It´s a Long One

My eleven hour lay over in the Guatemala city airport was relatively painless. They had wifi in the airport and I was able to skype Katelyn, my girlfriend, and Sue. It was lovely outside the airport but pretty warm inside as they did not have the air conditioning turned on. When I got too hot I would simply go outside and listen to music. On one of my adventures outside a guatemalan boy approached me and asked if I had some Money for him to get a wáter. I told him that I would give it to him if he talked to me and helped me practice Spanish. He obliged and I got to talk to him for about an hour. I then got him some chicken and got to talk to him for another hour or so. He wanted very badly to buy a radio. The lay over ended with an hour long flight to Flores, Guatemala on a 40 passanger prop plane.

I landed in Flores and the Ochaeta´s were there with my host family to pick me up. I do not know the last name of the family I am staying with, but there is the wife, Orphelia, Ishmael, the husband, and Franklin is their child who is still at home. He is thirteen and is in seventh grade. He is currently sitting behind me watching motorcycle drag racing on the speed network.  After they picked me up we went to a pizza hut where the employees opened the doors for you and Cee-Lo is blasting over the radio. It was very nice and we had pizza, horchata and a delicious sweet drink made out of dried habiscus flowers. 

 I left with my host family who drive a Toyota tourismo from what looks like the early eighties. I arrived at the house of my host family which is in a neighborhood about five kilometers south west of Flores. It is in a large grouping of houses and has a large cast iron gate that must be manually slid to get into the compounds of the house. After the gate is a german shephard which is absolutely not a part of the family. He is a security investment that keeps robbers out. I learned this after I offered my hand for him to sniff and if it weren´t for my cat-like reflexes would have been much bloodier than normal. I set up my ten by ten by twelve room which has a dresser for my clothes, a bed and a chair.

I fell asleep after a fan was put in my doorway by a member of their family. I woke up at 6:30 in the morning to the sound of hens, rosters,l turkeys next door and pidgeons walking on the tin roof. I got up and washed my face and read a bit of Isaiah. I was called into the kitchen which consists of a refridgerator, table, counter and stove for breakfast. We had leftover pizza and pancakes.

Derida Ochaeta, the woman running the missions in this town, picked me up at 9:30 and took me to a small clinic . We had to knock and tell one of the nurses le tus in because of the fear of being robbed. The clinic was empty except for two nurses. Derida told me that the clinic used to be filled with people but has dwindled in the past couple of months. This is a result of a lack of doctors. There have been multiple doctors from the United States who will stay for a year or so, but they must rely on a guatemalan doctor who lives an hour away and can only come in the afternoons.  She told me that people would come from 3 hours away just to see the doctor but no longer can because if they come in the afternoon they can not catch the last bus to the cities they come from. After seeing the clinic we went to the center for underpriveleged teenagers. It is a carpentry and welding workshop where teens can come and make furniture for families. The furniture is sold and a portion of the Money goes to the kids and a portion to the upkeep of the facility. They have clases in the morning that are taught by a member of Elmbrook church on DVD. Then in the afternoon they build. Derida told me that it is a battle to get the kids to work in the center because being in a gang is much more profitable and easy. She says to many of them the labor is not worth the Money and that selling drugs is much easier.

Up next was the school. Derida introduced me to the principal and the English teacher, Wendy. I was then introduced to the students of the fourth, fifth and sixth grade. I met with Wendy and she asked me what I wanted to do in the school. I explained that she can use me for anything and she was greatful for that. She wants me to help out with the pronounciation of words because her English is really not that great as she studied for three years in Guatemala City. She also wants me to help out with fun things. She asked me if I could sing english songs and I said I would be happy doing that.

I walked home which is about a five minute walk from all of these places and contemplated the day. The smell of fires is everywhere as that is how the trash is disposed of. Derida said that she would love for me to be a sort of counselor for the teens in the work shop and help them work through their troubles. This would be very challenging would would love to help as much as I could as son as I am more comfortable speaking Spanish. I got a lot of practice today, but only understand about half of what is being said and can say a quarter of what I want to say. Derida said that I could even talk to the teenagers parents and that was a Little intimidating for me. I would feel weird coming in to a cultural situation that I barely understand and tell the parents how to treat their kids.

 She also suggested that I could give talks in public schools about the dangers of drug use or how to choose a career path or pretty much whatever I wanted to talk about. I told her that I would think and pray about it but would want to wait a couple of more weeks before doing any of that. Derida also suggested that I could be a counselor to some of the problema children in the school. Pretty much I just feel completely in over my head and feel like she is giving me too much respect. I just need to pray about all of this and try to think of ways  I can help or topics to talk on. I also need to improve my spanish.

I just had a lunch with milanesa, bell peppers, onions and tortillas. It was wonderful and I tried to nap afterward but it was too hot. The family has internet in their house so that makes things nice. I start teaching tomorrow at ten oclock.

Adios

God, I thank You for this opportunity to serve a community that is in dire need. Please give me the strength and courage and wisdom to be able to talk to these kids. Please help my understanding of the culture here and the language to grow significantly. I pray that You can make me feel comfortable around my host family and the people I will be working with. I pray for the safety of myself and the rest of the community as gang violence is always something that is in the back of their minds. Give wisdom to the youth to make a decision to not get into drugs and violence. Thank you for everything you have blessed me with and just give me the wisdom to be able to fulfill some needs in the community. 

Amen