We left Romania on December 5th and headed to Guatemala. It was a pretty hard transition; we had to say goodbye to our ministry hosts, new friends, and hardest of all our team leaders. Boarding the plane from Amsterdam to Atlanta was a somber act. It was hard to envision the rest of the gap year without them. No matter what, we were still eager to see the new country. Through conversations with team leaders as well as vlogs, we had ascertained that Guatemala was going to be an amazing experience. Pushing past the melancholy of departure from Romania and our leaders, we strongly anticipated our arrival. We were pretty well rested the next day after our Atlanta layover, which was when we had plenty of Chick-fil-a to keep us going. The flight to Guat was a short but fun one. The descending part of the flight was the most picturesque thing I’ve probably ever seen: mountains, trees covering like a blanket, colorful buildings, and sunshine reflecting off rooftops. We landed and were greeted by the most perfect temperature outside and the bluest sky. To say it was love at first sight is an understatement. We landed and immediately were drenched by the family-oriented atmosphere. Families of ten or fifteen were waiting to greet loved ones that just landed, busy traffic of vans and buses slowly passing, and the warmth all combined to make me feel secure and accepted. It was a quick change of scenery from Romania, simply because of the bright colors and warmth, both in the people we saw and the outdoors. One interesting and cool thing we learned was that a main transportation of Guatemala is school buses. They apparently are brought down from the US when they either become too old or are no longer needed, and they are remodeled extensively and decked out in appearance. We hopped on one of these to our base where we’ll be living. The drive from Guatemala City to Parramos was about an hour, and the whole time we were soaking in the lush green that was right outside of our windows. The natural beauty this country offers is like a postcard or a clip from National Geographic at every turn. Another beautiful thing we took in was our base. Wow. Here are some of my favorite things about it so far: wide open yard space for a large assortment of things to do like somersaulting or playing football, all of the room for hammocks to be hung up, the spacious kitchen and dining area, bathrooms everywhere, an unobstructed view of the prettiest sky with the most colorful sunsets, and big showers. The base is a huge blessing; right away it felt like home. My team and I are in room #6, and it is the cutest lil thing. Besides physical blessings, we have felt so grateful for the ministry team that is here. I know we’ve only just really started our time here, but I can already see that we have the wisest and most spirit-led leaders. I know for a fact I’ll learn so much from them. They’ll stretch us FOR SURE, but for God any uncomfiness is worth it. And I can’t forget our super talented women who cook breakfast and dinner for us everyday, Sandra and Teresa. They are the kindest women who always make the yummiest and freshest meals, all with a smile on their faces. Despite the language barrier and my choppy Spanish trying to push past it, they love us to pieces. Basically moms away from home for us.
To summarize, we are so blessed. I’m beyond thankful for all that God has given us here. I think Guatemala is a place I’ll come back to 🙂
