“Beep …beep…..beep….. “your alarm goes off. It is 6:40am. You quickly do the math in your head and decide if you shower that night, and brush your hair on your way to ministry you can sleep in another 10 minutes. You do. By now your teammates are kindly reminding you, you have 10 minutes and you need to get up. You roll out of your bunk, find a clean shirt, put on a different pair of sweatpants, grab your bible and journal and run to breakfast to be there by 7am. “Good morning,” everyone mumbles to each other. The smell of fruit and coffee floats through the room. “Coffee’s not quite done yet,” someone else informs you. Another team who has had more time to wake up because they helped prepare breakfast cheerfully greets everyone and someone prays. Then you and 50 others quickly get in line for breakfast. This morning you’re having freshly cut fruit, like you do every morning, a small bowl of yogurt with granola and a grilled cheese sandwich. You get your food and then a cup of coffee and sit down with your squad, finally awake. This morning’s breakfast conversation has to do with the bowel movements of some of your squadmates. So-and-so has a parasite, they’ve named it Polly, someone else has salmonella, but they’re doing better since they’ve started taking medicine. You smile to yourself as you silently giggle at what has become your new normal. After you’ve finished your breakfast, someone on another team takes away your plate as it is their turn to do the dishes today. You quickly make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the sound of people arguing over which Guatemalan chips are best, “the spicy popcorn, or the pizza flavored Rachitas,” you add. You take your bible outside to do devotions in the sun. You spend some good time with the Lord as He continues to teach you things daily and before you know it, it is 8:30 and time to get your stuff for ministry. You fill up your water bottle and place it, along with your sandwich and chips in your backpack. Then you throw your hair in a bun, spray it with water and tea tree oil and put in a headband. You put on bug spray and as you’re walking out your teammate shouts, “SUNSCREEN. EVERYONE NEEDS SUNSCREEN,” so you put some of that on too.
By now it is 9am and you need to run to catch the bus. “CHIMAL CHIMAL CHIMAL!” The money collector yells out the window as the blue van that has way too many people in it slows down next to you. They somehow fit 7 more people into it, and the magic of clown cars suddenly makes more sense. You ride the bus for about 15 minutes before you get off at the overpass. “Up four blocks, and over one,” you say to your team, and the 7 of you walk in a single file line through the streets, dodging cars, buses, and tuk tuks. The locals greet you with “Buenos Dias!” and children giggle and yell “Gringas! Gringas!” You make it to your next bus and wait for it to head to your village.
After you get off the bus and walk to your ministry host’s house, her geese announce your arrival. “Buenas!” she greets. Everyone replies with either a, “Hola,” or “Buenas Dias” as well. You visit 3 families and pray over them in the morning and then return to her house to eat your lunch and play cards before the village kids come at 1:30pm for their english class. They trickle in slowly, and by 2 o’clock you have close to 50 kids crowded around 2 small tables. “Good afternoon! Welcome to english class!” you say very slowly. “Today we are learning the days of the week!” you walk kids through the pronunciation of each day, and try not to giggle as they spit everywhere while they say “Ffffffffiirrssssday!” with excitement. Pretty soon they’re all singing the days of the week song and everyone is laughing and smiling. They only learned 7 new words today and yet that doesn’t matter because there isn’t a single frown in the whole room. You understand now what joy truly looks like because it is so plainly written on the faces of these kids. They pull on your hands and say to their friends, “Ella es MI gringita!” Suddenly, you hear a bus horn and panic sets in. “THE BUS!!!!!” someone shouts. Everyone is running to get their backpacks and sprinting down the road to stop the bus because who knows when the next one will come! You shout “Adios!” and “Hasta luego!” as you’re running and you make it to the road just in time.
The bus ride is the same as the bus ride there and once you’re at the gate you wait for someone to buzz you in. You walk into the base, happy to be home. “Wash your hands!” your leader says. You see a few people playing soccer, some reading in hammocks, others playing card games. Dinner is in an hour or so, so you meet with your team and talk about the day, some people go wash their laundry in the pilla and then everyone gathers together at 5:30 for dinner. Chicken, rice, salad, and homemade tortillas. You swear you’re done with eating tortillas every day, but once they’re set out, you grab two like everyone else. After dinner everyone hangs out, you play games, you sing songs, watch movies, shower, you’ve learned to live life with 50 brothers and sisters and you take advantage of the company, because you know you’ll miss it post race. You settle into bed content with your day and fall asleep ready to do it all over again tomorrow.
