Monterrico, Guatemala

Last weekend we got to go to the beach in Monterrico! It was so wonderful! Here in Antigua, the weather is very fickle and much of the time rather chilly due to our elevation. So, a warm sunny weekend, was much needed. In Monterrico, the beaches are black sand. We had never seen a black sand beach before.

Beach life was great, but unfortunately, the waves were HUGE! So big, in fact, they were unsafe for swimming. So, we spent only a small amount of time on the beach and most of the time by the pool. There was some beautiful sunsets while we were there.

And we took a 5:00 am tour of the mangroves, where we got to see lots of wild life and a beautiful sunrise.

Monterrico is a landing place for sea turtles to lay their eggs. It just so happens, its egg laying season. We went hunting at night to see turtles laying their eggs but did not have any luck. We did however get to take part in releasing freshly hatched sea turtles into the water. In Guatemala, people think that sea turtle eggs have extra protein that is very healthy for you. so many of the locals will hunt the eggs and then sell them in the market. they estimate that 80% of the eggs are taken by locals before they hatch. Of the eggs that do hatch, many will not make it to the water and then the ones that do, will get eaten very quickly. Sea Turtles have a rough life. So we paid $1.50 and got to hold a baby turtle and set it free into the ocean (where it likely got eaten hours later). But, we did our part. Here is a picture of my little guy.

Michael named his Benichael. Only because I would not let him name mine Ben. Here is all the little turtles that were not eaten by people before they were hatched.

We have some very exciting stuff ahead of us. Tomorrow we are taking the day off and going sail fishing. Yes, Michael is so excited. The boat with a bathroom cost $200 more than the boat without a bathroom, so please pray for my bladder and my privacy as I try to pee in a bucket. On Friday we are having a tortilla making class and visiting some local towns with our teachers. On Monday, Nov 1, its a big Latin holiday, some call it the day of the dead in the states. It is a very big deal here. We are going with our teachers families to celebrate. We will spend the day hanging out in the cementary flying kites that have messages written to the dead. We will have lots of pictures. After that, we are off for travel. We have 10 days and I think we are going to spend of the time carribean side. There is an area here called Rio Dulce. We are going to spend some more time hanging out. Will keep you all updated on our adventures. We will be home very soon, for which we are very excited!

The Moon and Back

On Wednesday, we got the opportunity to visit the biggest and most infamous volcano in the area, Volcano Pacaya. This volcano is very active and actually had a large eruption in May of this year. We had the extreme pleasure of having Nancy, our host sister, accompany us. She is sixteen and has never been to see this volcano that is only an hour from her house.

Pacaya is in a national park. You have to pay to get into this park. Very different from our national parks, people live there. In fact, a lot of people live on the side of this active volcano. I could not figure out why anyone would want to live on the side of an active volcano, but there were neighborhoods everywhere.
When we arrived there were little kids selling us walking sticks for a buck. We obliged and later were very glad we did. Although, as it turned out, we were only renting these sticks, the kids asked for them back after we came down! lol. thats okay, what were we going to do with them? Amongst the other sales ploys, there were taxi's available to fat americans who were not willing to make the hike on foot. Here is a picture of the taxi's.

Well, I thought it was just for fat Americans until I was huffing and puffing up this incredible steep volcano. We hiked up hill for about an hour straight. I was trying to act tough, but I was tired! The hike was a little treacherous too, because you walk on little pebbles/lava rock the whole time. The rocks are really slippery and sharp.
We finally hit a clearing and we could see the top of the volcano.

We finally got to feel some hot rocks. At the end of the day, there was not any rolling lava which was a bit of a disappointment, but we did get to see a hole that was really hot and had some red stuff in the bottom.

We had a lot fun hiking though. Some people were able to roast marshmallows on the rocks and even heat their grilled cheese on the rocks.

All in all it was a really cool experience. We had hoped to see more rolling lava but what we saw was definitely like being on another planet. It was a bit hazardous but wow what an adventure. well gotta go for now, but we will blog soon.

One Way Guatemala

We spent another weekend with the Amslers! We feel such a connection with these guys. They spoke a lot into our lives and we are hoping to have a lasting friendship with them. They are very passionate the youth of Guatemala. They came to Guatemala as missionaries after 16 successful years as District Youth directors in Kentucky. When they got here, they joined with a local AG church and started supporting their youth and childrens programs. Along side of that, they started a childrens program called One Way. One Way goes into the public schools and presents a gospel message to the children. This is really ground breaking because there are not many programs/churches trying to reach the public schools. God has given them favor and has opened doors for One Way to go places that others have not. Through their church and other established programs, they have met some Guatemalans with immense talent and love for the Lord. They are all partnering to help reach the children of GT. On Friday night, we got join with them for a One Way service. A local church has been doing "small groups" for kids who are unchurched or unable to be churched. The church invited One Way to come do their program. Here is a clip of a song we performed at the service. It will help you learn your spanish body parts. Obviously, I didnt know half of them....

We only have two weeks of classes left and I am finding it difficult to finish strong. I am getting tired of learning Spanish and really just want a mountain dew and my space heater. The Lord has not given us clear definition of our next steps but we know our current step is to learn Spanish so we need to stay focused on the task at hand. Please pray for our brains!
Here is a picture of an amazing flower that grows wild here. we would have buy it and store it in a green house , but here, it grows in everyones yard. It is called a pajaro, which means bird. You can understand why.

And finally for some fun words we confused in Spanish:

Michael meant to say: This is my maestra (teacher)
Michael actually said: This is my mujer (woman)

Michael meant to say: I will pagar (pay) for that
Michael actually said: I will pegar (punch) that

Shannon meant to say: I need more ponchos (blankets) in my bed
Shannon actually said: I need more panchos (men) in my bed

Shannon meant to say: I have ten dolares (dollars)
Shannon actually said: I have ten dolores (pains)

On Wednesday, we are hoping to go to Pacaya. Its one of the biggest and most active volcanoes here. It should be really cool. Here is a picture of Volcano Fuego. This one looks down at us every day, threatening to explode and cover us in ash. Its very active but the lava flows out the other side so we cant see it from Antigua.

Beans and Bananas

WELL folks!2 very important things happened this week! The First was, Duh-duh-duhhhhh, the dreaded Beans and bananas! LOL  and Believe it or not it was pretty good. in fact we have had it twice this week and we both enjoyed the meal. The other VERY important thing that happened this week was last sunday at church. You could say that we had a mini Burning Bush experience, but please have patience, and i'll get to that in just a little bit. it starts off with our trip this last weekend.

Guatemala City

      We went to visit the AG missionaries stationed in Guatemala City, David and Debbie Amsler.  They were really great people and they welcomed us with open arms. We enjoyed an entire weekend of speaking English! It was not good for our Spanish progress but it was good for our spirits.  On Friday night they took us to the local mall. It was huge! Probably nicer than Circle Center in Indianapolis. We went to go see a movie. They have a VIP movie theater. It was fabulous. Like a regular theatre on steroids. In this theater, there were leather recliners with little tables and little lights. You want some popcorn, no problem, there is a waiter there to take your order. The only thing missing was a massage and Im sure I could have convinced somebody to do that! The best part of the whole deal…the tickets only costs $8! Watch out Regal, you have some competition. I cant believe we don’t have this in the states. Im thinking of a new business model for when we get home!
On Saturday we visited the center of the capital. There were some cool fountains and old buildings. It was very pretty. We ate at Wendy’s, you know the usual. We also visited the market while we were there. The market in the capital is a little different than ours in Antigua because its more organized and a little cleaner. It was also cheaper. Where we are staying in Angtigua, it is chocked full of tourists, so everything is a little more expensive. We bought a cool instrument while we were at the market too.
Saturday night, We went to the Church where Debbie and David help out with the youth group. They were practicing for an outreach they are going to be doing at the end of the month. It was really amazing to see that these youth were so similar to our kids back home. We couldn’t understand half of what anyone was saying but we recognized their hearts immediately. It was a church filled with Adults, youth , and children who love each other and Love Jesus. We got to practice a little with the youth and quickly made some new friends. that night we talked and talked and talked with David and debbie about the mission feild and how God called them there and WOW, what a cool testimony. They also have missionary assistants staying with them. A young couple about our age that have a set of twin girls that are 1yr old. and again got to learn what thier ministry looks like for them and how God has called and used them. It was an amazing experience to see real missions in action. Here we are 2000 miles from home hanging out with real missionaries. that sounds a little weird to say that, but we it was truely amazing. these people have left their family and friends and are here being the hands and feet of Jesus far from home. and they let us be a small part of their lifes for the weekend. Well, on to the Burning bush experience. Sunday morning we went to church with them. and in a small warehouse there are 3 services totaly full adding up to a total of about 1000 people, we heard God clearly speak new life into us. We felt God say that this is the time where our new life begins, whether that's in Guatamala, china or in downtown indianapolis I have no idea. But I do know that God definitly restored a desire in us to continue in the ministry. How exciting! We went to 2 services that day, the first was the adult service and the second was a TOP notch children's service where we got to help out and minister with probably 50 kids. we got to (in broken spanish) pray over the kids and love on them. it was awesome. our new friends David and Debbie are so kind they are having us back this next weekend and we will get to do an outreach with them, we are sooo excited.

Well, this current blog is a bit long so i'm going to wrap it up. but I want to add that we are about to finish our 4th week of classes tomorrow! isn't that crazy! so we have 2 more weeks left of classes and then we are off to travel GT for a week!and then we'll see how much spanish we have really learned...lol So in just over 3 weeks we will be home! We love and miss you all and thanks for your prayers, we really feel God moving in our lives and showing us some new things. We are definitly looking forward to what God has planned for us in the near future, and we are also looking forward to seeing all of you. We will add more to our blog very soon.
Nos Vemos,

Miguel Y Shannin

Another week has passed! Next Wednesday will mark the half way point of our trip. Its so hard to believe that we are half done. I am sooooo glad we have another whole month. Our spanish progressing very well but we still have a long way to go.

This week we got to go to the homeless shelter ("albergue") for the first time. It was a very small building separated down the middle. It was smaller than most american homes. It was complete with shower facilities, and a place to do laundry. One side was designated for men with addictions and the other side was for families, men, women and children. It was a really incredible experience and probably our favorite project so far. It was interesting that homeless people in Guatemala are EXACTLY the same as homeless people in the states. They all have a story, they all have hurts. Many of them are accustom to living this lifestyle and are not interested in change, while others are working hard to get back on their feet.  We got to serve beans and Atol. Atol is a very common drink here in Guatemala that most everyone drinks. It a warm, milk like drink, sort of like a protein shake but thinner. It is served warmed and considered very healthy. Kids drink it in school every day. They people were very thankful to have a place to sleep. Although the rain has stopped, the temperatures have been very cool in the evenings. It has gotten as low as 50 degrees at night. We are looking forward to volunteering there more in the coming weeks. It was a really cool experience to be face to face with the hurting people of Guatemala. 

Because we are the cheapest people on the earth, even in Guatemala, we learned how to wash our clothes by hand and hang them out on the line, just like our family. Here is a picture of my skivvies hanging up in the back yard.

Its possible to take our laundry to the local laundromat, but you can only have they washed, there is no self service. To wash our clothes for the week costs $10. So, after observing our family wash their clothes and hang them, we thought this was the best way for us too. Our host mom gave us a little lesson in hand washing the clothes and she had a real good laugh watching us. They have a good set up here for hand washing clothes. Its basically two basins, one shallow and the other deep. The shallow side has ridges for scrubbing and the deep side holds water. You wash in the shallow side and then use a bowl to scope clean water onto the clothes to rinse them. There is a little drain on the shallow side. Works really well. So, now we are experts at handwashing clothes. I also learned how to make chucho's this week. Its a typical GT dish. Basically you use mesa, make a tortillia and fill it with a bit of pork chop and salsa. You then wrap it in a corn husk and cook it in a fire. This was another great opportunity for the family to laugh! My chucho skills can use some refining, but its a good start.
This weekend we are going to Guatemala City to spend the weekend with our missionary friends David and Debbie Amsler. We are really excited to help out in their ministry. We will give you an update when we get back.



Notice the missing bridge!!



us and our guide Dera



The Cemetery of Santiago





Mashi-man





Santiago





Alright my friends We had our first venture out of Antigua on our owns this weekend. And well it was an adventure to say the least. We went to a HUGE lake about 2 hours north west of Antigua called lago attitlan. To start off with we left left the house at 7:30 in the morning because many many places advertised that they leave 8:00 in the morning. sounds pretty easy huh, well, it wasn't! lol we soon found out that none of the travel places where open in the mornings, and around 8:30 when we found our first location that was, they told us that we had to have our tickets the night before because there is only one bus in the morning and all the tickets sell out pretty quick. So, long story short we headed out for a town on the lake called panajanchel around 1pm. The ride there was crazy there where land slides on the main roads because of all the rain, so we took a long way around. the unfortunate part about that was 2 parts of the road had been completely washed away because of the rain also.The CRAZY driver ran off the road and went across the river with all of us in the van..lol later that night we reached the town and lucked in to a good hotel to stay in. In that there are normally a lot of tourists, but because of all the rain and time of year there where very few. so the vendors where like a starving pack of wolves. if one person would come over and talk to us then 2 or 3 others might join the attack. honestly it was pretty overwhelming, but at the same time was very sad too. we went out to dinner that night and even sitting in the restaurant people came in to try and sell us stuff. it was very heartbreaking and of course we bought a little from here. the next day we took a boat to the other side of the lake to a town called Santiago. on the way off the boat we met a guy named Dara who we just started talking to and he offered to show us around. We got a full tour of the city including the grand church, The center of town, the cemetery, a view of the whole city and the sad part of the tour, the local "deity" mashi-man. The best way i could describe it/him was equal to idols of other gods in the bible. they come to the mashi-man and bring offerings of money,cigarettes and alcohol. they light different color candles to represent what they want from the mashi-man. and they look to him for blessing in many different areas of their life. It was a open window into the life and beliefs of many of the people here and their need for a real living God in their life's. While we were there we also had some great times to pass out candy to many many children and also to some of the adults. It was such a gift for them and was a gift to us to see their smiling faces. Thank you all for your donations of candy. it has been a great way for us to love on the families and children here! Well to wrap up this blog, our trip home was fairly smooth except for the many landslides, including one that had the road shut down for over an hour and a half. but God brought us through safe and sound through the whole thing! it was an adventure, we learned a lot and learned even more about the real lives of people outside of Antigua. God Bless , Miguel





1 of many landslides on the way home



Interesting sights in Antigua

There are some things that are a little different here. For instince, the doors serve dual purposes, you can open the little door and walk through, or you can open the big door and park your car inside.

Also, there are a lot of stray, hungry dogs here. This one lives down the street. This is a picture of him eating a diaper.

And this is what the taxi cabs look like. They are called took - tooks. They are basically scooters with a covering. I am not even sure how they go up and down the big mountains, but they manage. Only one fat american or two skinny americans can fit in the back seat, but here, a family of four can fit. It costs about $1.25 for these guys to take you across town. Granted, town is small, but in the middle of a downpour, a buck twenty five is a pretty good deal.

And finally, for a beautiful view we get to see every day. This is volcano Agua. It is directly south of the city and very active. Early this week we had a small tremor from it. It is very breathtaking on a clear day. There are two other volcanoes due west of here, Fuego and Acantengo. They sit very close to each other and are also active.