Penguino Pinata

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This morning the girls carried all the party stuff to school, pinata, stick, party hat, card, rope. They were stoked. We had a blackout all day, so that meant no water for showers. This is why there is almost nothing in my freezer. At school they were told that they’d have no internet connection for the entire day.

Family Travel Guatemala
pinata at school

I did, however, find a place that was still cooking breakfast and coffee. Since the stoves all run on propane, they can still whip up a yummy meal that can be eaten by candlelight (if necessary). After that I headed back to the school for the party. The other parents were there, too. Since most of them  them run their own businesses, they have a bit of flexibility that way. The one guy whose mom owns a restaurant, always gets a fancy meal delivered to him. Ya, my girls are jealous, heck, I’m jealous.

The pinata was a huge success. They ended up doing it right in the middle of the school. They have perfected the pinata here. It’s hard enough that you can get through about 12 kids whacking on it before it starts to come slowly apart. The longevity tests for those things must have been fun. A bunch of people whacking on a pinata, trying to decide how many more layers of newspaper or how many more wires should be added to the structure.

After school Kier is joining a group of adults and older teens who want to help with testing the lake water. That meeting has been cancelled a few times, so we’ll see if it gets off the ground. Turns out it did happen. Both Madi and Kier helped. Madi went further up into the mountains, at the nature reserve to test the water there. Kier tested the water after it had been through the city, in front of her school, then again before it hits the lake. She explained that she saw the “sewage treatment” system for the town. It consists of a windy pipe that goes back and forth over plants in the water. That’s the sewage treatment since the hurricane took out the real sewege treatment plant. It’s understandable that the people who live here are concerned about the pollution that is flowing directly into the lake.

Unfortunately Cali heard some kind of crazy story at school. It was freaking her out right before she went to bed. I had to talk to her a long time about ghosts. We said a very long prayer and then she went to sleep.

Kier did her homework and then went to watch a movie with her friends.

Cali’s frog blog: Today I had lots and lots of fun. At school I had Psychology. In Psychology we wrote things down about our ages. Then we learned how all the 8’s are attached to each other. It’s a little hard to explain. Then we had mathematics. Then we had lunch. We always have two classes in the morning, then lunch and recess, then two more classes. Our classes are always one hour long, lunch is 10 minutes, recess is 20 minutes. I found out today something very very creepy, but I know most of you won’t believe me. But my best friend in Canada will probably believe me. I learned that there used to be a grandma who lived next door to the school. Then she got murdered. The school knows because they heard a scream and a gun shot. Now when we look next door at her house we see her spirit moves the curtains. When we go to the washroom we all think we see her spirit in the corner. She is always in a pink ripped dress. My friend and I thought we would do some investigation about that whole thing. She is going to get some special glasses and magnifying glass to check it out more. I came home and told my mom about the big creepy old story. I said, “You won’t believe because you don’t believe in spirits.” Well, that was right. She didn’t believe me and I don’t think my sisters will either. We had a blackout today which means we had no electricity. This was only at home because at my school we had electricity. It could be because my school is a little farther away from the town. I got all my homework done early, so I may get to watch a tiny bit of tv. We will see. P.S. I love you all very much.

Madi’s blog: Today is the director of the school’s birthday. Yesterday we bought a pinata, it’s a penguin. At school today we made brownies and caramel treats. We hit the pinata and I made all the candy fall out. We gave the director her special birthday hat. After school we did our first water testing. I ride with a girl names Sam up to the Nature Reserve centre. I went down and got a sample of water. Then we went and got another sample from a different stream. Then we came back to Pana and we used a special tester to see how much light could get through the water. Then I went home and did homework. Tonight I made myself some grilled cheese sandwiches. The last time we lived here I did that all the time. Then we watched some tv, and I went to bed.