So far May has been a good month.  El Bosque celebrated Mother’s Day with the kids reciting poems, performing skits and singing for their moms.  A light lunch was served for a small price afterwards.  Sadly, not all mothers can attend because though the price is low, not all can afford it.  El Bosque follows the ways of most schools in Guatemala so I suppose the same is true in all schools which are not fully funded by donations.      Mother’s Day fell on a Tuesday this year so the activities were on the Monday before.  Tuesday was a school holiday so four teachers and I went to Antigua for the day.  We shopped for a few gifts for the kids who will graduate this year, had a nice lunch, and had a good time just being away from Jutiapa.    My first two years here, I was able to put together small gift bags for all the students.  The enrollment when I started was 80.  Now it is over 130 so I just can’t do that this year.  Instead, I hope to give one “nicer” gift to each of the kids who will graduate from 6th and 9th grade.    I hope to still have the year-end party with games, food and prizes but I’ll have to made that decision closer to the end of the school year - which by the way is coming much earlier this year.  The government in Guatemala wants the schools to be finished earlier because it is an election year.  The first election is currently sporting 23 candidates for president.  No one will win so they will have a runn-off election several weeks later.  The time between the two elections is considered a violent time in this country so those in charge of education don’t want the kids traveling during the time between.  Several of our  teaches are grieving this month for the violence that took place in Peten earlier this month.  It is again a problem with the drug lords crossing the border trying to take over properties along the frontier.   While the 27 who died of this horrific violence were not family of friends, the  strong sense of patriotism  and concern for their fellow countrymen within the Guatemalan people is deeply injured by this on-going problem.  This is the second sector of border to be affected this year.  When you think of us here, please pray for this violence to end and that there also be no violence with the impending elections.  The murder rate in Guatemala is reportedly 10 times higher than the rate in Mexico.  It is a small country with big problems that man cannot resolve by himself.