LAST DAY

hi. we will all be home tomorrow and we will fill you in then. we will be woken up at 4 a.m. and we have no time to blog right now. goodbye.
keavy.




































Jk. Today we got to go ziplining over Lake Atitlan and through the mountains of Guatemala. We saw monkeys, waterfalls, and volcanoes. Morgan broke a swing while walking over a river but don't worry, she was harnessed in. Regardless of the fact that Sara did not have a back on her shoes, she managed to keep both of them on while ziplining. After that, we headed to the Eagles' Nest Orphanage and conducted a basketball clinic with the children and Laurel did a great job of sharing her testimony with the kids. They were very appreciative of our time and all the little gifts they received. Maison and Sara taught passing and dribbling, Laurel and Georgia taught some shot fakes, Morgan and Evans did lay ups with the kids and Margaret and I did shooting drills and attempted to teach them how to play knockout. We ate spaghetti at the orphanage and then got back in the car to go shop at Antigua. On our way there we were stopped for about an hour due to teachers protesting because they were not getting paid. After finally getting through the road we went about two hours in the car to get to Antigua. We broke up into several groups and started to shop. We all got a bunch of awesome stuff that you will see when we get home. We came back to Telma's and ate another delicious dinner. We presented Betty with shirts and basketballs to take to her orphanage/school and she was very appreciative of them. After we said our goodbyes to her we played show and tell with all of our purchases, had our last team pow-wow, and then started to pack. Although we are not ready to come back home due to the fact that we have had a great time, we have to get up in 5 hours. Hasta manana.
Keavy.....and Maison supervised but clearly did not write this blog......again.

Guatemala Day 5

Hola padres! Today was another successful day in Guatemala. We woke up to Coach Hatch pounding us in the heads with a beach ball and the smell of Telma’s French Toast and watermelon breakfast buffet. We started off early and went to our first orphanage. All of the orphans were HIV positive and will not ever be adopted. Evans surprisingly got in touch with her maternal side and bonded with some of the toddlers. It was so adorable! We went on to play with some older kids; Georgia’s punching balloon bags were the favorite toy. So naturally all the boys decided not to play with them and opted instead to chase her around the playground until she felt like she was about to pass out. We tried to take a senior pic while at the orphanage, and the children that Laurel and Evans were holding started crying and tried to jump out of their arms. On the other hand, Maison’s child loved her! She has finally gotten to hold one of the Guatemalan babies that she has been stalking this entire trip. The kids had trouble accepting the reality that is Sarah’s blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. Sadly we had to leave, but we know our time there was greatly appreciated.

We headed to the mall where we proceeded to eat the sack lunch that Telma had prepared for us. While there Maison, Keavy, Margaret, and Georgia discovered that you have to get the toilet paper BEFORE going into the stall. We also had another peculiar bathroom experience when we stopped at a small mart on the side of a cliff. One had to pay 2Q to use the restroom. Toilet paper was received prior to a short trek down a hill to get to the actual toilet. We headed back to the van and drove to the next orphanage (2hours away). Wild Betty’s driving took us through the storm, around the mudslides, and up the mountain. The orphanage was literally in a cloud. Due to the weather, a change of plans was necessitated. Instead of doing the clinic as planned today, we are going to stop back at the orphanage after doing the zip line tomorrow. Though visibility was limited, Betty managed to bring us safely off of the precipice and to the hotel. We did some pre-Antigua shopping in the town before a nice 4 course meal. Margaret and Georgia discovered that they really enjoy bargaining (or flirting) and Laurel got a great deal on a bag. Along the way we also learned that Morgan is a dog whisperer. 3 dogs literally followed her everywhere, and, when we got back to our room, she spent an hour outside petting a single mongrel.

Dinner was great. The large majority of people had beef tenderloin for their main course while the rest had lasagna. We all believed that the soup was a seafood bisque, but we later learned that it was actually a carrot and pumpkin soup. Either way, it was muy rico. We were all enjoying pleasant normal conversation when out of the blue Margaret and Georgia began to prattle off in their own made-up language. Coach Hatch claims they looked like Gorilla Soldiers in their headbands. We finished off the day with an ice cream dessert and we are now going to sleep.

Lots of love,

Evans “the dictionary” Horsley and Maison “I clearly didn’t write this blog” Lowery

Hola los pitufos (smurfs)....there are billboards promoting the new smurf movie everywhere.

So today started off good...we all woke up healthy. Telma had a wonderful breakfast of pancakes, eggs and ham. Sadly it was not green but still equally as delicious. From there we got in the car and made our way to a public high school for our first game. When we arrived at our destination, all of the young chicos y chicas were suited up in full blue jumpsuits, making them look a whole lot like those pitufos we referred to earlier. During warm up we noticed that compared to all these girls, we looked a whole lot like giants. Even our cute little Keavy looked muy alta compared to these girls. Betty told us that when the girls from the other team walked into the gym they saw us and immediately ran the other direction. They said that their coach did not tell them that they were playing the "scary americans". ha. When we began the game, we realized that our size was going to play a large factor. There was a funny moment when Coach Hatch and one of the young girls had a jump ball and the look of pure fear on the poor girls face was priceless as it sent the crowd into hysteric laughing. At half-time, the score was 41-5..them..jk..us. Keavy gave her testimony wonderfully and Betty translated. The pitufos had such a great response. Over 50 brochures were turned in saying that they were interested in what we talked about. By the end of the game the score was 82-10. Brutal. Georgia, Coach Hatch, and Maison went swinging after the game to relieve the intensity of the previous events. After such a hard fought battle, we booked on over to Pizza Hut. The view from where we were sitting was outstanding. The pizza also was outstanding. We all went to the bathroom and came back to find that margaret had a random photo shoot of herself on Maison's camera. Laurel also had some cute pics in there of her world renowned "fishy face". Only a few minutes after that Margaret and Georgia had a friendly slap war ending in a great big hug. How cute. Just all in all great experience. We still had a few hours before our next game so we went sight seeing and we saw how beautiful Guatemala is. We drove by the national palace and went to an underground market that was full of whatever you can possibly think of. When we were on the second floor of the market, Betty took us through the dead animals section. Morgan throughly enjoyed that. not. She ended up wincing through the whole long area. After the whole market extravaganza, we made our way to the national gym. We played the national 16 and under team. During the game, we were up by 14 when Sara accidentally fell leading to Coach Wyatt tripping over her giving Sara the new nickname "awkward speed bump". At halftime Evans and Morgan gave their testimonies in a very lovely way. By the end of the game, we had a nice solid 19 point win. On the way home Evans decided to enlighten us on how the last few movies of Harry Potter failed to throughly explain the awesomeness of what actually happened in the books. She then proceeded to explain thoroughly what actually happened in the books. To end the day, Betty told us a rather silly story. One day, Betty had to take her dog and cat to the vet. Her dog was in her lap but her cat was hidden in her bag. She was on her mo-ped by the way. At a stoplight a car pulled up next to her and saw the dog but only could hear the cat meowing, causing great confusion. Betty proceeded to look at the person and say.."my dog's bilingual" ha. Btw.. Sara and Laurel owned Margaret in a Guatemalan street fight.. in the guest house.

We love you and miss you all so much

love,

Morgan aka the singing queen

Georgia.. the name says enough ha

Day 1 and 2 Pics

Hey folks, here a few of Guatemala Pics from Day 1 and 2.

Guatever...

Today on our second day in Guatemala... we started the day with an awesome breakfast of French toast, eggs, and papaya prepared by our welcoming host, Telma. Jaime picked us up for a long car ride to our first game. We saw the city along with a man walking his two goats. Laurel attempted to amuse the group with her dry wit. The game was a success, and Sara shared her testimony with girls of all ages. We had a chance to see some players that we had played against last year. After taking several pictures and signing autographs, we headed to lunch at a local hot-spot, Pollo Campero. Margaret and Evans ordered donuts, ice cream, fried chicken, french fries, and a drink- quite the eaters. After lunch, we toured the town accidentally due to lack of sense of direction. We played our second game against a college team on a breezy, outdoor court with music playing in the background... so much better than 90% humidity in Misstake state that we call home. It began to mist during our game which was quite soothing. (btw.. a fly just landed on Sara's hand) . At halftime, Margaret shared her testimony with a scant crowd. We ended the game with an upsetting 1 point loss. On the way back, we got stuck in traffic for an hour. Then, we went to the lavish, 3 story mall to exchange our American money for Guatemalan quetzalas. While at the mall, we enjoyed meandering about and eating gelato. The highlight of the mall trip was listening to Georgia belt out a classic Adele song for all the Guatemalan spectators to watch. On the way home, we thoroughly enjoyed listening to Keavy and Morgan sing popular American songs to the whole team. We returned home for a spaghetti dinner which everyone ate like freaks! We were introduced to Jaime's sister-in-law, Betty Merrida who shared how Sports Ambassador's affected her life with the team at dinner. She told us how one man's testimony showed her the path to God. We returned to our rooms where Maison, Sara, and Laurel enjoyed a nice game of hitting around the beach volleyball which includes pelting the ball in each other's faces. Awkward Maison plays volleyball as much as possible when she is able to take time away from chilling in her corner. After we showered, we had a group devotion and some of us enjoyed a rousing game of Rook. With all that said.. adios.

Sara "Malfoy McHedgeHog" Bolen and Laurel "Nubcakes" Bane

Guatemala DIA DOS

Hola los padres (that means parents...yes, we are now bilingual. YAY) This morning we got up and had a RICO (delicious) breakfast of pancakes, fresh pineapples and HUEVOS (eggs). Dressed to impress we headed to church where we were warmly welcomed by the friendly members of the church. Though we did not understand a word of the sermon except a random "Christo", it was an enlightening experience. Caught off guard, Maison was asked to give her testimony at the church...in front of all the congregation...kinda scary. Maison did AMAZING. She was very natural. After church, we changed and went to the outdoor basketball court to "get our game on." It was a close game but we ended up losing to a bunch of old women. We could not adjust to the concrete court, and by we I mean coach wyatt... she busted it. Halftime of the game Laurel gave her testimony and ended up bringing a young man to christ. WOW!

Following the game we headed back to the church with our posse, AKA the youth church members, behind us. We played some games, sang some gospel songs in both languages, and got to know all the locals really well. Sara "the HedgeHog" Bolen and Margaret enjoyed bonding with the cutie pies Alex and Jose. After eating homemade guacamole, steak and salad we started to paint. In the midst of the work, Evans and Georgia got hungry and decided to eat some paint. Then to wash off the paint, we ended the visit at the church with an INTENSE water balloon fight. All were soaked in water but Keavy. She hid behind her camera, LAME-O. We said our goodbyes with hugs and kisses XOXOXOXOXOXOXOX...

We returned to Telma's for some homemade mashed potatoes and fried Texas chicken. YAY, oh yeah and bread. and cake. and punch. The team relaxed and Morgan found out a new way to wear her pants and use ICYHOT--try it on your ears, its feels nice. Buenos Noches from Guate, we will talk to yall later you big ole alligators.

love lots,

Margaret Elizabeth Horsley, MaiDOG, Keavy the cool kid with a head

Well, we made it safely to Guatemala City this afternoon. We weren't sure if we would catch our flight in Houston after a 45-minute delay before leaving the airport in Jackson (due to airplane "computers going haywire"!). Our flight attendant said there was no way we would make our flight in Houston because we had to race from terminal B 64 all the way to E 14 in a matter of minutes; but we laced up the running shoes, caught the tram, and were the last ones to board the plane for Guatemala City - just before takeoff!

Jaime met us at the airport, and "crazy" Eddie drove us to Telma's guest house. We had some lunch, then left to meet up with the guys' team for a couple of games at a local prep school. We took an early lead of about 17 points, before our opponents, the Stars, cut the lead to 7 points in the third. But, we finished the game strong and won by about 12 against a very good team and in spite of some questionable officiating. Between our game and the guys' game, Georgia shared about how she came to know that she needed God in her life. We then watched as our guys took a small lead into halftime of their game against an exceptional team; but had to leave before the second half started so that we could get back to Telma's for some roast, carrots, and potatoes - sooo good!

Just about to get some rest - we have a busy day tomorrow.

Will try to post a video soon, depending on the strength of our wifi...

Guatemala 2011

Wow! Can't believe it's almost been a year since we traveled to Central America for our first basketball mission trip, and now it's time for another exciting adventure! We are excited about this year's trip as we know that through this experience God will grow us stronger in our faith, use us to share His love with others, and provide us with opportunities to present the Gospel to the people of Central America. Less than 3 weeks until departure - can't wait!