La Finca del Nino-Our New Home

Oct 1st, the feast day of St. Therese Lisieux, the patroness of missionaries, is fittingly the day we, the new missionaries arrive at the Farm. I know for myself I have a mix of emotions going on at the moment but excitement probably outweighs them all! We have done a lot of amazing traveling and had some beautiful opportunities! However, I am ready to have a permanent home again and a routine. I am ready to give my whole self to the Farm and to the kids. Pray for us as we will be praying for you!

                                                  http://www.ewtn.com/therese/therese1.htm

Missionary Introduction

This is our official article we wrote to introduce ourselves for our newsletter:
Hello everyone, we are the new missionaries.  Mucho gusto.

This being the first time we’ve met, we would like to say a few things about ourselves.  Along with the usual info, we thought we’d give a very interesting, and very not interesting fact about us.  Let’s get to it.

First up, there’s Natalie D’Orazio.  Originally from Jacksonville, Florida, she graduated in 2010.  Natalie is our nurse, which means she is automatically the least likely to get voted off the island.  The Farm’s not on an island?  Okay, well what you really need to know is she is awesome.  Her favorite things to do are reading, surfing or anything that involves being out on the open water.  Ocean water, though.  Lakes weird Natalie out.  Although she just learned to like Lake Atitlan here in Guatemala. Her very interesting fact is that her name means “Christmas Child” but she could not have been born farther from Christmas.  Her very not interesting fact is that she has lived in Florida her whole life.

Next, there’s Curtis Tripp.  Curtis is from Connecticut and went to Notre Dame.  He studied Environmental Science and Anthropology.  We all pretend like we know what that really means too.  In practice, we just know that he is able to identify any rock or tell the history of pretty much every culture we have encountered or brought up in conversation for four weeks straight now.  He uses words like breccia in everyday conversation and still doesn’t understand why after multiple explanations we don’t get what it is.  His very interesting fact is that he learned how to live off the land from aboriginal elders.  Really.  His very not interesting fact is that he doesn’t like condiments.
After that, we’ve got Curtis’ other half, Noelle.  She’s from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and also went to Notre Dame.  Noelle studied sociology and got her masters in global health.  She also likes Curtis.  Like, a lot.  And the outdoors.  Not as much as Curtis, though.  We’re all excited about having a married couple with us as part of our community at the Farm.  Noelle’s very interesting fact is that five days before the wedding, the church they were going to get married in burned down, and she was so not stressed out about it that she forgot to tell Curtis.  In the world of not very interesting facts, she likes cats.

Tiffany Ross is from Clearwater, Florida.  She went to Florida State and majored in International Affairs and Latin American and Caribbean Studies.  Her favorite things to do are rapping, traveling, running, and spending time with interesting people.  In addition to having a head start in Spanish classes from college.  Her most interesting fact is that she daily prays for the end of bees and wasps.  Curtis is very not okay with this and is quick to point out how ecologically shortsighted this is.  It’s safe to assume he is counter-praying.  Tiffany’s very not interesting fact is that she has a love/hate relationship with earthquakes.

Finally, there’s Pat Gothman.  From Dallas, Texas, he went to the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota where he majored in Philosophy and Catholic Studies.  Lots of strange things seem to happen to Pat, which means he always has good stories.  That’s what we’ll keep telling him anyway, until the strange stuff starts involving us, too.  So far, he has been the official group historian via writing and video.  Pat’s very interesting fact is that he unwittingly volunteered at a steakhouse/drug-lord-money-laundering outfit for two months.  A very not interesting fact about him is that he is tall and doesn’t fit in any “Guatemalan size” buildings.

We are all loving Guatemala and traveling and studying Spanish, but above all we can’t wait to get to Farm of the Child and begin our new lives as missionaries!

 

CMMB

post and pics to come when I have good wifi

Last Week in Antigua

Our leaving is bittersweet. Antigua has been such a beautiful home to us for the last 6 weeks. My guatafamilia was amazing! So sweet and welcoming. We spent a lot of time around the table. We had all kinds of conversations and my guatamama was an amazing cook! I truly enjoyed my time with them.

La Union school, where we spent most of our time each day, was a beautiful experience as well! Our teachers truly became our friends and I had the pleasure of having 3!

A few things I learned from Antigua:

>The Mayan culture is still very much alive.

>Anything within the 1-2 hours is "on-time". It would also not be out of the question to all-together cancel your meeting. The value  relationships more than time schedules.

>Santa Clara has the best bakery in town.

>Dona Luisa has the best banana bread.

>I need to find a country to live in where the food is more expensive:)

>People make fun of you when you wear rain gear, though it rains and the streets flood on a daily basis during the rainy season (about 3-4) months.

>Antigua is stuck in the American 80s with their music. Sometimes if you close your eyes you can pretend you're at a roller rink party:)

All in all it was a beautiful experience! Though, I think we are all in agreement that we are ready for the Farm! Just a few more days!

                Just on a side note I lived in the house of Santa Pedro. I could not find a whole lot of information about him except that he was a Franciscan from Spain that worked with the poor of Guatemala, specially Antigua. His feast day is April 18th and he was beautified and canonized by JPII. For more information you can read: http://translate.google.com.gt/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20020730_betancurt_sp.html&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhermano%2Bpedro%26biw%3D1366%26bih%3D673

 

Weekend in Semuc-Sabado

Sabado

My body has kept my routine of waking around 5:30am. It is much easier to get out of bed here though because the sun has already risen. Though I am a night person buy nature, I enjoy the quiet mornings for prayer. A priest told me once you receive all the grace you need for the day during the time you take for morning prayer, which is probably why satan tries to always sabotage it.

Dona Luisa provided breakfast before we headed out for Semuc. Banana bread and peanut butter will never get old! I think hiking Pecaya last week prepared me for some of the inclines. It was such a peaceful hike! Besides my heart beating, the only sounds were the river and some insects! It was so surreal! I was trying to take it all in around my without losing my footing. The pictures I had seen of Semuc really do no justice and sorry but that's all I have to offer you as well! This really is one of the most beautiful places on earth! We all agreed that while we could spend the day just staring off in wonder and awe, we were all so excited for the pools!

Again no words can explain the beauty of these aqua pools contained within a limestone bridge on top of a raging river. My brain still cannot comprehend that amazing phenomenon! I can't explain the anticipation and excitement I had to jump into the first pool! I felt like a mermaid in a lagoon:) Even the regret of not having brought a mask & snorkel could not take anything away from this experience. We slid from pool to pool over a series of natural water slides! We tried to strategize the best way to slide down in order to avoid rocks, but once you got going there was no controlling it! Gracias a Dios we all made it safe! A few cuts to practice good infection-prevention on. (I have already implemented the infection- prevention protocol so that it is well-ingrained once prior to arrival at the Farm. hehe)

Once we made it down to the last pool, it was about lunch time and the majority vote was to head back for lunch. (Anyone that knows me, knows I could stay in the water...forever...no not really,  it wasn't the ocean... there were no waves:)

*On a side note, one day after a break, or pausa as they call it, my teacher asked me how I was feeling. Sometimes you just need to switch it up so I told her, "me siento seca" or I feel dry. She laughed and named me sirenita (little mermaid). I told sorry but it's not original. My mom gave me that name long ago:)

I should have been full from a bread-filled breakfast but around mediodia my body was letting me know she was hungry. We decided we needed something a bit more substantial for lunch. I don't know if you are one of those people or if you just happen to know one, that when they find something they enjoy on the menu, they stick with it, because they have a fear of trying something new and having food envy . I'm not one of those, I order chicken-fingers at every meal:) agggg Agustin ummmm. sorry just clearing the throat, but yes I played it safe and ordered the nachos again. Despite knowing that I had delicious nachos coming we all couldn't hold back from another slice of Dona Luisa's! She lasted almost all weekend! Did we mention we had 2 loaves for 5 people. (We're going to work on the food discipline thing...starting at the Farm:) To my surprise, but not really, everyone ordered nachos!

Definitely felt the food coma after lunch but Tiffany, Patrick, and I headed for the caves! We heard many things about these caves; one time as it started raining they flooded and they had to rescue people out of them, but you don't really need to know how to swim to go through them, and above all as long as you have this candle they give you, you're good. "So what if I just brought a flashlight?" (me)

 "No, it takes away from the ambiance."

 "Well what if while we're doing all this climbing I can't hold it?" (me)

 "The guide holds it for you."

 "Ok, well then how do I see? the flashlight makes a lot of sense to me."

 "No, the candle is better. It's all good if you have your candle."

Ok  I thought well skills in order to actually go on this adventure I'm just have to turn off my critical thinking skills and better judgment. (Not recommended but sometimes needed in order to enjoy experiences more fully:)

Thankfully the fact that a huge Guatemalan family was going with us gave us reassurance. They had older kids in their group and one guy with his broken arm in a plastic bag! The water was freezing as we headed into the cave. You could hear bats as we entered. The water got deeper as we continued. I think we were all just focused on I was in about waste-high water for about 75% of the time. There was one point I slipped off the rock and went completely under. All I could think about was brain-eating bacteria. ( I think I blew out my nose and spit for a good 5 min after that.) Tiffany also took a decent spill, in which when she resurfaced I strongly advised or rather mandatoed (spanglish translation for command:), "You spit that water out!" We were crawling in, up, down, and just swimming through these amazing caverns! Our candles went out at least a dozen times along the way, and we would frantically paddle to the closest flame to re-ignite, which is quite difficult while wadding water and keeping up with the group, especially if your wick went under. At one point we came to a waterfall. I was enjoying just taking it in, when our guide, Rojo (insane doesn't begin to describe this Guatemalan), showed us to the shadiest ladder I've ever seen, to climb basically up through it. I was so focused on keeping up (because when you turned around it was just pitch black) that I didn't bother comprehending how I was going to accomplish this. In retrospect climbing up was way easier than trying to climb back down. I believe the focus on keeping our candle lit prevented the anxiety/reality of all the near-death experiences! It was probably the scariest/most amazing thing I've ever done in my life. Gracias a Dios! We made it! We have the candle stubs to prove it. The last stretch was a short tube down the river, but first a giant tree swing! Those will never get old! After a couple rides each we all headed into the river, which surprisingly felt much colder than the caves. The Guatemalan family (about 20 people) all linked tubes! haha. The three of us went solo! As we gazed at the beautiful landscape on either side we didn't realize the strength of the current. There were a few panic moments as we flailed to steer ourselves around some rocks. haha. It's all good.  At one point as we moseyed down the river Tiffany attempted to correct Pat's use of the term literally. (If I haven't mentioned before when Tiffany uses this term it is always in complete incorrect context. We tried to explain that there was a word for that, figuratively, haha, but she is quite convinced.) A bunch of laughs and a couple of selfies later we finished up our river trip and walked our tubes back up to the waterfall. A complete day of fun, but we were tired, wet and hungry. We arrived back just in time to catch a ride back to the nearby city of Lanquin to make sunday's departure easier.

Every mode of transportation is an adventure here. We are really missing out in the States with our mundane solo commutes! This is another one of those experiences that I just really can't put into words as I think my missionary family would agree! haha. I don't even know where to begin. Just imagine a bunch of foreigners singing Mulan at the top of our lungs, mind you, only one person actually knew all the words, as were all hanging on/sitting on top of each other in the back of a pick up in the pitch black outside over unpaved roads and then add a full on thunderstorm. I was overjoyed when we arrived at the hotel! 

VIDEO:)

Check out Pat's latest video of our weekend in Semuc!
http://vimeo.com/75225555

Weekend in Semuc-Friday

Our last weekend in Guate! So bittersweet. It has been a beautiful 6 weeks of study! The plan was for Semuc-Champey. Everyone we've talked to has said it is by far their favorite place in all of Guatemala! I hope it lives up to the hype!

Thursday night we said goodbye to a new dear friend Edgar, we met in Chontala our first weekend, but not before we stocked up on bread from Dona Luisa's! An amazing bakery! Though their banana bread is not quite as good as mom's, it's a close substitute and you can buy a whole loaf for 13.5Q or roughly $1.25! Now we were all ready for travel! Edgar was traveling to stay with family and look for work! Please keep him in your prayers! Friday, we woke up early and spent about a 8 hour drive in a shuttle van. We slept, talked, prayed, I attempted to read, but managed about half a page before getting nauseous, so I listened to some music as well. I forgot how much I missed my music! (There's always plenty of 80s American music playin' in Guate:) The last 2 hours were on curvy, non-paved roads, and I think we were all just ready to arrive. Before arriving we went over the shadiest bridge I've ever been on. (And yet when we walked over it later, I felt safer in the van.)



We stayed at El portal, a recommended hostel. As Tiffany would say, "We literally stayed in a tree-house!" Which means not really, but it felt like one. We were however, quite literally in the middle of no-where though I think this added beauty! We spotted a waterfall across the river and decided to take a hike. We had to cross the shady bridge on foot...so you could fit through the slats...but as they would say here it was vale la pena! (it was worth it!) How beautiful! This waterfall was actually the entrance to the caves that we planned to tour Saturday. With a whole day of travel and a short hike behind us we worked up quite an appetite. There wasn't a whole lot to choose from on the menu at el portal, and we were all surprised to wondered how schnitzel made it but no burgers or even tacos. I decided to play it safe and with nachos. Excellent choice. It definitely gave the others food envy. We spent the night just chillin and enjoying. We played life-size jenga and had Dona Luisa's for a late night snack! We headed off to bed early just as another group arrived. The noise did not bother me a bit as I fell right asleep after patching a the hole in my mosquito net with some med tape:) No malaria for me!

God's timing is perfecto!

God's timing is so perfect! I went to mass this morning so ready to hear the readings after that beautiful reflection and realized I they were not the same. haha. So when I returned to my Guata house I checked them again. Apparently I'm so disconnected I don't even know the date, because I was reading the readings for next Tuesday! All in God's plan though. This is what I needed today and He knew:)I wondered why there was a reflection on St. Thecla, even though her feast day was on the 23rd. hehe.

Connected

The gospel this morning revealed an answer to my prayers regarding for balance in communication. It was so profound, I would love to share it with you. Gospel Luke 8:9-21 "The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you." He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it." -The Gospel of the Lord This reflection was written by Sr. Meg Funk, a Benedictine nun from our Lady of Grace Monastery was just beautiful! Families today are in some ways more connected than ever. Husbands and wives talk by phone several times a day from work, home, and during their commutes. Children text and talk. Everyone reports in. Even from afar, family members visit us in our living rooms via Skype. We know where everyone is and how they feel about being there. We strive to keep the family bonds tight, which makes today's Gospel at first glance seem rude and rough. Jesus' family wants to see him, and he leaves them waiting outside while he conveys a startling message: My family is bigger than just you. It in includes all those who hear my word and act on it. Surely this is just a jolt, a literary or audio sound bite to make a point, an exaggeration to be shaved down to size in one's real life. Shouldn't my family have more claim on me than anyone else? Shouldn't they count on my and I on them? But there's a deeper message in today's Gospel. As Christian's, we have a much wider obligation to others beyond our immediate kin; we are to help, love, forgive, anticipate, and relieve hardship wherever we see it. We are Jesus of Nazareth's mother, brother, and sister who listen to him and act accordingly. This requires change. Personal habits and socially imbedded hubris require our sustained attention. Perhaps we can use our cell phones and Internet as means to the end of truly staying connected, to find ways to take action where there is need. We are all, after all Jesus' family. And we need to stay connected.

Nuestros Ahijados-Casa Jackson

                                                             
So along with taking Spanish classes some of the other missionaries found a beautiful organization  opportunity to volunteer their afternoon time. The organization is know as "God's Child Project". "Today, The GOD’S CHILD Project cares for and educates 5,000 orphaned, abandoned, and poverty-stricken boys and girls in addition to providing health and community-based services for 8,700 widowed, abandoned, and single mothers and their dependents in Guatemala, El Salvador, Malawi, and India."

       (This is Merlin, Gilberto, and Gladys)

above:  (This is Merlin, Gilberto, and Gladys)
below:  ( Meet missionary Tiffany or en espanol Estfania)


My friends invited me to join and after hearing their stories, I was so excited to go. They spent time specifically in Casa Jackson, a clinic for malnourished babies. Ahhh! Que lindos! We changed diapers, feed, changed, and just spent time with the babies! What a beautiful experience! I have been a few more times. Through prayer I discerned that at this time it would be more prudent for me to focus on my Spanish at the moment so I may better serve in Honduras, but I wanted to share these experiences with ya'll!


       Say hello to missionary Noelle or Noella

 

 and her husband Curtis, which apparently is very hard to pronounce in espanol so he refers to himself as Curry, which is much easier, or Esteban. ( The name you are given if someone can't remember your name. haha. Genius! We need that in English!)

 

Natalia (me) con Humberto. What a ham! Like any good nurse in an isolation room, let's play with a plastic toy we can wipe off please. haha. Gracias Wolfson's! And it had to be the beach ball!

 

This is the link for more information: http://www.godschild.org/casajackson/ 

Independence Day Weekend in Guate!

Viernes (Friday)

So we decided to spend the weekend in the city and get the full experience of Independence Day! Every real holiday is free of class :) Therefore we had no class Friday but came to school ready to run! So there's this Guatemalan tradition of running 18K with a torch, though I don't know that many people run the whole route, and it's not all at the same time either. We saw people running randomly in packs throughout the weekend lead by a torch bearer. They people on the street sides like to make it interesting and throw water bags (which are much more popular that water bottles and make for perfect water balloons) at all the runners. Running uphill is almost impossible. Running downhill on the otherhand, Man was that a breeze. I was going so fast I thought I would just tumble down the hill. I thought the river run was crazy but the chapinos (Guatemalans) have out done us again! We ran uphill, downhill, on highway, and through rock-paved streets of Antigua while trying to dodge the water bombs:) It was a great experience. I must also add that I arrived to school in shorts and running shoes, while most of the Guatemalan teachers and students ran the race in jeans and converse! After we all went home and took siestas, we returned to the school for a fashion show we were asked to participate in featuring ropas typicas, or the typical mayan dress from different regions. It was so fun! Afterwards we took some awkward missionary family photos. The key word being awkward. hehe

Sabado

Despite our run from the day before we braved the hike up Pacaya, one of Guatemala's active volcanos. I believe of the 29 volcanos in Honduras, only 3 are active. It took about an hour and a half by van. The whole time I just felt so blessed to be given the opportunity to visit these places! I had everyone in my prayers! I was able to pray two rosaries on the way there, and haha did we need it. My thighs were burning as we began the hike. The steepness of the hike up felt like the grand canyon! Our tour guide was muy amable (very nice) and gave us breaks along the way. He stopped to show us some of the plant life as well. I learned about the oja de queso, or the cheese leaf, which is soft underneath and apparently is great toilet paper if you're in a crunch! Our guide said sometimes he made the hike 3 times a day. Behind us were 3 guys with horses, trying to convince us we were very tired so we would take their "horse taxis". haha. They were pretty persistant, but we made it sin caballos! (without horses). Along the way up you could hear firework-like noises. Our guide said this was the volcano, but assured us that this was just normal activity and we would know if it were about to erupt. The view at the top was amazing! I don't even know how to describe it, so I'll just show you. Our guia said the black hardened lava running down the middle was only 3 weeks old! The volcano went off about every two minutes! You could see black rock spouting up out of the top and at times there was an orange tint! How amazing! We only had about 10 min up at the top, but we were above the clouds! I just tried to mediate on how the prophets and our Lord would go to the mountain tops to pray:)

The walk back down was harder for me, my thighs, holy cow! I just keep trying to think of all my patients that couldn't walk, and despite the pain at least I can feel. It helped me make it! So most guide books say that it takes about 2 hours to hike up and we definitely did it in one.lol. I think the horse helped push us. I think most of us fell asleep on the car ride back. We decided on dominos for lunch! It was I think the best pizza I ever had.lol. After we were all stuffed and happy we all headed our separate ways for a siesta. I think I might have slept for about 2 hours!

Domingo

The plan...hehe...the plan was sleep in, afternoon mass, and whenever Noelle and Curtis woke up, they would stop by my house, grab me and then Tiffany, and we would communicate with Pat by internet. Well I woke up by 7 and by 9:30 I was pretty hungry. My internet wasn't working so I couldn't check on plans. I decided to stop by Tiffany's house, but her Guatemama said she had left for mass. Ok well I decided I would run to the bank so I could get money for breakfast, find a café, and check to see for updated plans...Well today is the official Independence Day of Guatemala and there was a parade going around the whole city. You literally could not walk. So I was able to make it to the bank but then I stayed in the park and just enjoyed the festivities for awhile before making the 15min walk, which took an hour, to the café. I was so happy to make it to the café before it started raining! Right as they brought out my food, now it's about 11am, I see all these messages about going to 11am mass. Oh the problems without a cell phone.lol. In the end everyone ended up at the café and we all went to afternoon mass! haha. Funny how things work out.

Gracias a Dios! It was a beautiful weekend and I'm feeling a bit sad because I only have one week left here!
                                                           http://vimeo.com/74594820
                                                           (another great video by Pat)

An Adventure in Antigua without a Phone

6, Sept, 2013

 

So most everyone has a cell phone now a days. In fact people say all the time they don't know what they would do without one. Well I will tell you.  It would probably go something like this;

                Once upon a rainy day in Antigua a group of missionaries tried to plan a weekend trip. Two of the missionaries went to a travel agency during their class break to check prices.  It was all settled they made a small deposit and would all return  after classes to pay for their tickets. Ah plans...So after lunch three missionaries went volunteering and two returned for more classes (one of which was me). However, my afternoon class was to be a cooking lesson with my teacher at her house. The plan was to meet after classes around 4:30 or 5 at a nearby cafe. Bueno. My teacher and I went to el mercado, purchased ingredients, took a bus to her pueblo, ciudad viejos, and began cooking. We had a beautiful time and prepared and ate delicious food. It was beautiful  to see her house and meet her family as well. While we were eating it began raining pretty hard. She told me that if I couldn't make it back tonight I could just stay with her. This was a generous offer, but I knew we were supposed to  leave early in the morning, and I still had to return to pay for my ticket. Entonces, I washed the dishes as she packed me some leftovers. The bus ride in coming was about about 15 min, and it was close to 5pm so I figured I had plenty of time. Apparently, despite the fact that it rains everyday here, Guatemala does not  have the best drainage system in place. The streets were completely  flooded on our way back. The bus did ok though the water was at the door, but people were swimming with their motos in the streets. Let's just say it took a bit longer to return. Gracias a Dios (Thank God) we made it back safe. At this point, it was still pouring down rain. I was happy to say that despite my teacher's opinion of rain jackets and boots, I was glad to be wearing both, though my pants were soaked! (*side note; Though it rains almost every afternoon during the rainy season which lasts about three months here, most of the people have no rain gear, no jackets, no boots. Most people are usually wearing trash bags. I thought maybe people can't afford them. However,  when I asked my teacher, her response was  that rain clothes are ugly and she would rather be wet! She was laughing about how the foreigners dressed with their silly rain jackets! Que interesante!) I continued walking to the cafe which happened to be closed. So I decided to run to my friend's  house but alas, she wasn't there either! Bueno. I decided to go with the original plan. I'll run to the travel agency and pay for my ticket and hope everyone else paid for theirs. plans. haha.

Part II

So I arrive at the agency 15 before they are about to close and it turns out that everyone came but didn't pay for their ticket because I hadn't paid for mine, therefore they wanted to discuss with me prior. At this point I was almost certain that they had devised a new plan involving another agency, bought tickets, and had covered one for me for the time being. However, the agents were both so insistent, "Well you could just pay for everyone now and they could pay you back." and "Well why don't you just pay for yours?  Do you have a credit card?" Nope I don't have my credit card, I do not have money to pay for everyone, and no I am not going to pay for my ticket on a bus trip without my friends. haha.  A phone or even just a phone number would have been nice right about now to confirm but yet I was still pretty confident about the new plan I'm sure my friends had devised. At this point, I said I would return just  to my friend's house and confirm plans and we could call them. The one older agent said he would walk with me to confirm if we still need a bus in the am. This seemed a bit pushy to me but I also didn't want a bus waiting for us in the morning either. So we talked as we walked to my friends house. He seemed like a good, catholic family man with three younger children all less than ten. He was surprised and happy to hear that we were Catholic missionaries. Most of the missionaries he said were Mormon or Evangelical.

                Tiffany was not present when we arrived at her house. I told the agent I was sorry and I was just going to go home. The agent insisted on walking home with me.  Alas, when I returned to the house, my missionary familia was waiting for me! I felt so bad making them worry! Then as I had suspected they had initiated another plan which then became very awkward fast because the agent was still with me at this point. Que lastima! We graciously explained that we would try another weekend for a trip with them.

This all made for great dinner conversation with my guatefamilia. My teacher would be proud that I used the past and imperfect tense all through dinner. Ah if I had only had a cell phone...I would've missed out on such a grand adventure!

With our new plan we are all leaving tomorrow very early for Lake Atelen! I will have more adventures to share with ya'll soon!

Chontalá Adventure

23-25 de Augosto, 2012

 

We have been here 2 weeks and decided it was time to take a weekend adventure. Our first adventure together as a team was to a small pueblo called Chontalá, a Mayan village in the mountains. One of the missionaries, Tiffany, has a friend from college, Joe, that lives in the  village and teaches English. (Just to give you a picture, Joe is a red-haired, Irish guy that looks like he just stepped of the boat.) He offered to be our guide for the weekend. In preparation, all we were told was to bring a blanket and 40Q (roughly $5) for transportation. I offered mass Friday morning for our safe travels. After class we were ready. We all met up and headed to the back of the mercado which is the bus station. In a parking lot behind the market  are several multicolored recycled school buses from the States, known as camionetas or chicken buses to take you in all directions. We had to take 2 camionetas and 2 vans. . One to Chimaltenango, catch another for Los Encuentros, then onto Chichicastenango for food, and one into the pueblo of Chontalá. Around 4-5 hours in total. To give you a small glimpse of the experience, imagine yourself driving up the east coast through the mountains of Virginia in a school bus that is passing the cars on the road. I'm not sure what the top speed for a school bus is, but I'm pretty sure that we were at maximum. There are at least 3 people per seat and as many people as humanly possible standing in the aisle. The vans were even more packed. We figured they were 16 passenger vans and we counted I believe it was 35 people inside not counting those on top! I know that the Lord protected our travels. All in all it was a great learning experience for Central American travel. Some of our lesson included; new vocabulary, such as ladron (theif ), there is also a verb form known as ladronin,  never underestimate how many people can fit, you should not yell at the bus driver,  there is no such thing as personal space,  and your lap is as good a seat as any:)

           We stopped in first in Chichicastenango  to buy food.  Joe was an expert in guiding us through the market and different shops to find our specific ingredients. Once we had collected everything for the weekend we headed for Chontalá. For our first meal we decided on homemade spaghetti sauce and noodles. As we were cooking, the people of the village stopped in to say hi to Joe,  and meet the new gringos. What beautiful people!  We learned Joe has 2 other names, Jose and Shep, which is his name in Kiche, the spoken Mayan language in the pueblo. Joe taught English class while we finished dinner and then put on a movie with his projector. Gotta love Willy Wonka! And like any good nurse during dinner I had to ask what was the greatest health struggle of the community. Joe said the biggest problem is alcohol. The Latino culture in general is very muchisimo (male domintated). This is exacerbated even more so when lack of work for the leaves a family hungry. Many of the men start at the cantina around 7am and drink all day. We saw a few just walking around very glazed over. Please pray for our men! The other real issue in the community is hernia. Men and women carry very heavy loads on their heads! (Patrick has a great pic on his site). Different teams will come throughout the year to offer surgical services. I want to say Joe said they performed about 50 a day!
         The kids watched  Willie while they waited for us to finish so we could play a game of futbol after dinner. I was so excited to play. The kids decided it would be fun to play Gringos vs. Mayans. We all thought that was a horrible idea :) so one of them joined our team. Sam, our Mayan player was the only one to score any goals in case you were wondering. It was a village event. Henry, age 5 to Sam, 27 was present. We played on a concrete court, most of us in sandals so naturally we ended up with some battle scares.

          We all slept together on air mattresses and on the floor in Joe's room. Cold is a relative term apparently and since I have lived in Fl my whole life my measurement might not be quite as accurate, but I was freezing the entire weekend. I slept in jeans, 2 shirts, a hoodie, socks. I also had a wool blanket doubled over and another that I brought. Gracias a Dios we all made it through the night.

          In the morning we made banana pancakes and eggs. I am not a pancake person, but these I must say were excellente! We then hiked to el rio with the kids. I was excited to spend time with them at one of their local spots. The river was a bit cold and murky from all the rain. My guess from surfing in Fl in the winter would be  around 55-60F. We played and danced in the river until everyone became too cold. We prepared an assembly line and made PB&J's. Apparently it is not very common and while most of the kids ate them, peanut butter is not a favorite with Mayan kids. It was nice just to be in the present, fellowshipping in the presence of others. They are each such beautiful people. We were able to get just a glimpse into lives. One of the boys who had amazing futbol skills was telling how his family hasn't seen his dad for five years because he is working in the U.S. to support his family. He will be reaching eighteen soon and will soon accept the responsibility of changing places with his father in the U.S. to support the family. I can't imagine having such a burden at such a young age when you have so many other desires, but this a reality for many of the youths here.

          We hiked back and just enjoyed each other a bit in the kitchen as Joe gave us a little history of the Guatemalan war. If I remember correctly it started in the 50s and lasted until around 96. (My friend Patricio has a much more in depth and accurate account in his blog if you care to read. http://heartanddepth.com/filled-with-wonder/) It had was primarily over land. Almost all of Guatemala was owned by the Chiquita banana co. and the workers were basically in slave labor. The CIA financed the Guatemalan government to overthrow the president who was trying to improve the lives of the people, by returning land to the Mayans, building schools, and hospitals, etc. Guerillas groups formed in response to the military kidnappings and disappearances. Many times the indigenous were caught in the crossfire. Whole villages were wiped out by the military if a guerilla was even spotted nearby their village. In the town of Chontalá, where we were staying, the women were gathered into the catholic church tortured and raped. The men were taken to the Methodist church tortured and killed. I believe Joe said 80 women were made widows that day. Dona Michaela, one of the women we met, was fifteen at the time and escaped. The women and children lived in the mountains and inside for 2-5 years before returning to their village. Once they returned they formed a co-op known as Naomi and Ruth making embroideries and textiles to support their families. I can't imagine the hardships of these mothers and children as they had to keep living despite such sorrow.

           The guys had mentioned a fire earlier so I thought after the cold river adventure now was as good a time as any to bring it up again. So glad Joe had that machete. :) The guys chopped wood with a machete and we had a fire going within about 15 minutes. Aww it was amazing! The first time I had been warm all weekend. The only thing that made it better was the mysterious disappearance of Tiffany and Joe, only to return with marshmallows and some fantastic cookie with chocolate already on it! Nothing makes a fire better than blue smores roasted on a fork. haha. Apparently out of our multicolored marsh mellow bag blue made the. The  best smore. Who knew?

          After our beautiful, warm bonfire we braved the cold to visit Dona Michaela and her family. They were a 15 minute walk through a corn maze away. The family was so welcoming and we visited for about an hour. Such authenticity,  and true generosity! You would never know the sufferings that they had endured!

          The family sells beautiful, fresh flowers in the market for money. They had a huge vine of jasmine that all of us ladies were smelling. The Dad gave each of us a bundle and we all couldn't stop smelling them the entire way home. It was dusk out and the Dad walked us all home. We asked how he would get home without a light, but he said it would be no problem for him. We invited him to stay for dinner and starting cooking pupusas (made with mezcla, queso and black beans).  Who says gringos can't cook? :) We all ate together with the kids as well, pupusas and rice. I was so full, but the kids were waiting again to play futbol. Another exciting game. We are still talking about who won. :) We had to cut the game off at 10pm or it would just continue forever...like and endless dream game...the sandlot. haha. such a classic.

          Sunday morning we went to the house of one of the women in the co-op. She makes gorgeous things to provide for her family and we had a private showing. I was glad that the gifts we bought could help support them.

          On our way out of town we visited the catholic church. Joe said the church is about 500 years old. The inside carvings are all made from wood but are black from the innocence. They were stone tablets on the floor through the middle aisle of the church where people light candles for each of their intentions. Joe had given us some and we were all able to light our own. 

          It was such a beautiful weekend. We were all able to fellowship with such authentic and sincere people. We only had a glimpse into some of these people's lives and how truly hard they are. There're families are struggling with things I could never even imagine. It was beautiful to the way Joe has been accepted into the community and how his one life has made such a difference. I pray that I may be an instrument for our Lord to make whatever music He desires with me.