Friends we made it! Thank you for all of your prayers and support.
This morning our team met at Concordia for the ever important task of packing in-kind donations before our departure. After lots of shifting things around we managed to pack all of our donations AND stay under our weight limit for our checked baggage! Thanks to everyone who donated supplies.As a side note: I have to say that I don't think I will ever forget the memory of Kyle arriving on campus in all his grandeur. I'm not sure if it was the sheer look of joy and pride on his face or the look of Andy trying not to laugh as they walked in together. I'll preface this by saying Kyle is wearing a Hawaiian shirt every day while we are in Guatemala. Today's choice was a bright yellow one and the outfit was completed with a straw hat that I thought was a sombrero at first. Out of all the people on our team though, I'm pretty sure he got the most complements on his outfit during our trip! Let's just say, I don't think there will ever be a dull moment. Hahaha!
With everything packed our team of 12 made our way to the airport. Thanks Pastor Jeff and Mason for driving! Overall, we had a pretty great day of travel. Besides a little turbulance taking off and landing, everything else was smooth sailing; check-in, security, layover, immigration, baggage claim, customs-they all went off without a hitch. When the last person cleared customs, we eagerly stepped outside the Guatemala City airport and quickly found the familiar faces of Ginny, Cesar, and Sandra amidst the sea of eager taxi drivers, tour guide operators, and souvenir vendors. It's always like coming home to family in Guatemala. Julian and Manuel were at the ready with the vans and before we knew it, we were on our way to the house. Even though it was dark and the ride was short our team learned a bit about the Guatemala culture already...mainly the driving culture. Guatemalan driving makes Chicagoans look like student drivers, but don't worry moms and dads, Julian and Manuel are the best.
When we got to our home for the week, Ginny gave us the grand tour of the house. We left our donation bags in the office to unpack tomorrow, claimed our bunks, then we learned how to use the pila or the sink that pretty much every Guatemalan home uses for everything from dishes to laundry to toothbrushing. The girls learned how to use the shower in our own "executive" bathroom. We found out that there is a new shower head, so now it shouldn't be so difficult to get all the hot water we could ever want!
Our introducotry orientation continued on the roof where, during the daytime, we might be able to get a view of a few nearby volcanos. Ginny gave us a heads up that the neighbor's new rooster is quite annoying, so be forewarned. Another neighbor owns a parrot that can impersonate the Three Stooges and sometimes sounds like a baby crying or a dog barking, in addition to the real dogs in the neighborhood who also bark. Perhaps the most important lesson for the day though was about "brushing but no flushing" aka, brush your teeth only with bottled water (as well as drink) and don't flush the toilet paper or you'll have to go 'fishing'. Breakfast, 'just the way you like it' is at 8:30. More indepth orientation tomorrow.
To end I'll say I can already tell our team is quite a unique group of individuals, and I'm excited to see what a difference a week together makes. There are some familiar faces and some new faces; some quiet and reserved personalities and some "no holding back" personalities. Most importantly by the end of the week there will be no strangers, and a lot of wonderful memories to share. Even with one day of travelling together under our belts those friendships are already starting to develop. We ended the evening by playing Four on a Couch with Cesar, Sandra and Julio (Manuel's son), which put us off to a great start.
That's all for now friends! Stay tuned for more!
Blessings In Christ,
~Deaconess Betsy
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