I knew going into this whole race that I’d come across cultures and ways of doing things that are different than they are at home. Even so, I was still fairly surprised to be walking home with the team last night around 10:30pm after a church service to find a local high school marching band practicing at full volume in the middle of a completely unlit soccer field surrounded by houses. My guess is the realtors of those homes always fail to mention that aspect of the neighborhood charm.
So here it is, our third full day in Panajachel. The surroundings still have us in awe. Everywhere you turn there are mountains and volcanoes. Even on the other side of the lake. And you can even see a huge waterfall up the side of one mountain when you stand on the roof of our house. It’s amazing.
This is the view of Lake Atitlan about half a block from where we're staying. (And this isn't even a great angle. More photos of this to come when I have time.)
But the town itself doesn’t hold the same appeal and awe as the lake. Panajachel is small…and full of small shops, coffee houses and restaurants, all pandering to tourists…of which there aren’t even that many right now. I wouldn’t say it’s dirty, but it isn’t clean…trash piles up in corners and in gutters along the streets, and no one seems to care. We are endlessly hassled to buy junky tourist stuff, or to be taken on a boat ride across the lake, or to eat in an empty restaurant offering us a “good price”. Basically, it's the opposite of quaint….whatever that is.
This is the street we live down. Imagine looking at that lake view, then turning 180 degrees. This is what you'd see.
Going down that street, and to the right, you'd find yourself in this alley…with this kid…of whom I have no idea who he is, but dang I love his enthusiasm!
And if you'd turn the corner, you'd see….the mission house/hotel/building under construction we're living in. Ben's church just aquired the right to rent this place, and is hoping to have enough missionary groups come through to support the cost, because it's waaay outside the boundaries of what his church can afford. They're opening it up, and putting work into on faith, because they feel God leading them towards that.
There’s very little that’s appealing about this place other than the view. However, the people we’ve met through Ben’s church (Ben being our contact here for the month) have been nothing but loving, full of life and affection and welcoming in every way. We’re still getting to know everyone…but so far we’ve been taken in as family. And that feels good.
As of right now, we’re spending most of our time working on construction at the house we’re living in. Ben’s pretty much building the kitchen and dining room single handedly. We’ve been building some fences, cleaning off the roof, taking out old beds, putting mosquito netting around the windows, and some other odds and ends. We also taught English to a few of the church members last night, and will go spend some time with the church’s youth group tonight. Today we split up into groups and basically went into the town to pray for folks. Haile and I prayed over a few locals, but spent most of the time walking through and praying over the town as a whole.
So that’s it really. We’re all still adjusting to being in such a new place. Trying to find out what it is God has for us here. Missing home, but being thrilled to be here at the same time.
Oh…two days ago we prayed over Ben’s arm and knee (both of with were hurting him and were in a sling and brace respectively) and dude was healed! He took of the brace and sling in faith, and has been working steadily since, and says there is no pain. So that’s pretty much straight up awesome!! Thank you God for being so good!
Also, I wish this had been funnier. (But, I'm ok with turning in a report that includes us praying for and healing a dude.)
