Bodyguards

I have 2 dogs and 1 cat that are living with me in the house where I'm staying at in Guatemala. I'll stay in this house for the first six months or so before finding a place of my own. The other day I commented that I have 2 shadows (meaning the dogs) following me and someone else commented no those are your bodyguards. Of course everyone knows that the cat runs the house because cats rule and dogs drool...haha I just remembered that line from a movie I think it was called "The adventures of Milo and Otis".

Travel to Guatemala

All the luggage is not mine, it is a combination of mine and Kim's even though I know my suitcases were the heavier ones. It was nice being upgraded to first class for the flight. That was mainly nice because it meant exra luggage allowance!

More photos from graduation

This is photo of the Costa Rican family who I lived with when I first arrived in Costa Rica. It was sad saying goodbye to them but I think they'll come visit me in Guatemala someday.

Kim, Carol, and Karen Carney. Karen is from Oklahoma and will be going to Mexico. She made the flags in the photo below using paperbags from the grocery store.

Kim working

Kim was a big help with cleaning the apartment while I would go to class and packing and transporting luggage for me. After all I thought the least I could do was make sure she got a good meal at Rosti Pollos, a chicken restaurant in Costa Rica.

Saying goodbyes..

There are alot of pictures which I could put for this posting but these are just a few of the ones who I was sad to have to say goodbye to but I am very thankful that I met them...

Graduation Day

On Friday August 14 I graduated from the Spanish Language Insitute in San Jose, Costa Rica. It was a bittersweet feeling for a lot of the students as we thought about finishing our official language studies and yet leaving many dear friends. My sister Kim was able to spend the last week with me in Costa Rica and be there for graduation which was neat.

Playing soccer

Aldo is Dora's grandson. I had a fun time playing soccer with him. Of course I must admit when he said let's go play futbol, my American mind immediately thought of American football. But futbol here is soccer. It was still fun though.