This was my fifth and final week at UPAVIM. The past few days were full of good-bye hugs, photos, and food. On Monday, I had dinner with Carrie, one of the Sister Parish coordinators that I met during the delegation last year. It was great to catch up with her and tell her about my experiences at UPAVIM. On Wednesday, I had a second meeting with the consejo del hermanamiento (the UPAVIM committee in charge of the Sister Parish connection). We continued planning ways to improve communication between our two communities, including a "pen pal" email connection between youth. I hope that my presence here has helped strengthen the relationship between DGFUMC and UPAVIM. On Thursday, the women had a goodbye party for me, which was bittersweet. 
There were lots of good things happening at UPAVIM this week! In Reforzamiento, the younger kids were working on the days of the week (in Spanish and English) and writing the letter i. They colored iglesias (churches), iguanas, and indios (Indians). Since they are still strengthening their finger muscles, writing dozens of letters can be tiring. With the older kids, I am still working on parts of speech. I asked them to choose a book and make lists of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. After several lessons, they understand most of the categories well, and it is fun to see how excited they are when they correctly identify "el dinosaurio" as a noun and "jugar" as a verb. I have really enjoyed getting to know these students, and I love when they yell "¡Hola, Seño Clara!" when they see me around the neighborhood.
It has been another busy but fun week at UPAVIM. On Monday, I had a nice meeting with the women in charge of the hermanamiento (our Sister Parish connection between DGFUMC and UPAVIM). I gave them some updates about our church, including special summer activities like camp and mission trips. We also discussed ways to improve communication between DGFUMC members and the UPAVIM women. We will try to send more updates and photos via email and Facebook (I am always happy to help translate). In addition, we are going to try to set up an online "pen pal" program for the youth. I will collect the names and email addresses of the 4th - 6th graders at UPAVIM that are interested, and then I will connect them with youth from our congregation. It will be a great opportunity for them to practice English and Spanish, respectively, and to learn about each other's cultures, interests, and daily lives.
Hello from Guatemala City!
Last night, many of the delegates had a very meaningful conversation with Armando, who works as a security guard during the day and stays at the Sister Parish Center at night. He is originally from a small village in Quiché, one of the 22 departamentos (states) of Guatemala. Although many of the people in his village speak Spanish, they are of Mayan origin and speak the Ixil language.
Day 2 was another successful day full of laughs and adventure! The members of the delegation and the UPAVIM women waited out the rain with a few icebreaker games inside. We sat in a big circle and went around saying a word to make a story. It was a little challenging with the different languages but by the end of the game everyone was laughing away the delicious Campechanas. (Campechanas are sweet bread that the women make.
We made it! PTL!
Hola a todos! I’m here writing from a lovely café I discovered today, it’s only a short transmetro ride away from my Guatemalan residence. While I’ve got stable internet access, I wanted to take the time to give you all an update about what I’ve been doing at UPAVIM for the past month (time has flown by!).
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