Eliot and Stratham CC: Construction and Medical team

Last week I hosted an amazing team from 2 churches (Eliot and Stratham) which are located in Maine and New Hampshire. If you are an avid reader of my blog (duh) then you may remember me talking about this team last February. This was the first team I ever worked with last year which had the 3 teenage girls on the trip who I really enjoyed hanging out with since I had been missing the youth at my church.

Anyways, I went to Guatemala City last Saturday to pick up the team and was greeted with smiles and hugs when the returning team members came out of the airport. I am very excited to work with all the teams coming this Spring since I have met a lot of them already. I think that is going to be one of my favorite things about working with the teams. After each team leaves I find myself thinking "well obviously now I have to stay until that team comes back next year because I can't fathom not working with them again" and this team was no exception. I truly had a beautiful week serving alongside them and it was a tearful goodbye (as always) when it was time to part ways. Here are some of the highlights of the week.

After picking the team up at the airport we traveled to Chichicastenango where we stayed for the week. On Sunday the team went shopping in the market which I had absolutely no interest in. If members on the team ask me to go with them then I of course go, but if they seem fine to go on their own I gladly pass on the market. After going with teams all the time for the past year I have no more need or desire to shop in the overly crowded market, so when Jose asked if I wanted to see "an ancient Mayan statue that people pray to" I jumped at the chance. Him, I, and Ignacio (a new driver that we worked with last week) walked around Chichi for about an hour until we finally found the little house that the statue is kept in, and when we walked in I had to keep from laughing so hard because it was nothing like I was imagining. Just look at the picture below. Wouldn't you think when you hear "ancient Mayan statue that they pray to and worship" that it wouldn't be a dude in a suit and a top hat holding a cane, a beer, and a cigarette hanging out of it's mouth? When we got to the museum/house Jose bought a few candles that represented different things and lit them and prayed to him (Pascual Abaj). I think the green was for wealth, the blue was to prosper, and the red was to find love. He didn't buy the other candle which was black which he explained was if you wanted evil for someone else. After the tour I put Q5 in his hand and asked for joy for all my loved ones, so if you have been having a joyful week you're welcome.

Then we took a tour of the rest of the museum to learn about the earlier versions of the statues and also the different masks that the Mayans are known to wear in their ceremonies. During the tour though I could really just focus on this painting that was hanging on the wall behind the dude giving us the tour. Let me just say that I had no idea that my dad looks EXACTLY like the saint Santo Tomas. I mean if I asked an artist to paint my father holding a goofy tiny version of himself while wearing a flapper robe with a cool headdress this is what I would end up with. After I saw this I then realized how many paintings and statues of Santo Tomas there are around Chichi. Especially at the hotel we stayed at that week (the Santo Tomas hotel) which all just look like my dad. I have no idea how I haven't noticed it before since I have stayed in that hotel about 10 times. Anyways, if you know my dad then you know how funny it was to discover that.


The team of 17 broke up into 2 groups during the work week. We all stayed at the same hotel, so we were all together in the mornings and nights. However, during the days 11 people went to the clinic in Camanchaj to work construction and the other 6, 3 translators, and myself went with the medical team into rural villages everyday to set up rural clinics. On Monday we served out of one of our Salud y Paz clinics which is not currently operating unless we have teams there in the village Patulup. This photo was taken from our clinic overlooking Santa Cruz, Quiche. The weather was so beautiful this week, and everyday I was amazed at the views we were given. I am constantly reminded of what an absolutely beautiful country I live in.

This is the pastor's house which is located right next to our clinic and church. I sat on a ledge for a long time just looking at this house and wondering why I do not live somewhere like this. My apartment in Pana is not much different than a place that I would live in in the States. I mean obviously in some ways it is very Guatemalan, but in others it is absolutely nothing like the local houses I visit often with teams. Sometimes I get hard on myself for the fact that I do not live the way that our patients live. Lately I have been wondering if I am truly following God's call in every way or if I am only doing it half way. I know that the way to stay down here longer is to have the random comforts that remind me of the States, but then am I truly having the experience he asked me to have? How can I relate to our patients if I cannot even relate to how they live? I have been asking myself a lot lately if I could still do my job to the same level if I lived in a rural community, but I can't figure out the answer. Part of me thinks it is something I need to do, but then the other part of me cannot fathom giving up my community here in Pana. Not a decision I need to make today, but is just something I can't seem to get out of my mind. One time during the day in Patulup Jose asked me what I was thinking about and when I told him he just laughed and said to try it for a month and I would be back in Pana... who knows.

This is just another house in Patulup that I thought was beautiful. Sometimes Guatemala reminds me of Colorado where one set of my grandparents live. Because I spent so much time in Colorado growing up when it feels like Colorado here it really does feel like home. Again just so beautiful. I really do think that the rural villages I get to serve in while with teams are more beautiful than Pana.

I was bad about having my camera out with this team taking pictures, but I stole this one from a team member's Facebook. This was part of the triage team on the first day. When I wasn't checking on the rest of the team or getting sad while looking at the houses around I would go into their room and sit on the counter and listen to the patients. I love sitting at triage because it is really where I can get the most patient interaction during the week. I had just put hand sanitizer in my hand before this picture hence the awkward hand placement.

On the other days we set up the rural clinic I set up a coloring station for the kids. My days were not busy at all with this team because we only had 1 doctor and were usually set up in one large room, so I could just sit there and see that everything was running smoothly. Usually on teams we have multiple providers who are set up in various classrooms and I am the one running patients to all the different sites. However, I took total advantage of this team being more laid back with only 6 people. Also even though it was their first year of being a medical team you could never tell. They had everything so greatly organized that it was a breeze to host them which is why I got to color almost every day!

The picture that I am coloring below was my masterpiece of the week (obviously... just look at it) and without my knowing the doctor on the team took it from my clipboard and hung it over the mantle during devotional one night. He then explained to the group that they had a local Guatemalan artist with them and I almost fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard. Then the construction team at the clinic took it the next day and painted it over my desk. I have no idea what the other volunteers and staff will think about it, but I LOVE it!! The team also built me some shelves about my new desk area (pics to come) and put their hand prints on them. I loved it so much!

These were the translators and drivers that we worked with during the week (Archy, Jose, Jaime, Joshua, and Ivan). I really love working with these guys. Several of the team members commented to me that they admired the way I worked with them. They said it was great that I am obviously friends with them and can laugh really hard with them, but that at the end of the day they could tell they all respected me and knew I was in charge. Absolutely something I have worked hard on finding the balance with, so it was nice to have that feedback.

The picture below is of the beautiful team minus one of my favorite team members who wasn't in the picture. I laughed and cried with this team during the week at the nightly devotionals. I truly felt like I was included in the family they were building during the week, and am very thankful for the amazing moments I had with them. One of my favorite moments happened the last night during devotional. Each night Patty would ask a question to the team or say a topic then we would go around the room in a circle and everyone would talk. When people started sharing they all started by saying "When I go home..." and I started getting really sad. I just sat there thinking about how I didn't get to go home and then I started thinking about how much I missed it. Then as people continued to share I had an epiphany that I was home. That for right now Guatemala is my home, and that when they were going to be going back to the States I was going to be going back to my apartment in Pana which is now my home. So that is what I talked about when it was finally my turn. I talked about how I had no idea for how long Guatemala was going to be my home for, but that at least right now in that moment it was home. Maybe something will pull me back to Texas tomorrow, or maybe I'll finish up my commitment and leave, or maybe I will become a lifer (Mom I'm kidding... don't cry. I promise I'll move home and have babies sometime). Anyways, the point is that Texas is now where I am from and don't get me wrong it will always be my home, but I realized that I need to stop being sad that I am not there because that is a choice. Maybe it has taken me a year to realize that because now I have a truly amazing community of people surrounding me down here. Who knows, it was just a really special beautiful moment. After I shared one of the team members suggested that we listen to the song Home by Phillip Phillips (who names a kid Phillip Phillips?!?) which of course made me cry like a baby. My favorite line in the song is "Just know you're not alone, Cause I'm going to make this place your home". Beautiful. Such a beautiful last night to a beautiful week with an amazing team!

After this team left on Friday I worked at the clinic for a few hours helping set everything up for surgery week. It was more difficult than I was expecting to jump from one team straight into preparing for my next one. Luckily I ended up not having to go to Guatemala City to pick up the team on Saturday, so I actually had a day in between to finish up some work stuff with one team and get ready for the next. I will write another blog in the next couple of days about the surgical team in country right now, but let me just say I wish I had time this week to just color everyday! Surgical teams are so hectic not even mentioning that I have a team of 37 flying in on Saturday that I am also trying to get everything ready for. If you happen to read this in the next couple of days please pray for our eye patients and for the hands of the surgeons and supporting medical staff. Also please continue to pray for my guidance for these teams and that I am properly prepared for anything that may come up during the week. 

On another note Land Before Time just came on TV in Spanish which is maybe the best motivation I have had to work on learning more Spanish in a long time! :)

End of 2012 and beginning of 2013 recap.

Oh man oh man... get excited folks! Guess what is back... Your favorite blog ever! Yes I am still alive, and no I have not forgotten how to type. Life has just been extremely crazy lately and since tomorrow starts a whole new level of craziness I figured I needed to catch up on my blog tonight.

Since I haven't updated since November I never got to share about the beautiful Thanksgivings that I had down here in Guatemala. I went into Thanksgiving this year with a bad attitude since I wasn't going to be home with my family for the first time, but I ended up having 3 Thanksgiving dinners here with different friend groups which made up for it. Thanksgiving morning I traveled from Xela to Pana to celebrate the day with friends. My first dinner was at Tom's house with his son Manny, Wayne and Janet, and Dave. The picture below was captured from that dinner. It was cooked by a couple of Guatemalan women and it was delicious. I was very grateful to have been invited to this Thanksgiving dinner.

My Thanksgiving number 2 was with my friends Carol Ann and Deborah. However, Deborah was sick so besides a few minutes with her when we took her some mashed potatoes it was really just a date with Carol Ann. The Japanese restaurant Hana was advertising a "traditional American Thanksgiving dinner", but really it was just bad. Since neither CA or I eat ham we just had the veggies and a salad which I was too scared to eat. While the food wasn't my favorite I loved hanging out with CA. I can't remember if I have blogged about her moving to Pana yet, but she is the one who came to visit me here with my friend Scott then I went to visit her in Costa Rica. She is now living in Pana and is the new volunteer working in our school at Salud y Paz. I absolutely LOVE having her here. She is such a great friend to have in town and I am really looking forward to when I have more down time and we get to hang out more. 

Now onto my last Thanksgiving dinner. This one actually happened a few days after Thanksgiving. I was back in Xela with Archy and Jacky and we were celebrating little Nicky's 1st birthday! I bought a mini turkey at the store and told them I was going to make my mom's famous pumpkin pie which let me  just say was SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE. Here's the deal. I have watched my mom make it so many times, but that is so different than trying to make it by yourself for the first time in a 3rd world country. I went to all the stores in Pana then to Walmart in Xela and still couldn't find all the ingredients I needed. I know some of you may read this and laugh, but I had to make pie crust from scratch and whip actual cream instead of cool whip. Maybe not a big deal for you, but I couldn't stop laughing at how hard it was. Anyways while making the pie at their house they told me that they had never tasted pumpkin before. I felt like I really wanted to make something delicious for them to try to represent a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. They kept telling everyone I was making them a "traditional American Thanksgiving dinner". So much pressure!

I pretty much made a mess of their kitchen, but I blamed it on Santi since he was "helping" me cook. His version of helping was licking the spoon. Pretty much my version of helping when I'm in the States with my mom.

Jacky and Dona Yoli helped me translate my mom's recipe while we were cooking. It was really fun trying to explain in Spanish what everything meant. It was probably especially hilarious listening to me try to translate "Dreamy High Pumpkin Pie" into Spanish!

Finished product! I was actually pretty proud of myself with how great it turned out! When Jacky and Archy were eating it they told me that they were pretty sure that they were not going to like pumpkin. However, they both ate second pieces and the next day asked if they could finish the pie. I felt so happy that they loved it and that I didn't disappoint since they seemed to have VERY high standards for Thanksgiving dinner.  

One of the last days that I was in Xela with the family was Nicky's first birthday. Jacky's parents and brother came into town and we spent the day celebrating precious little Nicky. It was very neat to be included in the family celebration. On a side note a few weeks ago I was invited to Archy's mom's birthday party and his brother's high school graduation party. There was a celebration church service for them and then a dinner for about 400 people that his mother had made herself. It was really sweet walking into the church with them and having so many of their family members come up to me and kiss me hello and welcome me to the party. Then when I congratulated Archy's mom and brother both of them thanked me for coming. Archy later told me that it meant a lot to his mom that I went which is so weird to me. It's the same feeling I get when Archy and Jacky constantly invite me to their home and say how much they appreciate me staying there. In my mind I am the one who is constantly showing up at their house and being taken care of like I am with family. I truly hope they realize how extremely precious their family is to me. 

Ok... now onto Houston for December. I LOVED being home for Christmas. If you have been reading my blog (you know before I took my 3 month break) then you remember me talking about how my dad has CIDP. It was really hard in November not to be home with my family while my dad was in the hospital. When I went home in December it was much harder than I thought it would be, but at the same time easier since I was actually there surrounded by loved ones. It seems like my month home went by MUCH quicker than I wanted it to. Before I knew it Christmas was here then it was time for me to fly back to Guatemala. Christmas time is by far my favorite time of the year. My family has beautiful Christmas traditions which I love and look forward to each year. Here are some highlights from my Christmas home with my family. 

Christmas eve dinner at Taste of Texas. Every year we eat dinner there before going to church. Favorite tradition.

 Parker and I with one of the big Christmas trees at our church before the Christmas Eve service. 

Parker and I sitting on top of the stairs with my cat Sadie (who now lives with my parents) on Christmas morning. Even though I am 26 and my brother is 29 we still have to wait at the top of the stairs every Christmas morning and wait for my parents to make sure Santa isn't still downstairs. Then we go downstairs and find our Santa gifts. This year Santa came up with a scavenger hunt that took us all around the house.

Just posing for a super cute picture with my super cute pup (who I adopted with my grandfather and then abandoned) on Christmas morning. I am pretty obsessed with this pup Toby.

The day after Christmas my mom, Parker, and I drove up to Longview to have Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Longview is about 4 hours north of Houston and when we were driving there we started seeing snow on the cars. Then we started seeing it on the ground. It didn't actually snow while we were there for the day, but we still took advantage of it being on the ground and took a cute snow picture. When you live in Texas you get pretty excited to see snow!!

The next day my whole family on my dad's side (all 13 of us) went to Brennens for brunch (another of my favorite traditions). We have been going to brunch/lunch at Brennens in December for maybe the last 15 years. The year it burned down my aunt cooked my favorite meals from this restaurant at her house for my college graduation party at their house. Every year we pose for pictures out in the courtyard together. I don't have any of the pictures with our whole family, but below is a picture of my cousin Ashley and I. 

Like I said before my time in Texas went by way too fast. I flew back to Guatemala on the 30th and was picked up at the airport by Archy and Jacky. I spent New Years in Guatemala City with them at Jacky's parent's house. Guatemala City isn't the safest place, so really other than the airport and driving into the city for random errands a few times I hadn't spent a lot of time in the city. It was really fun to spend a few days there with people who actually knew their way around. I never would have thought I would have felt that safe in the City. On New Years eve we went to a church called Casa de Dios (House of God). This church is expanding to a new location which when we drove by it looks like a huge stadium which will be called Ciudad de Dios (City of God). Church started at 10:00 PM and let out a little after midnight to fireworks in the sky while we were walking to our car. You can see by the picture below that there were about 6 thousand people in this church for the service. Jacky got a seat, but Archy and I had to sit on the steps in the isle. At the end of the service the minister called his family up on stage and then invited everyone to hug and pray with their families. Jacky and Archy were hugging and I was just standing there starting to cry since I had just left my family back in the States. I was standing there starting to feel sorry for myself that I was all alone when at about the same time both Archy and Jacky reached over to me and included me in their hug. We stood that way for a few songs and I just started crying thinking about how lucky I was to have them in my life. They are truly my family down here and I am so grateful for their friendship. I didn't know what to expect from a Guatemalan New Years, but I don't think I could have had a better one. 

Ok... last update for the blog. I know it's been really long! A few days after New Years I hosted my first team of the year. It was a medical, dental, and optical team from Heather's home church. Heather also went on the trip since it was her 5th year to be with the group. This is the trip that she came on which helped her make the decision to move down here. This team had a lot of team members who were around my age on the trip. It was really fun getting to spend the week serving alongside and laughing with some great people. The cool thing about this team is that we stayed at the Lemoa Center which allowed us to have more community time with the group. Each night after dinner we would stay up playing games and just laughing. It was really a great way to get back into hosting teams. 

Another thing that made this week really special for me is that the Lemoa Center is where I worked when I first visited Guatemala. On the mission trip that I came on a year and a half ago I stayed in Chichi and worked in Lemoa on the Retreat Center. I spent that first week in Guatemala looking around Lemoa and asking myself if I could actually live here. It was at this place that I first started picturing what my life would be like if I actually quit my job and moved to Guatemala. It was at this place where I tried my hardest to talk myself out of what I was feeling because I was so scared that I would be lonely if I decided to move to a 3rd world country by myself. However, now it was at this same place where I sat watching a sunset with Archy whose family has become my family down here. Then it was at this place where I broke down crying one day out in the community and realized that I had Heather with me who I could lean on. She has become a best friend to me and I am so thankful to have her here going through this experience with me. It was really special to be able to look back over the past year and a half and realize how completely different my life is now. That first week when I thought "well maybe..." I never actually thought I would go through with it. I don't think anyone thought I would actually go through with it even when I went home telling people I was going to. It was so not like me and I know I surprised many people by actually seeing it through. Me especially. Anyways, it was a beautiful week of reflection that yes I did actually change my life, move to a foreign country by myself, gain independence, challenge myself daily, and am actually doing ok. Below is a beautiful moment that I captured on my crappy iPhone camera. :)

What craziness is starting tomorrow that I was talking about at the beginning of my blog? Well tomorrow I am heading to Guatemala City (my favorite 7 hour round trip ever) to pick up a medical and construction team. I will be staying with them all week in Chichicastenango. Then next weekend I will begin hosting a surgery team for the week. Then after they leave Saturday morning I will pick up a team of 37 Saturday afternoon which I will be working with the medical and dental portion in Cunen. After that team I will have one week off working at our clinic followed by 3 more weeks with teams. I can't even begin to imagine how tired I am going to be after these 7 weeks, but then every time I think about how hard the next 2 months are going to be I get extremely excited about how many amazing and beautiful moments I am going to be able to experience with these team members. I promise I'll try my best to keep y'all updated.

Wish me luck!

Xela Aventures...

My goodness have I loved Xela so far. If you've been reading my blog then you know that I was invited by one of our drivers and translators, Archy, to spend about a month living and learning Spanish with his family here in Xela. I really didn't know what to expect or if I would stay a whole month at the beginning of my time here, but now that I only have a couple of days left I am getting incredibly sad at the idea of leaving. I have been really bad lately about writing a blog here since we have been so busy, but here are some highlights of the past few weeks.

First off here is the room that I am staying in. The house actually belongs to Jacky's parents, but since they live in Guatemala City Archy and Jacky live here with their sons. This room is downstairs and is perfect for me. They have both joked (I think) about me coming and living here full time. Know that I have actually spent time picturing what my life would be like here before realizing that I should probably just stay in Pana and come visit often. Apparently I have an open invitation for whenever I want to come stay for the week, so let's see how many times I can take them up on that before I get kicked out. :)

One of my favorite things about being in Xela is that this house comes with cute little kiddos to play with. This adorable baby is Nicki, and he actually turned 1 yesterday. Since I have been here this month he walked by himself for the first time, and also started saying Mama and Popi. I really can't begin to explain how obsessed I am with this little kid. He is at the age where he laughs at everything and communicates through grunting.

Archy and Jacky's other son is Dominic Santiago, but we call him Santi. It took him longer to warm up to me, but this past week we have become best friends. When I first got here he cried when I sat by him in the car and at the dinner table. However, now he asks to sit by me and cried the other day when I left the room. I owe my awesomeness to the Talking Tom and Cat Paint Apps on my iPhone. Seriously it was the only way to win this kid over. He thought my phone was cool, so he started sitting in my lap to play with it. Then I guess that is when he realized I wasn't going to attack him. Before I came I only knew Archy and I only knew him from when we work with teams together. It has been amazing getting to not only meet and fall in love with his family, but also to see how he is with them. I am getting to see a whole other side to him and also am becoming equally as good of friends with Jacky. Just such a beautiful experience to have.

Another thing that I have loved about being in Xela is hanging out with some of our other translators outside of work. Besides working with most of them on teams I have really only hung out with a couple without teams. One translator that I knew before was Jose Galicia. I had actually spent a week in Xela with my roommate Heather last Spring for Semana Santa. I told Jose I was going to be spending some time in Xela, so he offered to show me around. Luckily for me he hasn't been working with teams the last few weeks, so we have been hanging out a lot. It is harder for Jacky and Archy to get out of the house with the boys, so Jose has been the one to explore Xela with. The photo below is from a lookout over Xela called Baul. Check out how beautiful Xela looks from this hill. 

After looking at the view for about an hour we walked around the rest of the park. It was such a beautiful day. 

Also at Baul I found this Mayan dudes. I never get old of seeing and hearing the stories all all of these Mayan ruins. However, all the stories do run together after awhile. I really love all the history that I have been experiencing here in Guatemala. 

Next up we went to a restaurant called La Casa del Parado which is on top of another hill with another view of Xela. We ate fried plantains (no matter how much I want to like these I never do) and drank hot drinks because it was freezing. Even though it was really cold we stayed outside because I loved sitting there with the Christmas lights and listening and singing to the 80's American music that they were blaring. It constantly makes me laugh how many places LOVE to play Bon Jovi.

Below is the view we were looking at from the restaurant. After we left we hiked up to a little gazebo on the property, so I could take pictures. Again Xela is really beautiful especially at night. 

On another exploring night we went to the Cathedral located in the Central Park in Xela. I had been to the park before because that is where we watched the Good Friday Procession during Semana Santa, but I had never been inside the cathedral. It was really beautiful with people all around lighting candles and praying during mass. I was not the only tourist taking pictures inside the cathedral (note that I was using my iPhone which I like to think that makes it a little sneakier and therefore better.). Every time I do take pictures inside any kind of church it always makes me uncomfortable because I think about how rude I would think it was if I was worshiping and someone came into my church and took pictures. However, Jose assured me that it was OK. Still not sure how I feel about it though.

After touring the Central Park Jose asked me if I wanted to go to Little New York with him before he took me home. I laughed and said OK and then laughed even harder when we pulled up to a hotdog stand on the edge of the park. While we sat there for about an hour while Jose ate his Q8 hotdog I decided that the taco stand next to Little New York could be Little Texas. I then tried to get people to go to Little Texas instead, but no luck. Also notice that I took this picture while walking back to the car because I was too embarrassed of being the touristy American while we were sitting there. I always try to find the balance between wanting to take all the pictures I want to and trying to pretend I am over the whole tourist thing. :)






A couple of weeks ago Guatemala Tours had their yearly meeting with the translators and asked if I would join them. It was actually set up as a team building exercise, so they brought in Carla who used to work with VIM to motivate the staff. We played team building games, watched little videos about good and bad situations, and then spent a few hours talking about the coming year and how things were working. The entire meeting was in Spanish (obviously), so I was grateful that I was in a room full of translators to help me. Later on that day Jose called me and asked if I wanted to drive up to San Francisco La Union to take Raul home. Since I hadn't been there I said yes and they came to pick me up. I really enjoyed hanging out with them and seeing another village close to Xela. On the way to Raul's home we talked about the world ending in December. I used my dad's line about the Mayans just running out of paper which made them laugh a lot.

When we got to San Francisco La Union I saw Jose Hernandez who I work with at the clinic jumping out of the back of a chicken bus. I yelled his name and he jumped in the car. He then invited us over to his house to meet his family. It was such a great experience not only seeing where he lives, but also meeting his daughters, wife, mom, and other family. I work with all these guys so much that I have loved seeing where a lot of them live and meeting their family. It is fun to see what their life is like outside of work. 

When we got back from San Francisco La Union we stopped downtown at Cafe Baviera for dinner. I loved everything about this cafe. They were playing Christmas music and the staff was actually decorating for Christmas while we ate. There were also old photographs plastered all over the walls and antique cameras everywhere. Absolutely a place I would go back to. They even had a little couch area where you could sit and study. Such a cool little indy coffeeshop/restaurant.

Another place that we went to was the main cemetery in Xela. I'm not sure why, but every place I go in Guatemala someone wants to show me a cemetery. It always makes me laugh because in the States I would never suggest taking someone to a random cemetery just to visit and take pictures.








This cemetery is known for Vanushka's grave. The story is that Vanushka was a gypsy from Europe who came to Guatemala and fell in love with a rich son of a Spanish ambassador while working in the circus. His family didn't approve, so they took him back to Spain breaking Vanushka's heart. She cried for weeks before dying of a broken heart. Now the story is that if you visit her grave and leave flowers or write her a note then you will be reunited with your true love.

           

Ok that only covers a few days of my time here (did I mention that I was WAY behind on writing this blog), so I will write more probably tomorrow. Right now I am sitting around the table laughing and drinking hot chocolate with the family. Jacky's family is here for the weekend, and her brother knows some English so we are speaking Spanglish to each other. It makes me laugh on a daily basis the conversations I have with people here. 

Tummy ache and prison.

So I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my last post or not, but when I arrived in Xela both of Archy's sons were sick to their stomachs. I spent the first 2 days playing and helping take care of them and then I finally got the stomach bug Thursday night. I spent most of the night getting sick and then spent ALL day Friday moving between my bed and the couch to watch TV. At first I thought about going back to Pana because usually there is nothing worst than being sick and not being at home. However, I could not have asked for better caretakers than Archy and Jacky. Both of them spent the day checking on me constantly and bringing me anything they thought I needed. Archy kept offering to take me to the doctor or hospital and when I refused he then went out and bought me gatorade and crackers. Then when I refused to drink or eat anything he grabbed my phone and threatened to call my mom to tell her I was being a bad patient. He kept saying that I was his responsibility since I was in his home, so he was going to treat me like a daughter. He then started calling me his stubborn daughter. It really seemed like every time I woke up he was there to check on me and to see what I needed. As always when I am sick I wish I was at home laying on the couch with my cat and pup and having my mommy take care of me. However, being with this family was a great alternative. I even joked to Archy one time when he asked what he could bring me about wanting my cat and he brought me a stuffed animal to snuggle with. I truly turn into a baby when I am sick, and I was really thankful for both Archy and Jacky. It is funny how at home I feel with this family after only being here for a few days. It is really sweet to keep hearing them say that I am part of their family and that they are really happy I am here.

This morning I woke up to Archy asking me if I felt well enough to go to the prison. Before you think you misread that last word, yep we went to the prison this morning. I didn't at all feel well enough to go, but knew that it may be my only chance so I decided to go anyways. Hemberth who is the owner of
Guatemala Tours (the organization that we hire our drivers and translators through) had approached Salud y Paz a little while back to see if we were interested in helping with a prison ministry that his church along with 2 others had started. When Wayne talked to me about it at first I was both really hesitant and excited about possibly starting a new form of teams to advertise to. This morning besides feeling horrible I also was extremely nervous about what to expect. However, once we got to the prison I was put at ease. I went to college in Huntsville and had to tour the prison for some of my classes, so I was expecting a big scary building with cells and prisoners screaming at you when you walked by. I could not have been more surprised by what I found once I got inside.

First step was to get past security. This took awhile because at first they didn't want to let us in. One guard was OK with it, but the other guard didn't know Hemberth so she originally wasn't too happy about letting us in. After some convincing they finally took our IDs and gave us our "Get out of jail free stamps". Both Hemberth and Archy only got one stamp, but I got 2. I kept thinking about a story that my dad has told me several times about going into a prison in Mexico once with Dave Kuhn to hold a bible study for the prisoners and being given a yellow card to get out. He then says that he held onto that card like his life depended on it. Guatemala may be smarted going the stamp method unless it washes off. Glad I didn't have to find out what happens if that was the case.

After we got through the doors I saw that instead of like the cells we have in the States this prison was actually set up more like a home. There was an open courtyard in the middle with rooms on either side used for dorms, kitchen, and bathrooms. Hemberth and I stood in the courtyard and he explained to me why some of the women were in prison. Two of the women who he knew were guilty of murder and kidnapping, but still I felt calm and safe walking around. Maybe it was because they all met my glances with smiles and kind greeting, or maybe it was because I had Archy, Hemberth, and lots of guards surrounding me. Whatever was the reason being there made me feel much more comfortable with the idea of possibly sending in teams.

Hemberth introduced me to one prisoner named Reyna who was referred to as the "jefe (boss)" of the prison. She has been there the longest, so she has been granted permission to open her own tienda (store) to sell random goods to the other prisoners. I spent about 3 hours sitting across the table in her tienda with her hearing her story, asking what life was like for the prisoners, and then asking what services could they use. It was heartbreaking to sit there listening to how hard these women have it. Reyna explained to me that the government only gives then beans and 5 tortillas a day for meals, so any other type of food they want they would have to purchase from her in the tienda. She also said that prisoners had to buy everything from food to personal items (toilet paper, soap, clothes) with their own money. When I asked how they made money she explained that the women made random material goods to cell to family members who came to visit, but that most of the prisoners never got visited by their family because they were ashamed of them. Reyna is raising her 3 year old daughter, Neece, who was born in the prison. The law states that a child can live with the mother in the prison up to age 4, so she is going to have to figure out where to send the little girl in a year. Her husband is also serving time in another prison and she has a son who is about to graduate high school. She is actually saving money from what she sells in her tienda to send money home to her son to pay for a family dinner after his graduation.

I then asked what the system was for medical and dental services when they were needed. Reyna explained to me that when they need to see a doctor sometimes it can take up to 30 days for one to come. Then they are just handed a prescription and have to figure out on their own how to pay and receive the medication. As for dental services there are none. She said that they don't even have toothbrushes or toothpaste. She then took me on a tour of the prison. When we went into the dorms she pointed out that many women didn't have either blankets or a mattress. Their living conditions were hard to see. 

Right before we were about to leave a woman fell down on the way to the bathroom and broke her leg. I was told by Reyna that she was just laying down in bed because she knew that there was no way she could afford to go to the hospital to receive treatment. I then told Reyna that I wanted to buy something that she had made to support her and Neece, but she then suggested that I buy from the woman with the broken leg because she was going to need more money for treatment. I ended up buying this mirror for Q35 (about $4.50) from the lady. 

It was really hard to hear and see the conditions that these women were living in. I really hope that one day Salud y Paz can partner with the churches and expand the prison ministry they have started. I could see the need for teams including obviously medical and dental, but also construction and people to come in with materials and teach the women how to make even more goods to sell for extra money. They also need a lot of donations that you and I would consider basic needs that they could only dream about. I know there is such a need for help there that whether it be through personal donations or Salud y Paz I am eager to see the difference we can make for these women.

Ok... it's getting late and I just finished watching Footloose (for the first time... don't judge) in Spanish. I couldn't tell much about what was going on other than Kevin Bacon seemed to want the whole town to be involved in one huge dance number. I'm still not feeling the best, so I'm thinking it is time for bed. Night blog world.

Earthquake.

I learned a new word yesterday... Terremoto which means big scary earthquake!

Remember my last post when I was on the bus heading to Xela yesterday morning and was so excited about getting here? Well about an hour after I arrived a 7.4 earthquake hit Guatemala about 30 miles away from where I was. Luckily, I had already been picked up from the bus terminal by Archy and was at his home with his 2 children when it hit. We had just finished taking the tour of the house and were sitting in the kitchen talking when the house started shaking. We just starred at each other until things started falling over. That is when we grabbed both of his sons and ran outside onto the patio. I am not sure how long it lasted, but it was long enough for us to sit there in shock until we figured out we needed to get outside, find the boys and run outside, then stand there until it stopped. Besides a lot of things falling over in his house there didn't seem to be other damage, but his neighbors house got a huge crack in the side. A few weeks ago we had a small one at the clinic which most people didn't even feel, but other than that I have never experienced anything like that before. All of the Guatemalans that I have talked to said that that was the strongest one they have ever felt. One translator, Jose, that I'm friends with told me that he ran out of the house screaming like a girl to which I replied yo tambien (I also).

The last major earthquake that hit Guatemala was in 1976 and killed 23,000 and injuring 76,000 people. Luckily, the structures are built better now, so the damage wont be near as bad. However, the area with the most damage is the village of San Marcos. As soon as we could we started watching the news and checking online for reports of damage. As of this morning the death toll is up to 48 with hundreds injured seeking treatment and hundreds more still missing. Many houses, schools, and other buildings collapsed in that area, so the photos of damage from the quake is terrifying. I was thinking about it last night and with my job at the church I spent hours and hours looking at photographs of damage from earthquakes. However, I was always looking at the footage from the safety of being in Houston. It is a complete different experience watching footage and hearing about the damage when it happened just 30 minutes away from me. We have patients that come to our clinics from San Marcos. I just keep thinking about them and wondering if any of the smiling faces I see in our hallways everyday are the ones now left homeless and wondering if their loved ones are safe.

Right now I am at the Guatemala Tours office in Xela, and there is broken glass from the earthquake. So thankful I was at home with Archy where at least I could feel somewhat safe and not in a mall with thousands of people running around screaming and glass breaking overhead. In case you can't tell I'm beyond over earthquakes!

Please continue to keep the people of Guatemala in your prayers. Also if you are looking for one more prayer item please pray that I can stop shaking. I really need to just calm down and trust that everything will be ok.

Election Day and Heading to Xela!!

So yesterday morning I woke up in a panic because I had a dream that when I woke up and checked Huffington Post and Politico the headlines on the front page read ROMNEY WINS. Luckily when I did actually wake up and check those newspapers like I do every morning the headlines just read THE RACE IS ON.

I started yesterday bummed that I was spending election day in Guatemala and not back in the States. I wanted to be around friends and family for the day waiting for what would happen. However, I ended up having a beautiful election day here in Guatemala. Here are my favorite moments from yesterday.

When I got to work I told Jose that it was a big day in the States because we were electing a new president among other politicians. He then told me that in one of his college courses he was taking a class called Founding Fathers which he just had to write a paper for comparing the Guatemalan constitution to the United States constitution. He made me laugh when he talked about how it was difficult for him to understand all the huge words that we used because I cannot even begin to fathom attempting to read the Guatemalan constitution in Spanish. Jose then asked me to explain the voting process to him because he knew it was different than Guatemala's. We then spent about 20 minutes comparing the 2 different processes. The other volunteers kept looking over and laughing at us (I promise we did eventually get a lot of work done). It was such a great moment to share with Jose. I love working with him because I am constantly learning more about Guatemalan's culture and sharing with him about mine.

After I got home from what felt like such a long day from the clinic Heather and I watched the news for a couple of hours before heading over to Sid and Jan's house for an election night party. There were about 50 "gringos" who were all gathered to wait for the results from the night. When I looked around the room I laughed at the strangely great community that loves in Pana. My community down here is made up of the most interesting people I have ever met. We stood around snacking and watching the results come in for a few hours. I loved listening to all the random and some ridiculously idiotic conversations that were going on all around me. At one point I was explaining to Lungi what the electoral college votes meant and one grown lady who was listening thanked me for explaining and said that I should go stand in front of the group because she was sure no one else in the room knew that process. I then overheard a group of 5 other grown adults talking about how each State gets one vote for the president and that's how they decide. What?!? It baffles me that in one room there were at least 6 adults over the age of 50 who didn't understand the process. I know I come from a pretty political family, but come on that should be basic common knowledge for every American!

After a few hours at the party I couldn't take it anymore and still needed to pack for Xela today, so I headed home to watch with Heather and Dave. Fun fact: I road on the back of a motorcycle last night and didn't break anything. It's probably because Dave went extra slow since I was scared, but still if you know me and how often I break bones that's impressive. :) The 3 of us stayed up until about 1:30 watching the results and final speeches. Sorry to annoy anyone who reads this doesn't agree with my views, but I was ecstatic that Obama won again. I could not fathom Romney winning and that being a great decision for our country. Yesterday was a beautiful election day filled with mostly great conversations (except for the maddening ones at the party) and lots of celebration. Obama even made the front page of a Guatemalan newspaper! I bought one this morning have loved reading most of it (what I could understand) and hearing the story from Guatemala's perspective. I have the front page saved from 4 years ago when Obama one. Makes me laugh that I can now add the Guatemalan front page to that collection.

Right now it is extremely early and I am actually on a chicken bus going to Xela. I'm typing this on my phone in the notes app and was just asked by the 2 guys I'm sharing a seat with if this was a really long text message. I am going to stay with Archy and his family for the next few weeks in Xela which is the 2nd largest city in Guatemala. I am going to use this time to learn Spanish daily, work out of our Xela clinic, and to work closely with the Guatemala Tours office about our teams for next year. I am both extremely nervous and excited about doing a home-stay with a Guatemalan family. I think these weeks are going to be extremely difficult with the amount of Spanish I am going to have to speak, hopefully extremely helpful to my Spanish, and a lot of fun. In addition to Archy and his family I know a few other friends in Xela that I am excited to spend time with. I have been blessed to form good friendships with several of our translators and staff members. I'm really looking forward to these next few weeks and what all they will bring. I have been told several times that it is a really big deal to invite someone into your home, so I know how blessed I am to have been given this opportunity.

Lastly, did anyone else read the article that said that Romney had written his acceptance speech yesterday on the campaign bus? First of all who would believe that he actually writes his own speeches (ever heard of speech writers). Second of all if that was true do you think that he was sharing a seat with 2 Guatemalan men and 2 toddlers while 3 goats (I promise) stand in the isle with their owner who is selling fresh goats milk? Because if that all was going on as he typed away blaring Rolling Stones through his headphones I know EXACTLY how he felt. :)

Home for Fall and the first S y P benefit.

So I have decided that only going home for 9 days is too hard. It was too short of a trip! However, I keep reminding myself that I am going home for a month on November 30th. I can't wait to be home for the entire month and have more time to catch up with all my friends and family who I miss so much!

The first moment that I don't want to forget happened the Sunday I flew home. It takes about 3 hours from Panajachel to get to the airport. Along the way searching for something to do I decided to look at my passport. After reading all the random quotations on every page and all the do's and don't's of traveling abroad I then started counting all the stamps in my passport. I currently have 19 stamps in my passport. After counting them I am embarrassed to admit that I sat there kind of sad and annoyed that I haven't traveled that much. Maybe you are reading this and think that thought was crazy (it was) but for the community I was raised in in Houston I really haven't been that many places compared to others. During high school so many of my friends would travel internationally every summer. Instead of huge international trips my family always did a lot of road trips (which don't get me wrong I always loved). My mom and I counted this summer (while driving home from a road trip to Colorado) and determined that I have been to 26 states and 18 countries (again I know I'm stupid and I've traveled a lot for a 26 year old). 

Anyways, I am writing about this because during that shuttle ride I started talking to a guy from Pana who was wearing a Texans hat. I asked him if he had ever been to Texas and he explained that he hadn't because it is very difficult for Guatemalans to travel abroad. He then explained that his brother lives in Texas and gave him the hat a few years ago for Christmas. We talked for about an hour about how he had tried to get to the States, but was deported and now has a 10 year ban until he can apply for another visa to try to return. I have heard this story before from some of the Guatemalans I work with. It baffles me that Americans (like me) expect the right to live freely in another country without having to jump through hoops, but then our government won't extend to others the same opportunities. Then while I was on the plane about to take off I was putting up my passport and found myself looking for the new stamp I had just received (could not be more embarrassed) when a mother and son duo sat down next to me. The son explained to me that he had been living in the States for about 20 years, but that his mother had never been able to visit. She just got her visa and was both leaving Guatemala and flying for the first time. She was probably about 80 and was so nervous as we started taking off. Again I was reminded of how incredibly silly I was being. I am 26 years old and have had the privilege of traveling to some amazing places. I need to stop taking for granted those opportunities and realize that I am beyond blessed to have been able to explore as many locations and cultures as I have. It also reminded me of when one of our translators told me that he would never have the opportunity to serve in another country like I am. It is good to be reminded every once in awhile how blessed you are.

Ok... now to my time in Houston. I LOVED it! Since I changed my flight to Sunday I had almost 4 whole days with my family before the other Salud y Paz volunteers arrived. It was great to just be home with my family and catch up. Honestly, I talk to them almost everyday, so it was more of just hanging out then it was having to catch up. Get ready to judge me... In the first 3 days that I was home I watched about 15 episodes of Duck Dynasty. It is the stupidest reality show, but my family loves it. They had been telling me about it for a couple of months, so when I got home we had a marathon. I cannot even begin to describe how much I love just laying around watching stupid hilarious TV with my family and laughing really hard. Again I am very much looking forward to being home again in about a month!

Since my mom retired from teaching in May she was around the whole week to play with. She went with me to do all of my random errands, and then my favorite thing that we did was work out in the pumpkin patch. When I originally thought that I wasn't going to be home for Fall the pumpkin patch at the church was one of the things I was thinking I would miss the most. We have pictures of Parker and I in the patch when we were so little. Besides Christmas Fall is my favorite time of the year, so I loved just sitting in the patch with my mom and laughing at all the cute little kids who were dressed up and getting their pictures taken with the pumpkins. Very blessed that I got to have a few days in Houston with my family and friends before I had to get back to work.

Heather, Janet, and Wayne flew in Thursday night. Janet and Wayne's hotel was about 2 minutes from my parent's house, so I drove over and picked up Heather since she was staying with us. It was so much fun having all of them in town and especially having Heather be able to experience my life in Houston. All day Friday and Saturday we had a board meeting that was hosted at the church. We actually met in the Youth Lounge which was just hilarious to me. I could not get over how odd it was that my 2 worlds were coming together. 

On Friday night after the board meeting and dinner Heather and I went to hear my friend Mark play guitar at a restaurant. So fun to have Heather meet some of my friends and people I used to work with.



Sunday was a good day. I started the day by going to Youth Worship at the Refuge. Heather and I talked to the youth about Salud y Paz and why we were in Houston. Again so fun to have my 2 worlds together! Then we went to church at 11:00 where both Chuck and Suzy talked about Salud y Paz. Both of them mentioned that it was the organization where their own home grown Kelly Cragg was serving. It made me smile both times. :) After church we went out for BBQ. Heather had mentioned that she wanted to experience true Texas BBQ, so we went to Rudy's with Poppy, Parker, and my parents.

Next up was the banquet. Salud y Paz was having their first annual banquet at City Center. I was really nervous about the turn out, but that morning at church I ran into so many church members who said they were going to come. We ended up having about 150 there which was a great turn out! Most of the people there were church members and it meant so much to me that they all came out to support Salud y Paz and me. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the night.

This is my favorite picture from the benefit. Heather felt uncomfortable sitting at her table while Phil was up front asking for donations, so she came to sit with me. We then decided to take random pictures. Now looking back how funny is it that 2 of the 4 volunteers in Guatemala were taking duck face pictures while our founder was pleading for donations. :) Makes me laugh a lot.

On Monday we had a free day before we flew out Tuesday morning. Heather wanted to see more of Houston, so we drove around downtown then went over to the medical center. I figured that since Heather is a nurse she would appreciate our med center. Then we went to the museum district and walked around the park awhile. After the downtown tour we drove over to the 4th Ward. I am not going to be home for Thanksgiving, so I have been thinking about how I won't be going to the 4th Ward on Thanksgiving morning like we usually do. After that we went to eat lunch at Onion Creek over in the Heights then spent the afternoon saying by to random friends and family. Usually I get really sad when I leave to come to Guatemala, but this time I really wasn't. I know it is because I am going to be home again so soon! I can't wait!

The last couple of days I have been running around town catching up on errands and random work things. I will be in Pana for the next few days then will go to Xela for Spanish school. I want to be in Pana for election night, so I will head to Xela Wednesday morning. I am starting to get really nervous about going to Xela. I know that I will be surrounded by Spanish all day and I am scared that I'm not going to be able to handle it. I know that I know more Spanish then I let on, so maybe this will be really good for me. However, it is really difficult for me, so I am not really looking forward to having to struggle with it everyday. I am on one hand really not looking forward to going to Xela because I know it will be really hard and on the other hand I could not be more excited to spend that period of time living with a Guatemalan family and being able to understand the culture here even more. I guess we'll see how it goes. :)