Happy Thanksgiving! Although probably most of you will be reading this after the fact. We had another interesting day in Guatemala. We went downtown this morning to buy pinata for the older kids here at Hannah's Hope. There is a section of the city where there are a lot of pinata makers and they have the all hanging out on the sidewalk on display. These are some of the biggest pinatas that I have ever seen. Most of them were taller than Mariah and Carter. We filled them with small toys and candy. The kids went nuts over them.
Lunch today was at Pizza Hut and it was nothing like at home. They had soups, sandwiches and some outstanding pasta dishes. They of course had pizza also. It was almost like eating at an Olive Garden. We are finding that all the American fast food chains that are down here are alot nicer than at home. Go figure.
This afternoon we drove way out into the sticks. This is the first time we were really in the country and driving on horrendous dirt roads. When we got to the orphanage we found out that they had moved all 60 babies into the city and it was now an all boys orphanage ages 11 to 18. The men and Morgan had fun playing dodge ball with them. There wasn't alot for me, Nicole and the little kids to do but the neat part is that they basically never get visitors or groups coming in to help them.
Tonight was probably the best part of the day. We were able to take a widow and her 5 kids out to dinner. She is 28 and she has a 14,9 who doesn't live with her, 8 who has Downs Syndrome, 6, 4, and 1 year old. She lives in the Ghetto beside Ashley. The mom works all day to provide 1 plate of food for the whole family, so this was a real treat. They ordered 2 large pizzas, and several kids meals. They took everything home in doggie bags to give to friends and family back home. We have no idea what it is like to have that kind of need. The thing that impressed me the most was that they were so happy. They laughed and joked with us all evening. They were also so appreciative for the evening. It was a great way to have our Thanksgiving Feast. We even were able to have pumpkin pie which was not exactly like we are used to at home but it did the trick.
We will be out of touch for the next couple of days. We will be going to Panajachel and Xela so we will be staying in hotels and most likely will not have Internet service. So on Sunday night when we are back here at the guest house I will try to catch you up on all of the events.
Good night!
Karen for the gang