Hello! Buenos Dias! I have been in Guatemala for about one week now and I thought I’d give you guys a little update. We arrived to the beautiful Adventures in Missions base on Monday and we were able to settle into our rooms. Everyone shares a room with their team, so in my team there are 7 girls. That’s right. 7 girls, one bathroom and one mirror (well we have 2 because Team Esther is prepared.) We were able to decorate our rooms however we wanted, so my team brought Christmas lights and pictures from home to make it feel homey and cute. We definitely have had a lot of fun decorating. Monday-Friday we have ministry, Saturday’s are adventure days and Sundays are our sabbath. This week we had orientation Tuesday and Wednesday so we’ve only been to ministry twice. Each team is assigned a village that they will be doing ministry in, our village is Bola de Oro, which translates to ball of gold in english. Monday’s and Tuesday’s we do house visits in the morning and teach english to kids in the afternoon. Wednesday’s we have a bible class for kids (similar to VBS), Thursday’s we work with the AIM staff, and Friday’s we play sports with the kids. We are packed with activities, but honestly there is nothing else I’d rather be doing. The Guatemalan people are some of the kindest, welcoming people I’ve ever met, and I’m so excited for these three months.
Now, I’ll give you some things I’ve learned in my first week here in Guatemala.
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When school buses retire in the United States they are shipped to Guatemala, repaired, and used as public transportation. (We call them “Chicken Buses,” but to the locals they’re just buses)
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If you”ve never been here, you have never seen just how many people you can fit on the chicken bus. (Our first day, easily 1 billion people… okay, not actually but it felt that way.)
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The coffee here is 100 times better than the American garbage we drink at home. And that’s a fact you cannot argue with me on.
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Sandra and Teresa, our base cooks, outdo themselves with every meal. (seriously, when you think it can’t get any better, it does.)
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The bus drivers all know where the base is, and they will yell “MISSIONES MISSIONES!” at you (or any American, really) to get you to come to their bus.
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Little boys will yell “Gringas, gringas!” every time they see you.
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Tortillas are very hard to make. Don’t get cocky. You will drop it on the ground. They will laugh at you. (it… uh… happened to my friend… yeah)
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“Piedra, papel y tijeras” will entertain kids for hours.
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The sunsets are unreal here.
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There. Are. So. Many. Birds. (oh my goodness. Chickens. everywhere.)
Life here is so different from life at home and yet God is just as good. He is changing my heart daily to be sensitive to the things of Him, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Guatemala is stealing my heart everyday and I am so happy where I am. Living in community has been so fun and there is never a dull moment with Squad W. We laugh, we cry, we celebrate, we encourage, we serve, and we just simply live together. It’s truly a glimpse behind the curtain to what heaven will look like, and for that, I couldn’t be more thankful.
