The Best Bus Ride Ever!

Hey all!
Well, I just have to share our experience that we had this morning. I wish you all could have experienced it for yourself, but ill try to make you feel like you were there. As a precursor, when we travel to other towns, we usually take chicken buses. Chicken buses are the way old-school buses from the states. 3 kids fit on a seat with little room in the aisle. But here the bus drivers must work on commission or something because they are always recruiting and they will shove as many people as possible on the bus. There are always 3 adults per seat, with more children on laps, and then the aisle is filled in (remember though that there is only about 6 inches for the aisle). Then when that is full, they fill the front up where the bus driver is until there are people hanging out the door. You could probably fit 15 people up there. (Sometimes people fall on the horn. It’s pretty funny). So this morning we are on our way up to Comalapa and are standing in the aisle. We’ve all lost our personal space by this point. We are spooning each other and some guys face is about an inch from the back side of me. But the road to Comalapa is really winding and uphill. So Tawnie starts to get sick. Me and Keri are asking around for a plastic bag but no one has one. Then all of a sudden Jenny starts throwing up. Keri grabs her poncho to give to her, but that didn’t work too well. People are trying to get away, but really there is no where to go. I pull out some alcohol swabs for Jenny and Tawnie ends up sniffing one the rest of the way there so she doesn’t throw up from the smell herself. We felt bad for everyone on the bus, but really they shouldn’t pack the bus that full anyway. But on a more important side, we got up to Comalapa and worked with the primary kids in the branch up there. We measured their height and weight so that we can find out which ones are mal nourished. We are doing the same thing today in Chimaltanango. The ones that are malnourished we are going to be able to provide with a supplement drink to help them get the nutrients they need. We are also going to be able to teach the women how the make sure the children do get what they need. There is such a need everywhere. 80% of Guatemala is considered poor and 60% of them are below the poverty level. It really is sad to see. But for the most part they are a very happy people. We could learn a lot from them. Oh, by the way, the hurricane missed Guatemala. We didn’t even get much rain. But it has been really cold and overcast for the past few days. We are freezing at night. But hopefully it will warm up soon. Well, that’s all for now. I love you guys.
Kirsti