The Week In Review

Last week was a busy one and while we have tons of stuff to tell you about, the time is pretty short so we'll give a quick review here and then fill in with blog posts as we can (probably even after we get home).

Saturday Aug. 9 was the annual lunch with all the Hoops Sagrado scholarship students. This year's lunch was held in Pachaj and as always it was a fun and special day. That evening we played Xela in the local gym and won on a thrilling and controversial last-second foul shot.

Sunday Aug. 10 was the day of the Cantel Tournament. Always a day jam-packed with basketball the Hoops Knights once again fell to Xela in the final game of the day.

Monday Aug. 11--we visited a family of artisans in Momostenango who weave blankets, rugs and create many other handicrafts. The students always get to try their hand at spinning the wool and making tortillas. Monday was also the last day for the basketball clinics and the final chance to practice before the big tournament.

Tuesday Aug. 12--we headed back to San Felipe for three more games against a local school. After the games we boarded the bus and headed to Champerico for the day...Champerico is a Pacifical coastal town like Ocean City, Md. only worse....but it's still a good time.

Wednesday Aug. 13 and Thursday Aug. 14 were the annual kids basketball tournament and the culmination of all of our work here in Guatemala. It was a jam-packed two days with probably the biggest news coming out of the tournament being that the Red Beast--the 4-time defending champion girls team from Chirijquiac--fell in the first round of the tournament! They stormed back the next day though to end up in third place. And in a reversal of last year, both the girls and boys teams from Pachaj won the championship. After the tournament on Thursday, everyone grabbed pick up trucks and headed to the gymnasium in Xela where we played three games against a local high school with Hoops ending the day 3-0.

Friday Aug. 15 we all headed to Fuentes Georginas for a day of relaxation in the hot springs. The water this year at the hot springs is really warm, bordering on hot. Folks say the more rain that we get here in this part of the world, the warmer the springs are. After leaving the hot springs we boarded a bus for Totonicopan for three Friday night games. Once again, the Knights ended the evening 3-0 (just barely for the ladies who won by one point).

Saturday Aug. 16 and Sunday Aug. 17 we visited ruins outside of the town of Huehuetenango and then headed to a town near the Mexican border called Jacaltenango for Sunday morning games. As these may or may not be our last games here in Guatemala (we don't know what the plan is for Panajachel) everyone really put in their best effort to end the day 3-0 with the "Old Head" breaking the 100 barrier on a last-second shot by Stan.

That's it for now. We'll try to be in touch again soon. We leave Xela today for two days in Panajachel and then will be home on Wednesday. It's amazing how quickly 33 days goes by.