Happy Thanksgiving!

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family!  

Our Thanksgiving celebrations at school:  The parents and families were invited back to school in the evening to celebrate with us.  They brought in a dish to share- chicken, mashed potatoes, vegetables, or pumpkin pie.
It was a long day for the teachers, but it seemed like a good time for the parents. 
 

me and Ms. Lisa

The teachers "carving" the chickens- with 1 knife.

1st grade table
 

Worship and preaching time.

 The traditional Thanksgiving Day fireworks. 

This is my favorite picture from the night!  Part of our great team of teachers that helped dish and serve the food.
All that was left at the end of the night:  1 pan of raw vegetables (they don't eat them that way in Guatemala so the Spanish teacher wouldn't even serve them) and at least 6 bowls of mashed potatoes.  

Xela
We had a few days off of school.  I took the time to visit a friend in Xela (shay-la).  We also visited a town about 5 hours north called Todos Santos.  I spent a lot of time on shuttles, buses, vans, etc. this weekend.

It's the second biggest city in Guatemala.

Central Park

theater building

pretty restaurant ready for Christmas

Natural Hot Springs

Todos Santos
Brrrrrrrrr...

A town that doesn't see many tourists.

A guy told us about a town nearby where we could see women making the typical textiles.  So we decided to walk there.

Very soon the fog set in.  

We never did find the women doing their weaving.  Maybe they were back in their houses due to weather?  The "town" ended up being a few houses on either side of the street, and we had quite the time catching a bus back.  
 But I enjoyed the walk and getting to see the "real Guatemalan" countryside.  We met some nice people and even had our picture taken while we were walking!

Churrascos (Todos Santos-style).  Yes, that is ketchup and mayonnaise, that they put on everything.

Either heading to church or to the market.  Can you see the typical clothes of the men and the women?  The indigenous people of this area are called the Mam.  We were told that 90% of the town's income comes from family members working in the States.  They are happy living their lives in peace and prefer the government to leave them be.

A typical Jesus

Archeology Site / Ruins

This photo turned out black and white all on its own. What a cold, foggy place.