Kristin and Mark's page

Guatemala

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted on here! I'm sorry! Anyway, I have to write because I am super excited about my Guatemala trip! I just got off of a conference call about it and it sounds fantastic! Here is a quick run down for those interested:

Projects:
-Our main project will be working with the community of Vuelta Grande to come up with business plan for a tourist program they would like to start. First, they will take us through the hike they would like to offer, where we will give tips on good places people would like to stop, things we would like to see, how to make it appealing to tourists, etc. Then we will also brainstorm marketing techniques and ideas. Finally, we will come up with a plan for implementation.
-We will work on fixing an erosion problem for one for one of the houses in the community by building some type of retaining wall.
-We will be working on building a study room/bedroom for one of the scholarship recipients (UofDreams is now sponsoring 8 students with scholarships!)

Excursions:
-We will be there for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day!
-Salsa and meringue lessons
-Hike up Volcano of Pacaya
-Trip to Atitlan

Needs:

-Boy's clothing and shoes (especially fleece, sweatshirts, and jackets for when it gets cold!)
-Toys
-Monetary to help send children to school and build homework rooms.

Yay! Super excited!!

Happy 4th!

So luckily Mark made it home in time for the 4th and we decided to have a relaxing, restful time with the Hockman relatives! Tons of fun!

continued

The view of Lombard (the 'crookedest' street) from the top of Coit Tower, a huge sourdough bread crocodile at the Boudin bakery, Mark found Brad Pitt at the wax museum, petting a leopard shark at the aquarium, climbing the redwood!)

Our San Fran vaca

Here is just a small sample of our San Fran pics. We had a great time and it was good to get some time away. Very relaxing! We were able to walk sooo much. We just wish we could keep that up on a daily basis! (Above: Pier 39 with the famous sea barking sea lions, Mark behind bars at Alcatraz, Alcatraz from afar, the Golden Gate Bridge, our attempt at propping the camera to get a picture of both of us hugging a redwood tree.)

Amber's T-ball practice

I had the chance to go to a couple of Amber's T-Ball practices so I wanted to share a few pictures. She is one of 3 girls on the team and does a great job representing! She has a good little throw and I'm proud of her! That helmet cracks me up, as it looks so big on all of their little heads! Amber decided to pose for me while she was on 2nd base. The last picture was at the end of practice. As you can probably tell, she was worn out and it was all she could do to muster a little smile in the picture. Too funny.

my first class

Hi All! It has been awhile! Sorry about that. Anyway, I have been working towards being an ESL tutor/assistant. I finished my online training and had my first volunteer session today in a real class. It was supposed to just be an observation but the teacher was cool and let me jump right in and help out. It rocked!! I loved it! I think everyone was Hispanic so there was a lot of Spanish goin' on between them as they interpreted things. We worked on words for clothing, how to ask for a certain size or color, how to return an item, etc. I helped them write out their skits and practice their dialogues and then they had to act their skits out. They were very funny and I got a big kick out of them. The whole class laughed a lot. I am looking forward to continuing this. The next step is placing me in a class for the rest of the school year! Yay!

Kind of neat!

"The Hippo Roller is a simple rolling barrel device that allows the millions whose livelihoods depend on the daily fetching of water to more easily access and transport their daily water supply, and reduce the risk of long-term bodily injuries. The roller holds 3-4 days worth of water for a family of 7, about 5 times the amount of water that can be moved using traditional methods, which frees up time for more productive economic and educational activities. It’s an amazing product and an amazing story of good design enabling communities."

-http://projecthdesign.com/

I just happened upon this site by accident but thought this was a cool idea!

Spring Vaca in the works!

Mark and I have decided to go to San Francisco for vacation this year! I am very excited, as it is a place neither of has ever been to and as I look around on the internet, I am finding more and more cool stuff to do while we are there! If anyone has any tips/suggestions on places to stay, things to do, not do, etc. throw them our way! Thanks!