Unlikely source

An unlikely source to provoke decent thought... but it did, nonetheless. I'm sitting in "the chicken place" while Annie studies and the boys watch the second-by-second update of a basketball game (welcome to the luxuries of missionary life!).
I'm reading "Dracula" by Bram Stoker. I feel it is necessary for me to be well read... but it is kind of... eerie, spooky, terrifying, etc.

This quote, tho, provoked thought. And since I haven't done a book review in a while...

"'You are a clever man, friend John; you reason well, and your wit is bold; but you are too prejudiced. You do not let your eyes see nor your ears hear, and that which is outside your daily life is not of account to you. Do you not think that there are things which you cannot understand, and yet which are; that some people see things that others cannot? But there are things old and new which must not be contemplate by mens eyes, because they know--or they think they know--some things which other men have told them. Ah, it is the fault of our science that it wants to explain all; and if it explain not, then it says there is nothing to explain. But yet we see around us every day the growth of new beliefs, which think themselves new; wand which are yet but the old, which pretend to be young--like the fine ladies at the opera."

Hm.

Things that go thump

Uneven paveway
Rocky road? Haha.
Bikes jolting around
Tin roof
Falling, falling... thump
The clash
Of the unusual
Becoming familiar
Normalcy is a sieve
For my very perception
Knife slicing...
Broccoli, tomatoes, carrots
Varying thickness
Varying sounds
Scorching winds scatter dust
Crunch
Clump clump
Thick shoes
Revving engine
Motorcycle?
Collisions and avoidances
The essence of relationships
Set the cup down
Tap the keyboard again
Music on my ipod
Tap the toes
Smack the table
Brush the dirt off
Get that dirt off your shoulder...
Brush brush
Scrape
Swish splash
Wash
Silky swipe
Paint
Rub hard
Pat softly
Squeeze and release
And just listen
To the things that go thump
And bump
Skid, slide, swirl, swoosh
Slow down to hear what rushes by.

Moi Bonita Guatemala!

Team is good... Guatemala is moi bonita! I'm working in an orphanage/school in the mornings in the kitchen. I chop thousands of peas... serve up atol to the kids... mop, sweep, wash dishes literally for two hours straight... yes, I do. Then I get my coffee and walk home slowly, usually worshiping and praying. After lunch I rest for a few minutos and then jet to the hospital. I work at the hospital with the abuellas! It's the first thing I actually want to take pictures of... these ladies are precious! Hilarious! I get so much joy from this. One lady in particular, Donya Alejandra, literally hates me... she yells at me every time I come near her. It's actually funny to me because I know she doesn't mean it. Most of the ladies are wonderful to me.
Due to my lack of Spanish, I've started learning to draw. So I take my pencils, markers and paper to the hospital and draw pictures of the abuellas... then I show it to them and let them color it! I didn't realize they liked them until I saw all my pictures taped up on the wall in their common area. Precious.
I've also found that drawing is a good conversation starter... as I sit in the park I draw and people come up and ask what I'm doing, am I an art student, etc. and it's a great segue into conversation.
So, God is good. I feel more useful at last and am very content in my daily life here in Antigua.
Dios la bendiga!

This post was largely for MOM. Travelogue. Good times.

Editorial

Here're life pics... from Puerto Barrios and Livingston

Top to bottom
Team getting ready to leave with our packs... yes, I carry all of my life possessions like this for hours in the blazing sun... that may be a little dramatic but it is heavy; I can sleep anywhere anytime... this is on a slow boat to Livingston; we had evening church at someone's house in Livingston; many generous families hosted us for lunch; the last morning we made our pastor's family a big pancake breakfast... dulce!; hot springs day trip... sure it smelled like sulphur but it was hot water nonetheless; tenting it in the church; playing music in Porto Barrios with my boyfriend.

Guatemala pics

Livingston
This pastor's family could be the happiest family I've met. There was something about them that reminded me of my family. There were an alleged 12 kids, though we met only 6 or so... they all live in this lovely dirt floor compound and the father is the pastor of this church. They play together. We fell asleep at night to the sound of them all up, laughing together. This pastor knows his congregation and cares deeply for them. He has a tender heart. Armando, the 15 year old son, and I played keyboard and guitar and sang songs. They are just fun and I am very encouraged in my heart to know that they live and labor for the same God.

*oh, and for the record, I did NOT wake up at 5 in the morning to see this sunrise. But I heard it was good.

Guatemala!

Antigua, Guatemala is completely lovely. I am in heaven. It is such a cultural change from Mexico... coffee shops everywhere, lots of tourists around, heavenly weather (low 70s I´d guess), paved roads, pretty people. I´m looking forward to my time here. Please pray that we get to work at an orphanage! For full details of the race, see one of the other blogs... they´ve written incredibly detailed reports of our 5am wake up call (amigos! Amigos!), lake submersion, and surprise race start. I am proud of my team. We were able to maintain a good balance of fun and competition. I enjoy the challenge of the race portions!
More importantly, though, I am excited about seeing what roads the Holy Spirit has prepared here in Guatemala. I am eager to be obedient to his leading this month.

The 1st pic is one Josh snapped of me praying.
The 2nd pic is of the cross we had to hike up to in Antigua (early morning... raced to it, prayed for an hour, then raced to a park and a fountain for the finish line.)

MX norms

I feel like I want to compile a list of MX stuff. I´m already in Guatemala... good trip (long trip, good grief). But I don´t want to forget things I thought about MX while there for a month.

Mexico (Aguilar, Chiapas)

Mexico is...

-The land of many speed bumps (there are speed bumps everywhere! And you don´t slow down in advance... the driver slams on his brakes just before and then creeps over the bump. Why?)
-The land of corn tortillas. Every taco stand on the side of the road sells tacos with semi spicy salsa, super greasy, wrapped in a napkin... a corn tortilla and either carne or intestines of some sort all wrapped up for about 4 pesos.
-The currency, obviously, is pesos. During our time here it´s been about 10.74 ex rate.
-Mexicans are, as a rule, pretty friendly people. It seems rare to speak English, though.
-Mexico is low class. In general, it is a very poor country compared to other Latin countries. There is a lot of rural living that really only consists of the basic necessities of life. I wouldn´t consider it impoverished by any means but it is very minimal living. There are, however, many available European style toilets.
-Oranges. A lot of oranges. (the fruit)
-Mexicans are big on eating meat and it seems pretty accessible. The best foods I ate here were tamales (cooked in a banana leaf) and tacos.
-Plantains and bananas look very similar here. Jon had a funny incident with that.
-The Mexican church leadership seems to be vastly under trained. Few have had theological education and there seems to be a lack of unity between denominations... a very lamentable lack of support systems for pastors, especially those working in rural areas.
-Much more mountanous and gorgeous than I thought! Lush and green... we were here during a rainy season so there was a lot of mud but there are always many many bodies of water. I didn´t expect that.
-TURKEYS EVERYWHERE. Gobble gobble all night long.
-Nasty, mangy dogs roam the streets by the dozens.
-Most kids wear clear plastic sandals. Most adults wear muck boots (presumably because they work in the fields).
-There is a huge cultural norm of cabeilleros or cowboys! They ride horses with Mexican style blankets on them, wear cowboy hats and big belt buckles, play mariachi music and sleep in hammocks (we lived with one such man). It is very Mexican. Very machismo.
-Bright colors... Mexicans appreciate bright houses, signs, and clothes. Very very saturated colors.

I liked Mexico much more than I expected to.
God, I pray your divine presence settle on Mexico in a powerful way. Revive the Mexican Church. God I leave my blessing on Mexico.

To sum up...

...satisfactory first month. Soy contento. MX has been fab. Aguilar, our little town, was terrif. Mi corazon es moi triste to leave these precious ninos. I really do love them. I dove into this thing headfirst and am content.

I want to live well and love well. I did both insofar as I know how.

Here are my babies.

My favorite little girl is Juana. The boys are fab ... Nato, Idao, Jose, Migel, Luis (me amore... my nobio according to him), Pasqual, Nicolas, and on... and on... and lovelies.