Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon we visited the Rosa de Amor orphanage one last time. I prepared an activity for the kids, as they love crafts.
Maria and Kati
Charlie and Emily with little Rosita.
I also gave each child a coloring book and crayons, thanks to Ron Good and his "coloring book project". Miguel asked Alisha to help him color.
Here I am with most of the children who live at the home. Oh, how hard it was to say good-by!
This is the first time we've been to this interesting mall in Guatemala City. There is a roller coaster inside the mall!
Everyone except Maria and Emily went for a ride. Even Tony went, although he told me that he only enjoyed the straight parts.
There were also bumper cars. Tony rode with his friend, Jarod. He had a blast shooting the laser! If you hit the target on another car "bumpers" came down and bopped them on the head.
Charlie and Maria rode together in another car.
There was also something I'd never seen before, huge plastic balls in a shallow pool of water. Tony was the only one small enough to go for a ride inside. He climbed inside, they inflated it, and he crawled around on the water. We really enjoyed our afternoon at this fun mall.
On Wednesday, September 1, a group of us visited a feeding center and school called Operation Rescue, located in Guatemala City near the dump. ORI donates food to this organization on a monthly basis.
Monday through Friday the children are bussed in from the slums and the dump. The day we visited 95 kids piled off the bus. We lined up and they greeted each one of us as they entered the facility.
They serve the kids a hot breakfast each morning. We helped serve pancakes the day we were there.
Charlie found two little friends. The kids just loved the attention we gave them.
After breakfast the children went to their classrooms. The younger children, 130 of them, attend morning classes. Fifty kids attend high school in the afternoons.
We went to a restaurant in Antigua called La Estancia. I was saddened to realize that of the five teenagers, only one was able to read the menu. These dear girls have had so few educational opportunities in their difficult lives. We were thankful to have one of the orphanage workers along, and she helped them order their food. 
We also had two babies along, the girls' children. Little Rosita was an angel the entire meal. 
When we returned to the orphanage, I had a craft for all the kids. We made animal masks. Every time I take an activity the teenagers want to participate, too. 
Some of the girls proudly wearing their masks.
Tony - the gorilla.
It was an enjoyable, peaceful place. The children had fun climbing and jumping on the ruins.
The ball court.
The Mayans still hold sacred ceremonies on the site.
We stayed at the Hotel del Campo outside of Xela. It was old and dreary, but it was clean and the price was right...really cheap!
Saturday morning we drove into Xela and walked around the town square.
This building housed several different restaurants.
Taken from Xela town square.
We saw quite a few shoe shine "shops" set up around the plaza. Every town we've visited in Guatemala seems to have shoe shine boys. They are usually young boys or sometimes teens, but these in Xela were older men. It was sobering to think these men have probably been shining shoes their whole lives.
The cathedral. There was a Catholic confirmation taking place while we were visiting. There were Mayans everywhere, dressed in their very best.
One of the girls who participated in the confirmation carrying the gifts she received in the basket on her head. She also had a large bundle in her hand.
Mother and daughters wearing the native dress of Xela.
These three ladies are modeling traditional hair braiding. I think it must be a dying tradition, as I've only seen older ladies wearing their hair in this fashion.
The old part of town consists of narrow, crooked, one-way, cobblestone streets.
