Cracker Barrel Fun!

I have now come and gone from the US for this Christmas break and I had a wonderful time! I figured I would try to recap bits and pieces of my time , so today I will begin with a night out with 25 of my closest friends at Cracker Barrel. I flew home on the 16th and after a quick trip to the doctor (thankfully I am ok!) I headed up to Athens to spend a couple of days with Beau and Hilary. I am so lucky that they live in Athens still because that is where I spent previous 7 years of my life before coming to Guatemala. In many ways that is home to me as well as my parents house. So instead of getting together with each person individually , I asked my friend Matt if he could just tell all my bible study from Watkinsville to meet for dinner one night. I was expected, 10 maybe 12 people, but 25! WOW! What a great group of friends I have!! So we had sometime of laughter and yummy breakfast for dinner! There were new babies, new engagements, and just good old friends!! Thanks for coming and sharing your evening with me!

the one long table of people!

Dr. Abney and his sweet granddaughter Charlotte

LeAnne, me and Lenore! LOVE THEM!

The Carter's! Amazing couple from church

Me and Ansley. She teaches abroad in Korea!

Matt! The organizer of this shin dig! (a little shakin' Kelly time... just for old times!!)

I love birthdays!

My birthday was last week and the celebrations have not ceased!! I have always really enjoyed birthdays and to be honest it is hard to be away from my close friends and family on my birthday. But this year, wow!! It has just been a blast! The birthday festivities started on Friday Dec, 5th with a league winning victory in Futeca soccer by the other gringa girls team. It was an extremely exciting game and ended with a trip to the bar down the street to celebrate. Because it was a Friday night, I was ready to crawl into my bed at about 10:30, but was convinced to stay until midnight to begin my birthday! It was the perfect way to start the weekend!

The team with their trophy

I was leading the cheering train for the fans!

So on my actual birthday (Saturday) I awoke to the most beautiful day! The volcanoes were just as clear as day and the sun was shining!
My roommates were out of town with a work team for the US, so I had the casa to myself! One of my good friends Cindy and her two youngest children wanted to go to the Mall for the morning and because I love shopping, I tagged along with them! As I hopped into the car, I had birthday cards awaiting and a round of Happy Birthday was sung! After purchasing two very cute tops for my birthday fun, I met up with my friend Marleny for lunch. She and I headed to a new outdoor plaza/mall where we split a salad and pizza! Can't you see why this year's birthday was just great!

Finally after returning home and taking a good hour nap (while watching episodes of Season 2 of 30 Rock) I headed out to my joint birthday dinner for me and my friend Wendy! This was the sunset as I was heading out the door! Yes, I had to stop and take a quick photo!
So dinner was at a place called "Sabor del Chef" or "A taste by the chef" and is owned by our Athletic Director, Henry, at my school. It was super great and we had the entire upstairs to ourselves! We ate, we drank, we danced! It was the perfect spot to begin the night!

The other birthday gal , Wendy, and me
Yummy! Beer from Guatemala... HA! YEAH RIGHT!
Kisses all around for the birthday girl!
Jesse and Catie were great in making my birthday special.
Everyone LOVES a dance party! Anyone recognize these moves??
Cumpleanos feliz, ya queremos pastel!

The night continued (though pictureless) in a trip to Cien Puertas in Zone 1. There we met up with some more friends where we celebrated for a couple more hours! We closed the bars down around 1 a.m.

Sunday was spent at the pools with my beach buddies! It was very relaxing day and a great way to spend the day after my birthday!


On Thursday night, my school had an event called Noche de Luces (night of lights) and my roommates and I hosted a party in honor of the December birthdays at my apartment. We had about 30 friends come up to my apartment and watch the fireworks. It was very fun and a great way to continue celebrating my birthday.

Me, Jaime and Guillermo (Jaime's birthday is Dec 20th)
Other amigas at the party!
I believe that my birthday festivities finally came to an end today (at least until I am home and I got to Cazadores with the family to celebrate one last time)! My roommates and my friend Cindy and spent the day today at the pools and spa. I was treated to a 50 minute massage and 2 hours of relaxation by the pool. What a way to end a great week and first half of school!

In case you are wondering if and when I will be home this Christmas... I arrive on Tuesday, December 16th and will be flying back to Guate on Tuesday December 30th. Call me if you can!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes Charlie!! We all love TURKEY!!

Friends and family! I hope that y'all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! I was able to celebrate here on Sunday with my roommates, the Greene's and some other members of the Young Life organization. The food was incredible and the company was even better. Here are some photos of our Dia de Gracias!

Just some pre-food swingin!!

The setting! We were all at one big long table in the backyard at the Greene's. The weather was perfect. About 70* in the sun and 65* in the shade... seriously!

The spread! It was a gringo meal so we gringos cooked. Boy was it delicious!

I love the flowers here in Guatemala. 6 gerber daisies= 25Q ($3.00) WOW!

The Big Brothers (Sami and Pablo)

The Little Brothers (John and Parker)... they are not related by blood to the boys above, but they might as well be! :)

When 5 year old Guille gets the camera this is what we get...
Guille and Rebe (self shot of course).

The roomies (Laura, Rebe and me)... pretty good Guille!

The Vida Joven (Young Life) staff... so he cut off dad's head... no big deal!


The night sky! I am thankful that rainy season is OVER!!

Work day in El Recuerdo

On Sunday, a group of teachers joined the Vida Joven (Young Life) staff to construct two cement floors in the neighborhood called El Recuerdo in Zone 3 of Guatemala City. It was an incredible day! The sun was shining, but a great breeze kept us cool. I am so thankful to have other teachers who want to help out in these communities. This is one of my passions for being in Guatemala, and it is very special to get to share this with my friends. We had raised enough funds to construct these floors and hopefully two more from the teacher talent show that was hosted at my school last year. We are desiring to continue to raise funds so we can go into the local communities and serve in the coming year. I hope you enjoy the photos!

The floor in the room before we began.

The floor when we were completed. Took us just around 6 hours.

We mixed cement in the walkways... the people just stepped around us!

YES I DID WORK! And yes, I am sore! :)

Dona Claudia (head of the neighborhood committee) and Chepe (Brady Greene who does Young Life as well) relaxing on a wheel barrow!

Sandra and I having some good laughs!

Ms. Seagraves, or should I be called mom!!

It has been one long week for me at school. I feel like I have been SUPER MOM at school rather than just your run of the mill teacher. It started with a Monday morning throw-up. Yes, a little girl walked over near my desk, kinda looked up and got sick in the trash can. This has happened with her before, so we were not too worried. She seems to just get sick a lot in the morning. This followed with a 8:30 a.m. nose bleed of a little boy. After a couple of meetings, I returned to the early morning sick child, getting sick again. So... that was Monday!

Tuesday, BOOK FAIR!! I was given the money to take about 10 of my 24 kids to the book fair. That's fine when kids can find their own books, but 45 minutes and 10 kids later, I felt like MOM of the day!

Wednesday was the day that my old students came back to visit. That happens almost everyday, but on Wednesday, one in particular came. Nothing changed! The first thing I had to say was "zip up that zipper!" He's also the one that called me mom last year :)

Thursday was the day of dirty faces and band aids! One of my students came to school with a finger that had been crushed in the car door and was still bleeding. After multiple band aids and washing, it finally stopped. This along with asking students to wipe their faces after lunch, I was ready to go!

I did not realize that being a teacher was so much like being a mom. There is a saying by my Spanish teachers that the teacher is the second mom. I really felt like that this week! So moms, is this just my preparation??

Kite Festival

Every November 1st, there is a Kite Festival to celebrate All Saints Day in Guatemala. The kite festivals take place in the department (county) of Sacatepequez which is located about 45 minutes from Guatemala City. This time last year, mom and dad were visiting and we were unable to go to the event, so I was sure not to miss it this year! Two amigas (Jes and Catie) and I decided to venture off to Santiago to see the sites. We were amazed at what we found. We entered the town and immediately parked the car (we figured it would be much easier to walk the farther distance than have to fight traffic leaving and we were very pleased with our decision). We walked about 25 minutes into the town and through many street vendors and crowds of people to the local cemetery where we were greeted by hundreds of people and kites. People were flying kites from the tops of graves while others were placing flowers along the graves of their family members and still others were just observing and taking pictures like us! It was an experience of a lifetime and something that I will never forget. I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Entering the cemetery of the town.

Let's go fly a kite....

Notice the beautiful colors!

Jes in front of one of my favorites!

Dueling kites! Those are the ones that are pictured above.

People on top of the mausoleum releasing kites... some were able to get up while other plummeted on top of the people!

Si! I was really there!

Look at the bright colors. Just imagine if the sky had been clear!
I loved seeing all the kites in the sky.

The first of the sequence of raising the kite. Notice that starts flat on the group. Someone has to climb up that bamboo stick and attach it at the top.

Other people are underneath the kite pushing it up. It was definitely a team effort!
It is almost up! Now they just have to attach the back.

Jes and I after the kite is finally up and stable.

2 of the 7 HUGE kites that don't fly, but are incredible.

Watch out for falling kites! It was dangerous out there!