Ending 5

Velvet, Cecilia, and her daughter during waiting for their interviews. Look at that confidence! :D

Our graduating group.

Katherine, Cecilia and me.

We finished and I kept a close eye on Cecilia all day. She brought her youngest daughter with her, she’s about 16 or 17 I think. She enjoyed participating in the last day’s activities as well. Cecilia did great in the interviews and other practices. She and Velvet went for interviews yesterday and she said that while Velvet was received for an interview she, Cecilia, was turned away. However, she assured us, her self-esteem had been strengthened by what she had learned and done in the workshop and she was at peace with it, not devastated like she would have been before. Wow! Gospel principles in action, she is truly making changes in herself and becoming stronger!

Turns out Cecilia only met Velvet yesterday, but Velvet invited her to come with her to the workshop. How awesome is that? What great missionary work. Cecilia is doing great, when we talked about how to turn weaknesses into strengths today she used said one of her weaknesses is her lack of confidence, but she took this workshop which has taught her to have confidence with people and in herself. She told us that her kids noted a change in her when she went home yesterday and practiced what she had learned in class. Wonderful!

Workshop #5

Fifth workshop…We should be getting the hang of this, right? We’re having fun. This week we have a non-member in class, Cecilia. She is a super sweet, shy, single mother of 3 kids. She may be quiet, but she isn’t dull, she learns quickly and I’m excited to see how she progresses. She came with another participant, Velvet, and they seem to be pretty good friends. This is going to be a great week.

Katherine and I went to the Museum of Natural History in downtown Guatemala City today. The layout of the museum was…interesting. There weren’t very many informative signs so we just kind of interpreted the exhibits on our own. We did a great job of entertaining ourselves. By the way, natives are charged 5 quetzales (roughly 62 cents) to enter and foreigners are charged 50 quetzales ($6.25). Crazy, right?

I swear I found a portrait that looks like Mel Gibson so of course we had to take a picture of Katherine kissing him. The kissing thing was her idea. It always is. Katherine agreed that he looks like Mel, but I don’t think it translated well into photographic form. I guess to understand you have to see it person. One of the funniest parts of the museum was seeing the height difference between Katherine and the vintage clothing. I also have an awesome video of her playing a marimba instrument that’s at least 200 years old. We should have been supervised…

Today we went to the cemetery for a class assignment. To be honest, it kind of creeped me out. I’m used to cemeteries and have visited some gorgeous ones through the years. I love the cemetery in Ukiah because of the big beautiful trees that make a kind of quiet shade for you to be alone. In the cemetery here in Guatemala there were not very many trees. It was all cement and crosses. Very forlorn and the spirit there was not welcoming. There were some elaborate mausoleums and gravesites. Those that can afford to, take very good care of their dead. It was also interesting to see all the different countries represented, we saw names from Korea, Italy, Brazil, and tons from Germany. Guatemala seems to be a popular place to die. Did that sound insensitive? Anyways, it was an interesting experience, but I prefer to visit my brother’s grave with the soft grass, birds, and deer in the shade of the oaks.

Finishing Fourth

We finished our fourth workshop, wow! They all did so great in the interviews, I was so impressed. I have to say Gustavo was one of my favorites, his little faux hawk and sweet personality just endeared him to my heart. I was super impressed by the professional demeanor of the participants and how sure they were of what they wanted in their professions and job search. They were a super talented group, I was really impressed with Juan (far left on picture); he has worked as a nurse and a bus driver among other things. He has a long list of accomplishments and just had such a kind charisma and nice, edifying things to say to everyone. Loved this group!

Sick. Bleh

I missed work today, I guess I had too much fun last night. Bleh. Katherine told me that another woman showed up today, another Sandy. She said it was difficult teaching the workshop alone, Juan, another participant, even commented that it wasn’t the same as the first day. It’s kinda nice to be missed, especially when I didn’t enjoy my day alone. Can’t wait to get back!