Mayan Village - by Annah

Hi this is Annah. I want to tell you about traditional

Guatemalan food and clothes. We visited the town of San Antonio, which is a small town outside Antigua.

This is a picture of me cooking a tortilla they are really good after they are cooked or with some beef in them. You have to pat the dough until it is really flat and thin. Then you put it on a very hot pan that is cooking over a fire.

This is the pan they cook the tortillas on.

We had some yummy but spicy food it had chicken and veggies and rice in it. I liked it very much!!

This is a traditional thing that they do. They put the basket on their heads and they don't use their hands! That's how they carry things like fruits & vegetables.

We got to seperate the strings, and see how they make clothes and blankets by weaving them. We also got to see a d wedding ceremony. They wear a special skirt and shirt that have a belt around it

that keeps it up. The bride

also makes gifts to give to the parents, grandparents and husband. They do a special dance back and forth.

Volcan Pacaya - by isaiah

Hi its Isaiah and I climbed a volcano!!! There are 34 volcanos is Guatemala. Three of them are around Antigua: (1) volcan auga - water, (2) valcan fuago - fire, (3)volcan acatanago. Only fuago is active. We climbed an active volcano near Guatemala city called volcan pacaya. An active volcano is a mountain that has lava in it and can still explode.

It was a dos

hour drive to the base that we got ready to climb [dos means two]. When we got out of the van a whole lot of kids came and tried to sell us sticks that we could use as walking sticks. There were also horses that you could ride up on. The owners called them taxis. On the drive to the base I got really sick. I almost did't go up the volcano. When we started up it was really steep and very hard.

When we were about a 3rd of the way up the was a spot that you could look out from at the other volcanos. There was horses that were still following us so my dad got a horse for me and the other kids. My friend Winnie and me got the first ride and it was fun. There was a really steep part that Kade and Elias had to get strapped on to the saddle on the horse. Then we went down and then through a rock field that was made from the big explosion about 9 months ago.

This is Elias feeling how hot the ground is.

When we stopped, the guide roasted marsh mellows over a hot spot that was so hot that it

could kill you if you fell in. He also roasted cheese that I put on a cracker. Then up another hill there was a cave that I went in and it was so hot that you could cook a pollo in it (pollo is chicken). Then on the way back I was so hot that I almost went down onto my knees and rested. My dad gave me a piggy back ride and fell. It was really dusty on the way down the small trails. When we got back to the van almost all of the

kids fell asleep with in 20 min. That's how a good and bad day go if your lucky.

My favorite part was in the cave that was so hot that you you could cook a pollo in it. In this picture you can see how hot Elias looks. It was so hot we could barely stand there. I hope you enjoy seeing the pics of my climb.

Me In Antigua!

Hi everyone (& special 'hi' to Ms. Georg and my grade 1 class)!!

This is Ben and I want to tell you about where I live. I have some pictures to show you. I am living in Antigua, Guatemala. This is where I am learning Spanish. I go to school everyday at 8a.m until 12pm. I am learning lots of words. I know all my colors like rojo, azul, verde, and amarillo. I like school very much.

There are 3 volcanoes around Antigua. One is named Agua (water), one is named Fuago (fire), and one is named Pacaya. The streets are made of stones and they are very bumpy. Today I rode in a carriage behind a horse!

On saturday I got to go to the beach. It was so much fun. I love playing in the waves. My favorite part was when I got to release baby turtles into the ocean. We pretended that they were racing to the water!

The scariest part was when we went into our room and guess what we found on the wall? A scorpion! But it was o.k. we just killed it with our shoe.

I miss you all very much and hope you are having fun in the snow!!

Love, Ben