to the jungle

i went on friday with a group of HCJB volunteers/workers to visit a community called Makuma. it was a community first inhabited by missionaries who found it a good place to land a small plane in the jungle and be near several Indian tribes. so we took a MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) plane seating 6 including the pilot 35 minutes by air over the jungle to Makuma and landed on a dirt airstrip. i have never been weighed before going on a plane. another new experience. (picture - the two planes coming and going from Makuma)

we spent the day meeting people in the community as well as the missionaries (Jim and Norma Headland) who have been there for 35 years. they are now involved with local members of the community in a massive translation project - translating the Bible from Spanish to Schuar. i was just fascinated by the process and deeply moved by their passion for providing the Word of God in a language the people can understand. Umbato, a man from the area who is the main translator, works tirelessly and shared with us his heart for this work. his hope and prayer is to live to see the completion of this work. the Headlands echo this same prayer, as they are in their 60's and forsee another 10+ years of this project. they are also praying for people to join and continue this work alongside of them in the days ahead.



we learned of the need for health care workers there, as their nurse practitioner has left for several months and there is no doctor nor rural intern available. i am hopeful to have the chance to return there for a few days to do some basic health checks and evaluate if patients need care at the hospital in Shell. if so, this would mean they are taken there by air.
there is also an impressive water project going on lead by an HCJB staff named Alexandra and several of the members of the community. clean water is something i will never again take for granted.

Bienvenidos a Ecuador...

(Welcome to ecuador) i arrived safe, sound and very weary on Tuesday afternoon and stayed at a guest house in Quito with HCJB World Radio's ministry base here. lovely people - the riemers - took good care of me and i was able to rest and regroup for the trip south to the jungle. Quito is very modern, busy, big, has no beans or tortillas to speak of, and is set in the Andes at about 9,000 feet. Beautiful but a very different feel from Guatemala. (picture above taken from the plane flying into quito)
On Wednesday, another medical student in her 4th year, Emily, from Indianapolis joined me in navigating the bus on the 7 hr. trip from Quito to Shell (which usually takes 5 h.). The LORD provided a way through a strike 2 days before and a landslide across the ONE road going from Quito to all points south and we made it after a long, long day of travel. the picture is from inside the bus, through the window, of the car in front of us going past the landslide.









my first few hours in shell included getting some groceries at the market for $2.80 and another $.54 for my 4 eggs (in a plastic bag) and 4 rolls. thank you renae for the "Extra Bag!" i take it everywhere now. i settled into my new house for the month with Emily and Elizabeth who is from Ohio who has been here for 5 months working as a nurse-aid/nurse/youth worker and is hoping to go to medical school this fall.
i have my own bedroom and a great bed, a desk and a window that looks out to jungle-ish plants and some houses in the town. a rooster wakes me up every morning at about 3-3:30 am and yet i usually fall back asleep to the rain pouring down. it rains about 6-10 times a day, sometimes a downpour. we cook our own food and have an american-type kitchen with most of the needed utensils and bowls/pans/etc. it's really not hard to live there aside from the occaisonal unwanted guest. like today, i encountered a spider the size of my palm (legs and all) when i opened the door to leave. not my favorite. elizabeth killed it. then i went to work.

the last days in guatemala...

were bittersweet. excitement about moving on toward the next adventure ... but reluctance to leave the dear people in guatemala and things that had become familiar. the weekend prior to leaving, i went with the group to Tikal... a place of mystery and history of the Mayan people. i was amazed by the ruins of these people's temples of worship and their ability to construct such structures having none of the equipment or "technology" we have today. (see if you can find me in the picture!) amazing indeed. it turned out to be a relaxing weekend and i returned to antigua with the group Sunday night to prepare to leave monday noon for guatemala city.


on monday in the morning, i went to a clinic in Chimaltenango (about 40 minutes from antigua) that is aided by my father's regional church organization (the Baltimore Presbytery). Ronaldo and his wife work at the clinic and showed me around and introduced me to various others who work there. they explained the different works going on there - health care, health promotion in neighboring communities, education and leadership development for adults, and a psychology/counseling service. the whole morning was in Spanish, thus a good test of my ability to understand and ask questions. i fared pretty well. the picture is of the room that was built through funds from the baltimore presbytery. (escuela de teologia y tecnica - school of theology and technology)










i said good bye to my host family and to the gals i lived with (philly, carrie and becky - all PA students from UNMC... a lovely group of new friends) and went on my way to la capital (guate city) for an afternoon of rest and puttering around before my 6 am flight to Qutio, Ecuador. i met a Guatemalan friend named Josue there for a late lunch at a wonderful taco place (buena comida en guatemala!!!) and then spent the evening enjoying a bookstore, the Holiday Inn's small exercise room, the pool (outdoors, warm water, under the stars... all to myself... dreamy!) and a phone call to home. my flight left as scheduled and i was on my way to ecuador.
farewell guatemala - i hope to return someday very soon. three weeks was too short!

Carin and Christian

these two people have been dear, sweet blessings to me this week. i met carin outside of a coffee shop on saturday morning last weekend when i was in antigua by myself (without the group... but not alone). i asked her if she was waiting for someone and she told me she was adopting a boy from guatemala and was waiting for the social worker. on monday she and Christian, her 3 year old son, moved to antigua to wait for the necessary paper work to go through. so since wednesday (today is friday) i have seen her and Christian for an hour or so between my classes. i have heard her beautiful story of God´s work in her life and in the life of her family, been blessed to play with and hold her sweet boy, and enjoy learning about the process she has been through to give this beautiful child a home.
his story is that he was left on the street by his mother or father when just a few days old. he was found and taken to an orphanage in Guatemala City where he has lived for the first 3 years of his life. he will soon be going to his new home near minneapolis, mn to join his new family.

... for He sets the lonely in families ...

what a beautiful picture of this promise.

PICTURES!!!

take a look at the older posts... i just figured out how to add pictures!!!
so exciting...
more to come, i hope!

Flori

Flori...
i have spent the last 3 weeks, 6 hours a day with her. she is largely responsible for teaching me this language i have wanted to learn for many years... in fact, since 1993 when i first went to the Dominican Republic. i have been daily grateful for her. She is around 55, i would imagine, has 9 children and has been married for around 30+ years. she had a 10th child who died at 43 days old. the day she told me about the circumstances surrounding his death, i was deeply touched by her heart, her faith in Our Father in Heaven, and how that has held her through such painful waters of suffering. she has raised all 9 children with her husband who worked 3 jobs at times to make sure that their 9 children could all attend university. and they did. she has been teaching spanish for 15 years. we have laughed together at her jokes and stories about cats, we have cried as she has shared about her life, as we talked about adoption of children abandoned by their mothers and fathers (but not by Dios, she adds), we have gone shopping together for sandals and fruit in the market. Today we went to a nursery (for plants) and had coffee and treats as a thank you to her for her time and investment in my life. i was fighting back tears most of the morning...
Flori has taught me not only Spanish, but about life and family and children and the world and about what it looks like to live a life of faith in Jesus, above all things.
Thank you Flori. i can´t thank you enough.

the last week of school

and so today, the second to last day of school, i thought i would share a bit about what i've been learning.
1. spanish is a very easy language to learn when it comes to pronunciation (unlike english - think about how to say "through", "though", "thou" and "threw" for example...)
2. there is actually a verb for "to intuit" : intuir. i've often wanted this in english. now i have it!
3. most of what i need to learn at this point is the WAY things are said beyond the words that are used. for example, we "ride" a bike. here we "drive" a bike. we "set" the table. here we "put" the table. there are probably a thousand expressions of this sort and i'm barely scratching the surface.
4. entiendo mas que yo hablo (i understand more than i speak) is still my favorite phrase
5. BUT - i understood 90% of a church service i attended last night and 95% of a tour of a hospital - all en espanol. praise the LORD.
6. at this point i speak like a 5 year old... but at least my pediatric patients will feel comfortable with me, and most people understand 5 year olds anyway.
7. after 3 weeks i am able to function in conversation at markets, restaurants, and for several hours a day (6) speaking with my teacher, Flori, only in spanish.
8. that God knows our needs and provides specifically for them - my teacher is just wonderful and i adore her. every day it is a joy to spend 6 hours with her.
9. pienso que ahora, necisito practicar, practicar, practicar! (i think that now, i need to practice, practice, practice)
10. estoy aprendiendo que a veces, necisito solamente escuchar. (i'm learning that sometimes, i just need to listen.)

once again, the website for my school is: http://sanjoseelviejo.com

Alex

one of the people i've met here in antigua is alex. he is 12 and works on the streets shining shoes. perhaps doing other things as well. he wouldn't tell me. i met him in a cafe when he asked me for food, in english. i gave him some crackers i had with me and prayed he and his younger brother would have a warm meal that night.
i didn't expect to provide it a few hours later.
when i returned to the town square i saw him again and called him by name. this time our conversation was in spanish and he again asked me for food. so we walked to a fast food place and i bought him 2 pieces of chicken. as we waited 10 minutes for the "fast" food, i tried to get his story. his mother is very poor, he said, and lives in a town hours from here. he is in Antigua to work and says that he goes to school. at 8 pm, however, as he took the chicken from me and said "gracias" he also said he had to go work. "are there a lot of shoes to shine at night?" i asked. "i have to get money for food" he replied and ran into the darkness.
i haven't seen him since. but every day i see many, many children like him, shining shoes.

when i grow up...

i want to be like Sita and Peter, Betsy and George. these two couples are in their 60's (i'm guessing...) and are in Guatemala for 10 days exploring and learning and enjoying a trip together. the wives didn't know where they were going until they were on the plane and this is the 9th trip (9th country!) they've taken together! Betsy had just recently had an ankle surgery and was walking with a cane sometimes and using a wheel chair at others. (and imagine cobblestone streets in a wheelchair! she was such a trooper.) i met them on a little tour of a coffee farm (la finca) and museum of Mayan music/culture outside of Antigua this past Saturday. i became the interpreter for the guides of the tour who spoke only Spanish. we continued to talk and get to know one another and each one was just dear, kind, encouraging, interested in my life and plans and family. they are from Baltimore, MD. what a small world. they treated me to lunch and conversation and we parted ways after pictures and hugs. i assured them that my parents and grandparents would be thankful. thank you, sita, peter, betsy and george!

today i hiked a volcano

not something everyone can say in a day. but it's true. led by our fearless guide, Rolando, my group and i hiked, then climbed and scrambled over lava-made rock to get to the top of Pacaya Volcano. it is one of 40 or 50? in guatemala and not nearly the highest. we could see all of guatemala city below as well as 'across' to Volcanos Fuego and Agua. we saw Fuego errupt a few times, little puffs of smoke. it was amazing to be face to face with such power and heat and intensity of the earth. take a look...

the weekend

this past weekend i experienced what most people visiting guatemala do. la vida de la tourista. (the life of the tourist). i´ve been somewhat depressed ever since. perhaps some of it is related to the " honeymoon" wearing off and the reality of 3 more months setting in... missing friends and family and church and brushing my teeth with the water that comes from the faucet... anyway.
the difficulty of the weekend was staying in a hotel right on the water of Lake Atitlan (you should google this and see what you find... or wait for my pictures) with 3 mountain-volcanos surrounding it, as well as many towns which are a dreadful contrast to the beautiful resort-type hotels for us, the tourists. on friday afternoon we arrived in Santa Catarina and after checking in to the hotel, picking up our jaws off the floor and recovering from the bus ride through twisty-turny-upsy-downsy mountain roads, we (as a group of 19 americans and 1 guatemalan) took a walk through town. literally through the town. between houses (imagine: cement blocks making 4 walls and a tin roof and dirt floor = nice house), over trash, beside women hanging up clothes, children playing in the dirt, mangy dogs running around, through people staring at us like the spectacle we were. smiles speak a universal language, but my stomach turned at what they must be thinking.
and after walking THROUGH the town, we walked down the main street on which the buildings became more and more grand, with beautifully manicured gardens and flowers, overlooking (still) the magnificent Lake Atitlan, until we came to a resort like none i´ve ever seen. all 20 of us walked through the iron gates opened by dutiful guards and the 3 pequeño niños, following us all this time asking for a quetzal (1/7.5 of a dollar) or to buy their little crafts, were left outside the gates. i have no category for this.
on the patio grande of this resort, we rested from our "long, tiring walk" and ordered drinks from the extensive menu, each costing at minimum 30Q ($4). i ordered nothing and went off exploring because i couldn´t bear to make small talk about the amazing lake and resort and refreshing drinks... and those little girls following us?
so i sat on a bench up many, many stairs above the hotel in this resort and prayed. prayed about how to live in my position in this world, with integrity, with compassion, with love, with eyes to see the people we walked by as PEOPLE intead of as "the poor" and grace to accept what i see and who i am.
and after watching the sun set over Lake Atitlan, we walked back ... out the gates, into the streets, this time staying on the main road all the way to the hotel, through more iron gates back to our clean, bright, comfortable ´home´ for 2 nights.

the next day we crossed the lake on a tour boat, went to Santiago (another town) for shopping and more history lessons from Dr. Garcia (our guatemalan guide and leader here). and then to a town called San Lucas... and the next day to a large market... and then back to Antigua.

and so begins week 2...

a life we can´t imagine

one night at dinner, miriam share with us what had happened that day... a fairly common happening, i gathered. she and mario (her husband) were at the bank to collect their money for the month and were held at gunpoint outside the bank. the robbers took all their money. for the month. she told us this happens to guatemalans often, but rarely to tourists, because the police are much more careful about tourists. she believes this phenomenon has increased in recent times due to more drug trafficking and people in guatemala needing more money for their own habits.
she then proceeded to put an amazing meal in front of us and say "that´s life."
that is her life... their lives... not ours. i´m still not sure what to think about that.
(and please don´t worry about my safety - i have not once felt endangered... )

and so it begins...

guatemala is beautiful. i could stop there. the people, the land, the crafts, the buildings... antigua is a small colonial town that used to be the capital of guatemala and behind the uniformity of its walls there are hidden treasures of gardens, hotels, restaurants, shops, homes, cafes.... wonderfully quaint and delightful.
i wake each day in the home of mario and miriam. they have a large home about 3 blocks from my school. mario works on a finqua (coffee farm) and we have coffee from his farm cada dia (every day) and it is like nothing the US offers. amazing! miriam is a spanish teacher at another school and is about 4 foot 8 inches and twice as sweet and gracious. their 3 children (Mario III, Pamela and Angela) live with them on the 2nd floor along with pamela's nino, Jose. jose is learning to walk and is nearly one. Mario Sr. and his wife Victoria live in a part of the 1st floor and we live in the other area. i share a room with Philly, a PA student from UNMC who goes to Core Comm. Church with her husband. the other 2 girls from our group share a room nearby mine. we are fed 3 meals each day by miriam's hand and they are wonderful.... fresh vegetables, beans, tortillas, eggs, some pasta and chicken... and of course the coffee each morning.
i walk to school down stone streets past buildings all connected with walls of different colors, and say "buenos dias" to all i pass. my school (www.sanjoseelviejo.com) is just barely different from what Eden must have looked like. birds chirp all day long and sometimes sing so loud you have to pay attention, the water in the fountain is the constant undertone, and my teacher Flori and i sit under a roof in a little open air room all day, talking. she is about 50 with 9 children (36 to 25 years old), kind eyes and deliberate, carefulthatiunderstandwhatshesays words. her heart is precious and 'we' have already talked (aka: she talks and talks and i listen really hard and ask questions a lot) about matters of faith, politics and government, the need for education to prevent teen pregnancy and STD's, how her son's cat died after eating the neighbor's bird... and we laugh and laugh and laugh.
i love learning here, living here, soaking up here.
all for now...

leavin' on a jet plane...

in a few short hours i'll be leaving for Guatemala City, with 3 backpacks - small, medium and large. i've seen many of the people i wanted to but of course there could have been more time, better time... time, time, time. that seemed to be the hardest thing to find these last few days. thankfully, this morning i had a wonderful TIME with some dear friends in Lincoln today reflecting on the year past and toasting to the one to come. i'd recommend doing that with some people every year... and we decided, why not more than just once a year?
Welcome 2006... may it be better than any of us expect!