What a day! Today ends our second week of studies in Guatemala. The pressure is on to make good progress because we are now half way through. We have all made progress and look forward to the next two weeks. I believe Duane, Chase and I are all a bit sad knowing we will be heading back to the States in only 2 weeks.

Every Friday the Mennonite community here runs a bake shop. So today our field trip was to the bake shop to eat sticky buns. Just plain fun for a Friday morning.

In the afternoon we walked up one of the mountains surrounding Xela. It was beautiful in a simplistic way. The road was cobblestone. There were fields with corn and squash, cows and chickens roaming, and lots of green open space. It seemed as if every time we passed a farmhouse children would come out to look at the gringo kids. Not sure if Charles and Daniel noticed this.

Pablo, Sarah's teacher, accompanied us. We practiced Spanish and he got to practice English a bit. I have suspected he speaks some English, but had no idea how much, as he has only spoken to me in Spanish until today. I trust we will be back to Spanish-only next week at school.

The plan for our walk was to meet Sonia, our host mother, at a park at the top of the mountain and then all go to dinner together. We got mixed up and realized she was on a different mountain! Oops. We met at home and went to dinner from there. Andres, Sonia's 4-year-old grandson chose the restaurant--Pizza Hut! Pablo and Duane took a bus there as Sonia's car could only hold so many people. Because of his height, Duane had a hard time fitting in the bus.

How strange to walk into Pizza Hut in Guatemala. One is practically transported back to the States. The ambiance (if one could call it that at Pizza Hut) was completely familiar, including the pop songs booming throughout the restaurant.

We hadn't been there long when Daniel came running from the play area covered in blood. For a brief moment Sonia, Chase and I just stared at him, trying to figure out what part of him was hurt. Finally he told us his it was his nose. We whisked him to the bathroom to get him cleaned up and to stop the nosebleed. Almost immediately a male doctor was in the women's bathroom telling us what to do. Though Daniel's nose didn't hurt, he was scared by all the people surrounding him as he sat on the toilet in the little bathroom stall. Of course I was frazzled and the doctor was speaking Spanish. It made for a scene I won't soon forget.

One bright moment of the day was when Duane was explaining something to Charles in English and Charles responded in Spanish. Though it was only a few words, Duane was greatly pleased that Charles CHOSE to speak Spanish in response to English. Hoorraay. Also today Charles taught Duane how to multiply in Spanish. A little math lesson for his dad from a budding mathematician.

The first week of Guatemalan school for Charles and Daniel went well. The kids will continue at the school next week. There appears to be a growing affection between Andres and Charles and Daniel.

Tomorrow we are rising early for a Casa Xelaju-sponsored hike to the top of a volcano.