Guatemala 2009

This morning brought us some team members who were completely better, and a few more team members who weren’t feeling too good. Quite frankly, I feel like I’m walking through a mine field, dodging sick people right and left. So far the only thing I’ve experienced is a slight twinge of morning sickness at a few different points. A few people have speculated at what might be the effect of the camp cook getting sick. While I like to think I’m indispensable, I happen to know there are several very capable cooks here who could step up and take care of folks if I get knocked down by the bug going around. We don’t need to share that with the group though. I think it’s nice that they are concerned about me.

Right after breakfast, most of the team reported to work at the construction site. A few sickies headed to their beds to continue their recovery, and a party of five of us headed to town to get a few items needed by the kitchen staff. We walked into town, which was a first for me. I’ve decided that there is great merit in the taxis around here. However, others feel the walk is excellent exercise. I’m glad I made the trek uphill and down into town, but I have no desire to repeat it voluntarily.

When we arrived in town, we realized that the “Tuesday Market” was a much busier place than we had anticipated. People were swarming everywhere in the marketplace. We decided to get our produce from the market before heading to the store. However, a very short time into the market one of our team disappeared. Fortunately, that person is an adult, and quite capable of taking care of herself. But we knew she’d be frantic about the safety of the rest of us. We were also not happy to think of her being alone in such a crowded market place.

We searched as best we could, without losing any more of us, but had no success. Interestingly, we were then approached by a market vendor who walks around selling her wares. She told us she knew who it was we were missing, and she headed out to look for her, telling us to stay right where we were. She looked in two different directions, and when she was unsuccessful, she promised to keep looking. Joyce told her that we would be in the little store nearby if she were to find our friend. Once the market lady headed out again, We divided our party of four into two groups. Two of us headed to the store, and the other two decided to walk around the perimeter of the market to continue searching.

When I was almost done with my short list in the market, a young girl came rushing up to me, speaking eagerly, and pointing. I responded, “…mi amiga????” She said yes and urged me to come with her quickly. We pushed our cart to the side and hurried out front. There was our dear friend, safe and sound. We were so grateful, and of course, the lady who had searched so hard now expected us to purchase some of her items. She was not disappointed. In fact, not much bartering went on either. We were just so grateful to be reunited.

We finished our grocery shopping, packed three of our members into a cab headed back to Eagle’s Nest, and then Joyce and I headed to the market to pick up the vegetables I wanted. What a crowded place. We were smashed into there with many people. There was no way to be polite or considerate. We just had to push our way through the isles along with everyone else. I was quite concerned about being pick-pocketed while there. I must confess, by the time we were delivered of that market, I was surprised there was anything left in my pockets, but gratefully, everything was intact. I found everything I needed, including some more pitaya that we enjoyed last time.

We looked for a tuk-tuk to bring us home, but could only find cabs. Finally we decided we’d rather go back to the Nest than keep looking for a tuk-tuk, and we waved one down. It was the same guy who had transported the first three members of our group just a short time before! So it seemed like a familiar person to take us home. He was polite and conversational, and we enjoyed the bumpy ride.

Once back at the Nest, we hurried our items up to the kitchen and got started on lunch preparations. You might think that 1.5 hours is plenty of time to throw together a lunch, but when the produce must first be washed in bleach water, and then used to make fresh salsa and guacamole, perhaps you’ll understand the haste. Thankfully, Sarah came back to make more guacamole, and Susan cheerfully deboned two chickens for us. I don’t know how I would be able to do this job without their help. And lest I sound ungrateful, I need to again thank the dish crew for their hard work. The crew is headed up by Joyce and Don, and supported by Lorna and Susan and other folks who see the need.

While we were working hard on lunch, some of the team members accepted the challenge by the Guatemalan workers to a soccer game. The final score was 2-7, in favor of the Guatemalans. That’s no surprise, really. But I think it’s an improvement over past games between the “Christ Church Missions Team” and the Guatemalans. I think there is some rumor of another game tomorrow.

After lunch was served, the rest of the afternoon seemed to go smoothly. I think the workers were sent home early thanks to a heavy rainstorm. But there weren’t any complaints at the work being cut short. The team is really working very hard, hauling rock and sand and dirt down a hill, bucket by bucket.

Supper was “Guatemalan Lasagna”, that included tortillas, cheese, chicken and a red sauce. It wasn’t as popular as the chicken-rice soup last night, but folks seemed to like it alright.

This evening’s worship time included another round of sharing highlights, so I’ll give those to you here to close out this post. I hope you enjoy them as much as we all did.

Every day we draw closer as a team, and grow more and more fond of each other. Also, we are getting to know each other in ways that you just can’t do in a normal situation. Anyway, here ya’ go.

Love, Christie….. for the team.

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Lizzy: I didn’t sleep all day.
Susan: I got to spend a couple of hours helping care for the children this afternoon. feed them, change their diapers… caring for orphans that are close to God’s heart. Being used by God to love and care for the orphans.
Hannah: I got to dance ballerina with little girls for about half an hour.
Elizabeth: after we finished working and it was time for our lunch break, I sat down cuz I was tired, and 3 little Guatemalan girls ran over and hugged and attacked me. Made my day.
Lars: I watched Spencer hold Byron, and he got him to smile. He’s a serious guy who doesn’t smile much. He loves Spencer.
Millie: Two things. First, I liked the soccer game. Second, there was a time after soccer camp before the game that I got to hang out with some girls. I don’t know much Spanish, but there was no communication barrier.
Molly: Soccer game was fun. Never done that before. And spending time in the orphanage was good, too.
Ariana: Being in the orphanage again was really neat. It’s sad, but it’s good to be there and see what the Lord reveals. I thank Him that we get to be here. I got to feed Jose Pablo, and he was very eager to eat!
Eric: Obviously, just feeling a lot better today. The other highlight would be the Guatemalan Lasagna we had for supper tonight.
Dave: Finally getting to be able to work. I was able to work all afternoon, and felt productive. Also getting to watch everyone else work, and encourage each other.
Isaac: Feeding the littlest girl at the orphanage my last “Toxic Waste” sour candy.
Laura: It felt really good to finally be able to work today. Soccer game was fun, too.
Nathan: I really enjoyed the soccer game, and it made me feel good that even though I was sick I was still able to work.
Ethan: My highlight was God allowing me to work today, and I hope He’ll allow me to work again tomorrow.
Carey: Being with the orphans is always a highlight. There was a segment of time where the work was enjoyable on the “bucket brigade” on the side of the hill. Lars pretended to fall down the hill.
Spencer: Doing the bucket brigade. Then a little kid named Hector came down to stare at me while I worked, and I finally got him to come talk to everyone, and then he started helping us out. When we left for a drink, he finished carrying two of our buckets down for us. And God sustained me throughout the day.
Lorna: There was a huge crowd at the market, and I got separated from them. My highlight was when the vendor came and tugged on me and said “Come with me”, and I said, “Mi familia?” and she said, “Si!” I was really happy to see them all.
Bill: Hearing that my mother was not lost in Guatemala. It would have been tough to leave without her. I also enjoyed some of the interactions with the Guatemalans between the soccer games, and let some of them use my camera and take some pictures, and it was fun, along with some funny pictures.
Joyce: When Maria said, “I know who you’re looking for! You stay here, and I’ll go find her!” That someone who knew how to get through the crowd quickly was willing to help look. The second was coming through the crowd and seeing Grandma Ray’s smiling face.
Sarah: It was good to get out and do some work so my children can’t tell me I’m not doing diddly any more. But it was also good to take a good long nap after lunch.
Caroline: The reading party we were having in apartment 5.
Annelise: First, the search for the missing grandma was kind of a good team-building thing. Second… I forgot.
Jonathan: soccer game and being able to interact with the workers.
Christie: Annelise’s comment.

What a joy to hear Dr. Ray calmly tell me this morning, “It appears that we have an internet connection now.” I gulped down the rest of my drink, wrapped up my conversation, and hurried out the door with my laptop so I could let you all know about our day yesterday.
The story starts just before breakfast. Folks were gathering in the main eating apartment (Apt. 6), and one by one we were getting reports of sick team members. Lizzy Mathes had a particularly rough night. She was the first to get sick. The next couple of casualties were Molly, Ethan, Pastor Dave and Laura Lyons and Daniel Ray. As each room gave a report, those of us who didn’t think we were sick were feeling more and more queasy.
Dr. Ray gladly accepted the medicines that had been sent along by Dr. Phil Mitchell, as well as some that Julie Thomas had sent with Spencer. He then had his own pharmacy from with to dispense medication. He went from room to room, checking symptoms, and prescribing treatment. What a comfort it was to have a gentle, kind doctor on duty.
After breakfast, some of the team hurried to a soccer camp they’re having with the local kids, while others reported to the work site. For those of you who remember from last time, Chaima is still here and was the head guy on the work site again. And again he is making us all laugh with his funny comments. For instance, he questioned Ariana about the cook that the team brought from the United States. He wanted to know what kind of food the team was eating. She shrugged and gave a few examples, and then added, “And we’re eating tortillas, too.” Chaima liked THAT answer! He told her that tortillas were wonderful and that they give good energy for working. So now at every meal Ariana encourages us to eat tortillas, quoting Chaima’s words to us.
Midway through the day, a few more team members declared sickness, while other team members declared they had been healed. Among the “healed” were Molly and Laura. Among the newly sick was Isaac (with Nathan, Spencer and Don Ray showing a few symptoms much later in the day and last night, and Eric Cowell had a bad spell through this last night).
The sick folks were offered yogurt and Gatorade, bananas and toast. The team members who had an appetite for lunch were treated to a buffet of fresh, hot corn tortillas with lots of toppings, including chicken, beans, fresh salsa and fresh guacamole (made by Sarah Ray). It was absolutely delicious! My love for the local corn tortillas is only growing stronger.
The team members who were working for Chaima yesterday had a lot of hard physical work. They were hauling wood, and then dirt and gravel, up and down a very steep hill. Finally Ariana designed a bucket brigade which helped make it all more efficient, although it was still grueling work.
At 4 pm when the team was dismissed for the day, they trudged back to their rooms for hot showers. One by one they wandered into Apartment 6, waiting for supper. That afternoon Susan Mathes had mixed up some homemade hot cocoa mix, and it was a huge hit with the folks looking for a little refreshment before supper was ready.
I had made a big pot of Chicken Rice soup for supper, but it had a Guatemalan twist. No celery or carrots in this one. Instead it had cilantro and limes as the flavors. The team members were very complimentary, which was kind of them. They cleaned out the whole pot of soup, as well as a quadruple batch of cornbread, and some more tortillas on the side. It was obvious that they had worked very hard and were ready to re-fuel. Also, the soup was nice for those who were starting to feel well enough to eat, but weren’t quite ready for a heavy meal yet. Among those were Pastor Dave and Ethan. Unfortunately Lizzy was still sick, and not even well enough to come out of her room.
After supper we gathered for our worship time. Milly and Molly lead us in singing, and then Pastor Dave gave everyone a chance to share the highlights of their day. I took notes on the computer so I could share them with you. I will close this posting with those comments (I know they’re choppy. I was typing fast.). Thank you for your prayers for our team. (Oh, to answer a previous question: I would love to post photos, however, the internet connection here wouldn’t even allow me to send one photo to Michael to put on the blog. So I guess we’ll have to wait on those, unless something changes with the internet here.)
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Highlights:

Millie: soccer camp thing, since soccer is my passion, being able to share it with children.
Molly: playing with the kids by the soccer camp.
Nathan: worship time, with the guitar, and I had a lot of fun working, even though I’m tired. …and when Ethan brought refilled water bottles out to us even though he was sick.
Isaac: getting a 4-hour nap
Sarah: 1. mothering everyone today. being the mom to all the ones who don’t have moms here. 2. when I could make guacamole in Christie’s domain.
Elizabeth: goofing off with Annalise and Caroline in our room, and singing
Caroline: shower
Annalise: when it was 4 and we got to stop working, and then taking a shower
Laura: how much better I felt after I woke up from my nap, and singing. Going down to the orphanage and giving the little girls candy.
Dave: being able to stand upright. Having that food, chicken & rice soup was good. and Jesus!
Ethan: people around me helping me out when I was sick. It was a great blessing.
Ariana: the soccer camp. Spencer and I snuck off after lunch to the orphanage. It was neat to be in there with them. Their reality is that they have no parents. I’m not sure what to do with that. God is a father to the fatherless. He is faithful. To be reminded of that when I think about the other pointless things that fill my head every day.
Carey: 1. going to orphanage this afternoon. 2. got to see one of the workers who was here 3 years ago, Carlos.
Spencer: the food. When we came back exhausted, the food was great. A home-cooked meal. Sneaking away after lunch, and feeding Analito, who couldn’t feed himself, and it was over my comfort zone, took 40 minutes to get a little bowl of food fed to him.
Lars: 1. soccer camp 2. sat around after camp to get to know each other and try to break through the language barrier. Later, with Carey and Molly & Millie in the orphanage.
Lorna: fun of seeing my teenage grandkids doing real physical work that’s going to have Kingdom significance and value. Also, watching the group minister to one another, and to the children. It’s beautiful.
Bill: Seeing everyone out working hard. Neat to see. Not that I haven’t seen my kids work hard before…. impressed by everyone’s hard work. 2. How nice the weather was. The best weather, not hot & humid like other missions trips I’ve been on. Low point: seeing Spencer wearing Green Bay Packer pants.
Eric: I got really sick tonight. God convicted me of how sick I used to be, and how complacent I’ve been. God showed me how much I take for granted, and what He saved me from. Also, the sermon Pastor Bob preached where a young man was sitting on a bench and thinking about how broken he was hearing the thuds of godless people walking. The local pastor mentioned yesterday how when you’re a witness, your first priority is your family, and I’ve done a horrible job of that. I wonder why I hold back so much. I was saved from sickness, and I was glad I got sick tonight, because of how much it did convict me. I have a whole family at home who’s dying that I haven’t been doing anything about.
Joyce: Walking into Solola with Lorna & Susan. As I was walking, I realized that I was walking within touching distance of people that I normally would only see from the window of a bus or car. I was immersed in the culture. Getting to go into the store and speak Spanish. Forcing me to use my language skills. I love it! Bringing gatorade to the workers. The look on their faces!

Hannah: Seeing what we were doing, building taking place, near the huge pile of wood to bring down, the pile eventually grew smaller and smaller. And see the dirt pile full.
Daniel: Getting to take lots of naps.
Jonathan: the food, in between working, and it’s nice after doing all the manual labor. It’s nice to relax.
Susan: walking to town, to the store, and being a part of the culture, even just for a little bit. Impressive to see everyone working, for the Lord, all hot and sweaty, giving your arms and strength to the Lord.
Christie: enjoying Sarah & Susan’s cooking, and seeing everyone working so hard in and around the kitchen, cleaning, washing dishes, etc.

Good News: I got to talk to my wife tonight!
Bad News: It costs $1 per minute to talk from here to there!

Good News: Most of them had a good day today.
Bad News: Some of them didn’t (see Dr. Ray’s previous post - and yes, Pastor Dave was one of the stricken ones, along with my two kids and others)

Good News: Christie has a new post to put up.
Bad News: Their internet connection is down.

I didn’t get to talk to Christie for very long - neither one of us could stomach spending $1/minute. She mainly wanted me to post this update so that parents wouldn’t worry too terribly much when the expected updates don’t arrive. Everyone down there is doing o.k. (some better than others), and the blog posts will resume as soon as their internet connection is restored.

Greetings all,

This is Bill Ray with a medical update.  While most of our group is feeling fine we have a few in the group with gastroenteritis, i.e. the stomach flu.  Pray that they will be feeling well soon.  (In fact, two are doing substantially better already…the rest, time will tell),  Please pray that all will be feeling well soon.

Bill

This morning was very nice for our team, because those who were exhausted yesterday were able to join the rest of us in feeling refreshed and awake. I served a very simple breakfast of milk, cereal, toast and peanut-butter, as well as coffee and hot cocoa and instant oatmeal. Since we hadn’t yet purchased our perishables, we had to subsist on what we had in our kitchen so far. No one complained a bit.
After breakfast we visited some, and then prepared to head to church. Interestingly, a tiny, new church from Solola is meeting on the grounds of Eagle’s Nest, since their building is under construction. So we only had to walk out of our apartment building and over to the next building for church. When we walked into the church, the pastor (a local man, trained by the missionaries here) greeted us warmly. He welcomed us to his little church, and then asked if there was anyone in our group who could translate the service into English for us so that we could participate better. We were hesitant to intrude into their service, but the pastor really insisted that we allow them to serve us, so we agreed. Ariana did an excellent job of translating, and the whole team soaked up the wonderful music and sermon.
Joyce offered to sing some songs she knows in Spanish, and the pastor was so happy to have special music. Also, the pastor invited Dave to come and share a few words of greeting from our group to their congregation.  Our whole experience was enhanced thanks to the willingness of both the pastor and Ariana to work together in the translation.
The text of the sermon was Acts 1:8, which is what our pastor preached just one week ago today back in Normal, Illinois. How amazing to hear the same Gospel being preached so many miles away and in a different culture. Many of us were convicted by the pastor’s exhortation to be a bold witness for the Gospel in every part of our lives.
After the 2-hour church service ended, we prepared to head into town. Some of us were on a mission: we needed to purchase food supplies. But others had a different goal: they wanted to walk into town on foot. So the food shoppers bounced into town in the van, while the strolling folks headed out on foot.
We made good progress in the department of food-gathering, thanks to splitting up into two teams and having nice lists to follow.
The food was then driven back up to our apartment and quickly put away. Then our team all piled into two vans and we headed to Panajanchel for lunch and shopping.
We ate at the “Sunset Cafe”, which is a favorite of many of the folks who have been here before. For those of us who experienced it for the first time, we understood the reason that folks enjoy it so much.  It was a beautiful place, and the food was amazingly delicious.
Once our late lunch was finished, we had two hours to shop before meeting up again at the vans. It was so interesting to browse and bargain among the vendors. Most of us ended up with goodies to show off to the rest of the team once we reunited.
For those of you who have been here before, perhaps you remember the little ice-cream shop where we stopped in Pana last time? Well, it’s still there, and the ice cream is just as yummy! It was a perfect end to our shopping trip.
Upon our return to Eagle’s Nest, we announced that those who were hungry could come up to the food apartment for something to munch. Since the cook had been absent all day, the only options were cereal or peanut-butter sandwiches. But those were happily consumed mostly by growing young men who are constantly hungry. Others sipped cocoa or munched popcorn, and soon it was time to head over to the chapel for our evening worship time.
Millie led us in singing, and then we shared some of our impressions of the day. After that we prayed for a while, and then dismissed to our rooms.
Tomorrow is a bit uncertain for us. We are hoping that there will be someone here to assign jobs to the team. We trust that God’s timing is perfect, and that it will be clear exactly what we are to do.
Meanwhile, I hope you all remember that our internet connectivity is limited, so team members are not able to communicate as freely as we’d like.
Oh, Julie, I have a message for you from Spencer. The villages below us are regularly firing off rockets or bombs or fireworks or something. So we often hear loud booms and see puffs of smoke. Some of the team have speculated that perhaps we have landed in a skirmish between two villages. Others say it’s a civil war. But Spencer wanted me to assure you that despite the attempts on our group with all the artillery, we are fine! I’ll be sure to report if this changes.
I have collected the comments on the blog from the last few days, and I will share them with the team members. Thank you for your kind words and your encouragement.
With Love, from Christie… for the team.

Greetings from Nido del Aguila (Eagle’s Nest)!

Let me tell you about our day! It started with an amazing buffet breakfast in one of the restaurants in the motel. This buffet was filled with fruits and breads and Latino foods, and it was all so fancy and quite delicious. The second large room of the restaurant opened up to the pool area, so some of the team ate by the pool. It was so relaxing and elegant.
After breakfast we made sure we were all packed, and a few boys decided to enjoy the swimming pool again.
Then the bus arrived to collect our luggage, so we raced around getting it all delivered. Then after Bill and two boys (Daniel and Isaac) left on the bus to go greet our remaining team members at the airport, the rest of us lounged in the motel lobby.

Finally we got word that the bus was back. After a quick lunch at McDonalds, we left Guatemala City (at around 1 pm). We arrived at Eagle’s Nest after 3 pm, quite uneventfully. The road trip was amazing, with so many sights that are foreign to us. We just soaked it in, exclaiming over things and taking pictures quite often.
Finally we arrived at our destination and unloaded the bus. After quite a bit of hassle and talking and figuring, room assignments were made and folks settled in. Then it was time to report to the dining hall for the meal that was being served to us tonight. Each plate included some fried eggs covered in salsa, a slice of strong cheese, two pieces of fried plantains, and some black refried beans with a tortilla chip as decoration. There were some baskets on the table holding something, and I figured they were bread baskets. To my great delight, it turned out that the baskets held mini corn tortillas! These are the very food that I’ve dreamed about for the past two years since I first had them here. They were as good as I remembered.
The meal was delightful, and afterward we gathered for a quick together time discussing some ground rules and sharing highlights from the day.
Now we’ve all been dismissed to our rooms. Those who flew in today are exhausted, and will most-likely crash. The others of us aren’t quite ready to turn in, so we’re getting organized and chatting and having a nice time.
One of the ground rules was that we needed to take a break from “personal electronic devices”, so we will spend as little time as possible with iPods and the computer. Please don’t take it personally if your friend or relative doesn’t update their Facebook or write you an e-mail as often as you think they should. I’ll try to post daily updates so that you can enjoy our adventures and follow along.
from Christie… for the team

Since I’ve already written about the first half of our day yesterday, I won’t recap. Our story ended with us waiting for Bill Ray’s gang to come back from the bank while we waited in the lobby of our nice hotel.

When Bill and Don (his dad) and Daniel and Isaac returned, they had wide eyes and a story to tell. Apparently, going to the bank is an adventure around here. They had to go past several guards, one holding a rifle and one with a pistol on his belt. They had to go through quite a maze to even get to the bank teller, and then when they got there, the poor fellow was very surprised at the amount of money they were changing. They got a nice exchange rate, of 7.99 quetzales per dollar, so we were pleased with that. On the walk back. Bill felt very conspicuous with the many thousands of Q’s (as we call them) in his pocket. There was some thought about the advantages of not traveling with cash next time.

Once back on the lobby, Bill divided out the money again, handing quantities of the church’s money to the adults who are helping transport the money, and also handing out the personal money amounts to those who had sent some along to the bank.

With that done, Bill then went to check and see if our rooms were finally ready. After some more waiting, we were finally given our room keys, and the two carts of luggage were delivered to our floor. We all claimed our things, went to our rooms, and then prepared for whatever we were to do next. Bill offered to watch kids at the pool, and several of our kids jumped at the chance to go play. Meanwhile, our shopping team was forming. Originally we were going to take all who wanted to go. But then we found that the taxis would cost about $15-$20 each, so we pared down our group to just the four ladies who could squeeze into one taxi. Sarah Ray, Lorna Ray, Joyce and I headed out for our adventure, leaving behind a very disappointed Isaac who had been looking forward to this store I’ve been talking about.

We argued with our driver for a few minutes before we piled in, because he was saying it would cost 100 Q to go each direction. The guy in the motel had said it was about 60 Q to go in each direction. (Remember, divide by 8 to get the dollar amount for the quantity of Qs.) He finally brought his price down to 80 Q, and I decided not to haggle over the remaining 20 Q. We got into the taxi, and then plunged into the traffic. It took about 20 minutes to get to our store, and we enjoyed the ride very much. Our driver was happy to chat, so Joyce got to practice her conversational Spanish. Fortunately the driver knew a little English, so if we got stumped by a word, he was usually able to think of an English word to help explain.

One of our questions to him was how to get a return taxi, since we planned to shop for 1-2 hours. He offered to wait for us, for an additional fee, and Joyce worked on the details. The final deal was that he would wait for up to two hours, and would only charge an additional 10 Q per way. So now we were up to 180 Q for the round trip ($22.50).

We were dropped off at the door, and we headed in to complete our mission.  Sarah and Lorna took the list of the items to donate to Eagle’s Nest, and Joyce and I took the grocery list.  We agreed to meet back at the front of the store in an hour, unless we found each other before then.

Joyce and I had a great time looking at all the groceries.  They really have almost everything a person could want.

Sarah and Lorna couldn’t find the exact items on the list, but they did a great job of finding things similar that would be nice for us to donate.  Fortunately the prices were much cheaper than our top price, so that was really nice.

An hour and a half later, we were done and back out front wondering how to find our poor taxi driver.  Amazingly, he was parked in a close spot and watching for us, so he waved to get our attention, and then he hopped out of his car and opened the trunk.  He enthusiastically started packing the trunk, and actually filled it up completely with our purchases (that had filled two large shopping carts).  We even had to hold a few things on our laps.

The drive back to the motel was even more pleasant than the first, because now we knew our driver and jumped right back into visiting with him.  Joyce was even more relaxed with her Spanish, and she impressed all of us with her abilities.

When we got back to the hotel, the team members helped carry the groceries up to our room, with a little help from a man with a cart.  Then they explained that they had been waiting to go to dinner, so they were glad we were back!

We regrouped in the lobby, and then divided into two groups.  The Pizza Hut group had 8 people, and the Chinese-food group had 7 people.  Since I went with the Chinese-food group, I can’t report on the Pizza Hut experience.  But I sure can report on our expedition. We had Laura, Caroline, Annaleise, Daniel and Isaac, along with Joyce and me.  We walked several blocks and found a place that looked promising.  We sat down and tried to read the menu, but it was a Spanish menu explaining Chinese food, so it was very confusing.  Finally we decided to just get the “Menu 5″ selection on the back, which was enough food for 7-8 people.  We figured we would just see what came to our table, and eat what looked good.  I encouraged the kids to be brave and at least taste things, even if they couldn’t finish them.

The first course was a delicious soup, and we all agreed that it was yummy.  There were shrimp floating in it, and mushrooms, and tofu… and other stuff.

The “tacos dulce” were a little odd, with a won-ton wrap around a cooked banana filling.

Then there were four more dishes brought to our table, all mounded with amazing food.  A spicy beef dish was SO good.  The chicken and vegetable dish was a favorite of some of our group.  The skinny noodle dish was my favorite, and the fried rice was very popular.  We ate and ate and ate, and there was still food left over.  Each person enjoyed their Pepsi, served in a glass bottle, and they even managed to survive with no “free refills”.  (Oh, we made sure, before the meal started, to clarify that we could have no peanuts or peanut oil, thanks to Caroline’s allergies.  The waitress couldn’t speak English, so she hollered at another customer who could speak some English.  That lady came over and very nicely helped translate the specifics of “peanuts” for us.)

When we left the restaurant, there was a light rain falling, but that was ok.  We hurried back to our motel, where Joyce and I were so eager to collapse.  But there was another pool party happening, so we let the kids head to that, and we stayed in our room to wind down.

When the boys came back (Laura is staying with the girls in their room, so I don’t really know when she comes and goes.), we all tucked into bed, and fell asleep faster than ever before, with our heads swimming with the delights of our day.

We had a very good travel day so far. The flights were on time, the weather was clear, and the transitions between flights went smoothly. When we arrived in Guatemala City, the bus from our motel was waiting nicely, and we loaded up and made the 5 minute drive to the motel.
Because we arrived so early in the day, our rooms are not yet ready for us. But the lobby is beautiful and comfortable, so it’s not too bad to just wait. We ate lunch in the motel restaurant. It was a delicious buffet that cost about $8 per person. The wait staff was gracious and patient while we tried to communicate with our limited Spanish.
Now Bill and a crew is heading to the bank to change some money over, and I’m getting ready to head to the big store to do some grocery shopping. Then we’ll relax here at the motel before meeting up with the rest of our group tomorrow morning.
So far this has been a very fun adventure. I hope it stays this interesting all the way through.
Christie… for the group.

Last night around 10 pm the first half of the Guatemala team was reunited at the Holiday Inn in Rosemont. What a joy it was to see the Ray Family and Spencer coming down the hall. Now that our little group is together, we can start this leg of our journey.
Our motel is so comfortable, it seems a shame to spend such a short time here.
Stay tuned here for updates as I’m able to post them. Thank you for your prayers, and thank you for sending us off with such love and excitement.
Thank you for the travel goody bags, too! The Rays brought the bags for the others of us who came earlier. It was fun to explore the bag and we exclaimed over each thing.
I must run for now. It’s just after 3 a.m. and we are planning to meet in the motel lobby just before 4 a.m. to catch a shuttle to the airport. Adios!
Christie, for the team.

What to bring?

We are coming down to the end of preparation time - please review the following list to make sure that you have included everything that you will need. Please try to get everything in one checked bag (under 50 lbs.) and one carry-on bag plus an additional smaller bag (such as a purse or the travel bag that every team member will be given as a gift).

* Bible, pen and journal
* Spanish/English dictionary if desired (but not necessary)
* Work clothes (pants on the work site and close-toed shoes–can be tennis shoes)–remember, there will be a washer/dryer on site so fewer clothes would be recommended
* Street clothes (avoid overly-revealing clothing)
* Hats or bandannas for head covering

# Work gloves
# Waterproof jacket (in case of rain)
# Modest Swim suit (pool on premises though it will likely be a bit too cold!)
# Toiletries (tooth brush/paste, deodorant, shampoo, soap, luffa brush… just kidding)
# Reusable Water bottle
# Alternate bedding (if you need a different pillow or blanket–there will be extra blankets available)
# 1 Box Cereal (to share at breakfast)
# Towels (no more than two towels to conserve space)
# Sunscreen
# Tennis shoes (for play)
# Extra money for shopping
# Laundry Bag (e.g., loose netting to let clothes breathe)
# Personal medications (including for motion sickness if needed)*
# Alarm clock (not mandatory)

*First Aid kit will over be provided by team leaders