Day 1

I'm here! I made it safely to the children's home! My flight went very well....turbulence wasn't too bad! We watched a lame British movie called Starter for 10, but oh well! I want to send a HUGE thank you to Mrs. Diane Ochoa who gave my family specials passes so they could escort me to my gate! Oh and on my flight I met a lady who was going to Guatemala to meet the baby girl that she is going to adopt. She was very excited about it and I pray that God keeps her safe on her trip and that all goes well with the adoption. The Guatemala airport was actually a lot less terrifying than I thought it would be. It was fairly simple. I got off the plane, followed everyone to the customs counter, got a cart, got my bags, and then went to find Daniel and Kara. It was kind of funny when I came around the corner to the place where Daniel and Kara were meeting me. There was this huge line of Guatemalan people, who I felt like were staring straight at me....but I just looked up a little and I saw Daniel! He was very easy to spot!!!!! Me and 2 other interns arrived today and I think the last one arrives tonight! We got to experience riding in the van in Guatemala City! It was pretty interesting....Guatemala driving is pretty intense. Kara told me that stop signs are optional and that there aren't really lines on the road.....you just make your own lines! Kind of scary, but I guess it works here! We arrived around 1:15 (which is 3:15 U.S. time). It was lunch time here. I got two lunches today...pasta on the plane and then when I got here I had a noodle, broccoli, ham, and corn mixture, topped with a mayo/ketchup concoction. There was also watermelon, a side of lettuce and onion, tortillas, and then we also had cake for dessert for Kevin's birthday. Kevin is one of the kids at the home. When it's your birthday you get to choose what type of cake you want. Kevin chose white cake with chocolate icing topped with shaved coconut and pecans. It wasn't too bad for my first meal in Guatemala. After lunch I got to hang out with Daniel and Kara in their new apartment! It was lots of fun to hang out with them and catch up with what has been going on in each others lives. And their apartment is super nice! Right now, I'm in the intern/mission team kitchen/lounge. All of the interns are just kind of hanging out until dinner time, which is at 6PM. I'm not sure what is going on after dinner, but i guess I'll find out soon! Tomorrow we are having the intern orientation. Kara told me that she and Daniel are taking the interns to Antigua to visit the language school, meet the director, and then eat lunch at this really nice hotel. Sunday after church and lunch with the kids, Daniel and Kara will take 5 of us interns to Antigua to drop us off with our host families. I have to admit that it has been pretty overwhelming to be in a totally different country without my family with a lot of people that I don't know, but I'm definitely looking forward to the coming weeks! I hope all of you are doing well back in the U.S. and I will be back to post soon!