Who run the world? GIRLS

I woke up today to the bright sun shining on me through my window. Blue skies and the promise of high 70's weather making me feel happy and content with Guatemala at this time of year. If I were home, it'd definitely be a different story with the weather; highs in the 20's with snow around the corner. Although, it is a very strange feeling being in warm weather during Christmas time. It confuses me but I guess if I'm going to be away from home for Christmas I want it to feel different so I don't get too many nostalgic reminders of Christmas at home. 

Before I get more into Christmas stuff, let's discuss recent events. About a week and a half ago I went to this annual event that takes place close to my town called Bolas de Gas, which translates to Balls of Gas. This event has allegedly been going on for hundreds of years. I was told it consisted of people running through the center of town kicking a bunch of balls made of cloth soaked in gas and aluminum that were lit on fire. Sounded interesting enough and the sight of this intrigued me. Well, it was definitely a sight to see indeed! When I was there and the balls came rolling down the streets from every corner, I thought I was in a some action movie where I was stuck in the middle of some Spartan war with men throwing fire balls everywhere. It was pretty unreal. As I stood inside a tienda with a bunch of other spectators watching outside of the line of fire, a ball flew into the store and landed under a foosball table they had. I guess we weren't exactly outside the line of fire. In the end, I thought it was crazy that something like this could go on but, then again, it was Guatemala. I ended up leaving before it ended because it started to get a little out of control with people throwing fire balls everywhere. Anarchy much?

Lighting up the streets

Following that, I had a pretty busy week with my GLOW camp (Girls Leading Our World). I had been planning it for some time now and the week was finally here. My friend Allison came over from Xela (a 9+ hour ride) to help me with it. It was 3 days of fun-filled activities that focused on self-esteem, leadership, career-building, environmental awareness, and a state of well-being. It was amazing to see how excited these girls got at such simple activities and things that kids in the US just expect. One of our first activities was making collages about who they are and what they wanna be when they grow up. I brought the girls markers to use and they just lit up when they saw them. They were so excited to have so many different materials to use. It was also great to see them open up a little and just be themselves. We played different games with them that made them do silly things that they were at first shy to do but then they just embraced it.

Collage making

I had the opportunity to work with the older girls and talk to them about stress and ways to release it in a positive form. I introduced them to journaling and meditation which I think they both enjoyed very much. (They especially enjoyed decorating the journals because I brought them stickers to use.) We also did a yoga introduction workshop. They had never heard of yoga before and it was fun showing them these poses for the first time. Of course they giggled and stared around at each other but it was fun and they really enjoyed it. I gave them some sheets with simple poses on them so hopefully they try to do it sometime on their own. Other than that, we had some guest speakers that came to talk about the importance of continuing education. Finishing school is such an important issue here for girls. The school we did the camp at goes up to 6th grade (as all primary schools do here). I had one girl in the whole camp that was from the incoming 6th grade class. I asked her where all the other girls from her class were and she said she was the only one left. Giving these girls a chance to be inspired and dream big is not something they are used to and so hearing them open up about what they wanted to be when they grow up was so great. In the end, they all loved the camp. They were so excited about it every day and loved getting lots of prizes. There was one little girl who was Allison and mine's favorite. Her name was Reina and she was the cutest little girl ever! She said she was 6 but I'm not sure about that. She hardly spoke Spanish because she was in the Kindergarten class and at that level they speak mostly their indigenous language still, Q'eqchi'. Regardless, there was never a day she wasn't excited to be there with a huge smile on her face even though she didn't really know what was going on half the time.

Warrior 1!

Reina with her camp t-shirt <3

The camp was definitely a highlight of my service so far. Planning something so far in advance, executing it successfully, and seeing the girls' reactions to it was awesome. Now I'm in my final days of the year. On Friday I am going down to stay with my host family from training in Pastores for Christmas. I haven't seen them in a couple months so it will be nice to reunite and see them. I definitely have been feeling nostalgic and missing home around the holidays. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I do miss my family and our traditions. But, at least I have the chance to spend Christmas with a family and it will be a new and different experience I will take forever with me. Shortly after, I will be traveling over to El Salvador to do some end of the year/beginning of the year vacationing. I hope to spend the new year in San Salvador and am excited to visit a new country and, of course, go to the beach! I can hardly believe that my first year in the Peace Corps is already coming to a close. I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year filled with so many blessings, love, peace, and joy. See ya next year!