Pacific Ocean

After we left Al and Gail’s on Sunday afternoon we headed south. It was in the direction of El Salvador, but we stopped an hour short of the border. We went to the Pacific Ocean right on the coast. We went to a beach called Las Lisas. We drove about a half hour from Al and Gail’s and then parked our car in the parking lot there. We then took a ten minute boat ride to an “island” (inaccessible by car). After the boat ride, through the jungle, we walked another ten minutes, to a hotel, where we weren’t expected, but were allowed to stay anyways. To stay the night it cost a group of eleven: 400 quetzales which equates to $60 CAD. That is for four separate rooms with two big beds, a toilet and a shower. It was also a beachfront hotel. It may not be as nice as the Hyatt, Marriott, or Hilton in North America, but it had the necessities and I had an amazing sleep. We dumped our bags in our rooms and ran for the ocean. Wow it was amazing. I have now touched the Pacific Ocean in five different countries. We walked into the water a bit, swam, threw the football around, and enjoyed the sunset. I enjoyed just sitting on the beach and sucking in God’s beautiful creation. It had been a good day: a good hour and a half sweaty hike to church, John got baptized, a road trip, the beach, and now we were settling in for the night. It is amazing all that God created and just staring out at everybody having a good time, the waves crashing on the shore, the sun setting, a (for the most part) a clear blue sky, the dark coloured sand; just looking out across the vast ocean taking in all the glory and wonder and creation that God placed on this earth. It brought a level of peace and serenity to the team members. It was nice as we had Juan Carlos as our chaperone. He stayed up with us after supper (rice, potato, chicken, veggies) and a trip to a small tienda on the island (to get a few munchies), just to sit and chat. Everybody had found that were having a good weekend and didn’t want it to end. Just being away from campus and Bob and Shirley; made everybody’s moods more positive for some reason. Everybody was talking to someone else and everybody slowly made their way to their bedrooms before midnight, including our responsible chaperone. Juan Carlos even defended the girls after some wild dogs started chasing them down. It had been a good day and I had a good solid seven hours of sleep, before I happily awoke to the sound of the waves. The girls had watched the sunset while the guys slept in. We had beans and eggs for breakfast and then Caleb led the way into the water. This morning we were allowed to use the boogie boards because it was safer. Everybody was in the water for a really long time. I eventually came out and went for a run. I didn’t take my camera; instead I took the Lord. The Lord and I went for, about, a four kilometer run. It was a great experience just spending some alone time with the Lord which is sometimes hard to do, when the majority of the time I am around the group. I came back and worked on my amazing tan. According to John I am at the East Indian colour state right now. As long as I don’t get diseased, it is fantastic. After my tan some of the group and I decided it would be fun to bury me, so they did. It was about a foot in, they inscribed a body on me, took pictures, then left. It took me a good twenty minutes to wedge my way out, but it was fun, I suppose. I decided it was time to get cleaned up before we all left, so I did. After that I took one last look out towards the ocean. There was Shawn just walking and dancing in the sand, near the waves. It looked as though there was a sense of peace upon her and I was glad to see she was enjoying her time. It was a lot to take in, but the past couple days have brought unity, peace, serenity, calmness, and a positive attitude upon our group; it is too bad we have to go back home because it will probably change.

It is a Miracle

It is Sunday, January 28, 2007, and we were walking down the steep hill home from church. It was about a fifty degree downgrade. We all stopped at the bottom of the hill where there was a bridge, before the hill made a steep ascend. We went under the bridge and most of us took off our shoes and took our positions.We were still with the missionaries Al and Gail and they drove and walked with us to church and back; they also came under the bridge. The day before, our very own John, had a deep conversation with Bob, and after a lot of prayer and thinking, our little John decided to get baptized.After church we went to Rio de Flores (Flower River) which is situated between Al and Gail's house and Al and Gail's church; in the valley in between. Al and Gail's house being situated a few hours south of San Pedro, in a village in the boonies, called San Juan Tecuaco.Under the bridge Al Anderson baptized John "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." and it was complete. Caleb was there to assist to make sure John didn't bump his head on the rocks. The rest of us were to the side taking pictures and cheering. John came out of the water and we hugged him and congratulated him. He was, in a sense, a new man. He figured after talking with Al and praying, consulting, talking, and thinking with God that it was his time.
It was a good beginning to the day. John being my best friend gets baptized. I felt amazing and I didn't even get baptized. I could see John wasn't ready to be baptized before we came to Guatemala, but now that we are here I see John growing up mentally and spiritually; it is awesome for a best friend to witness. It is so neat to see John coming closer to our Father in heaven. It set the tone for the rest of the day; everybody was in such a positive attitude. For some reason, it seemed to better unite the team. The last few days seemed to be a time for change, renewal, and gaining better knowledge, understanding, and getting closer to God. I thought it was a perfect time to celebrate!!! I am happy and excited for John and his future.

Guatemalan Homes and Families

Today is the final day of Guatemalan homes for the group. There was a group of at least twenty students from Prairie Bible Institute staying at our campus for the week, so our group was put into Guatemalan homes in the city of San Pedro a las Huertas. Our campus is in San Pedro el Alto, which just means we are kind of on the outskirts of San Pedro. It was about a fifteen minute walk everyday back to our other home. Each day we would wake up in our Guatemalan family’s house, in one of their spare rooms. We would have breakfast at 6:30am every morning. The group, which we now call “Guat Squat”, would meet in the central park of San Pedro between 7:00 and 7:15am. We had to be back on campus by 7:45 for our morning devotions. We then would do our normal routine of school work on the campus, but in between we would go back to our Guatemalan families for lunch, and then after afternoon Spanish class, we would slowly make our way home for our early evening dinners (7:30pm). My Guatemalan family was great. I had a mother, father, grandma, four brothers, and a sister-in-law. My mother Blanca mostly cooked and cleaned the house all day, and she talked with me when I was around. My dad Demietro (or something close to that) is a carpenter. He and I got pretty close. We talked together the most and I got to learn a lot about Guatemalans and Guatemala, and he got to learn a lot about Canadians and Canada. He works at home as a carpenter. There are apparently four parts to making furniture. One person to carve the wood (which was his job), one person to stain and paint the wood, one person to make the cushioning, and one person to put everything together. He said that there is a lot of Guatemalans who have their own businesses; a fair number of them being carpentry shops. My brothers Melfin, Nelson, Robin, and Lester are 22, 21, 20, and 18 respectively. Robin shares the same birthday as me turning 20 on Thursday, while I turned 19. Nelson (the 21 year old) is married to Haiti and are expecting a baby in either April or May. I might get to see it before the trip is over. My brother Lester let me rip all his Spanish to my computer. There are some English and more Spanish songs; most of them falling into the romance/love category. It is fine by me; I just listen to whatever is playing; if it happens to be some romantic Guatemalan love song, so be it. On Wednesday, before lunch I asked to help make tortillas because that is what Blanca and Haiti were doing. It was disastrous; Blanca left me alone with Haiti to make the tortillas and I made half of one in the time it took Haiti to make fifteen. I got to eat mine after and it still tasted good. All the meals that Blanca made and Haiti helped with tasted amazing. Every breakfast and dinner was served with beans. Breakfast and dinner were smaller meals than lunch, which was the main meal of the day. Lunch was always served with meat and some sort of grain product (pasta, rice, or potatoes). The meals were served with different drinks: coffee with milk, mush???, some concoction with flour and milk???, juice, milk, and water. Almost every meal was served with fresh, hot tortillas made by Blanca and Haiti. I had some amazing chicken, beef, potatoes, and picaya (some Guatemalan dish). All the meals were great and the time spent with my dad was amazing. The meals were eaten by my dad and me alone, no one besides Blanca was ever really home, and Blanca ate later. My four brothers were usually at their jobs in Antigua and didn’t get home until about 8:00pm, so I didn’t get to see them until the night. Their house seemed poor if you compare it to a Canadian’s home, but the way I saw it was they were pretty rich. It was a two story house with another story on top, which was just the roof. There was an awesome view from the roof, especially first thing in the morning. It was a fair sized house, on the more luxurious side for Guatemalan standards. They had a toilet (that had the stench of an outhouse, but I got over it), a shower, a fridge, a couple stoves, a place to eat, a place to wash stuff, and a place to sleep. They were pretty well off. They could have used some shelving to store stuff and better organize stuff, like plates, dishes, cutlery, pots, pans, and groceries. The center of their house had no roof, so it was almost like a courtyard. Their toilet and shower were in separate rooms under their stairs. So they were obviously pretty short and I had to crouch almost to fit in the shower. Also the room with the shower, just had the shower, so I had to change out in the open, which was fine because it was a house of guys. They also had a dog as the family pet. He barked quite a bit which got annoying quick, but I got used to it. Their “backyard” consisted of Demietro’s work area, the area where Blanca and Haiti cooked tortillas on a separate stove/fire, and it had some trees. The grandma owned a chicken and took care of it. The trees had fruit with different varieties: lemon, lime, small fruit, and oranges. The oranges were the neighbor’s tree, but my family got to use them. In fact one morning I got freshly squeezed orange juice for breakfast. My family accepted me with open arms and amazing hospitality, and how they just accept this complete stranger into their house was awesome. I didn’t have much trouble communicating with them as my Spanish is fairly good. I was able to have couple hour conversations with them. I then found out how Shawn and John’s visits went. After talking with Shawn, she was struggling quite a bit with communicating to her family and just wanted to come back to the campus, but near the end of the week she was happy she stayed. Her communication skills were still not up to par, but she was trying and she just loved living with the Guatemalans, doing what they do and just talking with her mom at mealtime with the little Spanish she knew. It turned out to be a good experience for her. After talking with John; who knows if he wants to go back to his Guatemalan family. He said that those six days was long enough for him and thinks he is going to stress when we go for two weeks, for our next visit, in March. He tries to converse with his dad, but it is difficult for him. He didn’t know who was in his family, didn’t know when mealtimes were, etc.. By all the adventures he told me he had, it sounded like a blast, but then he said he was glad to be back on campus. Oh well, you can always pray and hope for the next time. According to Liz, Bob and Shirley’s daughter; married to Juan Carlos; who took the program the first year, said that the first week of Guatemalan homes is always the toughest because of the language barrier, entering a new culture, and living with a new family. I know that John, Shawn, and I found it difficult to surpass these issues, but I think Shawn and I overcame them and John will in his second visit with his family. I think the whole group enjoyed their first visit with their new family and their new lifestyle.

A New Place to Eat

We discovered a new place to eat today. It is between San Pedro el Alto and San Pedro a las Huertas. It was on the main road between San Pedro and Antigua, about ten minutes from our house. It is called a Panaderia in Spanish. In English it was a bakery. We spent so much money there over the past few days and will probably spend some more in the future. We kind of know the lady that works there now, every time she sees us white people walk in she smiles because she knows she is going to get some business. There pastries are so cheap and yet so good. A pandulce (sugar bread) is 30 centavos which equates to about a nickel in Canada, so we mainly load up on those, but there was also some other incredible stuff that at the most were 10 quetzales which in Canadian dollars is $1.50. The range is between $0.05 and $1.50. We love it there that is why we keep supporting them. The goods are pretty sweet (in taste). I don't know what to say about them anymore other than they taste amazing. Oh and don't eat too much pandulce because after eating ten I started to get a headache (but it was worth it). Also they have these big cakes that look so tasty for 99 quetzales (under $15CAD) and I want one, but I guess I'll have to wait for somebody's birthday.

Yepocapa

Today we got to take a road trip; I love road trips, even if there is no talking because in my head I know we are traveling and going somewhere exciting and on the way back I know that I’ve had fun at the place and had a good day. Our trip to Yepocapa was one of our shorter road trips, only taking three hours. We started going through the cobblestone streets of San Pedro and the next town over. Some people were complaining about how bumpy the cobblestone was, but Juan Carlos told us to stop complaining; the cobblestone was nothing compared to the poor infrastructure in the mountains. We came out onto a main paved road, and people were happy again. The car was quiet because of the paved road, and how smoothly we were going, which bugged the back seats (Jasmin and Shawn). So they started singing and others started to join in; we sang everything we knew. It started with all the greatest Christian worship songs, then it moved into Disney music after about an hour into the road trip, and then country, rock, rap, and musicals. It distracted us from the rocky roads that we moved onto, but it didn’t distract us from the lush green rainforest that we were traveling through. The roads weren’t as bad as the “shortcut” I have taken to Monteverde, Costa Rica; but the roads were still very bad. The couple of kilometers that were paved had huge potholes that almost completely stopped the car. We have to slow down to a halt because if we took the potholes any quicker than five kilometers per hour, we would have lost our bumpers and suspension. We stopped a few times for picture perfect opportunities: the volcano exploding, the valley with the volcano on the other side, and other picturesque occasions. On the non pothole paved part of road, there were rocks and dirt, and the dust it produced kept our windows closed for half the trip there. I still enjoyed the trip, seeing parts unknown and God’s beautiful creation. We arrived and went to the school that was there. Apparently a storm made a tree fall through the tin roof and the school was unusable, but what I saw the roof was still on. We then went up the hill to the school that Pacific Academy has been funding for five years already. Barely anything has changed since Kristen (grade 12 PA student) went up almost a year ago. PA has been giving money consistently and commitingly for five years, and hasn’t seen much production the past couple of years. It is suspicious and they are concerned thinking if they should still support this school. In Canada it took under a year to build a high school in the country. I give Guatemala some leeway, but five years is too long, when they are no where near done. I should have been up and running for a few years already. Apparently this half done school was supposed to open on Monday to 150 incoming students with no bathrooms or equipment; interesting. Maybe the contractors thought other stuff was more important, or maybe the building was more than they expected. If PA stops funding it, the school will be left as it is and the project will be dropped because the Guatemalans aren’t able to fund it: decision time. Some kids were up at the school, so we got a chance to play with them. I took out my football and we started to play catch. It was their first time ever playing football, and I must say they are pretty good. Soon enough we went down to Yepocapa’s central park. It was just as striking as all the other ones I’ve been to, with a flowing fountain in the center in it, with a mustard yellow church to the side of it. There we had our lunch. After our lunch, the kids came and wanted to play more football, so I did. We got kicked out of the park, so we decided to play on the streets. A couple of the kids also gave me a quick tour up and down the main street of Yepocapa. It was a cool place to visit because Yepocapa is a town flourishing with color, people, and economy, even in the midst of a volcano and being so isolated from every other town.

What an Experience

Today after Spanish class we wanted to stay in Antigua, but we had to go home for lunch first, then Bob drove us back into Antigua. The whole group got some ice cream, and then from there we walked back to the market. We decided to split up and go our separate ways. John, Jen, Caleb, and I had already done most of our shopping the first time we came to Antigua. Though John still needed sunglasses, so our group split up, we went to look for John’s sunglasses. We found some at a little shop in the market; John tried on a few before he found the ones he liked. He bought the pair that he liked, working out to a few dollars, Canadian. We then decided it would be fun if we just randomly hopped on a bus and went somewhere else because we’ve already seen most of Antigua. On the way to the bus depot, behind the market, Caleb decided that he was thirsty, so we stopped to get drinks. We decided to get our pop in a plastic bag; we’ve heard of it being done before and thought it would be cool to experience it ourselves. It tastes just as good in a plastic bag as it does in a bottle, but it looks cooler this way. I wasn’t sick tonight, so it must have been sanitary. You can also squish the pop around in a plastic bag. The reason they like putting the pop in a plastic bag is so that they can return the bottles. We walked to the buses with our pop in hand. We wanted to get on the first departing bus, but we decided it probably wouldn’t be a good idea, so we asked one of the bus drivers what other cities were close to our house. He said to the south is San Pedro (where we live), San Juan, and Santa Maria (we had already gone there). We only had a couple hours so we couldn’t go too far from home, and we had already been to Santa Maria, so we decided it was time to scope out San Juan. It was a fun bus ride, as always, with the music going and all the Guatemalans around you. Upon arrival we made way into their central park, (which every town seems to have). It was an amazing view. Antigua is situated in the valley; San Pedro is just a fifteen minute ride from Antigua; Santa Maria is up the side of the volcano, but is around the corner, so you can’t really see into the valley; San Juan is about fifteen minutes from San Pedro, half an hour from Antigua, but it is ascended up a little from San Pedro on a hill. It is a nicer view than the one from San Pedro because from San Juan you can see San Pedro just over the edge, and Antigua in the distance. I started taking all the pictures I could, taking scenic photos, group photos, and church/central park photos. All the cities tend to have a church with a cross a certain amount of feet away, in a central park. Some have fountains, some don’t. We spent about forty five minutes exploring before heading home. It was a neat experience just going off, the four us, just taking a bus to a new place. When we got home, we got to boast and brag about the experiences we had making the others jealous.

Guatemalan Kids - Part 2

Today after Spanish class we came home for lunch, finishing it as quickly as we could. After we finished lunch, most of the group just put their homework aside and we went into our town, San Pedro a las Huertas. We dropped Michelle of at the town square, so she could do her "studying" in peace. We went up to the place we went to last time. Up the hill, to the end of the road, where the cemetery is, and then right to the end of that road, where the kids live. There was only one at that moment, but then they all started to come out: the two Brians, Adonai, Cindy, Maria, and Alexander. It was a joy to see them all come out again. Not all of them were there, and they all didn't stay the whole time, but there were also new kids and friends to be made. We communicated and played with them for a while, then we decided to take a little walk. We went up the street with them to an enclosed house where the kids thought wolves lived; in reality they were actually big dogs that barked really loud, but we ran in fear. We ran to a tree in fear for our lives and acted like monkeys for quite a while. We talked some more, played some more, ran a lot, and took photos, until it was time for a new location. We went through some trees to a clearing where we thought we could play some soccer, but once we arrived, one of the kids apparently said that some filthy, rich American owned a house, just down the way and might whip out his shotgun if he caught us on his property; at least this is what I understood, I may be wrong. We then traveled to the horse's stables, which were just across the street from the kids house. John and I started bugging a Brian and Alexander, saying that horses eat little Guatemalan boys with black hair and brown eyes. I think they reversed the joke and started saying how they eat tall, white gringos. After some time at the stables we walked back to the town square with my two personal favourites: Maria and Alexander. We played some more in the square, as we met some of their other friends in the square, and we also met up with Michelle again. I let Alexander and Maria run around the square practicing their photography; they aren't half bad. Everybody was heading home for supper, but Jasmin and I weren't ready to go yet. We stayed and played in the central square a bit longer with all the kids, then Jasmin and I walked Alexander and Maria to their aunt's house (which is on the way to our house) and then said goodbye until next time. It was an awesome day, just playing and communicating with the kids. It is nice to get outside of the house every once and a while, and immerse myself in the culture and kids that I came down here to see.

Second Trip to Antigua and Chicken Buses

Today after Spanish class, instead of going back to our house for lunch, we went to a restaurant in Antigua; it was called Monoloco. Our whole group ordered three plates of nachos that tasted very delicious and satisfying, only working out to about four dollars each.After we devoured the nachos, we headed to an ice cream shop for more cheap and delicious food. I had amazing lime ice cream. We ate those on the way to Antigua's market, which was about five blocks away. We didn't get to do much on the tour of Antigua, so we decided to come back and do some shopping on our own. I have to cut back a bit on spending now because I spent a bit of money at the market. I bought a black, cool looking cowboy hat, and a machete that fits nicely into a dangly sleeve that says Guatemala on it. I also bought some stickers for my laptop. I now have all the countries I've been to: Canada, US, Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica.
Everyone else did a little shopping of their own, but didn't purchase anything as extravagant as what I purchased. It was similar to Mexico in that you were able to barter. I got my cowboy hat at almost 50% of the asking price and the machete was about 40% of the initial amount. The market is such a big lot of land, but there is so much stuff that it is all squished together. You got clothes here, CD's there, fruits and veggies everywhere. It was like a shopping mall, but outside. There were personal items for hygiene, cooking equipment, tools, and more. There were the touristy items: lots of jewelry, clothing of all shapes and sizes, bags, blankets, and hammocks. The bus depot of Antigua is just behind the market, the market a few blocks from our Spanish school, so we will have bussed to school Tuesday to Friday. After we finished shopping we paid our one quetzal (about 15¢) to take the chicken bus home. Their transit system seems so much more convenient than in Canada. I enjoy taking the chicken bus; you just get immersed into their culture. The chicken bus is a school bus where a bunch of Guatemalans (and gringos) pile into, sometimes three or four to a bench and the aisle full of people. The back of the bus is also full. People get on in the front door, or the back emergency door of the bus. They jump on and off at street corners, sometimes even if the bus is still moving; there are no designated bus stops, (I don't think). I am able to converse with the Guatemalans for about the twenty minute bus ride to and from Antigua, enjoying almost every minute of it; except the speed bumps, which sometimes make you sick. Although, the speed bumps can be fun. The chicken buses play Spanish cds (I love international music; especially latino) and when you go over the speed bumps it is as if you are bobbing your head to the music. Personally I think it is an awesome experience, if you don't mind people, being squished into a culture, and if you are not claustrophobic.

Guatemalan Food

Well I suppose you all want to know what is on the menu. What do you think of when you think of Guatemalan food? Rice and beans? If you think that you think similar to me, but not similar to Carmen (our on site cook)!!! We have had chicken chow mien, pancakes, subs, pizza, salad, lasagna, brownies, and more delicious food. I know you're jealous. All these foods would leave you satisfied and feeling fat, they taste super good. Everybody here is very jealous that I brought my pasta maker and can't wait until I cook dinner for them in a couple of Sundays. Shawn and John get to break the ice on the first Sunday, with whatever they may whip up. (John and I are excited; we are pretty sure Shawn is making some of her world famous brownies. soooo good)

Spanish School

Today was the first day of Spanish class. I had to wake up at six fifteen to get ready for some breakfast by six thirty. We had the usual, porridge and bread with peanut butter and jam, for breakfast. We were in the car by seven, and were supposed to be at the school by eight, but we were there a bit early. We took some group photos, then Jose the director of the school gave us some sheets to fill out. It was the hardest part of the whole class. After we filled out the forms we were separated into groups of twos: a student and a teacher. The teacher soon picked up on our level of Spanish and started teaching us accordingly. My teacher and I talked mainly about me. We talked about my familia, mi padre, madre, hermano, y dos hermanas. We talked about my future and what I may plan to do. We talked for a good two and a half hours in near perfect Spanish, and then between 10:30am and 11:00am the groups took a break where we just talked amongst ourselves. After our break we went back to our tutors and mine talked some more practicing some Spanish stuff like regular and irregular verbs in their different forms. School finished at noon, and our first four hour day of Spanish tutoring was complete. This similar schedule between 6:15 and noon was to continue for another four days. What we did after Spanish school was completely up to us. Being the first day, we got picked up from Spanish school by Bob.

Guatemalan Kids

Today I had such an amazing experience. Sunday is our day off and seven of us decided to walk around the actual town we live in, San Pedro a las Huertes. We got to the gorgeous town square, and looked around. There was a monument with a cross, an old church, a place to wash clothes, and beautiful scenery. After we finished with the square we decided to go up the hill into the residential area. We topped the hill after passing tightly packed houses, horses, and more scenery. At the top there was a cool looking cemetery. and a wonderful view of San Pedro a las Huertes and the surrounding area. After taking photos we walked back down. We ran into the other part of our group. They wanted somebody to keep walking with them, so I decided to. We walked up the same hill, but now, near the top were some little kids. They called me over to take photos of them, so I did. After the photos the only two Spanish literate talked to them, Jasmin and I; We both had a great time communicating with them. Later a kid came with a soccer ball and we got a good game of soccer going. It was fun to play soccer with them, but I just enjoyed the company of the kids even more. I would talk to them while we played, asking them questions and telling them random stuff. Eventually their parents came out to see what was going on, and while the ball was in the other zone I talked to the mom and dad, They were super nice people. Once we needed to leave we took some group photos and the kids told me which two houses were theirs. One had a green door, the other a black door. It was just such a blessing forming relationships with a couple of families that I never would have imagined by just going for a walk. It was neat to see the parents didn't seem to mind that their children were talking, communicating, and playing with white, different race, hardly know Spanish strangers. They were so open and joyful to see us and we didn't even know them, but there was a connecting bond somehow. God works in some amazing ways, making my Sunday afternoon enjoyable.

Church

It is the first Sunday we've been here in Guatemala, so Bob showed us what his church was like. I love the international worship. The Guatemalans are all into the worship, it is an amazing atmosphere. I love singing in a different language where everybody, no matter what race is singing the same song, to the same God. I could have done without the sermon though; I probably decide a different song when it comes for me to decide which church I want to go to. The preacher was from Philadelphia, USA, and he preaches like somebody I know back home. He yells at you, putting you down sometimes, and just the way he was treating the translator. Almost every time the translator started speaking, it being her first time, he cut her off. If he wanted it this way, he should have done the whole sermon without a translator. It was her first time, and she was surprisingly hiding her frustration. I thought the message wasn't that bad, and could have been done by any other pastor and it would have been good. The worship singers came after what seemed like a sermon that took forever, to do a couple more songs. Both I knew, sang, and clapped along to, getting me back on a high.

Santa Maria

Today we traveled up the side of the volcano to a neat city called Santa Maria. Judy a missionary there for at least ten years started a new school and needed it to be painted, so our group of ten was thrown into the mix immediately. We painted the kindergarten classroom. The work was finished quickly with a big group. We were given a tour of the place and then went for a walk. We went through the squishy, tightly packed streets of the town. There were kids riding on horses and women with baskets on their head. It was another interesting town. We walked down a back alley, came up to someone's house and went inside for a visit. It was a girl's house whose mother's died. The eleven year old, her older brother and father lived in the house. The father and son work in the fields while the daughter stays at home doing what her mother did. She would clean the house, make every meal and do everything else. She is eleven and should be in school and having fun with her friends, instead of slaving around the house. When we arrived, we received such a blessing with the girl displaying extreme joy towards us. The father and son dusted off and let us sit on 12 chairs; I didn't know that they could store so many chairs in their house. It was unbelievable how much compassion and trust they showed to us strangers. After that we left and went downhill back home.

Antigua

Today is the day we got to visit the tourist town of Antigua. We live in San Pedro a las Huertes, a few minutes outside of Antigua. We traveled over the speed bumps, on the cobblestone, through tightly packed streets to reach Antigua. It was a nice afternoon trip. We got to see all the colonial buildings, the famous arch, the cobblestone streets, and just the history of the place. There was one store that Bob had to pray over because of its idols and masks that the Mayans worship. It was kind of depressing. The whole town of Antigua was such a beautiful place. After seeing the main square, we went through the famous arch, past a cool looking church and through a crazy Guatemalan market, where one could easily get lost. Groups of two had to go looking for a piece of fruit for the dessert's fruit salad. I had no problem finding the cantaloupe. It was such a neat atmosphere and I can't wait for my next visit there.

Arrival

We have just arrived here in Guatemala and I am so excited. The airport is like any third world country airport. It has small hallways and not much to see; it is incomparable with Vancouver's airport and Atlanta's airport. There were a lot of people, all talking in their foreign language. We exit the airport doors to find Bob and Juan Carlos (Elizabeth's husband) waiting outside and ready to go. Juan Carlos starts driving the many passenger van towards the supermarket weaving through three lanes of thick, congested traffic. They are not as crazy as Mexico, but still a bit scary. We arrive at the super market to pick up some goods on the way home. It was quite similar to the well Canadian known Walmart. Once shopping was completed we made way to our new home in Antigua. It was supposed to be a forty-five minute drive from the airport, but we got stuck in a forty-five minute long traffic jam. It was not fun as Michelle, Shawn, Ruth, John, and I had been up for pretty much 36 hours straight, making it not the greatest ride home. We soon enough made it to our new home, and I spent a good two hours unpacking. We had our first Guatemalan supper that night; it was some delicious chicken chow mien. It felt good to arrive at our new home. It is awesome to get away from my parents (hahaha) and go live with my two best friends. It is like I'm living with my two best friends, living in paradise, doing what I love to do.

Food So Far

I suppose you all want to know our healthy airport diet so far, so when you travel you will know where to eat. For breakfast on the way to Seattle we ate at Cranberry Restaurant and I had pancakes. For lunch I had amazing airport Chinese food. For dinner at about 9:00pm we had cinnamon buns and drinks. This morning we stopped at The Great American Bagel and had bagels and drinks. You wouldn't realize how hard it is to stick to a budget when you travel.

Charlotte, North Carolina

We have now got a bit of sleep, a few hours, had a bit of breakfast, and are almost ready to board for our flight to Guatemala. The sleep was in the middle of the airport in North Carolina and all of a sudden there were people surrounding us, and there was a annoying, beeping truck, and there was some annoying announcement on the PA telling us to keep close watch on our bags. It was not that great of a sleep, but it was something to get me through the day. We also met up with Michelle here in Charlotte. She is one of our team members, a great person, and she will be flying with us to Guatemala. We also met some missionaries, who have a couple kids, who are going back to serve in Guatemala for their third year. The four of us are taking in some of their amazing stories before we leave to the beautiful country, where we will serve for our first time.

The Airplane Ride from Hell

If there was ever some advice I were to give it would be to avoid the overnight flights. Our flight, Las Vegas to Charlotte was a four hour flight starting at midnight, and it is hard to sleep on the plane. It has been a long day starting to head to Seattle the morning before at 8:00am and now still sleepless on the flight to Charlotte and probably won't get a descent amount of sleep till we get to Guatemala. Things are getting emotional for me as I'm tired and the turbulence is keeping me awake right now.

Las Vegas

We are nearing the end of an exciting 4 hour layover in Sin City. It seemed like a long first airplane ride and we are hoping the second one goes quicker. Once we arrived in Las Vegas we wanted to head for the Strip right away, well after we played some of the slot machines. We didn't quite make it there. We didn't know how to get there so we walked up a hill because we saw some cactus that we thought would be a cool picture. Once there we take our pictures and then John decides we should leave before the cops come. What do you know, the cops come. They grill us with a bunch of questions and then try to help us get a cab so we aren't on the side of the freeway. We decided to just walk in the general direction of the Strip. We started the filming of the Dave, Shawn, and John show, which is coming along quite well. We are now back in the Las Vegas airport ready to go to Charlotte.

Sea-Tac Airport

Our plane leaves in less than in an hour. Friends and family just left the airport after saying their goodbyes. We got through security safely and are about to embark on a long next 24 hours.

Countdown Continued

24 hours, 31 minutes, 32 seconds to go

Countdown Continued

48 hours, 31 minutes, 12 seconds to go

Happy New Year

5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Happy New Year. It is now 2007 and only God knows what it holds for all of us. This new year holds plenty of excitement, adventures, joy, pain, and fear. I wish everybody a Happy New Year and good luck on your resolutions.