Hola amigos,
Sorry for yet another late blog post, it has been very hectic these past few weeks and with everything that’s going on I haven’t been able to sit down to do some blogging!
Two weeks ago my group completed our final week of Spanish class in San Juan del Obispo! On our last day of class we had an examen, but the day before we got to enjoy a giant fruit salad with our teachers from fruit that we bought at el mercado in Antigua the day before. At the end of this week we also had our Spanish graduation which was full of fun and laughter! We started things off with a small ceremony where we each received our certificate for graduating from 6 weeks of learning. We then had an amazing meal with all the students, teachers, leaders and our host families. It was a full house! We ended the night off with a little dance party.. the most entertaining part of the night! It was a great way to end our time with everyone and I’m so thankful for the memories that were made.
On Friday, we took a trip into Santiago Zamora to visit some ladies who run a market selling Mayan goods and items. They explained some history, showed us how they make different pieces of Mayan clothing, and even held a mock wedding ceremony with two of our students posing as the bride and groom! I was amazed at the colours and patterns of the blankets and clothing items the women showed us and that each one can take 9-12 months to complete. The talent and dedication to completing these beautiful creations is amazing! These ladies also made us soup, tortillas, and tamales to enjoy while looking at the array of items displayed for us to admire or purchase.
After an amazing afternoon we returned to San Juan del Obispo where we got some heartbreaking news. We would not be completing the next two weeks of program as planned; independent service week, followed by 7 days of debrief, and then a weekend at the beaching surfing the waves. Instead we were informed we would be flying back to Canada in 5 short days, not finishing our program and not having the ability to have a graduation back in Winnipeg. This would all be due to the Corona Virus hitting our world hard and spreading fast across the globe.
As you all know we didn’t go home that Wednesday but instead left on Sunday to come to San Pedro (the next town over from San Juan) where we are safely housed until we have concrete answers on when and how we will be getting home.
As stressful as this time is for our group, we are making the most of our time by coming up with activities and having sessions with our leaders each day to keep us from boredom and going stir crazy!
Please pray for our group that we will be able to fly home soon to be with our families!! I’m loving my time abroad but with the dilema at hand, I can’t wait to be home.
Thanks for reading,
Kiera & Noah