the backpack brigade!

Every now and then, the four of us will catch each other by surprise when we discover that we're sportin' outfits iguales. We are quite the site as we head to grocery shop in Antigua with matching white v-necks, blue jeans, flips flops, sunglasses, and backpacks. Typical Americans..

la vida mexicana.

You know you had a great time in Mexico when you..

- hung out with your two favorite gals, Sam and Erika :)

- drank your favorite beer! Indio!

- salsa danced on the rooftop of your hostel
- ate a ridiculous amount of creme-filled pastries

- got your fix of tacos al pastor and homemade salsa verde

- went horse-back riding in the beautiful paisaje of San Cristobal

- thought you broke your nose

..wait, what?

Yup. There was definitely a hot second in which I thought I had. It happened right after my horse fell. With me on top of him. Pinto thought it was a good idea to try to catch up with the much faster, much older horses that Sam and Erika were riding. Pair his sudden surge of speed with the downhill slope and smooth cement of the road, and you have yourself a little accident. When his feet went out from under him, he went out from under me. Silly little Pinto. Luckily, I only scraped up my knee and bloodied/bruised my nose. I really could've walked away with (or hobbled away with) a whole lot worse :)

"super" babies.

Dear Super Cola company,

In case you're ever at a loss for advertising ideas, these photos are SURE to help you sell your product.

Sincerely,

Kristina

best. project. ever.

Caval. My last family project was the best family project. When Edith handed off the sheet to me, I literally screamed out of excitement. It is a family of six boys. But not just any boys. Sweetheart boys who know how to be cool AND laugh at my cheesy jokes. Aka Jayron, Isaias, Daniel, Emiliano, Marcelino, and Agusto are super fun to hang around.

When I asked what they wanted to do for project, they could not have responded in a better way. They wanted to buy snacks in town and then (get this) play board games in the library! Heart officially melted. After returning from Parramos, we had everything from Jenga to Connect Four to Guess Who to chess going. Total win.

my feet hurt.

But it's no surprise as to why. Yesterday was the biggest party of the year! Our quinceañera celebration, in which a whopping sixteen girls celebrated, took place. The schedule included Mass, a ring ceremony, a specially-practiced waltz, an outdoor photo shoot, a tasty dinner, caramel-filled cake, and the grand finale of a dance party!

All in all, it was a heartwarming day. From noting how many of the girls had chosen older brothers as their waltz escorts, to how many former volunteers flew down for a surprise visit, to how las tías helped with hair up-dos, to how the babies were dressed to the nines in suits and dresses.. it was an event to remember para siempre.

field trip!

Yesterday was no ordinary Thursday. Heck, it wasn't even an ordinary day. It was THE annual school field trip. And by 'school' I quite literally mean the entire school.

It took us to El Parque de las Naciones Unidadas. A park next to Lake Amatitlan, it had a full-fledged ropes course, multiple replicas of well-known Guatemalan sights, soccer fields, basketball courts, a fish oasis, and even a turtle pool! We took a guided tour through all the sites, and then had the afternoon free to explore. Pair that with a special lunch of soda, chips, and a sandwich and you have got yourself a group of more than content kids.

the k & l adventure: part two.

Now I hope you didn't think that I was done describing our adventure. It's time I share the "we-certainly-did-not-expect-that-to-happen!" moment of the trip.

It all started over the weekend. That was when I made a reservation for our trip out to Semuc. Wrote it down. Confirmed the details with someone Monday morning. Confirmed them again with someone else Monday night. Didn't receive a ticket or a confirmation note (like I asked), but was smart enough to write down both their names. At 7:50 on Wednesday morning, Lisa and I were outside our hostel ready for our 8:00 shuttle. 8:15 rolls around. Head down to reception to hear, "Don't worry, chica! Give it another 10-15 minutes." 8:30 comes and goes. Run down to reception to hear, "What? You guys are still here?!" Well that sounds promising. Reception then calls the travel agency to find out that they passed by our hostel for us already.. At 6:00. Uh, excuse me? I was told 8:00. Three times. From three separate employees. When did the time switch happen? Oh, that's right.. it didn't!

Luckily, the travel agent was sweet enough to stay with us to see if the shuttle could wait for us in the next town. They could! Phew, now we just had to find a public bus to take us there. While waiting at the travel agency, the travel agent left for a hot second. Well, like Murphy's Law calls for, the 9:00 public bus drove past us. Oops. The travel agent comes back in a flurry telling us to chase after it! Considering el camino was all uphill, the bus was all speed, and we were all sweat, we didn't catch it. That's fine, we'll just catch the 10:00 public bus. Oh, what's that? Martín who drives the 10:00 bus wasn't working today? Of course not. We'll just wait for the 11:00, meaning the transport would no longer wait for us. At this point, I would've been content just getting out of middle-of-nowhere Semuc and into the next town. The travel agent started asking her townspeople friends if they were headed to Cobán. Yeah? Who could let us tag along? Great. For the same price it would've cost us to arrive all the way home? No gracias. We started making ourselves comfortable in the shade for the two hour wait. THEN, just then, a flat-bed truck turns the corner. Seeing as Semuc is so small, the travel agent knew him too. Did he have space? Yup. Was he willing to take us? Claro que sí. For what price? 25Q as opposed to 150Q. Well, mi amigo, you've got yourself a deal.

Seeing as there were already three full-grown men up front, that left the flat-bed part of the flat-bed truck for Lisa and I. Eh, porque no? We hopped in the back. Right next to the strapped-in refrigerator. We didn't initially pay much attention to how well the refrigerator was strapped in. But, as we started the two hour trip to the next town, we quickly realized why: an unpaved road full of rocks and divets is more than half the trip to Cobán. Thus, we laid out our still-damp towels to provide our behinds a little extra cushion. And we were off! About twenty minutes into the ridiculously bumpy ride, the truck stopped and one of the guys came to the back. The preceding conversation went a little like this:

Him: "Mucho polvo acá, verdad?" "There's a lot of dust here, right?"
Me: "No, no hay tanto." "No, not that much."
Him: "Siii. Permitanme a barrer." "Yes. Allow me to sweep."
Me: "Haha. En serio?" "Haha. Seriously?"
Him: "Si! Por favor." "Yes! Please."
Me: "Pues, si quieres.." "Well, if you want to.."

The gentleman (yes, that is what I'm calling a complete stranger in who we put way too much trust) then swiftly pulled out his broom and sweetly swept around us while making small chat. When he finished, he hopped back up front and drove off again. Did they really just stop the truck to sweep the back of it for us? Awww. In addition to this momento dulce, we found our ride extremely hilarious. Here we were bouncing around the back of a random truck, holding on for dear life, and laughing our heads off about the story that is our lives. Oh, Guatemala.. :)

the k & l adventure: part one.

Seeing as I've been here for eleven months, it was about time the final Nicchi came to visit! Lisa ever-so-sweetly graced me with her presence this past week. This simultaneously meant we graced Guatemala with our silly sister moments and our ridiculous amounts of laughter :)

We checked off quite a few bucket list items while together. We visited a macadamia nut farm to eat mouth-watering pancakes (oh, and I guess to see how they harvest the nuts..), pit-stopped at a coffee plantation for Lisa's java fix, played with the babes over the weekend, tested my English students' abilities with Lisa's minimal Spanish, and traveled up north to Semuc Champey.

While all of it was a blast, I would have to say that Semuc topped the cake. It is a picturesque collection of limestone pools that glimmer under the afternoon sun. It was here that we scaled pitch black caves via candlelight, floated down the river, hiked to the famous viewpoint, swam in the deliciously turquoise waters, and even found ourselves amongst a Latin lover (our tour guide!). It certainly was a sister trip well worth the wait.