Parents and more...

Lots has happened in the past week, it was a short week at Camino Seguro so it was good to have a long weekend. We had Thursday and Friday off of work because one day was a national holiday and the next day was a teacher appreciation day. So the project this past week was good.

The Art program, or now named, Creative Expression program is starting to kick into full gear for planning the event on July 23rd. We have started teaching all the guitar students how to play 'Stand By Me'. There is a cover of this song in Spanish and English by Prince Royce so the kids are excited to play the song. We visited the park near the project where we will be hosting the event and have started figuring out the logistics. We have also been collecting lots and lots of old shoes to paint for the art installation... and thats where my parents come in

I asked my parents if when they came to visit they could bring down some old shoes. When I met them at the airport they were carrying a duffle bag full of over 100 shoes in between them. It was great to see my parents again and i'm excited to have them experience Guatemala!

On Thursday my parents and I visited a macadamia nut farm near Antigua. It was a fun and relaxing experience. The finca made all different things out of the Macadamia nuts... pancakes, chocolates, ointments, lotions. We had some free samples and some pancakes which were delicious. Then on Friday we hiked up Volcan Pacaya, an active volcano in between Antigua and Guatemala City. It was amazing to get to the top and see the old lava flows from when it erupted last year. Then on the way back from the volcano we stopped at Amatitlan and went to a nice pool to relax.

Friday night we went up to Earthlodge along with a whole crew of other volunteers and friends. It was a great night, I played some music after dinner and my parents got to stay in the Treehouse. My parents got to walk back from Earthlodge and see Cerro de la Cruz, where there is a great view over all of Antigua. Saturday night I played my gig at Cafe No Se and had a lot of fun and then on Sunday my parents left for Flores and Tikal. I had a relaxing sunday, played frisbee, and went to an Indian Restaurant for dinner. I talked with the owner of the Indian Restaurant and will be playing there on Thursday night.

It was great to be at the project today after a long weekend. It was good to see the kids again. I got to help one of the kids start writing another song which was fun. I also worked with another student learning Stand By Me so she could play it at the event were having. It's been awesome getting the kids excited about performing. I had a relaxing night tonight, and hopefully will tomorrow... and then I will be playing gigs Wednesday and Thursday and leaving Friday for Xela to go on a hike with my parents to Lake Atitlan! It should be fun, hopefully i'll post when I'm back from the trip!