Last Saturday (June 6) was our first official day of travelling World Race style. The entire I-squad had finished up their week of training in Panajachel, and it was time to head off to our individual ministry sites. Team Abandon was assigned to go to Huehuetenango (pronounced Waywaytenango), a city close to the Mexican/Guatemalan border.
Our team was given details about who our contact was, what we would be doing, and where we would be staying. It was our job to find the cheapest way to get ourselves there. When it was all said and done, it was decided that we would be taking a Chicken Bus.
“What is a chicken bus?” you might ask. A chicken bus is an old school bus painted all cool with a rack on top for luggage and with as many people squeezed on as humanly possible. Why is it called a chicken bus? I have no idea.
We caught our very first chicken bus at 8:30 Saturday morning. Here is a picture of it.
One chicken bus later, and we were in Huehuetenango. It only took us 3 hours and 50 minutes to get there, a much shorter time than our other teammates who were supposed to have between 8 and 12 hour journeys.
We figured the hard part was over. We were there, we just needed a ride and it was all good. Unfortunately we had been unsuccessful in reaching our contact. He said that he might not be available until after 12:00, so we weren’t worried. We found a place to wait, and then we waited, and waited, and after that we waited some more.
Finally at about 5:30 or 6:00 we went for supper at a restaurant in a hotel that didn’t have very good food. Some of the team was trying to make a deal with the hotel man on a room for the night when our contact finally got a hold of us. He came and picked us up and brought us to our dwelling place.
So our “short” travel day turned out to be the longest one of any other team, but it was well worth it. The pastor and his family who are hosting us are absolutely INCREDIBLE. They have been such a blessing to us, and we are so thankful for them. It’s going to be a GREAT month!
