Adios Quiche:
This week we had to say goodbye to our new home in Quiche, Guatemala. Packing was not much easier than it was before coming here, except that I knew exactly what I was trying to fit in my pack. I picked up a few things in Guatemala though so it was nearly impossible to fit more in than what I came with. Fortunately, there was no weight limit on my bag since we are going by bus to Honduras.
Our travel plans changed slightly and my team and another team had to leave 1 day earlier than the rest of the squad. Sunday was spent packing and finalizing some loose ends. Monday morning we invited the maintenance staff from the hospital over to our compound for an early lunch to thank them for welcoming us in to work alongside them this month. It was sad to say goodbye to these men who have been so helpful and kind to us. After sharing a meal and taking lots of pictures to serve as reminders of the friendships we’ve made, we said goodbye, loaded up with our packs, and started our journey to Honduras.
Travel Day #1: Quiche to Antigua, Guatemala
The summary I can give this day is best done with one word: CRAZYNESS. Thanks to God, we all got through it without much trouble though. Our group of 16 first loaded onto the local bus (which is really just a big van) with all our packs. We figured we would take up the whole van, but of course the driver and bus worker had other ideas and managed to squeeze at least 8 other people on with us. From the bus stop, we hiked to the main bus terminal (a big parking lot) and were quickly bombarded by 7 or 8 bus drivers eager to get our business and shouting prices at us and grabbing our bags to try to get us on their bus over the next guy’s. I was called to the front to translate and bargain with the men to find the best price, and after refusing to budge from the price I desired for us, finally got one of the men to agree to lower what he was asking for.
Cultural sidenote: It’s important to barter in Guatemala (and most of the world), because the first price someone tells you is about twice as much as what you really should pay. This is the rule of thumb for fruits and veggies in the market, clothing and souvenirs from street vendors, and private transportation companies. You do not barter, however, in stores with cash registers that actually have prices labeled. It can be a challenge to get used to because in the U.S. we consider “fairness” a pretty important concept and so everything is priced the same for everybody. Here, however, that concept doesn’t exist and the vendors consider taking advantage of clueless Americans (who have relatively tons of money) a smart business move. Who can blame them?
Back to travel day: Our packs were thrown to the top of the bus (literally-outside on top) and we were off to a little city called Chimaltenango, where we would have to switch buses. The ride started comfortably, but as we went along more and more people got on and we ended up packing 3 to a seat and people standing in the aisles. Once in Chimal, we had quite an interesting time getting all of our belongings off of the bus along with ourselves before the bus took off. You see, the bus drivers see time as money-the less time they spend at each stop, the more routes they can take in a day and the more money they’ll bring in. The problem is that with a group of 16 people, 16 massive 50 pound packs, and at least 16 daypacks, purses, carry-ons etc, as well as not being able to move past all the passengers standing in the aisles, getting off the bus quickly becomes quite a challenge. Especially when we have to guard all our possessions to make sure they don’t get stolen from pickpockets on the buses or outside where all our bags are getting tossed on the ground while we regroup. While our men worked on catching and piling our baggage that the bus worker was tossing off the roof, about half of our group struggled to get off the bus because they couldn’t move past the crowd with their things, the other half started guarding baggage in the street, and I kept running back and forth between the back of the bus, where our people were trying to crawl out through the back door, and the front of the bus to use my Spanish and yell at the bus driver to stop and wait because bags and people were still getting off. All the while, the driver kept pulling away from the curb ready to depart before our luggage had all been removed and before our group had all managed to squeeze off the bus. The situation was incredibly hectic, but we handled it well for such a large group and got everyone and everything off without harm.
Transitioning to the next bus was not too difficult-we only had to hike about a block before being flagged down by another bus drive wanting our business to take us the rest of the way to Antigua-our destination for the night. We agreed on a price and I informed them of the number in our group. After being assured he had plenty of room for us-we handed over our baggage once again and they were thrown to the top of the bus. A few of us decided to get on the bus while this was happening to ensure that it didn’t pull away with none of us on it to watch our bags, and as I, the first to enter, climbed up the stairs, my first thought was, “Oh no-there ain’t no way” (accent included). The bus was already packed full-at least 4 to a seat. There was literally nowhere to even stand comfortably in the aisles. Nonetheless-with our bags already being loaded on top of the bus, we had no choice. All 16 of us pushed past the crowded seats and by a miraculous work of the Lord squeeze into the aisles where we stood pressed up against each other and perfect strangers for the next half hour to Antigua. My squad mate decided to count the number of people on this bus. Keep in mind-these are just normal school buses. He counted over 100 people! It was the most ridiculous situation we have been in yet this trip.
In spite of the craziness-this part of the trip was blessed with a few great conversations with some young Guatemalans, including a young man studying English who also teaches bible classes. My compassion for English language learners was immediately ignited and I found myself thanking the Lord for that bus ride in spite of all the stress and discomfort it brought.
We arrived safely to Antigua, regrouped once again, and hiked several blocks to our hostel. After finding some dinner, celebrating my teammate Leslie’s birthday, and relaxing a little, we headed to bed for a little nap before having to rise and shine at 3:15 am to catch our 4:00 bus to Guatemala City. This ride was luxury for us, as we had 2 private vans that picked us up and drove us comfortably to the bus station in the capital. After spending the rest of our quetzales (Guatemalan currency) on snacks for the non-stop 13-ish hour trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, we loaded a big grey-hound bus and were off! Traveling long distance on the grey-hound was luxurious as well, as the bus wasn’t crowded so we could spread out a little and catch up on some sleep.
Arrival:
We made it to Zion’s Gate around 8:00pm and were greeted excitedly by a ton of kids who quickly grabbed our packs and lugged them to the common room. The hustle and bustle of the boys living at Zion’s Gate made us all so excited to be here and we are already falling in love with the place. The rest of our squad should arrive tonight and the next few days will be orientation to the site and our ministry locations. Praises to God for our safe travels and for all the ways He has provided for us during this period of transition.
