The Road to Salama

A new Spanish phrase for the day is "no tengo pena" or no worries.   It is like wrangling cats trying to get 60 people anywhere and out of the hotel, into busses with luggae roof racks, up the mountain, through a flat tire and into the pool at Lily's Inn in Salama.  

Today I also learned a new way to phrase things (in English)..."On a scale of 1 to 10 ______________ (example repsonse include "I so don't want to do this" or "This is awesome).   Halfway to Salama we stopped for a rest break.  Even better than the rest room?  Helado.  So happy that there was time on the drive for everyone to get some ice cream, including some of our highschool girls.     Shortly after our ice cream break, the van in front of us got a flat tire.  Being the industrious youth that they are, someone broke out their ipod speakers, and others started to juggle. 

   And we answered the question, how many people does it take to change a tire?  The answer: 5.  

We have a great setup here at Lily's Inn in Salama.  We have rented out the entire hotel and there are plenty of places to play, including multiple pools and a waterslide.   We had free time in the afternoon before our orientation with Habitat, and it was the first time that I've played Old Maid since I was a kid, much less in a foreign country. 

Another truth
No celebration in Guatemala is complete without cake and juice.

We had the welcome ceremony with our Habitat families around 3pm which included cake.  In order to be eligible for a Habitat House families must have land and a way to pay their mortgage.  Land is hard to come by in Guatemala.   Another impressive fact?  Guatemala builds the most houses through Habitat second only to the US.  Yay for Guate!   Tomorrow morning we meet our families and start the build.

(having a great time wish you were here)