Life in Guatemala Part II

Here is the second installment of things I've noticed about Guatemala.  I'm home now but I didn't get a chance to post it before I left. 


11. They have these little taxis called tuk tuks.  They fit 3 people, one driver and two passengers in the back. From what I've seen in passing, they are like a trike but with a shell of sorts.

12. The cows on the farms are very skinny, probably because they don't get any extra nourishment like silage and grain. They just eat the grass which is already pretty short.

We caught a bunch of frogs one night

13. HOL has a school on its property. It has become so good that it has won awards and now many of the wealthy people want to send their kids there too. They charge the wealthy twice as much to provide an education for the orphans. By bringing the wealthy and orphans together, they break a lot of social boundaries since they all wear the same uniforms, learn the same things, and have to get the same grades to graduate. This way the orphans also learn to develop goals and future aspirations. By learning about different professions, they can dream about being that. In the village, if you ask a kid what he wants to be when he grows up, he'll most likely say he wants to pick corn like his dad does or make tortillas like her mom does. They don't know anything else so that's all they can dream about. The younger kids have school from 7:30 to about noon, and the high schoolers have class in the afternoon, from 1-6.

14. Everyone dries their clothes on the line outside. Most also do their laundry in the river.

Kids with their TOMS

15. From what I've seen of Guatemala, there are only a few main roads and then the villages branch off of them. From Guatemala City to Rio Hondo we took one road. At night, you can clearly see the lights and villages forming a line that go along the main road.
 
16. When it rains, it pours.  It usually rains during the night or in the evening.  I've only been caught in it once but we just embraced it and continued watching the soccer game soaking wet.  Sometimes it rains so hard that you can't even talk to someone right next to you.

Stick bug

17.  Here there is no hiding when it comes to breast feeding.  In the US, women will buy these tents to cover themselves while they breast feed but here there is no shame.  They will whip it out in church, in restaurants, in the middle of a conversation, anytime.  They also don't carry around their babies in carriers.  In the US, so much money is spent on the car seats and strollers and the like but there just isn't a need for that here.  Their money is used on more important and necessary things.
  
18. The sound of bug spray is very common in the mornings as everyone is getting ready for their day. There are a lot of mosquitoes and I get at least a few every day. My legs look absolutely horrible because they've scabbed over.  I need to be sure to wear long pants for the flight home so that they don't quarantine me for having some weird disease.  I've stopped using bug spray though.  I found that it didn't help at all.  I might get a few more but I'll take that over feeling disgusting and sticky all day.

A banana tree

19. The temperature isn't as horribly warm as I had expected. In the morning and evening/night, it's really nice. Some nights I could have worn a sweatshirt but I was fine without. During the day it does get pretty warm but not unbearable since there's usually a breeze.  In the two days I've been home, it has been so much warmer than it was down there. 

20. To get your attention, they do this "ch-ch" noise.  At first I was a little offended because I thought they were talking down to me but then I realized that everyone does it.  It would be like saying "Hey you" in the States.

The last view of Guatemala City

An American Feast...Guatemala Style

I have less than a week left! It will be bittersweet leaving.  I'm just now starting to really form relationships with the Guatemalans that work at Hope of Life so it will be sad to leave them but I am excited to go home and have a regular schedule again. And to eat real ice cream :)

Last week we gave out flip flops at Pueblo del Rio and TOMs at another village.  I think I'm being called to measure feet.  Every single time we give out shoes (and it's been 4 times by now), I always end up sizing the kids' feet.  They moved all the babies in the baby rescue center up to the hospital to get it up and running.  Now they're making the rescue center into temporary housing for more mission groups since there's quite a lot coming the end of this week.  We repainted all the rooms to make it look nice.  On Monday and Tuesday, we did a lot of organizing for Eunice and played with babies.  So far it's been a rather relaxing week.

The kids and their TOMs

Our main event last week was our American feast for the 4th of July.  On Thursdays, we usually have a Cena Tipica as a last big dinner before the groups all head home but we the volunteers decided we wanted American food.  I made a menu and on the Sunday before, we bought some of the food at the mall in Chiquimula.  On Thursday, Rachel and I helped in the kitchen, chopping potatoes for french fries and mixing brownie batter.  We set up all the food outside and everyone ate outside at tables with plastic chairs.  There were red, white, and blue decorations everywhere and everyone was dressed in red, white, and blue too.  We laid out temporary tattoos for everyone.

The menu:
- hamburgers
- hot dogs
- BBQ chicken
- french fries
- beans
- salad
- potato salad
- cole slaw
- corn on the cob
- watermelon
- guacemole
- tortillas
- salsa

 The hamburgers and hotdogs we grilled where we had the food set out so people could get it right off the grill.  The men from all groups ended up being the grillmasters.  They looked rather comical, all standing around the grill holding spatulas.  The only thing that was missing was a can of beer in the other hand.  There were so many people here with all the groups, the office people, some of the orphans, and all of the volunteers and translators so it took more than hour until everyone got their food.  I was one of the last ones to eat but once I sat down, the fireworks started.  I had the best seat though.  I just had to look up and I could continue eating while I watched.  When that was done, everyone went back inside for the regular Cena Tipica events like the orphans' performances and testimonies.  We didn't end up serving the brownies because Brigitte, one of the kitchen ladies, said that there weren't enough but she made a plate for the volunteers and we devoured them once the festivities were done.  They were the best brownies I've ever had.  Even though some things didn't go as planned, the feast was still a success and the Americans loved it.  However, the night ended Guatemala style--we came back to the mission house and didn't have any water.  Because it rained so much the night before, there was flooding and one of the pipes up in the mountains broke.  The fire department brought a tank of water so we did have some for the night.  I am still not certain if the pipe is fixed yet because sometimes we have water and sometimes we don't.

Look at all that food!

The grillmasters

So much food!

That's all for now! Another Life in Guatemala post is coming tomorrow!

I was taken hostage....by some kids

Sorry it's been a while! Here is a quick recap of what I've been up to for the past week.

Wednesday morning, I worked in the office making this twisted streamer things that they use for house/church dedications.  In the afternoon, I went up to the orphanage to help paint a mural with a group from Lynchburg.  We painted hills and a big tree with handprints of the children.  It's not completely done yet but once it is, I'll get a picture.  While working, I had a wonderful talk with Scott, the father of one of the young girls in the group.  He made me realize that heaven and eternal live is a gift from God and Jesus paid for it.  There is nothing we can do other than be faithful to Him.

The wall before we painted it

At 5, there was a dedication for Causelife, the worship center in Las Casitas.  It was finally finished painting and had chairs and everything.  Vernon Brewer, the CEO of World Help, Charles Billingsley, a Christian singer, and Kevin Foster, a director of the board at World Help, were there because they funded the entire project.  The kids from the orphanage did their song and dance and Jill sang the Hope of Life Song that she wrote.  A lot of it was for show, like cutting the streamer, firecrackers, and handing over the key but it was still cool to be able to be a part of it and seeing the people in the village be inside the church for the first time.

The inside of Causelife

Thursday I worked with Nina and Erika all day.  In the morning, I helped feed and bathe the children at Kelly's house and in the afternoon, we went up to the hospital and worked with the children there.  This picture is of Nina and Mirza, the girl they rescued two weeks ago who is 15 years old and 20 pounds.  She is the sweetest girl and has such a big smile!  It doesn't look like it in the picture, but I promise she is smiling.

Friday was another TOMs distribution.  It was at Los Limones.  Rachel and I went with the group from Lynchburg who had been working there all week building a church.  The interesting thing about this village was how we got there.  After a 10 minute truck ride, we arrived at a river and unloaded the truck.  There was a long canoe-like boat that we loaded everything into and then were paddled across by two men.  We unloaded everything on the other side and almost lost a bag of shoes in the process because it fell into the water. After waiting for the group to arrive, we sat in the back of a truck with all the tables, chairs, and boxes and bags of shoes for another 40 minute drive through the mountains and through smaller streams on a dirt road.  It was rather bumpy to say the least.

When we got there, we had a service in the new church with worship led by the locals and a short sermon by Scott.  We washed feet, gave out shoes and made some PBJ sandwiches for lunch.  Then it was back into the trucks for a bumpy ride back to the river.

We got back sort of early so a few of the volunteers decided that we wanted churrascos.  There's a little stand that sells them in Llano Verde so we went there.  They are my new favorite food.  We had milkshakes too.  All of it cost Q25, which is about $3.50.  You could never get a meal that cheap and that good in the U.S.  They ended up having churrascos for dinner at the Rancho too so I had another there. 

This weekend was incredibly warm so none of us had much energy or motivation do anything other than veg out so sorry, nothing to report there.  I did get a choco banana for 1Q. On Sunday morning, the volunteers went to the mall in Chiquimula.  It was a beautiful mall.  It was basically like an American mall.  There were smaller, boutiquey stores, stands in the middle, and a food court.  They also had this massive store called Megapaca, which is sort of like TJ Maxx or Marshall's and Plato's Closet combined.  Tanner found a pair of Vans for $7.  There was so much everywhere that I didn't even know where to start.  They have a grocery store too so we made a stop there before getting back on the bus to head home.  Sunday night we wanted to watch a movie so we started the Hunger Games but about 15 minutes into it, it started pouring sheets of water.  It was so loud that we couldn't continue.  You couldn't even hear someone else speaking right next to you.  It lightened up a tad so we fell asleep to the sound of pounding rain on the ceiling.  It was great.

The mall

Megapaca

 Today I got to do construction!  Remember all the cinderblocks we moved my first week? They were made into a new dorm for the older girls of the orphanage.  Now it was time to put the roof on so we spent all morning lifting cinderblocks up and setting them into place.  Rachel and I worked with a new group that is here from Nashville, TN.  They have a little five year old named Iona Ruth who wants to play cello!  She is the cutest.  I think I'm going to be helping them with construction for the rest of the week so I'm excited to get to know her more.

In the afternoon, we all went to the dump to serve food.  This is when I was taken hostage.  Amanda, the new volunteer, Rachel and I started playing tag with the kids.  After 15 minutes of running around, their moms wanted to take them home.  Three of the kids tagged me and then starting pulling me down the roads to where their moms were.  I said goodbye to them and then turned around to walk back to the group and then five of them ran up to me and grabbed my arms.  They wanted to take me home with them.  I tried to say No puerdo ir contigo (I can't go with you) but my Spanish is so bad that they just laughed.  They were just playing though so they did let me go.  It was probably the funnest afternoon I've had here with kids.