Parque Central

There's a large, very pretty park that takes up an entire block right in the center of the city. It's always buzzing with people and activity- kind of the social center of Antigua. And it never fails to be an interesting place. One thing that it doesn't take very long to notice is that apparently PDA by young couples is socially accepted here- you can't walk in the park without seeing evidence of this (much more evidence than you'd care to see).

Today after church was especially interesting. The weather was perfect and we weren't hungry for lunch yet, so Emily, Kara, and I decided to sit in the park for a while. We found an empty bench and it only took a couple of minutes for someone to think, "Hey- it's white people. I bet they have money- I think I'll ask them for some of it." I've written before about our struggle to learn how to live in a Christlike way with all of the beggars we encounter. A lot of the people we see are in very sad situations... some others, like the guy we encountered today, are a bit more comical.

He came up to us and I could tell that he was asking for money, but I couldn't understand anything he was saying. He wasn't speaking Spanish at my necessary west-Texas gringo speed, and he just kept mumbling things. I kept telling him I didn't understand and I was sorry that I couldn't help him, but he just kept talking. Normally, I would have been a bit more compassionate toward him, but I did understand that he said he was asking for money for food- all the while holding a crushed beer can in his hand! Whatever it was that he said- that beer can didn't make his story very believable.

After a couple of other uncomfortable encounters on that bench, we decided to move. We found another bench, in the shade this time, and were enjoying ourselves very much, when a young lady walked up and asked us to help her with a project that she and some classmates were doing for their English class in the university. We were a little skeptical at first, but it was legit... she and some other classmates had to videotape themselves interviewing people in the park in English. They had their questions written out- both so that they could remember them and so that we could read them incase we didn't understand their pronunciation.

Emily was first... her interviewer asked her questions mostly pertaining to the night life in Antigua, like if she'd been to any "disco-techs". The highlight of the day was when they asked her what her favorite drink is and she replied, "Umm... I like water." I don't think it's exactly the answer they were looking for.

Then our interviews... they asked Kara what was her favorite thing about the indigenous villages (which we haven't seen) and if she likes to dance (which I haven't seen). Then they asked me what was my favorite sport, and I told them basketball- they asked me how much I practice, and I told them I don't practice much at all anymore. That ended up being a good answer, because then I looked at her questions and if I'd answered differently, her next comment was going to be "Show us something you can do." Not sure what I would have done in a park without a ball.

Emily

We have a friend! Emily Miller is from Pennsylvania, and she's come to work with us at the children's home for 9 months. She'll be here in Antigua studying spanish with us for the next 6 weeks. It's nice to have someone to do things with. Personally, I'm especially glad that she's here because now Kara has someone else to go to the market with- I hate it! Hooray!

The Congo

Our friends at New Hope International Ministries (who originally connected us with the children´s home here) recently sent a team to do some work rebuilding a campmeeting in the Congo. It was a difficult trip for the team, but the Lord did some amazing things... read more about it in New Hope´s newsletter here, especially the article from Roy Lauter.

I wish I could have seen it!

A Guatemalan Willie?!?!

What do you think?



Maybe it's a stretch, but think about it... Willie loves independence days. He always has a big 4th of July picnic in Texas, and this guy was playing at the independence day celebration here in Antigua. Too much similarity to dismiss easily.

Our First Month

We´ve now got more than a month behind us in Antigua. In some ways it seems like we´ve been here forever (like if I think of the last time I got to have chips & salsa in TX), in other ways it very much feels like we´re still just getting started (like when I try to understand any conversation between two Guatemalans).

The first month has had quite a bit of both the good and the bad. Some things have been and continue to be frustrating. Kara´s just had to deal with one thing after the other; first it was our stomach problems, then she´s had problems with her back, and then after some pain in her ear we had to take her in to Guatemala City right away to get see a specialist- turns out she had a pretty bad ear infection. Also, we knew we would face isolation down here, and we are. Thankfully the internet allows us to keep up with family and friends, but it´s still difficult.

On the other hand, there have been tremendously positive points to our first month here. We´re as close to each other as we ever have been, and we were able to celebrate a wonderful 5th anniversary together. Also, one of the big reasons we came was so that we could learn to live more dependently on the Lord, and we are. We realize more and more how much we need him for everything, because we´re miles away from being self-sufficient down here. Everything from depending on him for finances and material things, to being more dependent than ever on prayer and the scriptures to help keep us focused- we wanted to come here to know God more closely, and I can´t express how thankful I am that that´s already happening.

Independence Day

We are enjoying our day off today. The morning started with a parade of what seemed like a hundred high school & middle school bands... a lot of noise and a lot of people!! The students started in the central park and marched about a mile to a large soccer stadium.

Above is Mickey (Miguel), the youngest member of our host family. He is so cute and such a sweet kid!

The streets around the central park are full of vendors selling all kinds of things. I thought that the man above had an interesting booth -- he was selling pieces of this large ball of meat. For some reason I thought of amoebas when I saw that!

Hooray!...they sell cotton candy here! Probably the only other person that might get excited about this is Sarah Lobello -- I miss you, Sarah!! I hope that it works out for you to come next summer!

A Fun Parade

Friday is Independence Day in Guatemala. That means no school for us...hooray!! This week has been filled with special activities to celebrate the holiday. Below are a few pictures from a parade of elementary school students that was held on Wednesday.

There was a little bit of everything in this parade... boys in Biblical (?) costumes carrying a statue of Jesus, and cute little guys with painted gotees and sideburns.

I don't think that this would be allowed in the States! This group was celebrating the diverse cultures represented in Guatemala The three in the back were celebrating "negros."

Santo Domingo

Every week our school offers two excursions (Tuesday & Thursday afternoons), which are included in the cost of our classes. We visit museums, ruins, and other places to learn about the culture here and to practice our Spanish. This week we visited a hotel called Santo Domingo, which is located in the ruins of a 16th century convent. Above are two pictures of the hotel. Mass is still held weekly in the chapel. They were setting up for a wedding and I thought it was so beautiful!

Random Pictures

I know, I know... I've posted pictures of the mountains before (and the cathedral... and the arch). But it's fun to take pictures of stuff around here.


I'm trying really hard to make friends...


No wonder people don't like air freshener here.

The Cross on the Hill

There's a cross on a hill overlooking Antigua. Our school took a group up there one afternoon, and I got to take these pictures. A lot of people would just say that it's a monument of the spanish colonial era here, but when I look up and see it, this cross is certainly more than that. It's a reminder of the Lord's presence here and that throughout Guatemala's difficult history, he's been constant and faithful.

We are not the only ones who don't understand

Sometimes I get very tired of sitting in the classroom, so my teacher shows me different parts of the city. For example, we went the grocery store one day and she quizzed me on the names of the fruits and vegetables. It helps to break up the day!

This week she took me to a part of the town market where they sell second-hand American clothes for very cheap prices. She told me that Guatemalan people buy them because they are so cheap, but often times the t-shirts have writing in English that the purchaser does not understand. She once saw a Mayan Indian man wearing a t-shirt that said, “Woman of the Year!”

Birds on the Roof

I think that it is so interesting that they use translucent building material here. Because it is basically the same temperature year around, the houses do not require insulation. This is a picture of our bathroom ceiling. You can see & hear when pigeons walk across the roof. It does allow for a lot of natural lighting!

Beggars

I knew there would be a lot of poverty in Guatemala, but I wasn’t really prepared for some of the ways that we’re seeing it. There are a lot of beggars in Antigua, probably because there are also a lot of tourists. Every city has its beggars, but since we don’t have a car here and we go everywhere on foot, we walk past dozens of people begging for money each day. It’s a different feeling walking past them than driving past and looking at them out the window of a car.

I’ve talked about them some with my Spanish teacher. He certainly has a different perspective than I do, since he’s Guatemalan and knows the situation much better than I. He tells me that tourists (especially missionaries) get taken advantage of very often, and that he rarely gives money to the beggars, but when he can he’ll give some of the women and/or children some bread. He points out that there are social services available that many of these people are choosing not to receive, and that some simply don’t want to work.

I know all of those rationalizations in my head, and I know that if I live here long enough I’ll probably become wiser about how to handle these situations. But for now, I’m having a difficult time with it. Even though I know money could be used for alcohol or that the person may be choosing not to work so that he/she can make more money by begging, I never feel right about doing nothing. At times, I’ve found myself spotting a beggar farther down the sidewalk where I’m headed, so I cross the street so as not to have to walk in front of them. I don’t know what the Christlike thing to do is, but I’m sure that’s not it. I can’t give them all money and even if I could, that wouldn’t solve their problems. It’s just tough to look in their faces and walk right by.

It’s the worst when they’re kids. Even if they’re just being used by someone else, seeing kids begging on the streets just screams injustice. They should have nutritious food; they should be in school; they should have moms and dads caring and providing for them. But they don’t.

Kara pointed out that when she sees the kids, she can’t help but think of two of our little amigos at the children’s home, Sammy and Giovanni. If it wasn’t for the home, something like this would be their life- living dirty on the streets without opportunity or real hope for change. Instead, they run around as happy little troublemakers with the other kids and get to remind us of God’s faithfulness by asking us to play cards.

So I have to remind myself that I can’t make a difference in the life of every person in poverty that I see- or hardly any of them for that matter. But as part of the Lord’s work at NLCH, we’re making an incredible difference for some.

Our 5th Anniversary

We had a great weekend celebrating our 5th anniversary. It's hard to believe it's been 5 years already. We're both overwhelmed at how thankful we are that the Lord gave us to each other. We got to go eat a really good steak at Ni-fu Ni-fa, the restaurant where we ate with our team from Bright Star last summer. After eating there last year, everyone from the team kept talking about how good it was. Eventually we wondered if that was because we were hungry for a big meal, or because the steak was really that good. Well, after returning, the steak is really that good.