Canope- Zip Line

So the tale of my first Guatemalan Thanksgiving… obviously not the same as being at home but still turned out to be really fun! The only bad part about the whole holiday was the travel that was necessary to get everywhere we needed to be but totally worth it. Thursday morning I had an exposition for my women’s group in Chiquimula, which was really interesting (even though we didn’t get there until an hour and a half later than we were supposed to and I had to leave an hour after that to make it to Thanksgiving dinner on time… so Guatemalan) but I was there long enough to help set up and get everything prepared so that was nice. There were actually a lot of other women’s groups there that day as well because it was the day of “no more violence against women”. I honestly wish that I could have stayed a little longer to get the full experience and to really see how the whole day went but turkey and pie were just too enticing. After helping out a little Thomas, Jesse and I left from Chiquimula together and met up with Britini and Allie in their town so we could all travel together. That first leg took us about an hour or so and then after two more buses from there and another 3 hours we finally made it to the volunteers site who hosted all of us (her name is Libby just like my mother, which made me feel more at home). It was actually pretty sweet being the last ones to arrive because all the prep work was finished (sorry guys) except for the mixing of the deviled eggs (Emily took care of the rest for me, what a gal) so I did that really quick (not as quickly as everyone ate the deviled eggs though… it was kind of gross) and then we sat down to eat. It was so nice to just sit around the table with everyone and we even each took a turn saying what we were thankful for (everyone said they were thankful for each other and for having a place to get together to celebrate the holiday but clearly I was most thankful for the broccoli salad and the delicious looking pies). I was a little disappointed when there weren’t enough mashed potatoes to go around but the three helpings of stuffing made up for it I think. Everything was really yummy though and we had a good time.

After dinner, we all headed to a placed called the Ecolodge and it was so much fun! We got to roast marshmallows and eat smores (as if we all really needed to eat more after that huge dinner and desert) but who can really ever say no to a smore? Clearly not me. It was also nice to be in the place we were because it was really chilly there and it’s been so hot in my site, it was great to mix it up. I was also pumped to put some of the 2093823 sweaters my mom sent me when I was complaining about being cold to use since they have been packed away the entire time I’ve been at my site (thanks momma). The next morning we all woke up and had a nice little Guatemalan breakfast of eggs and beans (seriously my favorite and since now that I have to cook for myself I’ve only been making things that you can boil or need boiled water added to them such as oatmeal and tea…). Breakfast was followed by a zip-lining adventure, which was so much fun! At first, we were only going to do the first four zip-lines but we ended up getting to do the entire course, which also consisted of a huge, terrifying bridge that swayed and turned ominously in the wind (I’m so good at telling stories). It was really awesome though and the best part was that the whole thing was free and the guy that took us through it only wanted us to “bring people back” so if anyone is interested in that just let me know! The rest of the day we just made some sandwiches and guacamole (thanks to my handiwork… I literally used my hands) and then hung out with the owner of the lodge and his son? I’m not sure who they all were because of my Spanish but it was a lot of fun.

Once the Thanksgiving excitement was over I decided to go to Emily’s site and hang out with her and Brynna for Brynna’s birthday, which turned out to be a blast. We made four huge cakes that even had icing, had a dance party with Emily’s family and woke up at 5am to firecracker Brynna’s house in celebration (who wouldn’t want to be woken up that early to the loudest, most obnoxious noise imaginable… surprisingly Brynna didn’t want to.) All in all, it was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. It was a relief to have such a nice Thanksgiving because spending the holidays away from family and friends can be a little scary especially since those of us who just swore in kinda get hit with the triple whammy of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years but one down and two to go! I hope everyone had an awesome holiday as well and ate lots of leftovers (is it weird that leftovers are honestly the part I miss most about Thanksgiving… oh yeah, and my fam). I miss you all tons and hope everyone is doing well J