Happily Exhausted

I have been teaching for a week now.  It is going so well!  My students are hilarious and awesome!  I LOVE what I am doing!

I have taught various versions and levels of "this/that/these/those" over 12 times in the last week.  Remember, I usually teach 4 times a day for a total of 6 hours a day, but I have a total of 6 classes that rotate throughout the week.  Each class is progressing at a different pace and the students are not always the same students within each class due to their schedule changes. I have taught the same lesson so many times that it is completely mixed up in my brain. Yet, I am able to pick up exactly where I left off with each class.  I'm not really sure how this possible...and yet it's happening....

Tomorrow, I am creating a market scene in the classroom for the students practice what they have learned.  I will buy some different types of fruit from the real market as well as bring some of my clothing to "sell." It should be interesting FOR SURE!

Thank you to so many people who have been praying for my friendships here.  I have had MAJOR breakthroughs! 

Last weekend, one of the officers and I talked for about 4 hours about the Lord.  He believes that God sent me here just for him.  Then, last night, one of my roommates was asking me questions about the cost of living in the States.  I explained the miracles that God has done in my finances in the past two years. I also shared my testimony.  I could see the wheels turning inside her head as she tried to comprehend that God is my best friend.

One night, I cooked for roommates. They loved it, even though it was my simple chicken with salt and pepper dish.  It's so amazing how a little food can break the ice and form friendships.

One of my students often comes to me in the evenings after dinner in order to have extra classes.  He loves the Lord and is so grateful for me to be here. I wish I could sponsor him to study.  He has a gift for quickly learning languages and loves helping tourists who don't speak Spanish.

At church on Sunday, I got to talk with the pastor's wife (Nancy Watkins from Iglesia del Camino) for a long time.  She is a sweetheart.  We went to McDonald's together on Monday.  I went back to the church on Wednesday for a potluck Bible Study and helped her serve food.  We have already encouraged each other greatly. She and her husband, Pastor Mike, are the official chaplains of the police.  I know we have much to learn from each other.

Yesterday morning, a French-Canadian guy who speaks French, English, and Spanish showed up asking about how he could get an escort to climb a nearby volcano.  The police told him that he had to ask a week in advance in order to get escort.  I decided that I wanted to go, too.  I asked one of the chief officers if they could take me this weekend and if Phil (the tourist) could just ride along.  He replied that the president was in the city and would not be able to take us due to their extra work load in providing security for him and the other delegates here. 

Today, Phil showed up and helped with class.  Afterwards, we went to lunch together to talk about how we could possibly still climb the volcano.  We even went to a travel agency that Officer Castillo recommended. In the midst of the conversation, he told me that he knows nothing about the Bible or Christianity.  So, I gave him a 10 minute version of what Christians believe and why we believe that Jesus died on the cross, etc. He says that it is all very interesting and that he is reading the Bible just to find out what it says.

At the end of afternoon, I asked a different police chief (Officer Rucal [God bless him! :-) ]) about climbing the volcano.  He said that I am important and that I can be taken wherever I want, pretty much whenever- no matter who is in the city.  He also said that I can bring whomever I want to come along.  So, the plan is for Phil and I to go to a volcano very early on Saturday morning and spend the day taking pictures, walking, and exploring!  This is a much better deal than paying $90 to hire a guide and gear to go!!

I'm sorry, but I don't have pictures from this week.  I've been so busy teaching that I haven't had a lot of time to explore or to even upload pictures from my camera.  It is currently after 10pm and I just now finished a conversation with my "late night" student.  I am exhausted, but thrilled that the Lord is doing so much here.  I knew there was a reason God wanted me in Antigua!!  The struggles I faced in coming here are so small compared to the amazing things God is using me to do.  I love being His.  I love His ways, even when they are hard.  I love being His vessel.  I love Him. Period.

By the way, I have been asked on numerous occasions by a variety of people (including the tourism office I went to today) to stay here for a year to teach English.  Honestly, it is so enticing! Guatemala is absolutely beautiful! Don't worry, though, I will return to the states.  Remember, I packed everyone's advice. ;-)

Clases Empiezan Por Fin!

This week, I started teaching the police. After almost a full day and a half of combating language and cultural barriers, I finally got a schedule in place that will work.  And I finally understand how the rotations work.  It took me a day and half to come to this understanding, so I won't even begin to try to explain it here.

I will teach 4 different groups for an hour and half at time.  In all, I will teach 6 hours/day with a 2 hour lunch break.  I start my day at 9am and finish at 5:30ish. I have weekends off. The groups are organized by when the officers take their days off as well as by current language ability.  I wish I'd done all of this work when I was in the capital.  I think things would have been much more productive there. I have about 25 students in all.  Each class has 4-5 people in it, but not all of them show up.  I am not sure how to combat absences, especially when they are due to attending to regular police duties.

Anyway, I started teaching on Thursday and held my first full day of classes on Friday.  I love teaching! I love my students, too!  They are so eager to learn!  Sometimes, I have tell them to stop asking questions because they want to know everything all at once.  I answer the questions that are relevant and the ones that have short answers, but have to cut them off pretty often.  I don't want to confuse them by teaching things in a spastic order!

Here are some pictures from Friday's teaching.

Do you like what I use to hold my "whiteboards" up?!

There were some girls here that I met in the Capital.  They were in Antigua studying Spanish and are working with a ministry in the Capital that is also connected to Gateway.  The girls live in Fort Worth. On Thursday night, we went to dinner together.  It was so nice to be able to speak English with fellow Americans!  On the way back to the police station, one of my students pulled out on a motorcycle with his poncho flowing.  He scared the girls so much!  It was hilarious!  They didn't know he was a police man/my student.  The officers are still laughing about it and asking me where the girls went.

My student

Danielle and Rebecca

Side note: I speak so much Spanish when I am not teaching that I sometimes forget words in English.  I wake up in the middle of the night thinking in Spanish.  I pray in Spanish sometimes.  And sometimes, when the Lord speaks to me, He uses Spanish!  I like this "problem"! :-)

Today, I got to meet up with a group from Gateway that is heading back to the States on Sunday.  Again, it was so refreshing to be with them!  We went to a coffee plantation called Finca Filidelfia.  Half of the group went on a coffee tour and the other half went zip-lining.  We ate a delicious lunch afterwards.

I went zip-lining.

This is Nelson, a guy from Gateway.  I don't have pics of me, but his actions shots give an idea of the awesomeness experienced today. :-)

Those rows of dark green plants are coffee plants.

Coffee workers

One of the platforms we launched from

After the zip-line, it started to rain.  It rains here every day from 2pm or so, until late evening or beyond.  Normally, this isn't a big deal.  However, when you have run out of clothes to wear, wash your clothes by hand, then hang them out to dry, this is a big deal.  I have tried for a week to get my clothes dry.  I was running out of things to wear!  I finally paid $7 tonight to take them to a laundry-mat.  Expensive for here, but at least my clothes are dry!

Below you will find some pictures of my current living conditions.  It is totally different here than in the Capital.  I have no hot water.  The toilet seat is broken.  There is less privacy.  The police here are not quite as hospitable as the ones in the capital. (I eat alone, go out alone, wash my clothes alone, etc. My physical safety is never at stake in doing so, though.  Antigua is much safer than the capital.)  So, I am reminding myself that this is part of the adventure.  I am here to serve, not to be served.  I am here to learn as well as to teach. I am here to love, not necessarily to be loved.  I know God has some awesome things in store for the people here, as well as for me.  I am praying for my eyes to be opened to see it.

This door/window leads to the bathroom.  There is no curtain for it and the toilet is in direct sight.

Broken toilet seat.  I've decided it's better not to use it at all.

The water spews everywhere in our sink.

Plastic bags act as filters for the water.  I am too tall to fit under them without bending my knees.

The wood baseboard in the shower has rotted away.

This is our kitchen.  I share my room with 3 other women.  The kitchen is in the bedroom.

Despite these conditions, I am doing well.  I have decided that showing in cold water on a cold morning is just like going swimming in early summer/late spring.  With that mentality, I can pretend it feels good. Haha!

Sunday, I am going to a bilingual church with some friends of Gateway.  I am looking forward to worshiping with others and getting to meet other missionaries who live here.

Thank you all so much for your prayers.  Even in the middle of writing this, I was able to have a great conversation (completely in Spanish) about the Lord and other things with one of the policeman here.  I gave him a Bible, Pastor Robert's testimony, a Dream to Destiny sermon, and a Bible Study.  I am praying for more conversations like the one that happened tonight.  Who knows?!  Maybe all of the tourism police force of Guatemala will come to know the Lord through this venture!  I will plant seeds and tend them as best I can, even if I am not the one to ultimately lead the people to salvation.

Antigua Day 1

I arrived in Antigua today.  It was weird, sad, and actually quite awkward to leave my dear friends in the capital.  I am going to miss them so much.  They were all so sweet to me!

The people here are sweet, too, but I can tell there's a difference.  Here, the people are used to foreigners fending for themselves.  In the capital, this was not the case.  I know I will still be well taken care of here, but I can just tell the difference.

Still, I am excited to be here! I have wasted no time in making strides towards starting classes.  I learned so much from my time in the capital.  One of the biggest things I learned was how to speak in Spanish. I already knew Spanish, but had forgotten so much that it was a real handicap for me.  I still am limited in my understanding, but it's so much better!  I have the vocabulary and pronunciation of about a 4 year old.

So, today, I obtained the names and schedules of all the officers and conducted a very simple interview with all but 3 or 4 who are currently on duty.

There are 3 groups of officers. One group will leave tomorrow at noon and a new group will come at noon to work for 7 days.  Another group will stay here for 3 more days, then have 4 days off.  This is the same schedule as in the Capital.  There will still be a huge challenge of figuring out attendance, but at least now I know the schedule and know when each person will be present.  I am praying for God's strategy on how to teach with these strange schedules in a way that doesn't interrupt the other work that the officers have to do.  He is faithful.  He will teach me.  But I would welcome prayer and ideas!

I wish I had my camera tonight when I was conducting interviews!  One officer would come sit in my interview chair and all the others would gather around, listening to make sure the interviewee didn't "out-English" them.  Everyone was so nervous!  It was hilarious!  Imagine: 10 adults in professional police uniforms (including guns, handcuffs, etc.) about to bite their fingernails off!  All I did was ask their name and how to spell it!

I have my work cut out for me!  I'm so excited! I don't know if I will start classes tomorrow morning or wait until the other group comes.  I hope to start tomorrow.  If not, I will explore the city a bit. It is perfectly safe for me to go out and walk around by myself.  There are SO MANY foreigners here!! :-)

Last night, Pastor Juan came in town and gave me Bibles, Bible Studies, Sermons, Worship CDs, etc. to give to the officers that I work with.  Now that I have these materials (all in Spanish), I hope to do more ministry as well as teach English.  I gave some of these things to the people in the Capital this morning before I left.  They are all excited to read their new Bibles and do Bible Studies together! :-)  Thank you, Pastor Juan!! Thank you, Anita!!

This is a new phase of my adventure.  I look forward to embracing it!

Have You Ever?

Have you ever seen carrots the size of your forearm?

Have you ever ridden in the back of a pick-up truck to go to hot springs?

Have you ever been swimming in natural sulfur?

Have you ever seen steam coming out of the ground?

Have you ever eaten shrimp, shark, octopus, squid, calamari, conch-e, tomatoes, and onions all mixed together? (It's called cerviche.)

Have you ever climbed a volcano and felt the cold wind clash with steaming rocks?

Have you ever roasted a bottle in a volcanic oven?

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night to ride in a police car the edge of country just so that you can get more passport stamps?

Have you ever stopped at a bajillion fruit stands just to try the local "fresh stuff?"

Have you ever marveled at God's creation?

Have you ever held an English class while riding in the back of a police car?

Have you ever attended a Spanish class while riding in the back of a police car?

Have you ever made plans only to have them change a few minutes later?

Have you ever felt like you were born for each and every moment you experience?

I have and I will never be the same.

Quetalzenango

I realize that it has been a week since I last updated.  The almost 50 pictures and their captions below will give you a peek into why.  My new friends at the police station were all going home to rest, and I was going to be left alone there.  So, I went with Eri while she took her rest. She lives in San Marcos, but often stays with her nephew in Quetalzenango, about 3 1/2 hours away from the capital.  We left Wednesday afternoon, and I will be here until Monday.

Also, for those of you who were wondering, all bodily systems are back to normal.  I am no longer sick.  I have learned my lesson.  You REALLY shouldn't eat raw foods here or anything made without purified water.  My case wasn't awful, but three days of eating only bread and bananas and drinking Gatorade was.

Dona Vida owns a "comedor".  She made a special tea that helped my stomach to get better.  I will forever remember her as the lady who dances to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as she cooks.

I gave them a "cheat sheet" on how to give each other directions in English.  It says, "Do you have the letter ____?" "No, I don't have the letter ___. Draw a card."  Eventually, I took it away.

My white boards: Card-stock inside sheet protectors, held up by books.  My students were learning how to greet someone in the street, as well as various ways of saying goodbye.

After class on Wednesday morning, Eri and I left for Xela (pronounced Shay-la, another name for Quetalzenango).  After a 3 1/2 hour twisting and turning bus ride through the mountains, we arrived in the city.

I was a little tired of buses after being jolted for so long.  So, we walked an hour and a half through the rain to Eri's nephew's house.  Probably not the best idea, but I absolutely loved it! =)

Luis is Eri's nephew and the owner of the house.  The follow pictures are just a few snapshots of his house.  It has 2 bedrooms, one bathroom, and a large study room.

The Santa Maria Volcano can be seen from the roof of the house.

Another view from the roof of the house

Llano del Pinal Mountain (Seen from the roof)

Balconies of the neighborhood I'm staying in: Colonia Minerva

Luis' cat, Agusto, liked the umbrella. :-)

The day after we arrived, Eri and I went to downtown Quetalzenango.  We took a chicken bus to get there.  A chicken bus is a "retired" school bus that has been repainted in bright colors.  As I learned on a later bus ride, they really do transport chickens (I'm a visual learner).

This is a view of Central Park as we descended a hill.

The city's municipal building behind me

This is the main entrance to a Catholic Cathedral.  The people were transporting an image of a saint.  They were dressed in ceremonial clothes and played special music as they carried it into the building.  To me, the image of the saint was a doll standing up in fancy clothes, being carried on a pyre.

The original entrance to the cathedral.  We ended up going inside.  It was absolutely beautiful!!

A little kid running through the pigeons at Central Park.

I kind of joined him...

Natural History Museum... We went in later.  It was filled with pretty random exhibits: botany; taxidermy; Mayan relics; old type-writers and computers; National documents; national sports teams' trophies, and even parts of a dinosaur.

Mountain: Cerro el Baul as seen from somewhere in the city

I couldn't take pictures of things inside the museum, but I could take pictures of Central Park from its upstairs balcony.

A funny thing about the museum: Native Guatemalans pay only Q1 ($0.07).  Tourists and foreigners pay Q5 ($0.67).

These men were outside the Cathedral playing native instruments.  The drum is called a "Tum" and the miniature oboe- like woodwind is called a "Chirimia".

The entrance to the municipal building's inner court. The following pictures are from once you are already inside.

Presidential Monument to Justo Rufino Barrios, one of the best presidents of Guatemala

We came home after about 5 1/2 hours.  I cooked dinner. :-)

Luis' mom came in town for the night.  She helped. :-)

I'm like a giant next to her!! Hahaha!

This is THE steepest road I've EVER seen!  It leads to Q' Anill College, where Luis works as an English teacher.  I got to go there for the day to be a judge for their spelling bee and debate contests.

This is the view down the hill from only half-way up it.  Seriously...ridiculously steep!

The only picture I took while at the school.  I was busy judging the contests the rest of the time.  The school has less than 150 students, 1st grade-10th.

On the way home, we took the scenic route.

Luis doesn't have a car, so I had to jump on the back of his motorcycle to get home.  It was a blast!!

Another scenic view

It rained lightly once we were home and there was a rainbow!  This is taken from the roof of the house.

Sunday morning, we are going to the local Hot Springs, Fuentes Georgina.  I'll do my best to take pictures!