GAUDI (by Grace)

Yesterday, we arrived at the town of Barcelona. We found a really nice, fancy hotel to stay at. After we settled in, we started our regular evening walk. We started down the busy streets of the town and made our way to the masterpieces of Gaudi. Gaudi was a a famous architect during the early 1900s. That evening we went and saw the church named Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia. Gaudi was working on this church before he died. He never finished the brilliant church. He did do one side, called the Nativity facade. The opposite facade of Gaudi's original work is the Passion facade. The Passion facade is made with a whole different style. The work is blocky and is by another architect. Many people think that it doesn't go well with the church and I agree. We also saw an apartment building by Gaudi called La Pedrera. It was very weird. We had a good first day.

IBIZA: IT´S NOT A VIRUS

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to find yourself on a remote island in the middle of the Mediterranean that´s teeming with European tourists, and the only internet access you can find costs one Euro (that´s $1.30) for 10 minutes? Well, I did once, but I woke up in a cold sweat, pledging never again to eat a bucketful of shrimp with the eyes and other vital organs still on them. Actually, it was just last week, when we arrived on the beautiful Spanish island of Ibiza. You won´t find it on any map because the inhabitants are four inches tall and they tie you to the ground when they find you -- whoops, I´ve just been reading Gulliver´s Travels and I guess I´ve been on this trip long enough now that I´m no longer able to separate fact from fantasy, particularly true when I check our bank balance. Anyway, returning to the residents of Ibiza, they are charming and pleasant folks who share many traits in common with the rest of us, such as charging more for stuff than you would dream of paying back home, but somehow making you feel okay about it. The island itself is not large, in spite of the fact that they insist on measuring distances in kilometers; you know, the Celsius scale, which I suspect is actually nothing more than a sneaky form of inflation. You could probably walk around the whole of it in a day or two if you were finished tanning yourself on one of the 60 or so beaches.

As far as historical sites are concerned, Grace and Gloria were disappointed to hear that we discovered one that we dragged them along to today: it's called Dalt Vila, which doesn't exactly sound Spanish to me either. It´s a kind of walled fortress city built on a prominence that was first inhabited by Phoenicians (whoever the heck they were) about 2,600 years ago, then by Moors in the 11th and 12th century or so, then by Christians from the Spanish mainland, and finally to its present state of subjection at the ruthless hands of Euro-wielding tourists. We came, we saw, we ate ice cream!

(We can't add pictures because this isn't our computer.)

SOME DAYS . . .

. . . I just want to go home. But then, when I am home, some days . . . I just want to run away. So that´s the way some days go, whether you're dealing with the day-to-day in Ibiza or Camas.
I had no illusions about life on the road, so it doesn´t bother me or send me searching for last-minute airfares. And really, I´d just as soon deal with the squabbling kids and the makeshift meals and missing my grandsons while looking out my window at the Mediterranean Sea than watching the bunnies on my lawn at home (also a treat, truth be told.) I knew, too, before I left, that I would miss the demands of daily life at home, simply because it gives my days purpose and structure. Here, we create purpose and structure from travel brochures and whims of the moment, and while that has its own appeal, it is a different lifestyle and it requires submission to its peculiar realities to really work. Mostly, it´s working for us. But some days . . .

BEACHES AND BOOKS

You would think that it would be easier to find internet connections in Spain than in Guatemala, but alas, that has not been the case. Here we are in Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean. It seems to be the beach playground of Europe, much as Hawaii is for Americans. Today Gloria went off on an excursion with some new young friends from England (and their parents) to visit one of the 50 or 60 beaches here on the island. Grace and I sat around and read books and Stephen looked very busy at the computer all day, though I have no idea what he was doing without an internet connection. We are sitting in a little cafe on the bay now, using up our "free" hour of wifi. There is a huge marina just across the way, with little boats and big yachts from all over the world. We are staying in a little town called Santa Eulalia, 20 km north of Ibiza town, or as the Spanish say it, "Ibitha". Every evening, we join all the people in strolling the waterfront, in the ritual "paseo" so common here in Spain.

Here's what we're reading lately:

Lisa: A Wrinkle in Time, Demon in the White City, Angels and Demons, The Outside Man, Dracula, Shadow of the Wind (excellent!), Into Thin Air.

I am currently reading a 1200 page book by Rutherfurd called London, which provides a pretty interesting fictionalized history of London. And Harry Potter in Spanish, which, while it is a bit of work for me, I am quite enjoying. Also a quick British murder mystery. And the Book of Mormon.

Grace: Dracula (the original by Bram Stoker), Because of Winn-Dixie, A Wrinkle in Time, Jane Eyre (which she loved), The Princess Bride. She does projects for each book for homeschool.

Gloria: Dr. Dolittle Tales, Charlotte's Web, Harry Potter, Peter Pan and Wendy, Because of Winn-Dixie. She, too, has done some interesting book projects.

We are reading Midsummer Night's Dream together.

Well, we're off to finish our nightly paseo.

Tomorrow, more books and beaches.

ANDALUCIAN DANCING HORSES

Last Wednesday, we went to a Flamenco show. You know the dance -- passionate, colorful, fast-tapping heels, twirls and swirls and castanets. It was great fun, and had we had the foresight to take the camera with us, we would share photos. Alas, we did not, so we will not.

However, the next evening, we went to a dancing horse show. Really, it's "dressage" (or, as they say here, "high school") but it really just means "dancing horses". These are beautiful horses bred and trained here in Andalucia and it seems to be a point of pride here. They must be the Spanish cousins of the Lippizan stallions in Vienna (the horses you've heard of). We remembered the camera and even dared to try out its video feature, which rarely occurs to us, but we were so inspired by Nolan's fishing video on the Johnson Family blogspot, that we are now going to attempt to post our video of the cabriole (that's the jump and kick dance move.) Good luck to us and happy horse show to you. (OK, video upload not working; you'll have to do with still shots.)

Our current status: we flew to Barcelona today and are holed up in a small but immaculate Holiday Inn in Girona, just north of Barcelona. Tomorrow morning, we fly to Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean a bit south of Mallorca (the island you've heard of). We're looking forward to a week of low-key beachin' and bummin'. It's been difficult to get internet connections this week and we don't expect that to change soon, but we will do our best to keep you updated on our Grand Tour.

(Something's wrong with my cookies. These crumbs of literary info will have to do for now, minus the visuals. Imagine horses . . . dancing . . . )

WISH YOU WERE HERE

Here in Malaga, Spain, we are having trouble finding internet connections, so our communication is suffering some. Nevertheless, this is the view from our apartment balcony, so all we can say is: wish you were here!

We are in the first week of our four weeks in Spain. Thought we ought to put to use those Spanish lessons we paid for in Guatemala. So far, we are getting along well in Spanish Spanish, though they have a funny lisp that still makes me laugh, as in "grathias".

We are on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun) which is a huge mecca for sun-lovers from all of northern Europe, particularly Great Britain. We went to the international branch of the church (in English) Sunday morning, then joined the throngs of tourists Sunday afternoon in line to enter Gibraltar, which is a British zone, requiring passports and British pounds. Yesterday, we drove up into the Andalucian hills and saw a lot of Pueblos Blancos (white villages). We also visited a cave with some actual prehistoric cave paintings, one of the very few in Europe that you can still enter. The famous ones, like Lascaux and Altamira, are closed now, because the paintings were being destroyed by the presence of so many tourists.

I love being in Europe again. For some reason, it always feels like home to me here, even though I've never been in this particular spot. (I feel the same way in Hawaii!) From here, we fly to Ibiza, an island in the Mediterranean, then we'll spend a week in Barcelona, then a week in Denia, south of Valencia. All our Spain destinations are on the Mediterranean Sea, which I doubt we will tire of. It doesn't get much better than this. Really, we wish you were here!

GRACE TURNS TWELVE!

Surprise! When we got to Atlanta on my birthday, my Grandma and Papa had planned a surprise birthday party for me at . . . Chuck E. Cheese! We had a lot of fun. I beat my cousin, Grant, in the car-racing game. My Aunt Vicky brought a very cute cake with ME on it.

I met my new Uncle Jon, who is pretty cool. He is going to marry my Aunt Kim in July.

Then, I went to Walmart to get my hair done. I got highlights for my birthday. So I got gold highlights. My hair stylist was really nice. It was fun and cool.

KENNESAW MOUNTAIN

Friday 8 May 2009. The place: Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Park, just outside Atlanta, GA. The site of an important Civil War battle in 1864. Motivation for visiting: valuable and stimulating educational experience for Grace and Gloria, according to Stephen and Lisa; Mom and Dad said we had to, according to Grace and Gloria. The girls were a bit skeptical about the whole idea until they saw the old Monopoly-style cannons. This ratcheted up their interest level considerably until it dawned on them that no one was likely to shoot any actual cannonballs out of them. At this point we headed into the Visitors Center for a brief orientation and then hiked up to the summit of Kennesaw Mountain itself, which qualifies as a mountain by Appalachian standards, I suppose, but out West would probably get picked on and teased by all the other mountains. Still it was enough of a climb to tax our hardy tourist attraction-hardened bodies to a degree, and from the top we enjoyed a panoramic view of Northwest Greater Atlanta below, including a couple of large malls that Sherman must have overlooked when he burned the city in 1864.

A DAY WITH HELEN

A couple days ago I went to go see Helen. Helen was my foster mom when I was little. I went and saw where I grew up. It was so cool. First, we walked to where I used to play with my pals. Then, we continued down the hall and I saw where I slept. Then, we waited for Helen so she could give us an official tour. She took us to her room. That was where I slept when I first came home from the hospital. After that, Helen showed us where the health room was. We continued to the main sitting area and talked for a little while. I went and played with the four other kids in the playing room. They were soooo cute and kind, sweet, open and silly. The kids ate lunch and Glorie and I ate chocolate chip cookies and milk. It was a cool experience to see my foster mother and the house I grew up in.


~grace

THINGS I MISS / THINGS I DON'T

We have arrived at my mother's house in Georgia. It is both good and strange to be back in the USA for a week. I think our first month on the road has been a general success. The transition to our new nomadic lifestyle was smooth enough, with no major surprises or upsets. The girls still squabble at will, but protect each other fiercely. School is working pretty well, we all enjoy sleeping in a bit most mornings, and we are balancing exploration and quiet absorption nicely.

THINGS I DON'T MISS ABOUT GUATEMALA
* not knowing whether I'd have hot water or not, every time I showered
* gaping holes in the sidewalks, if there were sidewalks
* bad plumbing, such that we had to toss our used t.p. in the trash
* dirty, lung-destroying air in the cities
* untreated water supply


THINGS I MISS ABOUT GUATEMALA
* the people, who are as warm and polite and good-humored as any people on earth, and far more so than Americans in general
* the slower pace
* the happy factor, especially among the children of Guatemala
* the street venders and the mercados
* the beautiful textiles, especially in the clothing of the indigenous people
* the lovely landscape of lakes and volcanoes
* the sense of living close to the heart of life, without trappings or pretension
* the people

MAYAN FAMILIES

Marcos is studying computer engineering at the university on weekends.
He works at Mayan Families during the week.

Maria and her mother

Talking to Irma and her mother

Irma and her family

Ester and her family (sponsored by Garrett and Bayra)

Nicolasa just received her report card from school. She is doing very well.

Nicolasa and her mother, Ninette (sponsored by Genevieve and Scott)

Here in Panajachel, we were able to meet all the students we sponsor through Mayan Families, including the two that are sponsored by Genevieve and Scott and Garrett and Bayra. It was such fun to actually hug them and talk to them. All of them were with their mothers, and we met a few siblings, as well. I especially loved talking with the mothers. A mother's heart is the same all over the world. They want the best for their children, and here in this area, it is impossible for many of the indigenous families to send their children to school. Young girls are particularly vulnerable, since they are the ones required to stay home and tend younger siblings when parents need to work. The illiteracy rate is very high in Guatemala. The welfare of girls and women across the globe is an issue dear to my heart, and our family is very glad to have this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of these few students and families. Over and over, the mothers hugged me and expressed their gratitude that their children are able to go to school. They know it's important. Mayan Families makes it possible.

Please take a minute and check out the website at http://www.mayanfamilies.org/. They have some great programs and it costs so little to make a huge difference in the lives of the families here. We talked at length with the director, Dwight Poage (Sharon, his wife, is currently out of the country, though she is usually the one running things here) and were very impressed with what they have accomplished in the 3-4 years they have been in operation here in the Lake Atitlan area. Mayan Families sprang into existence after Hurricane Stan obliterated many homes and businesses here in October 2005. Genevieve's sponsored family has been in temporary housing since the hurricane, but the mother told me that their house should be ready to inhabit in the next month or so, which was welcome news.

I am not sure how the pictures will post (the layout of our posts is always a bit of a surprise and I still haven't learned how to move things around very well) but here are pictures of us meeting

Marcos, Irma, Maria, Ester, and Nicolasa. Please consider sponsoring a student of your own, or contribute to one of the other important programs of Mayan Families. I promise you will love the experience.

LAST DAY IN PANA (by Gloria)

Today we went to church in Panajachel. Mom and Dad had class in the church, but Grace and I had Primary outside under a tree. Mom and Dad felt a small earthquake during Sunday School, but Grace and I did not feel it at all. We made new friends named David and Brian from BYU. We are having dinner with them tonight.

Tomorrow, we are going to Guatemala City for dos dias (two days). On May 6, Grace's birthday,
we leave for Atlanta, where my Grandma and Papa live. My cousins, Grant and Parker, and my Aunt Vicky and Uncle Phillip live there, too. Auntie Kim is getting married to a boy named John. We are going to meet him in Atlanta. He adds to my uncles now. We stay there for one week, then we are flying to Spain.

ZIPLINES AND BUTTERFLIES

Hey, this is Grace. Today we went to the Reserva Natural Atitlan near Panajachel. They have a private beach, a butterfly garden, an oak forest, several waterfalls, nature trails, and a zip-line. The butterfly garden was amazing. There were millions of butterflies of all different sizes and colors there. We got to see the different kinds of plants they ate. We walked around for a little when Gloria found a little house. We walked over and saw it was where the caterpillars were. In this one cage there were literally millions of caterpillars. The cage wasn't the best of all cages, so there were loads of cracks that they could crawl out of. It was really fun. So was the zip line.

This is now Gloria reporting. Today we went zip lining. My sister went alone. I went with a guide since it was too fast and was hard for me to stop at the next platform. We had eight platforms to go to. We had so much fun. We loved it! My mom and dad did not come with us. We went through the jungle. While we were walking to the very first platform we saw spider monkeys and a coatimundi. We had a fun activity: you walk across a bridge that is not wobbly. Then you go on a swinging bridge that is hard to keep your balance on. I made it to the platform on the other side. My sister had a lot of trouble. First she made it across the first bridge. But then the wobble bridge was a problem. She slipped through the rungs and got tangled up in the ropes. The guide had to help her get out. It was a fun day!

ONE ROOM LIVING

Well, living in one room together for a month is beginning to wear on us all. Overall, we are doing well, but everyone is getting a bit anxious for some privacy. We've worked out the TV and computer "rules" fairly well, and we've made adjustments to our sleeping patterns; bedside reading lamps are a sanity-saver. At least nobody snores too badly, though Gloria can rack up the decibels when she's really tired. We are looking forward to Atlanta, where we presume we will have two bedrooms (thanks, Mom!) And our first stop in Europe is in Malaga, Spain, where we have reserved a 2-bedroom timeshare condo. Here in Panajachel, we are delighted with our studio apartment; we agree it's the nicest place we've stayed in yet. Still, it's only one large, well-designed room, plus the bathroom.

OK, I'm done beefing. I'm going to cook up some eggs and potatoes, then we're off to the Nature Reserve just outside of town. It's a gorgeous, sunny day here in Pana. Hope yours is super fantastic, too!