Anastasia and I went to Guatemala for a gymnastics meet at the end of May. We traveled with four other gymnasts and their families. It was her first international competition and she placed fourth. There were six other countries there and the competition was all run in Spanish so it was definitely a new experience. Anastasia has studied Spanish the last two years in high school so it was fun to see her put her new language to the test. Her confidence grew as the week went on. By the end of the week Anastasia was very comfortable speaking in Spanish. I was even picking up quite a bit by the end of the week. I came home with a new goal of learning Spanish! I think the highlight of our 
trip was going to the Mayan ruins in Tikal. The ruins are in the middle of the rain forest and they are so amazing. We saw spider monkeys, howler monkeys, toucans, lots of other kinds of birds, ants, lots of insects and I even held a tarantula that someone found. It was hot!!!! Over 100 degrees and the humidity was probably at least 90%. I don't think that I have ever been so hot in my life. We walked about five or so miles that day (about 5-6 hours) and by the end of the day there were not too many clothes on anymore. We stayed the night in a beautiful hut with palm fronds for a roof in the rain forest. There was a pool so the girls all enjoyed that. No air conditioning and at 10:00pm the electricity goes off so there is not even the luxury of a fan. It was dark, darker
than we have ever seen before. We were laying in bed with our eyes open, talking about how we couldn't tell if our eyes were open or not, it was that dark! The rain forest was truly an amazing experience!
trip was going to the Mayan ruins in Tikal. The ruins are in the middle of the rain forest and they are so amazing. We saw spider monkeys, howler monkeys, toucans, lots of other kinds of birds, ants, lots of insects and I even held a tarantula that someone found. It was hot!!!! Over 100 degrees and the humidity was probably at least 90%. I don't think that I have ever been so hot in my life. We walked about five or so miles that day (about 5-6 hours) and by the end of the day there were not too many clothes on anymore. We stayed the night in a beautiful hut with palm fronds for a roof in the rain forest. There was a pool so the girls all enjoyed that. No air conditioning and at 10:00pm the electricity goes off so there is not even the luxury of a fan. It was dark, darker
than we have ever seen before. We were laying in bed with our eyes open, talking about how we couldn't tell if our eyes were open or not, it was that dark! The rain forest was truly an amazing experience! We learned just how poor Guatemala is. All of the outlying areas have no running water, just water barrels out front and the agua truck comes around and fills them. They use that water for all of their needs. They live in huts with dirt floors. Most of the people have never seen a dentist so they have missing and/or black teeth. Even the kids' teeth are bad. Dogs run all over in Guatemala. They dig through anything they can find to search for food. They are skinny and none of them are fixed so they are all over. Even in the bigger cities we saw dogs roaming around. The cows and horses are also really thin. The people of Guatemala work hard for everything that they have. The Mayan women and children walk around the streets trying to sell handmade wares. Only the fortunate kids get to go to school, the rest have to work and try and make some money so that they can buy food. They may not have much, but they are happy. They are always smiling and just seemed content with what they have. Anastasia even noticed how happy they were with next to nothing.
Other things we did while we were there. We stayed in the city of Antigua which is surrounded by three volcanoes. We hiked up one of the volcanoes, actually Anastasia hiked, I took a taxi (horse). It was fun. Anastasia and her friend roasted marshmallows over the lava, it was hot! It was pretty cool to see real lava coming out of the earth. We took a walking tour of Antigua and learned about some of the history there. We ate lots of mashed up black beans and corn tortillas. It was an incredible week.
Anastasia and I came home with a new appreciation for our country. We are thankful for the fortunate circumstances tha
t we find ourselves in. Adequate medical and dental care is a true blessing. Running water will no longer be taken for granted. We are truly blessed to live in our little part of the world and now we must do our part and make it better for others.
t we find ourselves in. Adequate medical and dental care is a true blessing. Running water will no longer be taken for granted. We are truly blessed to live in our little part of the world and now we must do our part and make it better for others. 
