BC está en Guatemala

Feliz Dia de Los Padres!

2008-06-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

Many of my gifts that I bought in Antigua this past Friday were for my Dad for his Father's Day Present. I just wanted to post this picture of us during church today with him in his new Guatemalan shirt! He absolutely loved it!

BC made it back to States!

2008-06-15T14:24:00.000-07:00

I made it back to the states! After sitting in the airport for 5 hours and waiting for a delayed plane, I finally landed in the States at 9 PM! It was a good flight minus the slight delay, though. God was definitely working yesterday and I know from personal experience. I ended up sitting by a lady who is from Douglasville (my hometown)....how crazy is that! We talked for a long time on the flight about the mission work each of us is doing and about ourselves and lives in Douglasville. She is from Puerto Rica and is filled with Christ's spirit. She told me how she volunteered at the Pregnancy Resource Center in Douglasville and how they were in need of more spanish-speaking volunteers to help out since the Hispanic population in Douglasville is growing. She asked me to pray about it to see if I felt like God was calling me to volunteer there. She said that she sees God at work in women in crisis all the time and it's such a blessing to be a volunteer there. I'm thinking that this might be an answer to an unspoken prayer of mine. You see, recently, I've really been into working anywhere where I can use my Spanish and keep it up. I've already been blessed with two jobs where I can speak spanish 50% of the time. Maybe this is another one of those opportunities. I would just ask, if you would, please pray for me as well, at this time of decision. And it may be that this was only an "intro" into what kind of work I may be doing in the future or maybe God's calling me to volunteer there in the near future. But whatever comes out of yesterday's encounter, I truly thank God for being present at every second of my life and giving me awesome opportunities to share his love.

Go Dawgs!

2008-06-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

I got a picture of Giovani in his UGA sweatshirt last summer, but I brought my UGA sweatshirt this time hoping that I could get a picture of the both of us with them on. And tonight was the night! I walked in the Comedor and discovered that we were both (coincidentally) wearing our sweatshirts! Go Dawgs!

Antigua!

2008-06-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Some of the interns and I in Antigua!

I wasn't expecting to get to go to Antigua on this trip to Guatemala, but I did. Daniel, Kara, Danelle (one of the interns who was going to Antigua for language school), and I drove up there today. After dropping Danelle off at her host home, Daniel and Kara took me out to lunch at Café Condessa. It was really good. I got a strawberry-orange juice smoothie that was in a huge glass and was very yummy. I also had a white bean-garlic puree sandwich with spinach. It was pretty good too! After lunch, we went to the bank to change my money and then headed to Los Mercados where we met up with the other interns! I bought a lot of cool stuff, a majority of them were Father’s Day presents (P.S. Dad I think you're going to be excited). After a few hours of shopping, Daniel, Kara, and I headed back to Villa Nueva. On our way through Guatemala City, however, we stopped at Hiper Paiz and got chocobananas with nuts. It is probably the best tasting thing I’ve eaten on this trip! YUM!

Happy Birthday Rebeca!

2008-06-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Rebeca's 13th birthday today at dinner! Rachel made her pineapple upside down cakes that were absolutely delicious! The top picture is the card I made for her. I tried to make it look like the High School Musical 2 poster...emphasis on the word "tried". I have no idea if she realized that was what I was going for, but hopefully she liked it!

This is too precious not to post!

2008-06-12T21:47:00.000-07:00

I know I've already had a post on Josue's birthday, but I just got my hands on the video footage of all of us singing to him and it's absolutely precious!

Pizza with the older boys!

2008-06-12T20:34:00.000-07:00

We baked pizzas with the older boys tonight. You would have thought that the amount of clean up afterwards would be a lot less than we had after the little boys last night, but we were mistaken. I think they may have made a bigger mess than the little ones! But it was ok, we had a total blast and the pizza was super delicioso!

Meet Yak!

2008-06-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

Ruben, one of the boys at the home, has a pet baby iguana. His name is Yak, and I got to meet him the other day. I didn't think he was real at first until Ruben tried to put him on me and he moved! The little black string you see in the pictures below is Yak's leash!!!!

I don't think Astrid is into pet iguanas!

Bienvenidos a la cena de los Panqueques!

2008-06-12T11:30:00.001-07:00

Last night we had a special pancake dinner for the boys! They ate A LOT of chocolate chip pancakes with syrup, honey, and peanut butter on top. And then they had brownies for dessert! Talk about a sugar overload....there's no telling what time they all fell asleep! It was definitely a bit crazy...just imagine 11 little boys running around one little apartment room. Oh goodness! But we had a blast and the interns and I definitely slept well last night!

Randy helped out with stirring the pancake mix

Rachel with Juan David

Eliseo and his placemat (we made all of the little boys placemats with their names on them)

Eliseo really enjoyed his pancakes!

Rebecca with Javier and Eliseo

Danelle with Sammy, Josue, and Randy

You have no idea how hard it was to get all of the little boys to take this picture! We got really lucky!

A morning with Jorgito!

2008-06-12T11:25:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning, Rebecca (one of the interns) and I attempted to entertain Jorgito. We watched The Incredibles and colored. After the movie Jorgito and I walked around for a little while and played on the playground! I just love this little kid!

Pics from today!

2008-06-09T22:03:00.000-07:00

Kara and I at lunch. We stopped for lunch in between grocery shopping at ClubCo and Hiper Paiz!

I found another Doblebanana in Guatemala! How do I get so lucky?

Rony and Michelle

Look how precious Michelle looks after her bath! So cute!

Mambo's back, alright!

2008-06-08T21:31:00.000-07:00

Look who was at church today! YES!

Oh Jorgito!

2008-06-08T21:25:00.000-07:00

Jorgito is one of the newest little ones at the home! He is so cute, sweet, and precious, and I'm really enjoying getting to know him during my time here!

Happy 8th Birthday Josué!

2008-06-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

This post is just for Josué in honor of his 8th birthday! We had lots of fun celebrating with him tonight, and I really think he enjoyed his cake, cards, and present!
Josué and I on the way to church this morning

This is the picture Josué took of himself without my help!:)

Josué and his yummy birthday cake!

Wendy with Josué and his cake!

B got creative with her camera today!

2008-06-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

A Morning at McDonalds

2008-06-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

As a reward for good grades, some of the kids got to go to McDonald's this morning for breakfast! Some of the interns and I got to tag along! We had a great time and a delicious breakfast!

Day 3

2008-06-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

Today was filled with many fun times! I played cards with Juan David, read with some of the little boys, watched (or attempted to watch) a Veggie Tales video with Jorgito who has the chicken pox, got my nails painted by Delia, watched Francis pick lice out of Sheila's hair, and won a game a Gotcha (it's a basketball game)! Here are some pictures from today! :)

Josue and Randy

Me with my new friend, Randy!

Randy pretending to sleep

Pobre Jorgito! Chicken pox are no fun!

And we celebrated Kevin's 12th birthday today!

Lots of fun at the girls' house!

2008-06-05T20:33:00.001-07:00

I spent my afternoon and evening with the little girls! We had fun coloring pictures, and right before I left I watched Eslin give some of the girls haircuts!

Jessica and I ate suckers that turned our tongues blue today!

Angie just chilling on the table enjoying her sucker!

Gracias D!

2008-06-05T14:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of me and the cutest baby EVER (Michelle)! I got to hold her while the kids bombarded Kara with birthday cards and hugs last night before dinner! :) And thanks to Daniel for snapping this photo last night!

I'm here!

2008-06-05T13:31:00.000-07:00

I made it safely to the children's home and am already having tons of fun! (the internet has been down so that is why my first blog is delayed!) :) It's so great to be back here and be with everyone at NLCH! I have missed all of them so much! I met the new little ones yesterday (Jorge, Oscar, Iris, Randy, and Michelle) and they are as precious as can be! I've already gotten to play Go Fish and War with Sammy and Juan David, eaten a fair share of corn tortillas (YUMMY!), help dry dishes, help Patti make tortillas, and color with some of the kids. I've yet to eaten a chocobanana (chocolate bananas), though. I'm hoping I can get one soon because I'm craving them! :) I haven taken many pictures yet, but here is one that I took last night while I was playing cards with Sammy and Juan David!

BC is going back!

2008-06-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

I'm headed back to Guatemala for 10 days (I'm leaving Wednesday morning), and I thought I would keep my blog again to let you all know what's going on at the children's home! :) Keep checking back for new posts!

BC is back in the states!

2007-08-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

Well, after almosting missing my flight thanks to horrific Guatemalan traffic and having to wait an hour for one of my bags at baggage claim...I AM HOME!!!! I got to go to Moe's for dinner and eat a wonderfully delicious Sherman Klump (or should I say Super Kingpin) with chipotle ranch! YUM! It definitely feels good to be back in the states, but I am already missing the kids! It's really weird not seeing their faces or hearing them yell my name from across the way! Thanks to all who prayed for traveling mercies for me today!And please keep three of the interns in your prayers; they missed their flights and I haven't heard if they were able to get on another flight back to the states today!

A few pics of my last night at NLCH......

2007-08-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

[Alex and I]

[B y Huevo (Edgar)]

[Estela and I]

[Franki, Me, and Pablo]

[Salomon, me and Esdras]

Less than one day.....

2007-08-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

As of right now (4PM Guatemalan time), I have less than one day until I'm back in the states! I can't believe that August 6 is TOMORROW! This summer has flown by so fast! I would like to take this post to thank all of you who supported me (both financially and through prayer) while I prepared for this summer and while I was here in Guatemala! And thank you to all of those who sent me emails and/or left messages on my blog througout the summer! I'm so glad I was able to keep in touch with all of my friends and family, and that I was able to keep everyone updated on what I was doing through this blog! I'm really going to miss NLCH. It feels like a second home (where I have 49 brothers and sisters), and I hope that another visit here is in God's plan for my life (I'm hoping I can bring my family next time!)! Please keep the interns and I in your prayers as we travel back to the states tomorrow! I can't wait to see of you when I get back! Gracias por todos! God Bless!

Video Footage of Mambo King!

2007-08-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

Here it is! I've been wanting this video footage the entire summer and Beth finally got it last Sunday at church! Yes!

(For those of you who might not be able to pick him out from the rest of the people: Mambo King is the guy in the white shirt who is waving his arms in the air and dancing)

Un dia a la piscina!

2007-08-04T14:41:00.001-07:00

We took the level 2, 3, and 4 kids to the pool yesterday! They absolutely loved every second of it! Check out some of the pictures:

[Josue and Kevin]

[Liz and I hanging out by the pool]

[Beth, Jessica, Eslin, and I helped Minga cook the hot dogs for lunch]

[Sammy enjoying his lunch]

[Playing in the kiddy pool]

[Eliseo and Javier having fun on the tube in the wave pool]

Cooking breakfast......at 4:30 AM this morning!

2007-08-02T06:32:00.001-07:00

Teryn, Emily, and I woke up at 4:30 AM to help Jon and Minga cook breakfast for the kids. It was very early, but a lot of fun. We made derretidos- which are basically grilled ham, cheese, and egg sandwiches. We first buttered about 110 pieces of bread. Then Teryn and I cracked open eggs while Jon and Emily cooked them in the skillet. After the eggs were cooked, Jon, Teryn, and I assembled the sandwiches on the big round griddle thing. I would put the bread down, then the cheese; Teryn would then put the egg on; I would put ham on top of the egg; and then Jon would come behind me with a little more cheese and the other slices of bread to complete the derretidos. We burnt the first few because Teryn and I didn’t really know what we were doing (and we were a little slow), but we eventually got the hang of it. I think we ended making about 60 derretidos. And since we cooked, we also got to eat breakfast with the boys for the first time this summer (the girls eat in their houses so that’s why we only ate with the boys). They are pretty funny in the mornings because they are still half way asleep; but I don’t blame them….they do have to wake up at 5AM every morning! But anyways, we had a fun and delicious breakfast, and this was just one more chance for us to connect with the boys before we head back to the states in FOUR days!

[Spreading the butter on the bread]

[Jon cooking the eggs]

[Assembling the derretidos]

[The derretidos cooking on the griddle]

[Teryn with the spatula.....WATCH OUT! :)]

Intern Retreat at Panajachel!

2007-08-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our intern retreat at Panajachel! It was a great trip! We were able to sleep in, relax, shop, go on a boat ride, watch 5 episodes of "The Office", and share our experiences from the summer and things we have learned! Check out some pics:

[This was my view as I read my devotional this morning! Beautiful!]

[Me at the front of the boat]

[The girls on the boat]

[B falling overboard! Just kidding!]

[The interns at Pana]

Only one week left!

2007-07-29T23:09:00.000-07:00

I can't believe I only have ONE week left here at NLCH! The past two months have flown by! Tomorrow, Daniel and Kara are taking the remaining 6 interns (which are all girls...poor Daniel) to Panajachel for our Intern Retreat. This will be a time for us to relax, enjoy each others' company, and reminisce about our internship at NLCH- our favorite memories, our least favorite memories, the things God has revealed to us or taught us during this summer, etc. Please pray for safety as we travel tomorrow, as well as a safe and fun time on our retreat! And thank you all again for keeping me in your prayers this entire summer! God has watched over me and continues to watch over me! I'm so thankful for this home and for this summer! I'm so glad I spent my summer here!

Slumber party!

2007-07-28T10:12:00.001-07:00

Last night, we (the interns) had a "slumber party" with some of the older girls at their house. (I put slumber party in quotes b/c some of us actually went back to the dorms to sleep) The night started off with us making Cinnamon Roll Bread. We used a recipe from Donnie Webb (the guy who was here a few weeks ago and is the head of Construction at NLCH). We made 4 times the recipe because we wanted 4 loaves, but after we made the dough, we remembered that his recipe makes 3 loaves. We had one big ball of dough! It was pretty awesome! We had to let the dough rise twice so Emily finished preparing it this morning at 2AM so we would be able to eat it at breakfast. Eslin also braided my hair into tiny braids last night....my entire head of hair! It only took her an hour. I was impressed, especially when I asked her if her hands were hurting and she said no. Check out some pics of all the fun we had:

[Mixing the ingredients for the Cinnamon Roll bread]

[Kneading the dough]

[Enjoying a BlowPop sucker]

[Delia took a lot of random photos of Teryn and I last night]

[Getting my hair braided]

[Eslin and B after the braids were finished]

[Debora, Eslin, and Delia eating breakfast]

[Emily, me, Ibet, and Teryn enjoying our Cinnamon Roll bread at breakfast this morning]

A day in Antigua.....with the Bright Star team!

2007-07-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I got to go with the Bright Star group to Antigua, Guatemala. It was so much fun! The van I rode in had Daniel (the driver), Richard Jacobus, the Grucas, the Altomares, the Reynolds, and the Peteros. Getting to listen to their conversations and enjoy one another’s company was cracking me up! They are all so funny! Our first stop of the day was at La Iglesia de San Francisco. This is the church that holds the bones of Santo Hermano Pedro, the only saint from Guatemala. We walked around the ruins, looked at the museum (where we saw Pedro’s burlap underwear that he wore to punish himself), and we also got to see inside of the church. Our second stop of the day was at the coffee plantation. We had a Spanish tour guide because the English one was not there, so Daniel translated for the group! He did an excellent job! I think the team really enjoyed this place since a lot of them love coffee! We ate NI-FU NI-FA for lunch; it’s a REALLY good steak restaurant in Antigua! It was awesome! We had salads from the salad bar, garlic bread, French fries, and giant steaks. We also decided to have dessert and split them with another person. Kara and I ordered the cheesecake, which was not like cheesecake in the U.S. It had a good crust, but that was about it. The actual cake part had a tofu texture; it jiggled when I touched it! After lunch we headed to the market for shopping. I got to help out the Reynolds with buying jewelry and t-shirts, and then I also helped Heather Petero barter for some things for her friends. I mainly acted as their translator; it was fun and very good practice for me! Oh and Bob Reynolds was cracking me up while I was shopping with him and Nancy. He was trying to figure out an easy way to calculate the exchange rate for quetzals to dollars in his head, which is very hard to do since it’s about 7.5 quetzals for every dollar, but he was determined to find an easy way to do it! And then on the way home, every time someone would mention how much they paid for something at the market, he would try to figure out how many American dollars they had spent. We were all cracking up. Bob had also made the mistake (earlier in the day) of calling a quetzal a “casino”, so we got the pleasure of making fun of him all day for that, too! It was a fun day with the Bright Star team in Antigua! I’m SO glad I was able to tag along and hang out with for day!

[Me at La Iglesia de San Francisco]

[A few of us at the ruins at La Iglesia de San Francisco]

[Tim and Kara in the van]

[Riding with the Bright Star crew to Antigua]

[Jim drinking his free cup of coffee at the Coffee museum]

[Lisa enjoying her cup of free coffee]

[Kara and I sipping on our coffees]

[The Bright Star team at the Coffee museum]

[The restaurant where we ate lunch]

[Jack drinking his Pepsi at NI-FU NI-FA]

[Raise your hand if you want black beans for lunch!]

[Heather and I at NI-FU NI-FA]

[Me with my very yummy steak]

A Busy and Fun Week With Bright Star!

2007-07-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

The Bright Star team has kept me busy this past week, but I've loved every second of it! I'm so sad that they're leaving tomorrow...I wish they could stay one more week and then come home with me! Here are a few pics from this past week:

JUST KIDDING...JUST KIDDING! No worries....they DID do work this week and lots of it!
(Pics top to bottom: Richard working on a sculpture for the Comedor; Pam A. and Nancy painting the fishes that Richard made; Nancy painting Bob's face; Lisa and Debbie sharing some educational games for some of the teachers at New Life; Heather Petero painting guitars in the older boys' room)

Bright Star is working hard!

2007-07-23T16:34:00.000-07:00

The Bright Star crew is working hard! In the past three days they've already organized the supply closet, painted the boys' rooms, cleaned 26 childrens' teeth, done mulitple construction projects, fixed the telephones, and helped Kara with grocery shopping! They've also spent a lot of times with the kids painting faces; playing four square, basketball, and football; and watching the futbol games! Check out some pics of the team in action:

(Richard painting the boys' room)

(Diane painting an ocean scene in the little boys' room)

(Jack Checking out the ceiling)

(The Altomares eating lunch with Sammy!)

(Tim and Karla)

(Bob Reynolds working hard)

MAMBO KING!!!!!!!

2007-07-22T20:26:00.001-07:00

(Mambo King Walking towards us...he's the guy in the white suit in the middle!)

(My attempt at taking Mambo King's picture without looking obvious!)

So church was not only exciting because the Bright Star crew was there, but also because MAMBO KING came today! (Remember that "Mambo King"- that's not really his name, that's just what we call him- is the guy at church who dresses very flambouyantly and dances around during praise and worship time with his matching rag) When he first arrived at church today, Teryn, Beth, and I had a really good view of him- he was to our right a few rows up, but then the ushers moved him to the center, front row....the same as Pastor Jorge H. Lopez. He was wearing a white suit with black pinstripes and had a white rag today! Anyways, we were sad becasue we weren't able to get any close-up pictures or video footage before he moved. I attempted to take a video, but it was so dark that I couldn't hardly see him; plus, I had the camera at an akward angle because I was trying not to make it ovbious that I was taking a video. he wasn't as "dancy" today as he was last time, but that was probably because we only sang one fast song. I wasn't going to leave church today without getting a picture of him, so I decided to try to take one as everyone was leaving. Beth and I waiting around the front in hopes that he would walk by. I got some pretty good pics of him for trying to not be too obvious about it. For one of the photos, I tried to look like I was taking a picture of the stage. Kara came up to Beth and I right as he passed us, and she said that it would be so cool if we could get a picture with him...and that SHE would ask him. At first, i was a little hesitant, but then thought, "What the heck?" Sure enough, Kara went up to him (and his wife) and asked. She said that she told him that he is a favorite of our group and that we just really enjoy his way of worshiping the Lord (or something like that). She then told him that some of the girls wanted a picture with him. He told Kara, "Of course....it's all for the glory of God!" Him and his wife were so nice. He even said "Cheese" druing the picture. Afterwards, he and his wife were so nice; they were hugging us and saying (in English), "We love you" and "God Bless You!" It was so cool! This made my day! "All for the glory of God!" We're hoping now that he knows he is "popular" he will atleast come back once in the next two weeks....I mean, it would all be for the glory of God! Oh, it was an awesome day at the Mega Frater!!!

(Beth and I with the Mambo King and his wife!!! Oh yeah!!!)

Es tiempo para la dentista!

2007-07-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today, I spent all day helping Mrs. Gruca while she cleaned some of the kids teeth! She was able to get 17 of the boys' teeth cleaned today! She's awesome! I was in charge of going and finding the boys when it was their turn! I also did a little bit of translating and took a picture of each kid in the cool dentist chair! We thought that the little boys would be really scared of getting their teeth cleaned, but they were all excited about it! It was the older boys who were nervous! But I don't blame them; for many of them, this was only the second time they had ever seen a dentist/dental hygienist in their life (and for the others, this was their very first time!!)! I was impressed with how brave they all were! We're hoping that we can get finished with some of the older boys tomorrow! And at the rate Mrs. Gruca is going, she should be done in no time!!!
Photos: Mrs. Gruca with Sammy; Mrs. Gruca in action...cleaning Rony's teeth; Giovani with his cool shades on in the dentist's chair (we had the kids wear glasses so the dentist's lamp/light wouldn't bother their eyes);Mrs. Gruca with Ruben; Josue and I waiting in the Dentist's office

More Mumps (Case #3 AND #4)

2007-07-21T11:35:00.001-07:00

Two more cases of the mumps have popped up here at NLCH!! Jessica came down with the mumps yesterday morning, and then Nancy came down with it later yesterday afternoon! So that makes 4 cases of mumps in the last week! Fun, fun!

BSUMC is here!!

2007-07-20T13:20:00.000-07:00

The Bright Star team is here! I got to go with Daniel and Kara to pick them up from the airport! I'm so excited to see them all!!!! I'll be posting more soon (including some pictures)!!!!

Cousin Sue!

2007-07-19T09:04:00.000-07:00

Daniel, Kara, and I had a fun outing yesterday! We drove to Zone 10 of Guatemala City to have lunch and meet up with my mom's cousin (or my second cousin). "Cousin" Sue is a flight attendant for Delta and had a flight to Guatemala yesterday. She did my mom a HUGE favor and brought down 44 pairs of jeans. (My mom has been trying to find a place that can use all of the gently used clothing from our house that my sisters and I can't fit into anymore; and me being here, plus Sue's flight gave her the perfect opportunity to give them to NLCH!) Sue was staying at the Real Intercontinental until her flight this morning (Thursday morning), so we met up with her there. Having to meet Sue at her hotel gave Daniel, Kara, and I the perfect chance to hang out and have lunch together! We went to TGI Friday's downtown! It was really really good lunch! And when I asked for a to-go box for my hamburger, they brought back a to-go box with a brand new hamburger and another order of French fries…….what place does that in the U.S.? I was impressed!!!

(A picture of the outside of Sue's hotel)

Mumps #2

2007-07-18T09:31:00.001-07:00

So we were hoping that Yami would be the one and only case of mumps we would experience while we were here at NLCH, but that is not the case. Another girl from the home, Maria, just got back from the doctor a few moments ago, and she was diagnosed with the mumps. Since she is contagious, like Yami was, she has had to move into the Wheeler's house. This means that there will be a full house over there for the next week and a half; the interns (excluding Courtney and I, who are hosting the BSUMC team) moved over there yesterday. All of the beds are now occupied!!! Please continue to pray for Nurse Beth as she now has another patient to take care of, and also for Maria- for healing and for strength!

Fiesta de Superheroes!!!

2007-07-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night, the interns threw a Superhero Party for the level 3 and 4 kids. We all dressed up as our favorite superhero (whether real or made up). The kids were so cute and really got into dressing up. We helped many of the kids get ready for the party by painting their faces, making costumes out of construction paper, and giving some of them capes. At the party, we watched "The Incredibles" (in spanish with English subtitles) and chowed down on brownies, ice cream, gold fish, popcorn, and lemonade. YUM!
(Pictures top to bottom: Daniel dressed up as Kendon Wheeler (the director of NLCH; Everyone in their costumes; Painting the Superman emblem on Juan David's face; I went as Super Bailarina; Teryn, Emily, and Liz went as Hermanas Siamesas since the kids always ask them if their sisters because they think that they look alike!)

Mom?

2007-07-16T09:05:00.001-07:00

I think my mom has a long lost sister that was sent to Pennsylvania when she was younger. There is a lady here at NLCH that looks like she could be my mom's sister. Her name is Donelle (name starts with a "D" too....hmmm....too weird), and her and daughter (Jesse) have been here since last Wednesday. They've been helping us out a lot and are having lots of fun with the kids. Anyways, here is a picture of my mom and then below is a picture of Donelle with her daughter....

So what do you think? Is it just me or do they really resemble each other? I thought it was too weird. I told Donelle that she reminds me of my mom and then showed her a picture. She agreed and thought it was too funny! She also told me that if I ever felt like I needed a hug from my mom, then I could just let her know and she would give me one. How sweet!!!

A Day at the Beach!

2007-07-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Daniel and Kara took all of the interns to Villas de Pacifico, a resort/hotel on Puerto San José. We weren't actually allowed to swim in the ocean because of the tide and sharks, but we were able to stick our feet in. Oh, and the sand on the beach was BLACK...it was the first time I had ever seen black sand in my life. It was a pretty neat experience. We had a day pass (from 11AM- 4PM) to the resort's pool, free and unlimited drink bar, and lunch. The weather was great, too! I went through a whole bottle of sun tan lotion! It was a really great day of just hanging out by the pool and relaxing!
(Pictures from top to bottom: my shadow in the sand; Me at the ocean; the outside of the hotel's lobby; palm trees at the pool....i took this pic just for Kelsey!; hanging out by the pool)

A few days of playing "Mommy".........

2007-07-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

Like I've mentioned in a previous post, one of the girls here (Yami) has the mumps. She is having to stay in the Wheeler's house this week since she is contagious and a lot of the kids have not had their MMR shot. I've gotten to help out with taking care of her this week. I guess it's more like keeping her company than actually taking care of her. But anyways, I have really enjoyed spending time with her. We've done a lot of fun things, like play dominos with Beth and Emily, cook No Bake Cookies with Liz, watch High School Musical, have a picnic dinner while watching Pirates del Caribe (Pirates of the Caribbean), play with clay, and make bracelets. I've also gotten a lot more comfortable with speaking spanish around her. We've actually been able to carry on a few conversations without me pulling out my Spanish-English dictionary! And I really feel like a servant of God when I'm with her because I put my wants aside and concentrate on her needs and what she wants to do. I also feel like I've been playing "Mommy", especially these past two nights as I have read her bedtime stories (in spanish). I said a bedtime prayer for her tonight after the stories. It was a very special time for me! :)

Las Clases de Danza

2007-07-11T09:22:00.000-07:00

I started the dance classes for the girls at the school and the home yesterday. Here's how it all went down: So it started to pour down rain at 1:40PM, but I just packed up all of my stuff in my bookbag, threw on my poncho, grabbed my umbrella, and headed to the gym. Two o'clock (the time for the first class) rolled around and no one was in the gym except me. I figured I would give them 10 or 15 minutes since it was still raining and since no one is really ever on time in Guatemala. Shelly came after she finished lunch to help me; that was around 2:15PM and there were still no girls in sight. I started to get a little sad and discouraged, but I tried to be hopeful. Around 2:25PM, Eslin (one of the girls from the home) came into the gym and asked me why I hadn't called the girls to come for the dance class; they were sitting in front of the school waiting. I told her that I didn't know that I was supposed to call them and that I was so sorry that they had been waiting. She went and got them for me and we were still able to have 30 minutes of the first class. There were about 6 girls in that first class. And thank goodness for Shelly. She was my translator. It is VERY hard to try to explain dance moves in spanish and also count in spanish while doing the steps at the same time!! Whoa....my brain was going crazy!!! The 3 o'clcok class started on time and ended up going very well, too. There were about 8 girls, including Delia (another girl from the home). I think the 4 o'clock class, however, was my favorite. This class was consisted of the older girls from the home so I knew all of them. And I'm teaching them a dance to the song "We're All In This Together" from High School Musical, which is just as big here as it is in the states, and the girls looked like they enjoyed it. The younger girls' class was at 5 PM. I was very tired at that point as you can probably imagine. The girls were being very silly and were being distracted by the other kids that were playing in the gym. I was getting very frustrated and didn't have much patience left in me, but I kept pushing on. Thankfully, Liz and Christy (2 of the interns), were there and helped me out. Caleb also helped to get the other kids out of the gym so we could have class. I had a really hard time coming up with things to teach the younger ones. I tried kicks across the floor and then decided to do some center floor stuff, like jazz squares, 3-step turns, pivot turns, and the grapevine, but they just didn't seem into it. I didn't think they would be able to do the High School Musical dance that I had taught to the older girls, but I decided to try it anyways because I couldn't think of anything else to do.....my brain was shot....and I really needed something to grab their attention. Even though they had a pretty hard time remembering the steps, they were definitely into the dance. They LOVE anything that has to do with High School Musical! :) I was planning on doing a 45 minute class with the younger ones, but stopped after 30 minutes. I think that was enough for them and me!!! I realized that I'm really going to have to think about what I want to teach these younger ones. It's a lot harder, for me, to come up with stuff for the younger ones and then try to explain it to them in spanish. I might still continue with the High School Musical dance, but just make up some much easier steps for them. So overall, classes went very very well!! Kara even told me that the girls were talking at dinner last night about how the classes were "chilero", which means "cool" in spanish, so that was really encouraging. Classes definitely wore me out, but I would love to keep on teaching if the girls want to keep learning!

Mumps, ear infections, warts, amoebas, and now maybe chicken pox?

2007-07-10T09:15:00.000-07:00

Ever since Kendon and Wendy (the directors of NLCH) left for their visit to the states, the kids (and some of the adults here) seem to be getting sick every time we turn around. At the moment, here is what we have:
- 4 or 5 boys have open scabs from where they had warts removed; and these have to be medicated twice a day
- Alex, Damaris, and Dani have had ear infections this past week
- Delia (and I think maybe Solomon and Reuben) are recovering from amoebas (or some stomach virus). And now one of our kitchen ladies, Minga, has them (as of this morning)!!
- Vivian, the secretary, is out this entire week. She thought she had Typhoid fever, but the doctor said that wasn't it. He just told her that she needed to rest for many many days.
- Yami, one of the girls here, has the mumps and is staying in the Wheeler's house since she is contagious and none of the kids have had that shot.
- Josue woke up with a 102.8 fever and a few red dots on his body yesterday morning. He got a shot for the fever and it was gone by yesterday afternoon, but there wer still some spots (we're waiting to see if any more appear.....who knows....it might just be the chicken pox!)

Please pray for healing for all of these children and adults who are sick. And please keep Beth in your prayers as well. She is a nursing student who has taken over for Wendy this summer. She is getting lots of practice, but I know she has to be exhausted from running around trying to make sure all of the kids take their medicines and get bandaged up!

A Very Special Dinner!

2007-07-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday night, we had a special dinner for all of the older kids (age 15 and up). Teryn, Kara, Courtney, Beth and Christy did the girls' hair while Scott, Liz, Emily, Caleb, Shelly, and I decorated the Comedor. All of the girls looked gorgeous in their outfits, and the boys looked handsome in their attire as well. When the kids first arrived we took their pictures in the garden. Once they entered the Comedor, Kara and Daniel served them a very special drink made with 7-up, cherries, and an orange slice on the side. Once they all arrived and were seated, we served them salad and garlic bread. The interns then put on a humorous Relationship Skit that turned out to be a hit. After the skit came the Lasagna, which was delicious!!! Next, we had the 3 married couples (Edwin & Reina; Daniel & Kara; and Christy and Caleb) play our version of the Newlywed Game. It was pretty funny! And congratulations to Daniel and Kara, the winners of our game!!!! Our theme for the night was "Dios me Completa" (God Completes Me). We wanted to explain to these young adults (since they are at the age where they want boyfriends and girlfriends) that a boyfriend or girlfriend can't complete us; only God can fully complete us. During dessert (Cheesecake with strawberry topping), Beth gave her testimony and did such an awesome job! She also emphasized our theme when she was talking about her relationship with her current boyfriend (who is also her first boyfriend). I really liked the quote she used, too (it goes something like this): If you just keep running towards God, one day you'll look beside you and there will be someone running right next to you! How cool! It turned out to be an amazing night, and I really think the kids enjoyed it!
(Pictures from top to bottom: The Comedor and all of it's pretty decorations; Pablo and Esdras; Ramsis sportin' the Mohawk; Chepe, Estela, Astrid, Jenifer, and Jon at their table; Marta, Deborah, and Sandra)

On the way home from church.....

2007-07-08T12:41:00.000-07:00

I sat with Rony and Herbert on the way home from church today. I started out with about 5 inches of space to sit and then noticed, about ten minutes into the ride, that the amount of seating room I had kept getting smaller and smaller. I soon realized that Rony had fallen asleep on my shoulder and his weight was what kept pushing me over!!! It was too precious!!!

More photos from our 4th of July Fiesta!

2007-07-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

(Top to bottom: Maria and I; some of the kids in the pool in the garden; the servers of our delicious feast; the little ones playing in the water; Josue playing with sparklers)

El Dia de la Independencia de los E.E.U.U.

2007-07-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

We had our big 4th of July fiesta yesterday and it was a BIG success!!!! We started at 4PM with games, like the 3-legged race, dizzy bat spin, and the wheelbarrow race. After the games, we let the kids play in the pool in the garden and we also had face painting and snacked on popcorn balls. We ate dinner around 6 PM; we had hamburgers with the works, chips, lemonade, apple cobbler, and homemade ice cream. After dinner we had our carnival. Our games included the cupcake walk, water bottle knock down, ping pong toss, Around-the-World basketball game, and a watermelon seed spitting contest. The kids were also able to get prizes afterwards with the points they received from winning or participating in the games. The most exciting part came last- the FIREWORKS! Scott (one of the interns) and Jon (one of the kids at the home who now works here) shot off lots of fireworks! There were a lot more than I expected there to be! It was too cool! We then lit all the kids' sparklers and they ran around for about 15 minutes having fun with those! It was, by far, one of the best 4th of July fiestas I've ever participated in!!!! And a special thanks to Scott and Courtney for all of their hard work! You guys are awesome!!

The lunch I've been waiting for.......

2007-07-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for this meal ever since Kara and Daniel wrote about it on their blog, and we finally had it at lunch today......the Guatemalan hot dog (a tiny hot dog, guacamole, and cabbage all wrapped up in a tortilla). Even though it ended up being one of my least favorite meals, I'm still very glad I got to experience it!!! (The plate in the picture isn't actually mine...it's Sammy's plate. I wasn't brave enough to try it all together. I just ate the hot dog by itself and then the cabbage with teh guacamole on top, which I know is not any less weird)

4 de Julio: Preparación

2007-07-04T10:43:00.001-07:00

The other interns and I spent most of the day yesterday preparing for our 4th of July Fiesta! We are really excited about it! We made over 100 "Ooey-gooey" Popcorn balls and 48 cupcakes for our carnival. I cut up 17 bags of marshmallows; I cut each marshmallow into fourths. It was a lot, but I got them all cut! Here are some pictures of all of the fun (top to bottom): Teryn and Courtney rolling the popcorn balls; Emily stirring the butter and marshmallow mix; Independence Day Man (Caleb)- he did an advertisement about our party at lunch yesterday; Me cutting up a billion marshmallows; Liz and her yummy Funfetti cupcakes.

Some more pictures from the STOMP Praise Night!

2007-07-04T10:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few more pics from our STOMP Praise Night! Top to Bottom:
Our cup game advertisement; the basketball stomp routine; Creating our painting to Gladiator music; one of the Gracias signs the kids created.

Laundry!

2007-07-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

Like I mentioned in the previous blog, I did my laundry (myself) for the first time since I've been here today! I had my laundry done twice while in Antigua, but I didn't have to do it. I took it to a laundry mat where they washed, dried, and folded it all for me. Anyways, instead of using dryers here they still hang their clothes out on the line, but since it was raining today I utilized the empty room in the intern house!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

2007-07-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

After getting in the bed at 11:30PM last night, I definitely know I heard my watch’s hourly beep THREE times, which means I didn’t fall asleep until AFTER 2 AM (for the second night in a row). And my body woke-up sometime around 6 AM or so because I laid in the bed trying to go back to sleep a good while before my alarm went off at 6:30 AM. I think sleeping in until almost 10 AM and my hour long nap at 4 PM yesterday was what kept me from sleeping last night. And I wasn’t the only one who had this problem. It seems that everyone had a hard time falling asleep last night. (Oh and it also wasn’t fun waking up to find myself scratching my feet due to all of the bug bites. There are so many....my whole foot looks like it is swollen from all of the bites). Only getting 4 hours of sleep last night really made it difficult to stay awake in church today. I was doing everything I could to not fall asleep. I didn’t even try to translate the sermon, I was so tired; all I know is that the preacher continued with the Family Series and talked about mothers. After church, Daniel and Kara took the interns (along with Kara’s parents and Christy’s mom who are visiting this week) out to lunch at the Chili’s in the MiraFlores Mall (one of the nicest malls I’ve ever been to.....it definitely beats many American malls). Getting to eat at Chili’s was a really treat for me because I hadn’t been to a Chili’s in so long since they closed down the one in Douglasville a few years ago. The “American” food tasted SOOOO good. I didn’t realize how much I missed it. I had the Turkey Combo with the veggie medley. A house salad came with my meal, but I ended up giving it to Liz because they got her order mixed up. She wanted the “Crispy Chicken Ensalada” (salad), but the waiter obviously didn’t hear the “ensalada” part because he brought her just the “Crispy Chicken” plate. We had lots of fun at lunch and we were very thankful for the food!!! As soon as we got back to NLCH, I took a 2 hour nap to make up for the lack of sleep from last night. I’m just hoping it won’t affect me going to sleep tonight. I don’t know if I can handle 2 nights in a row of not being able to fall asleep. (P.S. to my mom.....just in case you were wondering- I did my laundry myself for the first time since I’ve been here today!) Here are some pictures from our lunch at Chili’s (top to bottom): Scott and Courtney; Shelly, Beth, and Liz; Courtney, me, and Emily.

STOMP Praise Night

2007-06-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

Last night, all of the interns put on a "STOMP" praise night for the kids. In this service, we did different things to show how we can worship God in everything we do. We had a basketball stomp routine that four of us did to show how we can worship God through sports; I got to dance while the team painted a picture of all the things that God creates (in the top picture); we sang a song called "Gracias" and had the kids right/draw what they were thankful for on poster board; we played one of the kids' favorite songs and had them make different rhythms using the tables, their hands, and/or feet; and the interns also made a cool rhythm out of kitchen utensils. I feel like it all went really well! God was definitely present during that service last night and I think some of the kids were really touched! It was a very special night!

Happy Birthday D!

2007-06-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

We got to celebrate Daniel's birthday yesterday! It all started at 6AM with firecrackers (just like they do for everyone else's birthday). We also made a chocolate cake (with a big "D" in sprinkles) and 72 cupcakes, and we sang "Happy Birthday" to him at dinner! It was a lot of fun!

Dinner at the boys' table!

2007-06-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few pics of me with some of the boys at dinner the other night!!! They are so much fun to eat with and super sweet!!!! I just love these little guys! [from top to bottom: Eliseo and I; Me, Kevin, and Sammy; Javier (Eliseo's older brother) and I; Me with Sammy and Giovani; Sammy eating his Huevo Taco (egg taco)]!!!

Something has bitten me!

2007-06-26T16:02:00.000-07:00

Something has bitten me. I looked down at my arm today right before lunch and saw that there was a huge bump (bigger than the size of a quarter) on the inside of my wrist that was NOT on the other arm. Luckily, "Nurse Beth" took care of me. She gave me some Benedryl and some itch cream. The Benedryl knocked me out for 2 hours this afternoon.....that was one good nap! The swelling has gone down a little bit, but it's still about the size of a quarter.

Pacaya Footage!

2007-06-23T16:12:00.000-07:00

Rain at NLCH!

2007-06-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

So while the Calvary team and some of the other interns were in Antigua today with Daniel and Kara, Liz and Emily protected the dorms from flooding while I baked cookies!!!

Adiós y Gracias por todos

2007-06-23T10:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my last day of lanuage school! It was sad to be leaving our host family and teachers, but I was also excited to be getting back to NLCH! Here are some pictures from my time in Antigua (top to bottom): My teacher, Lucia, and I at our table; the outside of our school; The interns with the Alexander brothers, Robert and Michael. We climbed Pacaya with these guys; Me with 3 of 6 members of our host family, the Olviedos; pic from the rooftop of the school.

¡Yo comí mi doblebanana esta noche!

2007-06-21T19:34:00.000-07:00

I just got done eating my DobleBanana. It wasn't connected on the inside (as seen by the photo) so i basically ate two seperate bananas....but they sure were good! YUM!

Prayers for a friend........

2007-06-20T12:54:00.001-07:00

Shelly, one of the interns, received a call today from Kara, who told her that Corrine, another intern, is very sick, and they are trying to get her a flight home! We are all very worried b/c Kara didn’t give any details. All she told Shelly was that Corrine wanted her to come back to NLCH so she could say good-bye before she went back to the states. Please be with us in prayer- for traveling mercies for Shelly as she travels back to NLCH, for Corrine’s safety and health as she flies back home, and for everyone at NLCH because our first team of the summer arrived today, so I’m sure it’s pretty crazy at NLCH at the moment!!!

La DobleBanana!

2007-06-20T11:56:00.000-07:00

Each day at 10 AM we get a (much needed) thirty minute break at school (and I actually learned today that it is part of the culture to have a break at that time since Guatemalans usually eat breakfast very early......around 6 AM or so). During the first part of my break I usually go to La Bodegona (a supermarket right down the street from the school) to buy fruit for my snack since we don't always eat it at meals. During today’s trip to La Bodegona I made an awesome discovery: La DobleBanana! Two giant bananas joined together!! I was very impressed and it was kind of exciting to know that I would get to eat such a ginormous piece of fruit!! Here are some pictures of my Banana Grande (o DobleBanana as I like to call it!) Just look at all of that Potassium! YUM!

Salsa with the Guatemalans!

2007-06-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

So I just got back from a free salsa class with Liz, Emily, and Shelly. And can I just say that it was SO much fun!!!! Even if I looked really "white" and goofy doing it, I don't care! There were 22 people (10 boys and 12 girls) in this tiny room, sweating like crazy, but we didn't care. We learned the basic salsa step, the side step, the back step, and the basic salsa turn. I totally got all of the steps....i was just lacking the Guatemalan skin! I was trying to move my hips like the lady instructor, but my hips just don't move that way. Half of the guys in the class were instructors and/or dancers at the dance school b/c there weren't enough visiting boys for every girl to have a male partner...and the lady instructor actually had to dance the boy part since we were one boy short. I thought that dancing with the experienced dancers would be a bit intimidating, but it wasn't at all...it was so much fun! One of the dancers reminded me of a choreographer I had in high school whose name is Ricardo- his outfit, his smile, and his mannerisms were just Ricardo's- it was too funny! Liz, Emily, Shelly, and I wish that we would have discovered the class last Monday because they have FREE salsa classes at 5PM every Monday and Tuesday! But we are going to try to find some other free salsa classes for tomorrow or Thursday so we can get in as much salsa as possible before we go back to NLCH!

Mi cuento!

2007-06-19T19:33:00.001-07:00

For the past few days, my teacher and I have been working on the Preterite and Imperfect tenses of verbs. My homework (o mi tarea) for last night was to write un cuento infantile (a children’s story). Lucia told me that it could be simple, but when I started writing, my story turned out to be longer than I expected. Anyways, I was quite proud of my story, but I was nervous at the same time because I wasn’t totally sure if I had used the tenses correctly. BUT when Lucia was looking at my story this morning she only found THREE grammar mistakes!! You have no idea how ecstatic I was!! It was such a relief (and an encouragement) to know that the material was sinking in, especially after yesterday! So anyways, I thought I would share my story with you guys!!!!

El Cuento de Kelsey y Hilary:

Había una chica que se llamaba Kelsey. Un día ella quería cocer un pastel porque estaba aburrida. Pero no tuvo ningunos ingredientes. Decidió ir al supermercado. Ella encontró la receta y cuando salía Hilary venía hacia la casa. Kelsey dijo a su amiga sobre el pastel y Hilary decidió ayudarla. Cuando ellas caminaban al supermercado Kelsey recordó que ella olvidó el dinero en la casa. Entonces ellas fueron a la casa y encontraron el dinero. Eran las seis menos veinte de la tarde y el supermercado estaba abierto hasta seis de la tarde. Ellas corrieron rápidamente. Comenzó a llover cuando ellas corrían. Kelsey lloraba cuando estaba lloviendo pero ellas continuaron corriendo. Llegaron al supermercado a las seis menos siete pero ellas necesitaron mucho tiempo para comprar los ingredientes. Había ocho ingredientes en la receta. Así Kelsey buscó cuatro ingredientes y Hilary buscó los otros cuatro ingredientes. Eran las seis menos uno cuando ellas pagaron al cajero. ¡Ellas estaban muy alegres! Ellas regresaron a la casa y comenzaron cocer el pastel. Ellas cocieron cuando la madre de Kelsey llegó. La madre estaba alegre de que su hija coció un pastel. Y ellas comieron el pastel por todo la noche. ¡El fin!

Things I wish I would have brought with me (had I had more room!):

2007-06-18T19:13:00.001-07:00

- DVDs (for rainy days in Antigua. Luckily, Teryn brought The Pursuit of Happyness, but we've had to spread it out over a couple of nights to make it last longer)
- One or two more jackets (so I would have one to wear while my other ones were getting washed)
- My pillow :)
- Ear plugs (so I can read and study in my room in Antigua....the walls are basically paper here so you can hear EVERYTHING that goes on- conversations, people using the bathroom, fireworks, parties, etc.)
- EX-LAX or something of that nature (I don't think you need a explanation for this one......)
- A refrigerator full of fruits and veggies (ok, ok...I know...this one is definitely not realistic...but I can wish, can't I? LOL)

So I'm definitely surviving without all of these things, but these are just things that I often wish I had with me...oh well, I guess I'll know to bring these next time! :)

¡Hacia, Hace, Desde hace....AHHHHHH.....no mas, por favor....no mas!

2007-06-18T18:55:00.001-07:00

Oh man, today was probably the most mind-boggling day for me and my teacher. She attempted to teach me how to say phrases like "Seven years ago..." and "For two weeks I......." but my brain was just not grasping it. I think the problem was that I was trying to translate the sentences into English in my head, but they were not making ANY sense. For ejemplo (example....I'm trying to study and write on my blog at the same time!), the phrase "Bebí leche hace cinco días" means "I haven't drank milk for five days" BUT I you try to translate it out word for word it says, "I drank milk ago five days." Oh my goodness...it was crazy and I'm sure my teacher was getting frustrated.....I mean, I was getting frustrated, not at my teacher, but at the fact that this did not make any sense in English. I understand the concept/idea of it but like I said, translating it into a sentence in English is a totally different story! So after about an our of frustration we moved onto to some easier topics, like Progresivo (adding the spanish "ing" to words) and Pronombres de objeto directo (Direct Object Pronouns....like "it, him, them, you, etc.") We also continued to work on imperfect and preterite tenses of verbs. I just think my biggest problem with trying to learn spanish is that I translate EVERY little thing into English and I know it has to frustrate my teacher. I know what my teacher has said or written (most of the time), but I think I confuse myself when I attempt to translate it ALL in my head. Oh well, I guess that's ust part of the learning process! :)

It was bound to happen sooner or later.......

2007-06-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

I’m definitely feeling homesick right now. I just got back from a service at the Cathedral (a Catholic church) in the Central Park. Emily and Liz had told me that they had heard that there were two services, one at 9:30 AM and then another at 10:30AM. Since they weren’t completely sure I thought I would just arrive at 10 AM and just see what was going on. Teryn was sick this morning so she definitely didn’t feel like going anywhere so I just went alone, figuring that I would meet up with Liz and Emily there. When I arrived at 10AM, there was definitely a service going on, but people were still going in and sitting down. I decided to just go in and sit down. I figured that if I had gotten there at the end of the first service then I would just stay for the second. Liz and Emily had said that they were going to go to the 10:30 AM service so I figured that I would just wait and see if they showed up. Well, 10:30 AM rolls around and the service is still going on and is not looking like it’s about to end, and I still had not seen Emily or Liz. I started to feel really homesick at that point. Being there alone and having no clue what was going on made me really miss the comfort of Bright Star. And it sure doesn’t help that the wireless connection our room is down. I haven’t been able to get a signal since last night, which totally stinks (even though we're pretty spoiled b/c the other interns don't have wireless at all...so i guess I should be thankful for our wireless). Teryn and I decided to go to Pollo Campero for lunch today because they have free wireless! We’re hoping that the wireless connection starts working again at our house b/c if not, then we will be spending a lot of time at Pollo Campero!

A few more Pacaya pictures!

2007-06-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

Who needs Gold's Gym when you've got PACAYA? :)

2007-06-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

This morning, at 6 AM, Teryn, Liz, Emily, two brothers we met at school (Robert & Michael), and I loaded onto a bus with a bunch of other people and headed to Pacaya (a volcano in Guatemala). We arrived at the “park” around 7:45 and began our 3 km climb at 8 AM. It was a tough climb; I’m not going to lie! There was only about a 100 m stretch that was flat and the rest was all up hill. There was also A LOT of horse poop on the trail, so we had to be very careful to not step in it! It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the base of the volcano. And then it took another 20 minutes or so to climb to where we were right next to hot, falling lava. The climb up to the lava was the hardest part. The rocks were not always sturdy/stable and they were very sharp, so it’s not like we could have used them to support ourselves as we climbed up. It was pretty cool to be so close to the hot lava, but it also made me a little nervous, especially when I looked down. And the volcano was constantly making noises. Sometimes it sounded like it was shooting missiles towards us, and than at other times it sounded like dinosaurs. The other interns and I kept commenting on how being at the volcano made us feel like we were in a scene from Lord of the Rings. On one side there was the black volcanic rock (like after a fight scene) and then we would turn around and there would be beautiful green mountains (like when Frodo and the gang were peacefully traveling the hills to get to some important destination). Anyways, I hung out at the lava for about ten minutes while I ate my apple and then I headed back down. Oh and it was SUPER hot near the lava (obviously) and the rubber on some people’s shoes melted a little. The climb down went a lot faster than the climb up. It only took us about an hour to get down. My legs were shaking the entire time (from both nerves & exhaustion) and my knees were aching. We made it back to San Francisco (the name of the village where the “park” was) around 11:30AM and were more than ready to get back to Antigua! It was DEFINITELY worth the Q100 (about $14) we paid for the tour guide, transportation, and park entrance fee, though. AND my tiny bladder survived too. I purposely didn’t drink anything this morning and I used the bathroom right before we started, and I didn’t have to use the bathroom once during the climb. It was amazing & a miracle! Praise be to God for a safe trip AND not having to go to the bathroom during it!!!

This one is for Kelsey.....

2007-06-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take a trip to the Antigua Gym Wednesday afternoon to see what it was all about! It only costs Q25 for a day pass, which is only $3.27 in the U.S. The gym looks pretty cool inside. It’s not exactly “indoors”; if you were to look up, it kind of looks like there is a big circus tent overhead. There are rooms surrounding this open area where there is a small fountain and a wooden floor (which I’m guessing is used for their aerobics, pilates, tae-bo, and karate classes). The “circus tent” is over the open area. Anyways, I arrived around 4:40 PM and saw that they were going to be having their “Spinning” class at 5:30PM. I figured a spinning class in Spanish would be well worth my time so I hung out and did the elliptical until it was time. The elliptical machine was exactly like the one at Gold’s Gym so I already knew how to work it!!! So 5:15 rolls around and I decide to go set up on one of the bikes in the second row. I was glad I set up when I did because all 14 bikes were all filled up by 5:25PM. There were a few people who spoke English, 2 that spoke German, and the rest spoke Spanish. The class, like I said, was suppose to start at 5:30, but the instructor didn’t show up until 5:40PM. She then had technical difficulties with the stereo equipment and finally decided to have the music played over the gym’s sound system. However, we could barely hear the music from where we were at. So we finally began around 5:45PM. We began the class up out of our seats, as if we were climbing a mountain....and we stayed their for the entire first song! I couldn’t really understand anything that the instructor was saying- only a few words here and there. She kept yelling out numbers, like “Noventa” or “Seisenta”, which I’m guessing meant we were suppose to be giving that much percent…but I really don’t know. At the end of the first song, one of the gym’s workers finally came over and fixed the stereo for our instructor. So on our second song, we could actually hear the music; however, the CD began to skip after a few seconds. The instructor realized it, but kept on going for one more song. She finally changed CDS, which solved the skipping problem. Oh and this instructor wasn’t even on her bike half the time. She would just get off whenever she wanted to and walk around, get water, etc…..it was kind of weird and pretty unfair…I mean, she was making us “climb a mountain” for like 10 minutes straight while she was just chillin’ out. Thank goodness the class only lasted 30 minutes. :) I have to say that Gold’s Gym and their instructors (and the music) are 5 billion times better, but I am glad that I got to experience the Antigua Gym! Oh yeah, and this gym didn’t have AC since it is open to the outside so I was sweating up a storm. I do want to go back, but I don’t think I’ll do the spinning class again. I kind of want to try the pilates or aerobics classes. So Kelsey, even though I won’t get a chance to go to the Gold’s here in Guatemala, I still got to experience “gym life” here!!

The Jade Factory & Doña Luisa

2007-06-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

(Pictures top to bottom: Emily and I; Liz and Teryn; the sign...probably don't even need an explanation for that, but oh well; and our attempt to get a picture of the "famous" guy without being noticed!)
So yesterday, the other interns and I decided to go on the Jade Factory/Museum tour with our school (jade is really big here in Guatemala, especially in jewelry). There were only 4 other people who came along and we quickly figured out why! First of all, the tour guide spoke in Spanish – and that wouldn’t have been so bad if my brain wasn’t already tired of it- plus I could barely hear what our tour guide was saying. He was so quiet. We saw how jade was sanded and made into figurines, jewelry, etc.; the history of jade; and a bunch of jewelry that was made out of jade. After the tour, Emily, Teryn, Liz, and I went to Doña Luisa- a little café/bakery. This place smelled so good!!! It was awesome! Emily & Teryn got pineapple smoothies, Liz got Cocunut ice cream, and I had a boring Sprite because my stomach was being funny. It’s all of those starches….they’re just stopping me up! The girls let me taste each of their treats, though, and they were pretty good. We had lots of fun taking goofy pictures and talking about how Teryn’s teacher, Omar, has a crush on her and wants to marry her! After about 15 minutes, we noticed that there was some type of interview going on behind us a few tables back. This lady had her little recorder out and was asking this guy a lot of questions. We thought he might be some important political guy so we pretended to take pictures (I've included one for you here for your enjoyment) and a video of ourselves in an attempt to eavesdrop. Come to find out, this guy was some famous architect here in Guatemala who also writes poetry. We kind of like our political person story better, so we’re going to stick with that one. After Doña Luisa, we walked to the park and discovered that some marching band was playing under the arches. We sat on the stairs and listened to them play for about half an hour until it started to rain. Luckily, Teryn and I didn’t have far to walk since our house was just around the corner, but the raindrops were huge so we still got pretty wet!

My Grandma Camp would be proud.....

2007-06-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many starchy/carbohydrate-rich foods in one day in my life! I've come to the conclusion that about 85% of Guatemalan meals (or atleast the meals with our host family) are grains/breads and starchy vegetables. Let’s take yesterday for example:
Breakfast: A sweet roll AND a huge piece of bread w/ our omelet
Lunch: Spaghetti, more bread, AND cake
Dinner: Spaghetti (leftovers from lunch), even more bread, black beans, and plantains (even though I didn’t even eat these! LOL!)

Whoa! Talk about carb loading! But you know what…my Grandma Camp would be proud! She always said that anyone could survive off of bread and butter. I sure am eating a whole lot of it AND I’m surviving, so I guess she was right! However, eating a lot of starchy foods can stop you up quite easily, if you know what I mean, especially if you're not used to eating so many! And that is definitely no fun!

More pictures of Antigua!

2007-06-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

(Top to bottom) some historical building at the park; the front of my host family's home; me at the arc; a street in Antigua.

God IS love!

2007-06-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the Earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. (Psalms 103: 10-14)
Philip Yancey includes this passage of scripture in his book, Prayer: Does it Make a Difference, which I'm reading right now. I really like this passage because it is just one more reminder to me that God is love and he does NOT see us as the world sees us. He is NOT a God who is waiting to strike us down every time we make a mistake. He is sad when we sin, but our sins do not make Him hate us or love us any less. Isn't that just so beautiful?

TERREMOTO!

2007-06-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

Right as we were finishing up our lunch today (which was around 1:29 PM), the house started to shake. After a few seconds of obliviousness and after our host mom jumped out of her seat, I realized that it was an earthquake. We had to go downstairs and wait for it to pass, but we were only down there a minute or so. The quake was centered 70 miles southwest of Guatemala City, which I think is about 40 miles or so from Antigua. People in El Salvador supposedly felt it too. But even though it was a 6.8 we really didn't feel much. According to MSNBC.com, the only damage was near the Pacific Coast and it was due to some mudslides that resulted from the quake! So other than that I think everything is ok! Just thought I'd let you know that I'm safe in case some of you were worrying! :)

Cerro del Cruz

2007-06-12T20:15:00.000-07:00

Every Tuesday and Thursday our language school offers free excursions for the students. Today, the excursion was to Cerro del Cruz. We climbed 314 steps to get to the top of the hill! It was a bit tiring, but definitely worth it. It was also drizzling the whole time, but that didn't really bother us! Here are some of the pictures from our little excursion: (very top to bottom) the interns; Antigua from Cerro del Cruz; Me in front of the cross; standing on top of a wall that had a drop off on the other side....Just kidding (I put that one on here just for you, Mom!); and looking at the cross and Antigua from the hill

It feels like I'm paying so much, when I'm actually not paying much at all!

2007-06-12T20:05:00.000-07:00

This whole currency exchange rate sometimes throws me off. It is about Q7.5 for every U.S. dollar. When I buy something here it always seems like it is so expensive, but in reality, it is really very very cheap! For example, Q2.65 sounds like a lot for a bottle of water, but in theU.S. that would just be $ .35!!! Just look at how much some of the stuff I've bought here costs in U.S. dollars:

A banana, a 20 oz. bottle of water, and a gallon of water is Q10.20 = $1.33
1 ginormous banana Q.80 = $.11
2 skirts from the market Q140 = $18.30 (for TWO skirts)

It's amazing!

Antigua: AHHHHHHH!

2007-06-11T20:08:00.001-07:00

Arriving in Antigua was very exciting, but having to leave NLCH and Daniel and Kara was pretty hard! My first night was really awkward because Teryn (another intern who I'm rooming with) and I didn't meet our host parents before we went to bed because they were still at church in Guatemala City. It was a bit weird to be sleeping in someone's house who you've never met! I was definitely scared especially after our little excursion in the city last night...we couldn't find anything! It was very intimidating! I really wanted to just go back to NLCH and skip language school, but I'm so glad that I'm here now! As I lay in bed last night I asked God for protection and for help! I was so afraid last night, but God gave me courage to face my fears of being in a foreign city with people who I met only a few days ago! He calmed my fears about school and gave me peace! My first day of language school was great! My teacher's name is Lucia! We had a good review today of things I've learned, but had forgotten! After school and a pretty good lunch at our host home some of the other interns and I went to the market. That was pretty fun! Teryn and I are also bonding even more! We are about to watch an episode of The Office. She brought the DVD and we're going to play it on my laptop! She said it was a funny show so I'm kind of excited!

The pictures above are of our room in Antigua: (top left)Our beds (that's Teryn standing in the doorway of the bathroom); (top right) Our bathroom; (bottom pic) the crazy shower head!

Bunk mate!

2007-06-11T19:59:00.001-07:00

Here is the bunk mate I had for my first few days at NLCH! Unfortunately, he will be getting a beating pretty soon! Those kids really want his candy! Pobrecito!

Fútbol a NLCH

2007-06-11T19:45:00.000-07:00

A few of the interns and I decided to play fútbol with some of the boys! The picture on the left is of Emily B. and I before the game....we were a bit scared if you can't tell! Fútbol games can get intense, but I was actually able to hit the ball in the right direction a few times without getting run over (Tyler, you should be proud!)! The picture on the right is after the game.... we wanted to show everyone that we survived! We're hoping to acquire some mad soccer skills while we're here so watch out! :)

Mas picturas: Lunch in the garden, Tie-dye party, Ice Cream at POPS

2007-06-09T16:35:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from today (top to bottom): Me and Sammy (the one who calls me BC or Bicicleta when he's being silly!); Me and Karla; Tie-dying party; The boys playing in the water in the garden; The interns with the scary mime at POPS ( a really good ice cream place in Guatemala); My tie-dyed shirt AND socks!

Unfortunately, my camera still wouldn't work after I unscrewed it and screwed it back last night, BUT Daniel and Kara had a camera that they weren't using and they are going to let me borrow it!!! I'm so excited and thankful! Gracias Daniel y Kara!

Day 3: Emotional Ups and Downs!

2007-06-09T16:34:00.001-07:00

Emily Miller, an intern who has been here since September and is leaving Sunday, gave a very powerful and touching testimony about her internship tonight during our worship time. She was just so encouraging, especially to me who has just started my internship. I’ve experienced a roller coaster of emotions in these first few days- I have felt homesick and happy, as well as scared and excited all within the same minute. I still feel disconnected to many of kids because of the language barrier. I’m scared and hesitant to start a conversation with many of the older ones because I’m scared that they won’t be as forgiving for my language mistakes as the younger ones. And I thought I was the only one who was experiencing this since my Spanish is not as good as all of the other interns, but after hearing her talk I learned that I’m not alone and that she experienced the same exact things. A lot of the feelings that she had at the beginning of her internship are similar to the ones I’m having. I’m also feeling a bit useless at the moment since we haven’t really gotten into the swing of things. But Emily reminded all of us to not get discouraged and to continue to seek God in our hard times. I pray that God can comfort my heart and give me patience and the ability to allow Him to guide me in this service for Him. It was also really encouraging to talk with Christy and Caleb, a young missionary couple here at the Children’s Home. We were talking about this summer and they were both super excited and talked about how much fun it is going to be! I truly believe God put me in conversation with them at that table this afternoon as a way of bringing peace and comfort to my mind and to ease my worries. I am also continuing to pray that I can completely give myself over to God this summer. I still feel like I’m trying to control some parts of my life. Satan is trying to hold on and pull me down. I’m thankful, though, that God has helped me become aware of this so that I can ask for his help in completely giving him control. I continue to ask for your prayers- that I can let God transform me and guide me in the way that he wants me to go, not only this summer but for the rest of my life. God Bless!

Pictures from Antigua!

2007-06-08T15:38:00.000-07:00

These are a few pics from our trip to Antigua. These are the few I was able to get before I dropped my camera and messed up. I'm hoping and praying I can fix it, but we'll see!

No me gusta plantains!

2007-06-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight’s meal was not like last night’s. I got to eat with the older girls tonight! They were great and really nice! We had black beans, like last night, but instead of nachos we had plantains. I thought I would like cooked plantains, but boy was I wrong. I did all I could to finish the ½ of one I had on my plate. The black beans were good just not mixed with the plantains! I tried putting sour cream on the plantain….it was still bad. Then I tried it with sugar on top like some of the other girls, but that was even worse. And it got worse when 2 of the older girls came in with chicken and noodles on their plates for their dinner and they sat right next to me. So I was stuck smelling this yummy chicken, but having to eat the plantains. I would take a small bite of the plantain and then take a HUGE gulp of water to try to wash down the taste! Didn’t really work. So no more plantains for BC!

Day 1

2007-06-06T14:59:00.000-07:00

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!

BC + Guatemala = Summer 2007!

2007-05-19T23:58:00.000-07:00

Hola mis amigos! I'm so glad you have found my blog! As many of you know I will be embarking on an amazing journey in just a few short weeks....I will be in Guatemala from June 6 until August 6! I thought it would be a good and fun idea to keep my friends and family posted on what I'm up to while I'm away from home so I thought I would create myself a handy little blog! I'm going to try to keep it updated as much as possible (keyword there is "try"!)! I want to take a few sentences to thank everyone who has prayed for me and supported me through this period of preparation! This trip would have never been possible if it wasn't for God and all of the wonderful people He has put in my life! Thank you again for everything and check back often for new posts!!!