My first week in Guatemala was the first time everything really felt real. As we walked out of the airport and rode a bus through Guatemala city to the beginning of this Adventure, I saw the whole world moving again and this time I was moving with it. Our first meal in Guatemala was none other than Wendys…what a blessed meal it was! After starting our travel day at 1am and only stopping for snacks along the way a Wendy’s frosty is just what I needed to revive my soul. Continuing on our way, we pulled up to the base- our home for the next three months.
We are up in the mountains between Parramos and Chimaltenango. I’ve been here for about two weeks and I still feel like I am seeing the mountains, volcanoes, and clouds that surround our base for the first time. We are so blessed with this base, which provides rooms with beds, sheets, REAL toilets, and showers bigger than my own back home. Don’t even get me started on the food! I honestly feel like the Lord has expanded my palate because I am a picky eater and I have loved Every. Single. Meal. Within the first week the compound has become so familiar and so comforting. Walking barefoot through the walkway past the hammocks, sitting in the grass and watching for volcanoes to erupt, and eating each meal at long tables together has brought me so much closer to this idea of a community that is a family and a compound that is a home.
During our first week we got to meet the staff here at Adventures Guatemala and learn about the customs and cultures of Guatemala. Moments that stand out to me are an early morning worship session standing in the sunshine, Spanish lessons, pots on pots of coffee, washing clothes, and picture scavenger hunts in Antigua. I will remember nights playing soccer, playing volleyball, hanging around in hammocks, worship sessions, dancing in the rain, and movie nights- shout out to my Chiky Gang! Once we finally had all our training we got to meet our ministry partners and those in the community we would be getting to know better. So, let me tell you about Los Encinos- our heart for this season.
Los Encinos is literally one of the smallest, but cutest towns ever! You can see the edges of the town from every direction. It is surrounded by mountains, farm fields, and when standing on the edge you can see over the mountain onto the village on the next mountain. So much beauty and kindness lay in the hearts in the community of Los Encinos. Each morning we start out with devotions, breakfast, and then walk to Los Encinos. Monday and Wednesday we teach at Loving Arms, which is a school that children are able to attend with help from other sponsors. While there on Wednesday, I assisted a teacher that had three different classes that taught first through third grade. I helped to run activities about nouns and verbs, graded papers, timed and helped with reading, and prepared decorations for the walls. It sounds easy enough, but when the whole class is in Spanish and you’re below exceptional in the language it certainly can be hard to teach kids when you are learning the same thing. It was a humbling experience to have a second grader teach me (an 18 year old teacher) what they were learning in class for the day. We were also invited to walk with the school in the Independence Day parade last weekend. It was a long morning, but I will never forget walking the streets surrounded by so much color, music, and cheering! Tuesday and Friday we teach at the local school in Los Encinos, which requires lesson planning the week before the classes we teach. For an hour we teach a little class of 12 happy little kids the extremely confusing and complicated language of English. The kids totally blow us out of the water with how quick and eager they are to learn the language. We also hold a VBS every Friday for the kids in the El Campo. This past Friday was our first VBS and we were nervous the kids would not come. Within a few minutes past 2pm, kids started trickling in from the community and we had about 40 kids of all different ages. We painted nails, had our nails painted, jump roped, colored, played soccer, and played a lot of tag (thankfully this is a universal game). Later we got to tell the kids of Jesus’ sacrifice and eternal love. We hope that through the future events we can share more of the Bible with these sweet and eager ears. If we’re not teaching or playing with kids, we will pick up trash around the streets or visit houses in the community. Together my team puts our very little knowledge of spanish together and we spend hours laughing with people, making tortillas, and praying over the people of this little town. Through connections we also met a young lady who runs the only clinic in Los Encinos most Tuesdays and we are excited to help in anyway we can! We have been so blessed with our little community and I cannot wait to share more about the relationships we will be forming!
