The End

 Well we all made it home safe and sound last night.  It is great to be back home with my family, but I have to say I am really missing Guatemala right now. For our last blog post, I just wanted to share a little bit more about our last day at Common Hope. Friday afternoon we taught the Youth Group how to play Capture the Flag, and we played a big game of it across the site.  The kids really seemed to enjoy it and we all got very competitive. Brian even slid across a sprinkler to win the game for his team! After we finished the game, the kids in the program expressed their gratitude to us for spending the week with them.  We each received a personal thank you from one of the kids and a photo of the kids in the program underneath the mural that we made.

 Teresa and the kids saying thank you to us.

 

Caroline receiving her thank you card

 

Hana receiving her thank you card

 

 Me receiving my thank you card

 

Saying goodbye to the kids was very difficult. They all signed a giant card for us and wrote thank you notes throughout the week we spent with them.

 

  

Us with the Youth Group

Our group

Hearing such heartfelt words and receiving thank you notes from the Youth Programs office really made us all feel special and like we made a difference for the short week we spent with them.  The thank you ceremony was a great ending to our time at Common Hope and I know we all left feeling like the month we spent there flew by.  On the way home from work that day we all talked about how we wanted to return either this summer or next Jterm if possible.  

That night we went out to dinner with Andy from As Green As It Gets and had an amazing last meal at a restaurant called Epicure. It was a great ending to our trip. John left early the next morning, and saying goodbye was not fun. The rest of the group spent the day hanging out at our house and wandering around the markets in town.

Taking in the gorgeous view of Antigua from our roof

 

 The boys at our favorite lunch place - they serve amazing fish tacos and chicken nachos

 The girls - I miss these two already

Our trip was such an amazing experience and I came home knowing so much more about Guatemalan culture, living abroad, and living with a big group of people.  I learned a lot about myself in the process and if given the chance, I would return in a heartbeat. Hopefully I will have the opportunity to in the future!