Suzi 29/08/06

Beunos tardes de Guatemala! Having a great time. Spanish is absolutely impossible but its fun having a go! Our lessons are from 8am to 1pm every day (break in the middle for 30 mins I´m pleased to say!!) and then study and coffee in the afternoon. Both our teachers, Gladis and Louis, are really patient and we have even got on to likes and dislikes this morning. We´re taking part in a bike tour on Thursday afternoon and learning how to make tortillas in our break on Friday so will let you know how that goes!

So, off to Canada! We stayed with family Godwin in their new home in Chelsea, Quebec, which was fantastic. They have direct access to the river behind their house and we enjoyed swimming round the point (about half a mile) in the evenings strictly I only made it the whole way once, the last 100m on the first attempt, I got a lift with Anna and Conrad in the "safety canoe", but Thorsten made it both times!!). We joined Richard, Dom and Richard´s two sisters, Sue and Sally (and their total of 7 children, complete mayhem but great fun!) for a weekend camping trip at Lac Phillippe. We enjoyed swimming, boating and canoing all day and even had a lilo for a great night´s sleep. Didn´t see any bears but put our "cooking clothes" in the car each night for safety as didn´t want to provide any temptation! Did see raccoons though and they are huge, not cute little Bert and Melissa after all!

Finished our trip with Mel in Minneapolis. Was fab to see her after quite some time and celebrated her birthday last week with a brilliant trip to the state fair. Like the Essex show only absolutely massive and so much food, 99% of it on a stick, I could not believe it. Ate ourselves senseless then went on the waltzer! Thorsten won a sponge bob toy and Mel has been granted full custody so we´re looking forward to receiving regular progress reports and occasional visits!

The journey overland was 31 hours from Ottawa with 3 changes (and the most impolite immigration officers in the world at Detroit!) so have officially broken our "land speed¨record once again! Definitely got to see the best of redneck America on the bus so was worth the journey for that alone. Also ate the most disgusting food on our journey so far somewhere in Wisconsin, an open sandwich allegedly but basically 4 bits of bread with Turkey and the drowned in a disgusting plate full of thick turkey gravy. Uuugggghhhhh!

So that takes us to a sad goodbye to Mel and North America and our 4am start on Saturday to Antigua. Onwards and Upwards. Adios!