Births and Birthdays!

Once again I have failed to update in a timely fashion! Get over it.

This past month..and a half.. I went to Semuc Champey, Panajachel, got ameobas and/or a parasite, celebrated my birthday, celebrated the birth of my sister´s baby, celebrated my sister´s birthday, wasted an insane amount of time reading books instead of planning my classes and cleaned my room..once. Oh I also bought a bunny. His name is Nicolas Cage Blankinship Ventura. 
Here´s a picture of my bunny.

I will start with Semuc Champey. Basically it´s this place really far away with caves and waterfalls and swimming pool like things. If you want a real explanation, it´s probably better to just google it. 
This is the river in Semuc Champey, it was really pretty. 

 There was the rope swing over the river that would be completely illegal in the US because people would die on it, but here it was fine! You swung out over the river, probably about 25 feet high, and then you had to jump as soon as the guide yelled at you or you would slam your head into rocks. Cool right? So of course I had to do it. Here´s me flying through the air.

We also explored this cave, which I thought was terrifying because I watch too many SciFi movies. I kept expecting a monster to come eat me. We went on this hike, which almost killed Kate and I. The view at the top was worth it though.

Then we hiked all the way back to the bottom and went swimming. The water was clear and cold and absolutely amazing! We jumped off lots of cool stuff like waterfalls and this crazy man jumped off a tree. 
If you are ever in Guatemala, Semuc Champey is a must.

Then we had our April retreat in Panajachel. We stayed at Casa Del Mundo, which was so beautiful. We went swimming in the lake (hence the ameobas) and went kayaking and ate tons of amazing food. We also celebrated Annie and I´s birthday with cake.

 
 Then our retreat ended and we had to go back to the real world. Aka work. I didn´t go to work on my birthday, because nobody at CEIPA does, so I went to the hospital to visit the newest member of our family. My sister Elida gave birth April 23rd to a beautiful baby girl named Elsie Nicole. I helped pick the name :). She weighed only 4 lbs and 6 oz. I will not even begin to discuss my extreme anger at medical care in Guatemala, but I guess that´s what happens when medical care is socialized. Take notes, US government.

I am completely and totally obsessed with her.


I celebrated my birthday with my family and a cake!

Some of my sisters and now the whole family. Minus Elida and the baby. And my dad. And my brother.

There´s a lovely tradition in the Guate that involves biting a birthday cake. It´s very strange, but everybody does it. You have to bite the cake first before anyone can eat it. I bit mine and then got my face shoved in it. Thanks to my lovely sister.

Frosting in the nose is not a pleasant feeling.

Then it was my sister Evelyn´s birthday! I shoved her face in the cake. It´s a never ending cycle.

 Last night I took her to see Iron Man 3 in theaters. It was great and I even understood what they were saying. Ha! 
Okay, well I am sure by now you are extremely bored of reading about my life, so I will end it while I am behind.