I held a duck!

We are safe and sound in Zacapa!! On Wednesday I flew to Houston, met Cassie there and then it was on to Guatemala City. As we flew over the mountains, it was hard to believe that all the months of anticipation were coming to an end and there was no turning back now! Out first mini-adventure was trying to find our luggage. We waited at one  baggage claim for at least 15 minutes until we realized that we had watched the same bags go around about 3 times without seeing ours. We figured this would be a good time to ask where the bags were coming from so Cassie asked a man that worked at the airport and he responded with "America." Well that was a bit more broad than we hoped for so we wandered around until we found another one where our bags were, thank goodness. After customs, we headed outside to the mass of people waiting outside of the airport. We were slightly nervous about knowing where to go since we didn't know who was picking us up but luckily I saw Ramiro's friendly face in the crowd waiting for us. After loading up the van, we stopped for lunch at pollo campero where we did our best to make conversation with the three Guatemalan men who speak pretty much no english. Cassie and I were fascinated by a purple drink we kept seeing at the restaurant thinking it was something exotic and Guatemalan only to find out it was normal grape soda. The men were very confused as to why we kept asking about it, only the first of many times that we've been laughed at. 

We started out on the 4 hour journey to the Zacapa. Just riding in a van is a bit of a thrill here as traffic rules are an arbitrary idea. Surprisingly by the end of the trip I was getting used to our driver was passing cars on curves while driving up a mountain. Not to mention, seatbelts are apparently not important here. When putting mine on yesterday, Nilss said, "Yackie, you do not need to wear a seatbelt, you are in Guatemala!" After stopping a couple times for Ramiro to go to the bank and then buy some corn on the cob at the side of the road to chomp on as a roadtrip snack, we pulled into Zacapa. We were greeted by our hosts, Carlos and Nora who are in charge of the school. We dropped off our luggage then headed with them right away to the hotel to bring dinner to a mission group staying there. We had dinner and visited with the group who were super friendly and welcoming to us. They are from Kansas and I was surprised to find out that we had some mutual friends. After dinner, we went back to the school and Nilss, our translator that we had on spring break stopped by to say hello and invite us to go with him and the group the next day which we were excited to have the chance to tag along. After that we were shown to our room and went right to sleep, exhausted from a day of traveling. Our room is actually pretty big and we have our own bathroom, I'll put up pictures later. Though we don't have air conditioning, it's really not as bad as I would have expected but it will take some getting used to. 

The next morning we slept through breakfast, explored the school a bit, practiced our tortilla making skills (we will need A LOT of practice) and then went with Carlos to the hotel to deliver lunch. After lunch we went with the other group to the village where they have been working all week and we got to help with VBS. We were welcomed with endless hugs and smiles from all of the precious little faces of the kids excited for another day of VBS. Cassie and I were pretty pumped that there were lots of babies to hold.

After VBS we got to go with the group to the house dedication service for the family that they had build the house for all week. The group built for an elderly couple who were overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. I felt blessed to be able to witness them receiving their home and to see the amazing relationships built between them and the group from Kansas. It's amazing to see what strong bonds can come out of only one week. It was a good reminder that God is doing big things here and is working through all kinds of people to show his love. St. Marks is just one of the many tools that he is using here in Guatemala. It is an awesome feeling knowing that brothers and sisters in Christ all over the place are working together for his glory.  

Everyone here is incredibly welcoming and kind to us, going out of their way to make this feel like home as much as possible. Last night we spent a lot of time talking to some of the high school students that live here at the boarding school. It was fun to start to get to know them and they were all super friendly and patient with our slow and broken spanish. I pray that these relationships continue to build. I've also had many encounters with my friend, Santos who I met on our previous trip. Yesterday we had about a 20 minute conversation where basically all I got from it was that he was going to bring food to the hotel. About 50% of our conversations with each other are laughing at each other, 30% of it is spent being confused, and 20% is actually understanding. But even with that I'm surprised at how much we can communicate anyway through the few words we know and lots of gesturing. I may become a pretty skilled actress after this summer! 

Though this is only our 3rd day here, it already feels like much longer. The country of Guatemala is breathtaking and the people are beautiful in every way possible. So far we are doing our best to fully embrace Guatemala, with the laid back lifestlye, no emphasis placed on the concept of time, and living by the motto, "No problemo!" I think that Americans have a lot to learn from the Guatemalans, to learn to treasure what is important and not rush so quickly through life that you miss some incredible moments. For Cassie and I some of those moments are super exciting to us and normal life for those living here, for example, holding a wild duck, riding in the back of the pick-up through town, making tortillas, and watching iguanas around the school. I'm not sure exactly what God has in store for us yet, right now we're just hanging out and getting our bearings but I know that I wouldn't be here if He didn't have something up His sleeve!