I can't believe I'm nearing the end of my time in Guatemala. This is our last week of ministry, and although time has often seemed slow-moving, I am in awe that I've been on the race for almost a month! We celebrated Halloween yesterday by working on projects around the orphanage and deciding what we would be for Halloween. Some people were dubbed Painters because they were covered in speckles and streaks of paint after covering the walls inside and out of Los Gozosos with yellow and pink paint. Me? I was named "Missionary Barbie." (Mom, are you surprised?) I promise I get just as dirty as everyone else here!
Here's a little update on the last couple weeks in Guatemala:
I had the opportunity to meet with the teacher of the Los Gozosos school as well as the nannies to discuss speech therapy for the children. It is such an honor that God chose to send me here where there is a need for the skills he has blessed me with. BUT, it is a little difficult trying to sum up the world of speech pathology in a form that my sweet friend/translator Kelly is able to explain to everyone in Spanish. Since then, I've been working on creating charts and graphs (in Spanish!) to explain the ages at which certain speech sounds should be attained, how each sound is produced in the mouth, and ages at which certain language and communication milestones should be met. It is a wonderful challenge!
Last Friday, the Los Gozosos family celebrated El Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) and El Día de Los Santos (All Saints' Day), which are our equivalents of Halloween. Instead of costumes and candy, we took a day trip to a park, where we played in the pool with the kids and had a great lunch of "fiambre," which is a plate of pickled meats and vegetables.
Helen LOVES splashing in the water
Me & Lyla at the pool
It sounds strange, but it was pretty delicious on tostadas, the flavor and texture reminded me of ceviche, but there was ham, sausage, cheese, carrots, and brussel sprouts instead of shrimp, fish, and other shellfish.
Friday night, Spicy Life (Team Spicy Mustard + Team ZOI) traveled to Antigua to meet up with Team Kaleo before we headed to the city of Panajachel early the following morning. Team Kaleo is working in a wheelchair factory this month and staying in a swanky house that is on the property of the Nestle Factory in town. They were gracious enough to allow us to sleep in their BEDS. Yes, actual beds. It was heavenly.
The next morning 5 of the 8 B-Squad teams hopped on a couple of shuttle buses and took a 2 hour road trip to Panajachel, a beautiful city tucked away on the side of a gorgeous blue lake, surrounded by mountains and volcanoes on all sides. We took a trip up a windy, steep, and narrow dirt road through a corn field (not sure how the big bus made it) to the top of one of these mountains where we got a spectacular view of God's creation. It was UNREAL.
We then traveled down the mountain where we explored the cute city, which was filled with lots of neat shops, stands, and restaurants. I bought some cute turquoise Ray Ban sunglasses for 40 Quetzales (About $5) and had some amazing guacamole at an Italian restaurant (go figure) owned by a super friendly, English-speaking man who had previously lived in Houston, Texas for 7 years. He said Texas was too hot. 🙂 He would speak to us in English, and I would, out of habit, answer back in Spanish–whoops.
After lunch, we went zip-lining! Yes, zip-lining! We strapped on our harnesses and climbed up the side of the mountain. We then flew back and forth through the jungle, zig-zagging our way down the side of the mountain while enjoying breath-taking views of the lake, mountains, and city below. My little adventurous heart was SO full.
It is crazy that this is my life these days. I sleep on the floor, I shower every other day, I wake up at 4:55, I play with precious niños, work my hands til they bleed (painting is dangerous), and I explore this beautiful land God created–and I'm loving every minute of it. This month has been challenging for sure, stepping out of my little "Sydney bubble" as I like to call it, and beginning to shift my focus from a life focused on self to a life focused on God and His children… it's a change. But He has placed such a joy in me, I can barely contain it. He is SO good.
View from outside Los Gozosos
November is always my favorite month of the year: my birthday, Thanksgiving, my sister's birthday, the height of fall and all the beauty it brings with the changing of colors, and of course SEC football starts heating up! Although I will be experiencing cooler weather (between 30-40 degrees F) and lots of quality time with my new family, everything else will be different. I will truly miss making homemade apple and pumpkin pies (including the crust) for our epic Thanksgiving feast. I will miss my mom's amazing birthday cake. I will miss getting to hug my sister on her birthday. I will miss cheering my Tigers on as we whoop up on Alabama again this year. 🙂
I feel like God's just getting started with all He has in store this year… I'm just starting my ascent into this amazing flight ahead of me… Exciting stuff! I hope everyone has an amazing November!
See the rest of my pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/117064514875629275911/GuatemalaLosGozososOrphanage#
