The end of the first week

We have made it through our first week of classes in Guatemala. This week has been full of many experiences and emotions. Its hard to believe its already been a week and I am glad we have another six weeks to continue learning the language. Our teachers have been very patient with us but pretty hard on us too. We are constantly being corrected which is annoying but necessary. At the beginning of the week, Michael needed everything translated for him, but already he is carrying on conversations on his own and understanding a ton. Yesterday, he got a chance to spend a good hour talking to Anebil (the man of the house).


This week we met David and Debbie Amsler. They are Assemblies of God missionaries stationed in Guatemala City. They were very nice. We are hoping to go spend a weekend with them either next weekend or the week after. They have a ministry largely focused on youth. They are going to come down from Guatemala City, about an hour drive, and pick us up and let us serve with them for the weekend. They have been very gracious to help us out. We are excited to see what’s going on in Guatemala City.

We also took a tour of the local hospital here in town. it’s a pretty popular hospital with lots of specialist doctors so people come from all around. It was really crowded when we were there. It was pretty similar to any of our hospitals with the exception of lots of machines. In the states every patient is hooked up to an IV no matter what and there are lots of machines making noise. There were no machines and only a few patients with IV’s. The hospital looked like what I imagine our hospitals looked like in the fifties. The facility was very clean. Actually, everything in Antigua is very clean. Our host family must mop their floors twice a day. The streets of Antigua are clean, the stores are clean. Every where you look, someone is sweeping or dusting or something. Its very nice and something I would not have expected.

Next week we are going to visit some place that is equivalent to a day care. We are going to see if we can maybe volunteer there some. There are kids every where here. And of course, they are all adorable. Many of the kids are trying to sell you stuff. The little girls will sell handmade items like scarves or bracelets. The other day a girl followed us for about a block trying to sell us a scarf. She had some key English phrases memorized like, “good price for you”, “no problem to wash” and my favorite, “business is business”. We busted out laughing when she said that. The little boys work as shoe shiners. They carry around little cases that have all their materials in there and then double as a seat. For the equivalent of a buck, they will shine your shoes.

One of our activities this week was to go to the market and get some local fruits. We got to try the fruits and then we had to do a presentation on the fruits. The markets are really crazy here. Check out this video. In the video, you can see Claritza right in front of me. Ahead of me is Michael with his teacher. The people here in Guatemala are all very short. In this video, you can see Michael towering over other folks. He looks like a giant compared to these people.

Last night I went for a short walk in our neighborhood. There were some boys on the corner playin marbles in the street. I thought I would make friends with them. So, I spent a little time talking to them and trying to understand the game they were playing. When I got ready to leave, the oldest boy, Cristian who is eleven, asked me if I would give him a kiss. It was very flattering, but I had to decline. I told him I had to get home for dinner, which was true.

After dinner last night, we bought several decks of cards and taught the family how to play Nertz. For those who dont know, its like a fast paced, multiplayer solitare. It was interesting trying to teach a game in Spanish. It was good practice for us. I think the family is getting more comfortable with us being there. They are very shy in general and not very sure of us. I told Michael that it feels very much like Dances with Wolves, "the natives are warming up to us", "we still are not communicating well, but they can see our desire to learn their ways". lol

Next week we get to take a tour of the surrounding pueblos. There are several suburbs to Antigua. We will be sure to share some pictures.

We just found out there is a huge tropical storm Mateo. It has caused a lot of rain here. It rained all last night and so far, all day today. There has not been any other storm like conditions. Since it rains every day, its hard to tell a difference.

Shannon