My Pre-Christmas Christmas!
So much has been happening here lately that it's really hard to keep up with my blog, although this is the best time to do it since I'm so excited about everything that's going on!
First of all, I've really been enjoying my host family much more lately. It's become obvious that they care about me and really try hard to make me like Santo Domingo. Angel even came into my doorway the other day when Leslie was over and had a conversation with me (he's never even come close to my room since I've been here). He did this awkward lean thing in the doorway and I wanted to laugh, but it was sweet that he was making an effort, so I held it in!... Dina and I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago when I saw a roach on my bugnet (the outside of it, luckily). I went out into the living room to enlist help, but couldn't even think of the words to express what was wrong since I'm terribly afraid of roaches. Dina asked me what was wrong and then played fill in the blank with herself until she said, "insecto?"and I got all excited! So she had just gotten out of the shower and was still in her towel, but she came into my room with a huge spotlight and helped me to find the bug. She even undid all the sheets on my bed until she found it because I ensured her there would be no sleep for me until it was gone. The overwhelming amount of raid I sprayed at it killed it and she removed it with a pair of scissors! It was quite the bonding experience and reminded me of the times I've called my real mom from the other side of our house and made her come and kill bugs!
So two weeks ago, Lora and I had lunch with a former moderator of PCUSA and his new wife in Rehu. They were remarkable people who are here on their honeymoon. Although we had many interesting conversations, the most interesting to me was when he explained to us how he met his wife. He was in California to attend an ordination and stayed at a lady's house, who he then kept in touch with for a couple of months through email. He eventually asked her to marry him through an email!! Wow, technology is crazy these days- and he is in his 80's, too, although you would never know it, but that makes the story all the more crazy to me since most 80 year olds aren't that up on technology!!
We had a Christmas party for almost 100 kids in Coyolate last week. I kept asking people where Coyolate was and didn't understand why no one knew. Well, that's because it takes 3 bis rides and 1 truck ride to get there- it's REALLY small and it feels like you're traveling to the end of the earth to get there! We had a good time though, and the kids really enjoyed themselves. The one thing I found disturbing is something I have now noticed several times.... Guatemalans lead games in really funny ways. For instance, we learned this song and were singing it in a huge group. Then they called up 3 kids at a time to lead the group and voted on who was the best and only gave a prize to the one who got the most yells. It's disturbing because no kids want to volunteer to do anything since they then have to be publicly humiliated!! It seems that the Guatemalans aren't that great at getting everyone involved either- I've noticed they don't form circles very well and they all like to talk at the same time, even when someone is trying to lead the group in doing something! It's so frustrating to watch or be a part of!! But anyway, overall the party was a success, mostly due to the fact that we brought TONS of food and candy for the kids, and it was a beautiful day with great mountian views!!
So this brings me to the Christmas retreat in Xela with the other volunteers, which is one of my favorite things that has happened since I've been here! We spent 4 days up in the semenary and the weather was nice and cold. We built fires and made smores, listened to tons of cheesy Christmas music, had a Christmas tree, and sat around the fire in rocking chairs and chatted about girly things! Leslie's birthday was the 15th and she got 3 packages from people at home, so that was awesome! One family even paid $10 in shipping to send her a big bag of M&M's, which we thought was pretty funny!! We also ate at "Sabor de la India" one night, which is this great Indian restaurant in Xela. On Saturday, we had our official American Christmas, where Lora made M&M pancakes, we exchanged presents, cooked a huge Christmas dinner (Lora and I basted the turkey by sucking up the juice in straws. It was classic, not to mention, gross!), and we had a worship service. It was really nice becuase it really felt like we were at home having Christmas with our friends! It was even better since Jeannene and David Wiseman and Marcia (other mission co-workers) were there to spend the time with us, too!....On Sunday we went to church for the ordination of Anna Lilly, who is only the 3rd woman to be ordained in Guatemala. It was really neat to see so many people supporting her, since women are really struggling here to become leaders in the Presbyterian Church. What wasn't neat was that these 6 girls or so sang WITH MICROPHONES for an hour and 15 minutes!! First of all, that is WAY too much singing unless you makes an announcement that FIRST there will be LOTS OF SINGING and THEN there will be a service....The microphones are also totally unnessesary because they all sing loudly already....sidenote- Leslie's church held a service in her house and they backed a truck up the the front door that was filled with speakers so that they could be sure to hear each other IN HER LIVING ROOM. The whole neighborhood could hear the service!!
I've been attempting to get the 3rd shot of my hepatitus B series here and it's proved to be very difficult. First of all, communicating on the phone in Spanish is next to impossible, especially when you are talking about medical terms. So I finally got an appointment and had to wait in Xela for 2 extra days in order to go to it. I got there, and they said the vaccine wasn't in yet. So I went back to Santo Domingo (2 hours away) and made an appointment for Friday since the vaccine "would DEFINITELY be in by Thursday." So I rode the bus for another 2 hours on Thursday and came back to Xela, only to have them call me at 6 pm (why are they even in their office at that hour?) and CANCEL ON ME!! So they want me to come back next week. I think they should give me a significant discount considering it takes me 34 Quetzales and 4 hours of riding busses each time I have to come here for an appointment!! .....BUT the good part about it, is that I get to spend some time in my favorite city, where Patrick and I have recently decided to try all of the Chinese restaurants in town. We found one with a buffett last night, which sounds like a sure way to get really sick-eating Chinese buffett in Guatemala- but I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and the other day we were cruising the mall when we noticed the Holiday Grande Meal at Taco Bell, and decided to splurge and get it. It was enough Taco Bell to feed at least 4 people and I'm happy to say that we were not able to finish it, but it was fun just seeing the looks we got from everyone else in the mall food court. Little things here really amuse me!
My last piece of news is sad :-(.... My "Mean Girls" group (5 YAVS who are in Kenya, the Philippines, England, and Guatemala) that has been emailing and supporting each other greatly for the past few months, has lost TWO members this week!! Rachel had to leave the Philippines and Anni had to leave Kenya, both for medical reasons. It's sad becuase our funny stories and frustrations have really been a source of entertainment and kept me going here!! And also, I'm a little jealous that they'll be home with their families for Christmas, although don't get me wrong- I really hope they get to feeling better!!
Hope everyone is having a good time getting ready for Christmas!! I can't wait to hear about your holidays!!
First of all, I've really been enjoying my host family much more lately. It's become obvious that they care about me and really try hard to make me like Santo Domingo. Angel even came into my doorway the other day when Leslie was over and had a conversation with me (he's never even come close to my room since I've been here). He did this awkward lean thing in the doorway and I wanted to laugh, but it was sweet that he was making an effort, so I held it in!... Dina and I had an interesting experience a couple of weeks ago when I saw a roach on my bugnet (the outside of it, luckily). I went out into the living room to enlist help, but couldn't even think of the words to express what was wrong since I'm terribly afraid of roaches. Dina asked me what was wrong and then played fill in the blank with herself until she said, "insecto?"and I got all excited! So she had just gotten out of the shower and was still in her towel, but she came into my room with a huge spotlight and helped me to find the bug. She even undid all the sheets on my bed until she found it because I ensured her there would be no sleep for me until it was gone. The overwhelming amount of raid I sprayed at it killed it and she removed it with a pair of scissors! It was quite the bonding experience and reminded me of the times I've called my real mom from the other side of our house and made her come and kill bugs!
So two weeks ago, Lora and I had lunch with a former moderator of PCUSA and his new wife in Rehu. They were remarkable people who are here on their honeymoon. Although we had many interesting conversations, the most interesting to me was when he explained to us how he met his wife. He was in California to attend an ordination and stayed at a lady's house, who he then kept in touch with for a couple of months through email. He eventually asked her to marry him through an email!! Wow, technology is crazy these days- and he is in his 80's, too, although you would never know it, but that makes the story all the more crazy to me since most 80 year olds aren't that up on technology!!
We had a Christmas party for almost 100 kids in Coyolate last week. I kept asking people where Coyolate was and didn't understand why no one knew. Well, that's because it takes 3 bis rides and 1 truck ride to get there- it's REALLY small and it feels like you're traveling to the end of the earth to get there! We had a good time though, and the kids really enjoyed themselves. The one thing I found disturbing is something I have now noticed several times.... Guatemalans lead games in really funny ways. For instance, we learned this song and were singing it in a huge group. Then they called up 3 kids at a time to lead the group and voted on who was the best and only gave a prize to the one who got the most yells. It's disturbing because no kids want to volunteer to do anything since they then have to be publicly humiliated!! It seems that the Guatemalans aren't that great at getting everyone involved either- I've noticed they don't form circles very well and they all like to talk at the same time, even when someone is trying to lead the group in doing something! It's so frustrating to watch or be a part of!! But anyway, overall the party was a success, mostly due to the fact that we brought TONS of food and candy for the kids, and it was a beautiful day with great mountian views!!
So this brings me to the Christmas retreat in Xela with the other volunteers, which is one of my favorite things that has happened since I've been here! We spent 4 days up in the semenary and the weather was nice and cold. We built fires and made smores, listened to tons of cheesy Christmas music, had a Christmas tree, and sat around the fire in rocking chairs and chatted about girly things! Leslie's birthday was the 15th and she got 3 packages from people at home, so that was awesome! One family even paid $10 in shipping to send her a big bag of M&M's, which we thought was pretty funny!! We also ate at "Sabor de la India" one night, which is this great Indian restaurant in Xela. On Saturday, we had our official American Christmas, where Lora made M&M pancakes, we exchanged presents, cooked a huge Christmas dinner (Lora and I basted the turkey by sucking up the juice in straws. It was classic, not to mention, gross!), and we had a worship service. It was really nice becuase it really felt like we were at home having Christmas with our friends! It was even better since Jeannene and David Wiseman and Marcia (other mission co-workers) were there to spend the time with us, too!....On Sunday we went to church for the ordination of Anna Lilly, who is only the 3rd woman to be ordained in Guatemala. It was really neat to see so many people supporting her, since women are really struggling here to become leaders in the Presbyterian Church. What wasn't neat was that these 6 girls or so sang WITH MICROPHONES for an hour and 15 minutes!! First of all, that is WAY too much singing unless you makes an announcement that FIRST there will be LOTS OF SINGING and THEN there will be a service....The microphones are also totally unnessesary because they all sing loudly already....sidenote- Leslie's church held a service in her house and they backed a truck up the the front door that was filled with speakers so that they could be sure to hear each other IN HER LIVING ROOM. The whole neighborhood could hear the service!!
I've been attempting to get the 3rd shot of my hepatitus B series here and it's proved to be very difficult. First of all, communicating on the phone in Spanish is next to impossible, especially when you are talking about medical terms. So I finally got an appointment and had to wait in Xela for 2 extra days in order to go to it. I got there, and they said the vaccine wasn't in yet. So I went back to Santo Domingo (2 hours away) and made an appointment for Friday since the vaccine "would DEFINITELY be in by Thursday." So I rode the bus for another 2 hours on Thursday and came back to Xela, only to have them call me at 6 pm (why are they even in their office at that hour?) and CANCEL ON ME!! So they want me to come back next week. I think they should give me a significant discount considering it takes me 34 Quetzales and 4 hours of riding busses each time I have to come here for an appointment!! .....BUT the good part about it, is that I get to spend some time in my favorite city, where Patrick and I have recently decided to try all of the Chinese restaurants in town. We found one with a buffett last night, which sounds like a sure way to get really sick-eating Chinese buffett in Guatemala- but I'll let you know how it goes. Oh, and the other day we were cruising the mall when we noticed the Holiday Grande Meal at Taco Bell, and decided to splurge and get it. It was enough Taco Bell to feed at least 4 people and I'm happy to say that we were not able to finish it, but it was fun just seeing the looks we got from everyone else in the mall food court. Little things here really amuse me!
My last piece of news is sad :-(.... My "Mean Girls" group (5 YAVS who are in Kenya, the Philippines, England, and Guatemala) that has been emailing and supporting each other greatly for the past few months, has lost TWO members this week!! Rachel had to leave the Philippines and Anni had to leave Kenya, both for medical reasons. It's sad becuase our funny stories and frustrations have really been a source of entertainment and kept me going here!! And also, I'm a little jealous that they'll be home with their families for Christmas, although don't get me wrong- I really hope they get to feeling better!!Hope everyone is having a good time getting ready for Christmas!! I can't wait to hear about your holidays!!
posted by Julia @ 10:41 AM
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