much fun.

Always an eye-opening experience, this time we actually went inside the dump to this terrace-like viewing area they have there and it was such a sight to see. I mean, this was amazing. You got to see all the people in action as the garbage trucks rolled by, saw the vultures or buzzards...whatever they are...circling overhead (they are gigantic and there are TONS of them) and saw the valley they use as the dump. I took this picture of lush greenery in the valley on one side and MOUNDS of trash on the other. Pretty amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if there really wasn't much of a valley left in about 3 years. It's that bad.

So we went around to the different Camino Seguro sights (as we did last time) and also went to the clinic that they have there. Along the stops I saw Isabel, Alejandro, Julio, Maribel, Lisette, Jenny (a little girl who hung around quite a bit when we were teaching First Aid), and Chris (from the States, been here 6 weeks, and organizes all of the volunteer efforts at Camino -- but doesn't speak a word of Spanish). After the tour, we went to the new hospital site "The Ritz," that Healing the Children is building. Amazing plans they have...quite ambitious, but they definately need some financial support in terms of donations...SO GET OUT YOUR CHECKBOOKS AND HELP OUT! The projected costs are about $15 million (US), and they hope to have a few floors open by January. And they have another site for another larger hospital. Hope it all works out! *I'm keeping my fingers crossed.*

After that, we headed back to the hospital to drop off a few docs for last minute rounds (post-op, of course) and to check on some new patients...then came back here to the Holiday Inn. Oh, and during the entire time of the tour, with about 10 stops along the way, I sat on a bench in the shuttle 2 times. Total. All the other times I was crammed in the trunk area with at least 2 other docs. It was interesting alright. I really felt like I was getting the full Guatemalan experience then!

So now I'm headed back to the room...we've got a pizza party poolside at 7:30pm, so I'll be there in about 20 mins or so. Good times, good times...use up the rest of my film, pack, go to bed, and head out to the airport in the morning! And with that, my next email will be from Seattle. Take care and I'll see some of you in the next few days!

Love,
Jessica

Buenas tardes!

Well, after our stint at Monoloco, we headed back to Hotel Posada San Pedro to meet up with Terri and figure out where we wanted to go to dinner and all that jazz...

So we lounged a bit in the common area...like an hour or so. And then we decided to go to this place called Posada de Don Rodrigo or something along those lines...it was recommended in the Lonely Planet guide book for Guatemala. Apparently Bill Clinton went there or something...whateva. So we headed out and ate dinner. It was pretty good but so much more expensive than what we had been spending! I think that's the most expensive meal I've had since I've been here! My entree was like Q86! I'm used to Q30! Holy crap! But it was good anyway, and they have a live Marimba band that plays there everynight from about 7pm to something we don't know. (I think Terry had said that Hotel Posada de Don Rodrigo is a 4 or 5 star hotel...or something like that..)

So after dinner we decided to take a stroll around since it was still a bit early. Jason and Nathan decided to be all artsy and try to get some good pics of the Santa Catalina arch (the most famous arch in all of Guatemala) in the dark. In the dark...so they set up their tripods and things like that (which are teeny, by the way...it's for the digital cameras) using different lighting and shutter speeds and whatnot on their cameras. Silly boys. Then we walked around parts of Antigua that I'd not ventured to before...saw this BEAUTIFUL convent/school, but unfortunately, I didn't take any pics. I think they were feeding the homeless outside and having like some town hall meeting or something like that...and I don't know why I didn't take a pic. I'm retarded, I know. =P

So then we walked into the main square and sat by the fountain talking...and sitting...and looking at the stars (we saw like 3). It was getting a bit late and the boys had to wake up at 5am to go hike up Volcan Pacaya, about an hour and a half away from Antigua. Headed back to the Hotel Posada San Pedro, and sat around the common area watching "Instinct" dubbed in Spanish. Interesting voices they have for Sir Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Hehehe...so we all exchanged information and I gave them some trail mix to take up on their hike.

Then Terri went to bed and the 3 of us wanted pics together, so they spent like an hour trying to get the exact lighting and crap for the pics. Crazy I tell you, CRAZY. LOL...so Julio (who works there) and Bill (whom I will tell about later on) just watched us in mirth. They kept taking test photos, and it was beginning to drive me insane. But it's all good. So finally they figured it out and set the timers on their cameras and took the damn pictures! And since I don't have a fancy digital camera with me...I have a Kodak point and shoot, thanks very much...I asked Bill to take a photo of us. And then Jason decided that it would be a good idea to record us in action. Dork.

So then we had all the picture taking moments out of the way and we all started talking, and turns out Bill owns a B&B in Costa Rica right on the lake and has traveled far and wide...so we all got into talking about traveling and whatnot, esp since he'd been to Honduras and that's where Jason and Nathan are heading next, so yeah. Convo lasted awhile. And then we all said our goodbyes and went to bed.

Today I woke up, packed my stuff, and sat around waiting for Terri to come back. She came back into the room around 11:40am (our shuttle picked us up at 12:30pm) and she had told me that she was missing a couple things she had bought. Oh holy crap...so I checked and thought that I was missing my cd case with ALL the cds I had brought on the trip with me in it. Oh no...that's no good. So then we went downstairs to pay for our room and talked to the owner and manager about what had happened. Meh. That was not fun at all. And the people there are so nice! So then we left our Guatemala City info with them, and took our shuttle back here, to the Guatemala City Holiday Inn.

Get up to the room, unpack stuff, and turns out...my cd case was here in G.C. all along. I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO incredibly bad! And Terri found her stuff too. So we feel so stupid. Whoops...and I'm gonna call the wonderful people at Hotel Posada San Pedro and say that we're just 2 stupid Americans who don't know jack...EEK! And that's it for now. More updates in the next 2 days? Quite possible, I say! Take care everyone!

Love,
Jessica

Well folks, here I am in Monoloco (so what else is new?) ;) going with another update...woohoo!

Well, plans didn't exactly turn out the way they were supposed to yesterday...but in a way they did...kinda...

So after I was done at Monoloco, I headed on out to buy some things...got some more gifts for people, bought some posters...things are so cheap down here...I've bought quite a few things, (all fairly small things, of course), but I've still gotten quite a few things. Uh, back to the original story...so I went around and bought things...then went back to the hotel around 5pm or so. Hung out, worked on some postcards, as Terri cooked chicken and rice, and and Jason and Nathan worked on their plans for the rest of their trip here in Guatemala and in Honduras.

So they went to the travel agency to get their plans in order and Terri and I ate dinner watching random shows in English out in the common area. Jason and Nathan came back a couple hours or so later (wait, I think that we were watching the Emmys...maybe...) and we all went out to Cafè Sky for dinner (for the boys) and drinks (for me and Terri). Sat on the terrace and enjoyed the view. Pretty damn cool, I tell ya. Jason and Nathan took tons of pics and we were prolly there for about 3 hours or so just sitting there talking and drinking and whatnot. No alcoholic consumption for this little one...I had a licuado of strawberries, peaches, and pineapple with water. Damn good.

Then we headed back to the hotel and it started to rain (the main reason as to why we left when we did) and hung out in the common area again. More postcard writing...and talking...and talking more than writing...whoops! Night ended fairly early (for me, at least) at I went to bed around 12am or so.

Today (Tuesday):

Woke up, Terri left around 7:40am this morning and was in and out of the room from then on out...I got up around 9:50am, took a shower and joined the boys around 10:30am to go for brunch at Cafè Condesa in the main square. That was good, and since Terri and I had agreed to meet back at San Pedro to talk about our travel plans, we killed some time by looking at a couple shops and then went back. Talked about what we were gonna do, then the boys and I headed out to the Market. Walked around, didn't buy anything, went to the supermarket where they bought some things for their hike up Volcano Pacaya tomorrow.

Back to the Hotel Posada San Pedro, talked to Terri, and the four of us headed out to try and find this place called Cookies, Etc. But we didn't find it, so here we are at Monoloco...hehehe...later on, I think that we'll be going to dinner and tomorrow Terri and I will be catching a 12:30pm shuttle back to Guatemala City. Pretty damn exciting! Then I have no idea as to what we'll be doing on Wednesday, but I know that Thursday I'll be able to watch surgery. Then Friday I head out to the airport around 9:30am or so, catch my 11somethingam flight, and get home around 8:03pm or so.

More later, these few days aren't gonna be that eventful, but it's all good! Miss and love you guys lots!!

Love,
Jessica

Cherised family, friends, and...family and friends.. ;)

Sorry it's taken me so long to do updates number 2 & 3 (and now 4), but hey...I've been a busy bee!
(And to those who will be receiving parts of this email again...los siento).

And by the way, this email is gonna be like a novel...so be prepared...you might wanna make your own intermission or something like that...hehehe 0=)

Sooo...I don't really remember where I left off, but here goes it anyway.

So Monday/Tuesday:

Monday we met this amazing lady named Ana Maria, originally from the south of Holland, lives in Antigua, Guatemala, and organizes a TON of projects there. She and her partner Carla are two amazing Dutch women. I mean AMAZING. Currently Carla is back in Holland in board meetings and whatnot helping organize more projects with the group there. So back to the story at hand. Ana Maria and Simone (currently in Antigua from the South of Holland as well) invited us in (Terry knows Ana Maria from before) their home and we had a little lunch (Dutch soup, egg salad and salmon salad on toast, and fresh pineapple slices) and talked about what we each do and whatnot. A woman named Janet (who'll also be coming down) made a rough calendar for Ana Maria to give to people and also will bring more copies to sell (100% of donations go to funding for projects) using pics she had taken of Guatemala and they are beautifuL! Everyone should buy a copy!!!! ;) Shameless plug, I know...

So Ana Maria has a dog named Quecha (sp, I'm more than sure of it) who is a street dog about 5 months old named after the most famous prostitute in all of Holland. This woman is hilarious! A little Dutch humor, I suppose hehehe...and dear God, I swear the dog just loves me or something! Always jumps on me! Silly dog...anyway...After visiting Ana Maria and Simone, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed a bit, and went out around 8pm or so to have drinks with Ana Maria and Simone after they went to feed the homeless with a Belgian couple that was visiting. They were going to have a police escort as they always do, but since Monday was Guatemala's Independence day...they had originally promised to do so but didn't. So Ana Maria, Simone, and these Belgian volunteers had to walk ALL THE WAY AROUND the city just to get to the place where they normally feed the homeless because going the way they normally go without a police escort would have been unsafe. Stupid bueraucracy...

Ana Maria and her organization in Holland are building this homeless shelter here in Antigua that will house about 120 people every night. So the current mayor's wife wants to get in on the action and have her name on a plaque so she's on the board, but she never goes to meetings, and when they had a fundraising gala one night...about Q200 a plate...Ana Maria and her foundation never saw the money. The politicians had all pocketed it for themselves...so I think they had gotten about Q4,000 from the people they had brought and collected personally from...but they lost out on a ton of money. So the new mayor and his cabinet are in on January 10, 2004. And they scheduled the opening to be Janurary 7, 2004 so that they can open it with the current mayoral cabinet. BUT...here's the best part...Ana Maria and the organization are going to say that they can't open the shelter until AFTER the 10th because of cost overruns/no beds etc. so that the stupid mayor's wife and that entire cabinet can't take credit for jack. Absolutely brilliant. =)

Went back to the Sky Cafe, had "Pollo a la Plancha" (grilled chicken with avocado, salsa, black beans, and rice...really good), a Gallo (local Guatemalan beer), and yeah. So we all talked, enjoyed our meals/drinks, and I paid with my VISA...turns out I don't really think that they get many credit cards, so the transaction took about 10 minutes to process. Crazy, I know. So Ana Maria and Simone went home while Terry, Maria, and I waited for the transaction to finish. So we headed up to the terrace where we had had brunch the day before and looked out at the night sky and city of Antigua. Absolutely beautiful! Transaction came through and we went back to the Hotel San Pedro.

Next day (Tuesday) I slept in after writing in my journal for way longer than expected, and Maria and Terry were kind (and generous) enough to go to the travel agency and book our tour for Tikal (jungle and Mayan ruins). When they returned, I had finished showering and they even bought me a latte!! Mmm...coffee...so then we headed out to get some money as I had no Quetzales whatsoever and hit up Terry's "favorite" ATM. Thank God the directions were available in English, as even Terry (fluent in Spanish) had trouble at a different ATM trying to figure out the directions and where she could get her money from. Maria went to exchange some US, so that took a bit longer than expected. Prolly took us about an hour to get done with the whole money/bank situation. By then it was about 12pm or so and we wanted to find an Internet cafe (I swear, I'm an internet junkie...Terry's dubbed me the Internet Slut and I've dubbed her the Coffee Slut...just like Jared! ;)) so we did...right next door.

The place is called Monoloco...literally...Crazy Monkey. Hehehe...tons of students from all over the world inhabit Antigua, and apparently Monoloco is one of their favorite places! So I tried sending some emails out from there before we had to be at Ana Maria's (Los Tulipanes -- that's the tile on the outside of her house) house by 1:15pm because we were gonna go to Alotenango (sp?), a local village about 15 mins by bus from Antigua. So we went to there house, walked over to the bus, and got to the local school there in time. Bus cost Q1.75, and since I don't currently wanna do the conversion...let's just say that it was CHEAP. The school was started by this wonderfully amazing man named Julio Cesar who is the school's director, principal, teacher, founder, counselor...you name it, he is it. He even went for one whole year without pay because he believes in this school so much! How much more dedicated and amazing can you be?!?!?!?!

Julio Cèsar gave us an introduction od the school and showed us pictures of the beginning stages of the school (very primitive -- they had cinderblocks and pieces of wood as their desks) to what we see today which are decent wooden chairs and tables. A vast improvement, I tell you. They have no electricity or running water, so they make do. And it looks pretty good...they have the walls decorated with art projects and the back table has all their toothbrushes and cups. They're trying to teach the children good hygiene and cleanliness and whatnot, which is great.

Simone teaches the kids English, and has been there about 2 months or so, and will be leaving in about 2 weeks to go back to Holland and reenter the "real world" where she'll have to find a job! Eek! Anyway, the group of us and about 4 other Dutch girls were there to look around and help out. A German girl also teaches math there. So while Ana Maria and Terry were interviewing and taking pictures of these 3 girls who are being given scholarships to go to secondary school (through the Dutch organization Ana Maria works for -- one wants to be a doctor, another a teacher, another a lawyer -like me!), we all sat in on the class that Simone was teaching. Then Terry pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to watch/play/teach a little boy who was by himself and not in the class. Of course, I said yes.

His name is Gerber, and he is SOOOOO adorable!! He's 6 years old, has a sister named Lesbia (11, who, like Gerber, stuck to me like glue), and another brother about 8 or 9 or so. Terry had brought this sticker book with her that had circus themes and so as I knew some of the animals in Spanish, I would ask him how to say this or that in English and we'd just go back and forth with that. So as I was sitting there teaching Gerber and he was also teaching me (Spanish, duh), and it just started to POUR. And I mean 10 ton cats and dogs. Insane...the weather changes really quickly...we were in Antigua where the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and then 30-45mins later...pouring rain. But thank God it didn't last too long. About 20 mins or so. The kids had a break from English class, so a few of them came and joined me at my table (all in all I think that I had like 6 or 7 kids) and we played with the stickers and Terry had brought this Winnie the Pooh (YAY!) painting book where the pigment is already in the pages and you just need water and presto! Instant colored picture! So we got some water...hmm...wonder where that could have come from... ;) and painted. The kids gave me the finished masterpieces as presents. How cute!

So then classes were over, the rain had let up, and we were taken on a tour of the village to which Gerber and Lesbia were stuck to me like glue...pretty amazing stuff we saw. I took lotsa pics, so I'll have plenty to show people when I get home...for those of you not fortunate enough to be in the greater Seattle area...if you ask nicely...I'll scan some for ya. ;) After that, said bye to the kids, got on the bus, and went back to Antigua. Unfortunately, I forgot the paintings from the kids at the school...sad...but it's all good. They can hang them up on their walls and whatnot.

Finally at Wednesday:

Maria and I went to bed at like 11pm, woke up around 3:30am, and caught our shuttle to Guatemala City airport at 4:30am. Sat there for awhile, then got on our plane to Tikal around 6:45am. Landed in Flores about half an hour later, then got on our shuttle to Tikal National Park to the Hotel Jungle Lodge there. Ride took about an hour or so. Then we dropped our stuff off at our bungalow, went back to the main lodge, and our tour of the Mayan ruins began around 9am. The tour was amazing. Absolutely beautiful. I'd say the temp was prolly around 80s but humidty was about 80%, and that was killer. And I mean killer. On our tour, we had a Swiss couple from around the Zurich area (Thomas and Andrea) with their 18 month old son Eric...SO CUTE! They've been living in the Bahamas for about 2 years and are gonna live there a little longer before they go back to Zurich and settle down for good. Eric is 18 months old and he's already been to 12 countries. Seasoned explorer, he is. We were saying that he should work for the National Geographic Society...lol. We also had this guy from Holland and another from Brussels. Good tour, good guide, good God.

All in all the tour lasted about 4 hours, 4 bottles of water between me and Maria...and yeah...it was long, humid, and hot, but tons of fun nonetheless. After the tour, they provide lunch, so we had that...it was alright...nothing spectacular. Asparagus soup, chicken fajitas with steamed carrots and potatoes, and pseudo-bananas foster (with milk, I believe). Then Maria went to the visitor's center to buy some things, and I got my book and headed back to the lodge to read outside. That didn't work out so well...for me, that is. I sat out there for like 10 mins or something and couldn't stand the heat and the bugs anymore so I had to go back to my room. Insane. So I took a nap, showered, and slept some more. Basically slept the day away. Literally. Woke up every so often and heard the Howler monkeys right outside our room. So they have generators there and they turn off everysooften to save energy...and thus we lose the abillity to have the fan on. UGH. It was an experience, let me tell you. It was beautiful and fun, but I think that one day at Tikal is plenty. Unless you're a zealous hiker/absolutely HAVE to go walking around some more, only then would I recommend an overnight stay. The heat and humidity kill you, so if you get there early enough like we did...one day is plenty.

Thursday:

Checked out of bungalow 9A at 1pm, walked over to the visitor's center and got some gifts. Then went back to the main lodge, sat around reading for a bit, and our shuttle picked us up around 2pm. Got to the airport at Flores, and waited around for our 4:30pm flight back into Guatemala City. Got picked up by our shuttle and dropped off at the Holiday Inn around 5:30ish pm. Since we didn't see Terry in the lobby (she thought we were getting in around 6pm) we decided to go up to the front desk and check into our room ourselves. Turns out the people there couldn't find our names anywhere in the database even though we are with the Healing the Children Foundation. So we kept trying and they kept trying and took our passports to check names/whatever, and I'm about to give up when Terry comes strolling in at 5:50pm and gets things in order. Thank God. I was so tired.

Finally got our room and put our stuff down. Then we went out to dinner around 7:15pm with Enrique and his daughter, Dr. Don, and Diane, Terry's roomie for the next week or so. Don had found this place earlier in the day and wanted to go there so we all headed out...turns out we couldn't find it and when we finally did, about 30 mins later...there wasn't any room. So we went to Tre Fratelli, this really good Italian restuarant about a block away from the hotel. Crazy, I know. After dinner was bed. And that was Thursday.

Friday:

Woke up around 7:15am, got ready, went to complimentary breakfast downstairs, and got ready to go teach First Aid at Camino Seguro, the garbage dump school. We got down there around 9:30am or so and setup our stuff to teach 8 teachers about First Aid. Let me just say that I am extremely grateful to Don for getting the Red Cross First Aid videos in Spanish. That saved a lot of time, confusion, and helped us all out in the end. We had Diego, Lisette, Isabel, Maribel, Julio, Julio, Alejandro (Alex), and Araycel (?). They were wonderful students, had plenty of questions and examples to share and were fantabulous. The class went better than expected, and we all had a lot of fun doing it. After the teaching part was over, we handed out the tests for them to take to "certify" them in First Aid. And I took mine and passed with flying colors...woohoo! ;) Oh, and we had "Pollo Campero" for lunch, which is like the Guatemalan equivalent of KFC but so much better. And they're everywhere!

After all that was said and done, Maribel took us around Camino Seguro where we saw what I was initally expecting to see when we got there. They had put us in the safest and cleanest part of the school they had. THey have about 3 different sites around Camino Seguro. So we walked around and they place is amazing. To see that people live in those conditions with my own two eyes was just amazing. SUch an eye opening experience. And the fact that the teachers and volunteers are so dedicated was incredible. Imagine a garbage dump and that being the neighborhood you live in. Squallor, trash, dogs, people, everywhere trying to survive. Kids playing in teh garbage and gettign hurt every single day...I would have taken pictures, but I didn't and still don't..think that that would have been a good idea.

So Got back from Camino Seguro and took a shower right away, relaxed, Terry and Maria went to get Terri from the airport, I watched "Much Ado About Nothing," CNN, stuff like that, and waited for them to get back. Afterwards we all relaxed and ordered room service. So cheap. It's like $10 for an entree. Amazing. Anyway, after that, went to bed.

Saturday (today):

Woke up, and here I am in Antigua. We decided to come here for the day as Maria is leaving the beautiful country of Guatemala tomorrow and Terri has never been. Took a taxi to get to the "bus station" (it's not really a station...more like a meeting place...), got on the bus, and the adventure began. Bus was packed with people...I mean, we were sardines in a can. But it was fun. Squished, but fun...ran some errands with Terry, went to Ana Maria's house to drop off a couple bags and some of the glow sticks that I told her I was going to her when we went to Aluotenango for the kids at the school there. Dropped off Terry's laundry (about $2 for the whole load) and here I am in Monoloco for the past couple hours writing this email and chatting with people online and catching up with scores and news and whatnot. So yes. Here ends the novel because my hands hurt.

Hope you enjoyed it and I'll prolly have another one out for you tomorrow. Maybe. ;)

Glad you all were able to sit through this! Take care...oh, I've discovered a few more bug bites..yuck. It's raining again...yay for tropical weather! And we're catching our shuttle back to Guatemala City at 5:30pm so I should get out and do something...in the rain...yeah...not so good. Whateva.

Take care and I love you guys lots!

Love,
Jessica *MUAH*

Hola! ¿Como estas? This will be in email form...too lazy to change! hehehe

Buenas tardes! Soy anesthesia doctora numero uno. hahaha...

Well, sorry to send this in a mass email, but things just work a little better this way. This is my first email from Guatemala! Currently we're in an internet cafe, and I have to try and figure out all the keys. I mean, the keys for the letters work just fine, but it's trying to find apostrophes, colons, and whatnot. Meh...but it's been good so far. Good times, good times.

Yesterday was a long day. We had a FULL flight to Houston, TX where we arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. George Bush...Texas...interesting... ;) hehehe...I've been figuring these keys out, and I think that I've kinda got it down. Whateva...then from Houston, we flew into Guatemala City with practically no one on the plane, which was veeeery nice. Got to stretch out on the seats, and enjoyed it very much.

Got into Guatemala City around 9:15pm, got dropped off all the medical supplies we were carrying to Dr. Don, who's heading the trip, got in our van, and our driver drove us here, to Antigua. When we got here, the ¨first¨ of our disasters was that we didn't get the hotel we were originally staying at because they dropped our reservation for the night since they didn't think that we were gonna make it since we got into Antigua about an hour after we arrived. So then our driver took us around trying to find us a place to stay...and we found one...which Terry and I have dubbed ¨The Primary Colors Room¨ with leopard skinned furniture in the communal areas. Sooo...Maria absolutely loved it while Terry and I were...a little more reluctant, let's say. But it was fine. Everything was pretty comfortable, and it was good.

One thing that was totally surprising to me was that when you go to the bathroom, (we had our own, by the way) was that you have to put your used toilet paper into the waste basket...umm...yeah...so that was a little interesting...woke up this morning, took a shower, oh, and when you brush your teeth, use bottled water, cuz ya never know about the tap water here. Then...went upstairs to this beautiful cafe at the top of our hotel, the Hotel Sky. About $18 a night for the 3 of us! So cheap!!!! So went upstairs to the Cafe Sky, which was absolutely adorable!!! SOOO CUTE! Sat on top of the terrace, looked out at the city, the volcano, and the surrounding hills and whatnot. Proved to be a stunning view. I took pics so you all can see what I'm talking about later, when I come back...except for Sunny, to which I'll scan the pics or mail to...I love you Sunshine! ;)

And at breakfast, Maria had little adventure in food. Our waitress thought that she had ordered a muffin, to which Maria had thought she ordered fruit, granola, and yogurt. The waitress then came by later and told Maria (in Español) that they didn't have any muffins, but had a brownie, and if she would like that instead. And Maria...not quite interpreting what she was saying, said ok. So she brought a brownie. After some confusion between the three of us, we talked to the waitress and told her what Maria wanted, and she got her food, just as Terry and I were finishing up our own food (pancakes and an omelette, respectively). Oh, and apparently they practically never had the drink I wanted. First I wanted orange juice, then they said they didn't have any...then I wanted lemonade...and they didn't have any...so then I decided to get what Maria got. A strawberry, pineapple, and banana smoothie...which was very good. Then we packed up the stuff in our room and made our way over to the Hotel San Pedro, the original hotel that we were supposed to stay at. And since our room isn't quite ready yet, the three of us wandered on over to the Cybernet Cafe where I am now. Typing a mass email to all of you out there...

After we finish up here, we're going to Terry's friend's house...Ana Maria...where we'll do...something. And since today is Guatemala's Independence Day, we'll be wandering the city and checking out the festivities! Should be quite exciting. Last night we saw these people running from Antigua to Guatemala City, which is about 35 or 45 km...you do the math. That's a damn long way to run! And they were all running with these torches they lit in Antigua's main square. The architecture here is very interesting...tons of remnants from Spanish colonial days...I think it was built around the 1500s or so. And the coffee and baked goods in here smell really good!! BUt I'm still full from brunch. And that's about it for now. Update ends about here! Email me back with what's going on back in your respective parts of the world! Take care, I promise I'll be safe...and that's about it! Have a wonderful day and I'll email another one as soon as I can! =) *MUAH*

Love,
Jessica

Alright my little chickadees...last post before I leave for Guatemala!!

In about 8 hours, I will be on a plane to Houston, TX, then on a plane to Guatemala City, Guatemala!

Drove over to Silverdale today to see Ms. Sunshine Monastrial one last time before she leaves for Ecuador. Made cheesecake (as promised). I got to her house around 3pm or so...we sat around for a bit, and then we went to Poulsbo to originally get some ice cream, but instead got these fat free chocolate cookie things, ran into Mr. Adrian Angeles (Patrick's old roomie), didn't get ice cream, but walked around "downtown" Poulsbo, then drove to Mr. Jared Eyer's house. I think Jared had originally told people to go to his house at like 4pm, but Sunny and I were the first to arrive...and we got there around 5pm...then the Webbs and Trent showed up around...7pm, maybe? ;) So we hung around for awhile looking at Jarf's pics from "Adventures in Denmark and a Little Beyond..." which were cool, took some pics ourselves, and watched the UCLA football game on TV.

Then Jared and I went to pick up his mom and a couple friends from a wedding down the way...the house looked so beautiful!! Very cute! Then went back to his house, his dad made burgers on this little camping propane grill (the regular one ran out of propane), ate (yum), watched us some TV, SNL Presents: The Best of Will Farrell =D, some Jeopardy, and some news. Talked a bit...hung out some more...ate cheesecake...had some tea...then took Sunny home. Originally I was planning on leaving Silverdale around 12am at the latest...umm...didn't exactly turn out that way. More along the lines of leaving Jared's house at 12am, heading back to Sunny's...sitting and talking with her til 1:30am, and then proceeding to drive back home. And here I am. Packing the rest of my stuff into my suitcase and backpack. Which I really need to get back to today. And that's it for now...I'll have email access down there so feel free to email me!!! Have a wonderful 2 weeks until I post next, and take care everyone!!! *MUAH*

I'll miss you tons Sunshine!!! =D

Countdown to Guatemala: 1 DAY!!!

Sooooo...Guatemala, anyone? ;)

Taken from my email (I didn't bother to change it in any way...I'm too lazy at the moment and making cheesecake!):

The planned itinerary for our first week/Terry, Maria and Jessica is:

1. Sept 14, arrive Guatemala City Airport and take bus shuttle to Antigua. Spend Sunday night at the Hotel Posada San Pedro in Antigua.
2. Spend Monday and Tuesday in Antigua. Monday is a national holiday (Independence day). Visit the city, see a village school project, and help with the homeless street project.
3. Wednesday, Maria and Jessica to Tikal. Terry to Guatemala City.
4. Thursday, Maria and Jessica return to Guatemala City. Terry meets at airport and we go to the Holiday Inn in Guatemala City.
5. Friday, spend the day at Camino Seguro (Garbage Dump school) teaching First Aid Class.
6. Go meet Terri at airport Friday evening. We all stay at Holiday Inn
7. Saturday is a free day (see Guatemala City, go to a market like Chichicastenango, visit Lake Atitlan and market, other). Stay night in Guatemala City or Antigua
8. Sunday -Maria to airport. Terri and Jessica off and about. Terry working with Orthopaedic Surgery team in Guatemala City.

This can all get changed around of course, so we will see how it goes and what we all want to do and see.

The Second Week, Terri and Jessica can work with projects in Antigua, come and work with me at the hospital or Camino Seguro, and/or visit other tourist places and markets in Guatemala.

So that's my basic itinerary for my time in Guatemala. I'm so excited! =D

Basically gonna help teach First Aid/CPR to teachers and other locals, sightsee, and what I'm so totally excited about...actually being able to step in on (and maybe help with -- like handing tools and whatnot) some surgeries!!!!!! =D

Pretty much packed all my stuff tonight since I'm going over to Silverdale tomorrow to see Sunny one last time...and we're going to Jared's bbq as well! Good times, good times. Will be sad but so much fun at the same time!

Currently watching Sense and Sensibility, great movie, I love Jane Austen, what can I say? 0=)
Finished reading Seabiscuit: An American Legend, which was really good...loved it. Now Kairu and my aunt are gonna borrow it, so I doubt that I'll be seeing the book for awhile...hehehe...but it's all good, cuz now I can read The Da Vinci Code and In Her Shoes. I can't decide which one I wanna read first. But I'm thinking Da Vinci, cuz my cousin recommended it so highly and it just sounds absolutely fascinating. ;)

Well, that's about it for now, oh, Josh has updated his pics like 5 times in a row, which is quite shocking, I must say! ;) Naw...good job on the updates Josh! Keep up the good work!! There's a pic of me, Erin, Sean, and Jared...woohoo! I think the pic is from Erin's bday...*thinking*...uh, yeah, I believe it is. Alright, that's enough outta me. Gotta finish baking that cheesecake for tomorrow! Sunny wanted me to make her my white chocolate cheesecake, and here I am, making it now one last time for her for a year! (Well, practically...) Aww...and the loverly people at Jared's bbq will also be able to partake in the wonderful eating of cheesecake!! Woohoo!! (I think that'll include the Webbs...gluttons in their own right...Trent, and some people I may or may not know...all good though!)

Have a good one and I'll post my last entry for 2 weeks tomorrow! My goodness...

Night all! *muah*

Countdown to Guatemala: 2 days!!!

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone!

Time to celebrate the moon, mooncakes, food, and family (for me, at least).

Work work work work work today (as will be the case tomorrow...), then came home for dinner, a driveway full of cars, and about 20 additional family members. Good times, good times. ;)

Even though it's 10:50pm right now, I am quite exhausted. Ugh...need to start packing for Guatemala...I'm excited though! I believe that Saturday I'll be making my way on over to Silverdale to see Sunny one last time before she leaves for Ecuador. (SAD!) :'( I believe that we'll be going to Jared's bbq or something like that...Sunny called me earlier and told me that she had this wonderful idea...and knowing Sunshine...wonderful ideas can be adventuresome... ;) hehehe...

Anyway, that's it for now. Have a good one, remember 9/11 and I'll post more tomorrow! *muah* =)

Countdown to Guatemala: 3 days! =D

"Past Life" Analysis, anyone? ;)

September 11th...2 years later...

I FINALLY HAVE A MAJOR!!!!!!

I'm excited, if you can't tell. ;) Today was an extremely busy day. 8am wake up, go to Group Health at 9am for First Aid training/planning lessons for when we teach the Guatemalan teachers First Aid/CPR. Done at 12pm. Go to Cafe Lladro (mmm....) for a wonderful medici...mmm...and this really good pumpkin bread. Totally worth the trip.

Then park my car at work around 12:30pm, head on over to the Art Building for some advising fun...and bam! I've got one of my 2 intended majors! This is such a relief...dear God...I mean, I currently have like 103 credits and you need to declare by 105...so I was beginning to stress about it, and I wanted to get it done before I go to Guatemala and school starts. So thank God that is over!!!!!! I am finally officially in the Department of Art History! WoohoO!!! *SIGH*

Umm...then went and visited Erin a bit while she was at work, then headed off to work myself...then off to dinner at Sea Garden in Chinatown, then back home. It's been a long day. I'm rather exhausted...

Been reading Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand. REALLY GOOD BOOK. I totally recommend it. She combines history, fact, and good prose all in one, making the characters, whose lives are already quite interesting in themselves, even moreso. Fact, (prolly some) fiction, and a great deal of imagination help to make this book page turning. I can't seem to put it down! Wow, that totally sounded like one of those reviews you'd read on Amazon...I'm scared...of myself...but I haven't lost a dollar! (To MYSELF, that is...). ;) Anybody get that? You get a gold star if you did...if you didn't...too bad. =)

The new John Mayer cd, Heavier Things, is really quite good. I am enjoying it quite a bit! Got the Jason Mraz and N.E.R.D. cds too. Good times, good times. Listening to the Jason Mraz cd right now...not too shabby...haven't listened to N.E.R.D. yet, but I'm expecting good things from it. =)

Alright, that's about it for now, so have a good one and I'll prolly be posting everyday til I leave!

Countdown to Guatemala: 4 days!!!!!!!!! =D

P.S. HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY BECCA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be safe/good tonight! ;)

Well, been working more lately...

Tomorrow I'll be doing my first aid training class that'll be bilingual (we've got some viedeotapes in Spanish). Then I'll head on over to the good 'ol Art Building for some advising fun! Then off to work at 1pm, dinner at 7pm, and yeah. That's about it. Prolly gonna crash right after that. So busy week, I took the first of my weekly malarial prevention pills (they're shocking pink...eek!) and yeah. Not too much else to talk about...oh wait.

So before, the guy whose room I wanted in the apts I work at wasn't gonna leave. But now he is!!!! Rock on!! I'm so excited that things are finally coming together! Sigh....anyway, gotta start packing for my trip to Guatemala! I'm so excited!!!! Will update more about that later in the week. Have a good one! *muah*

OH MY FUCKING GOD. Blogger lost my post again...and it was a damn long one this time, too!!! UGH...too tired to post in detail, so here's the short of it:

Got back from Oregon...good times.

Cooked with Kairu, good times.

Cooked and watched movies at Erin's new apt with Sean, Jared, and for like an hour, Derek. Good times.

FINALLY saw Austine since Christmas, caught up on each other's lives, and saw Seabiscuit. I cried, laughed, recommend the movie. Good times.

Out with Sunny and Jared today. Good times.

Working like crazy. Not so good times.

Leaving for Guatemala in 8 days. Holy freakin' God.

Tired. Time to sleep. Good times.

*MUAH*