The second chapter of my Guatemalan journey...

So its just been over two weeks now since I moved from the city of Antigua to the city of San Cristobal in order to (finally!) start the project I came to work in!
It was sad to say goodbye to Antigua, which I find ironic due to my initial struggle with living there... but after 2 months I had finally got to know the roads, the way 'blocks' work, had established my favourite coffee shops to chill in, and mostly, had made some really good friendships with some 'super' cool Americans. What was initially totally new and unknown became known - home. And then I'm faced with the challenge of doing the same thing again - leaving the known for the unknown of a new family, a new daily routine, a new church, a new life! Its fair to say I was scared about the change, especially as that leaving day loomed. But looking back I have no idea what I had to be scared about! I'm loving every minute of this next chapter of my time here.

Last night in Antigua - with some of my favourite American friends :)

Leaving day - saying farewell to my Guatemalan family of the last 2 months!

I'm gonna structure this post a little differently - splitting it into different topics, just so its a little easier to follow as otherwise Id literally be rambling on forever, giving you details about every single day so far... and no one wants that now do they? ;)


Family Life

So my new fam are lovely. They are a little old couple, both retired, but still very much full of life and fun. Their names are Victor Hugo and Dina. They have three sons, David, Ivan and Andrés, who is the youngest and only one to still live at home. They live in a really nice house containing a ridiculous number of pianos (they sell them eventually) with a beautiful front garden in San Cristobal. They own a (big!) dog called Bosco, a siamese cat called Mischa, a cheeky parrot and numerous other little birds which are constantly filling the house with little melodies. They are very protective of me and so like to take me everywhere by car, despite the fact I am now rather well experienced with Guatemalan buses. They have also made their wishes known for wanting me to marry a nice Guatemalan man... but seriously, they mention it every other day or so! Getting a little worried, haha ;) They are also very keen to make me part of the family and so I have been to lots of gatherings, meals and other events with them... this includes a graduation party (where I basically got to meet every possible extension of Victor Hugos family) and a wedding (sooo muuuchhh fooood). I'm very happy to say that communication with the family is generally fine, it is only Dina who I struggle understanding sometimes as she talks quite unclearly... but Victor Hugo is brilliant, he speaks in a very understandable way, is constantly joking with me, always introduces me as his adoptive daughter, and he's always trying to teach me new vocabulary (this can sometimes get funny as he always gets me to tell him the English word too, but his pronunciation isn't great... so for example the other day i was trying to teach him 'speed bump' but he could only say 'sped boom', bless him ;)). So all in all - love my family and definitely feel a part of the family this time... although I can feel the tension rise over the fact that their (along with every other Guatemalans) main food love - tomales, are the one Guatemalan food I really cant stand!


Church Life

I was pretty nervous about my new church, as if I didn't like it, Id have to stick with it anyway, as its the church my family attend. That's why I'm incredibly thankful to say I really love the church so far. I write this post on a Sunday so have so far attended 3 morning services. Each has followed the same structure of worship, notices, greet everyone around you, sermon, more worship, response time and then everyone leaves to either go to an age appropriate 'class' or goes to purchase a Guatemalan style refreshment such as a fried plantain or a tostada with guacamole and frijoles. My understanding of the sermons has been varied as it totally depends on whos preaching as to whether they are clear enough and of a reasonable talking pace to follow. I'm glad for what I have been able to understand but I've also remembered some of the things I learnt at Orientation in the summer, such as having a bible study to do so that if you're really not following the sermon so you can still benefit from that time in some way.

Aside from Sunday mornings I have attended the prayer group with my Guatemalan parents twice which has been good to take part in as it has allowed me to meet more people in the church and learn about what situations are current with the congregation. In addition there have been lots of 'reunions' within the church at different peoples houses, which again, have been great to get to know people, but have also been fun in regards to trying more traditional Guatemalan food - hoping my stomach can deal with it all!
I've also done some fun stuff with the youth group! This has to be my main area of thanks to God as he has literally been so awesome in answer to prayer! On my first Sunday in the church I was taken to a youth group for 12-18 year olds which meant I was the oldest. I wouldn't have minded if there were other 18 year olds, or even 17 year olds... but the next oldest to me was a 15 year old. So it was fair to say I was a little down trodden as I had really been hoping to make some great friendships in the youth group and get involved in outings and activities etc. This was an obvious prayer point for my next mentor session with Suzanne, so we prayed about it, and God answered! That evening! It was after the church prayer meeting that I got approached by a 36 year old member of the other youth group (you remain a youth until married here) who was really friendly and ended up inviting me to their meeting on Saturday night. Amazing!! :D Saturday night came, I was picked up by an American called Jeff in a retro, veeery old, but cool beetle, and was taken to someones house in which about 20 youth members crowded into the kitchen of. We had a bit of time of acoustic worship, then a message from the youth leader from Luke, and then spent the rest of the evening chilling, chatting and eating tomales (although I stuck to fruit cause as mentioned previously, I'm not a big fan!). It truly was great and I went home a very happy Elle :) Even more so because, now having met people I have been invited to other activities, so far including an intense 3 hour game of Frisbee the next day (on a huge football pitch, with point keeping and rules and everything, crazy!), as well as an evening in Jeffs house where we drank really spicy soup and played an epic game of 'Settlers of Catan' - extra confusing when trying to follow everyone bartering for grain, brick, sheep, stone and wood in spanish!


Project Life

So, the biggy - my project! Fair to say I'm in love with it really. Every day is totally different and holds a new adventure. For my first few days I was in a bit of a mix of emotion, at times wondering how I'll ever be able to do this every day for 6 months, but after 2 weeks, I feel a lot more settled in. I have got to know a few of the women a little, and am excited for how our friendships will develop and the more about them I will get to know.
Two of the women especially have really touched me. One I offered to help in what she was doing with the jewellery on one of my first days. She was really surprised I was willing to help and carefully showed me what to do. We sat for about 2 hours working together fixing clasps onto about 80 necklaces. We didn't talk loads, just the basics about each other. But the next day and since then, she has greeted me with a big hug every morning, and will often link arms with me randomly during the day, she constantly beams at me and was eager to add me on Facebook. The other lady is similar, in the sense that after a few days of seeing me playing with her son and seeing that I'm just here to be a friend and to help, started to be really open to me, will hug me randomly throughout the day and when we went to the market together, spent the whole time holding my hand. Its things like these that I know Ill treasure for a long time :)
So more specifically what have I been up to in the refuge? LOTS! A lot of what I expected to do, such as playing with the kids (who are absolute treasures by the way, so great), sitting in on devotionals and helping with the cooking, but also lots of other stuff... One thing they're really eager for me to do, having heard I'm creative, is design new jewellery for them to make... for example - only my second day and I had a bag of beads shoved at me with the question 'what can you make with these'. Pressure. But since, at a more relaxed pace I have come up with some ideas and prototypes, which they're generally loving and are really excited about, so that's encouraging. Just praying God will keep me filled with creativity and new ideas now! :P I've also been taken on many excursions - from taking the kids to bible holiday school, to going to a major big market to restock on fruit and vegetables, to bus-ing it into the city to track down new fabrics and beads to make new products with.

Some cheeky photos with 2 year old Anjel and 3 year old Gaby. Such cuties! <3








Well that's probably enough of an update for you now, so I shall leave it there!

I've said it before but I'll say it again - thank you so much for the continued prayer support from you all. It means more to me than you know when I'm told that people are praying and thinking of me, or when I generally receive messages of encouragement, so thank you! Really <3

One request I have is directed to people of SBC mainly, but you can all feel free to respond if its appropriate ;) - I miss you all soooo much! (its unreal, seriously) I get so excited hearing the odd thing on Facebook or from someone on Skype about what Gods doing back in little Shirley, but I want to know more!!! So pretty please, comment, email or Facebook me with what Gods doing in SBC, in your lives, in bible study groups, etc. I may be in Guatemala but I'm still interested in all of you and still want to encourage you all, as well as be encouraged by all your amazing stories, no matter how small! ;)

So, until next time, farewell!
I hope you all enjoy Decemberyness and Christmas. Will aim to post again soon :)


For those who pray:
Things to be thankful for:

• That I have settled in well with my new family, that communication is good, that they involve me in lots of activities and that I generally feel happy and at home with them.
• That my project has been just as amazing as Id hoped and that God is blessing me in so many ways though it.
• That God is so amazing and faithful in answer to prayer! Thanks for the way that I have been able to get involved with the youth of the church.

Things to be praying for:

• That I would continue to feel useful in the refuge and that God would be using every situation to teach me new things about him, myself and life.
• One of the women got burnt quite badly on Friday whilst making tortillas and had to go to hospital - please pray that she would make a good recovery from her burns and that the event wouldn't have affected her mentally in any way (baring in mind her mental sensitivity after traumatic experiences in the  past - which may have included burning for all we know - as I have noticed many of the women have a lot of marks and scars left from the various types of abuse they received).
• That I would continue to fit into the church and youth groups and that God would bless me with some great friendships, especially with girls around my age (as the majority of the youth group is male - about 7:1 ratio!)
• Please pray for me over the Christmas period, as whilst I have a lot of exciting things to look forward to, and am eager to experience Christmas in another culture, it is of course a time that focuses heavily on family, as well as a time I'd usually spend a lot of time in Church with all my friends and Christian family, so prayer that I wouldn't miss home too much would be great.
• Please pray for my energy levels as I'm finding I'm gradually getting more and more shattered from all the new things I'm experiencing, which are great, but tiring! 

Blessed.

Heyyy folks :)

Me again, I'm sorry its been a while since my last blog - I've been rather busy recently - which I guess isn't a bad reason considering one of the previous problems was that I had too much free time.

In this post I don't want to bombard you with every detail of everything I've done and experienced - so I'm just going to summarise some of the highlights of the last few weeks (I promise to try to keep it concise!).

I'll start with the promised update on how my visit to 'Iglesia del Camino' went - the bilingual church I had found and was hoping to try... I LOVED IT. I've been twice now, and will be going for my third visit tomorrow morning. Both services have had a different feel to them due to different people preaching and different bands leading worship, but I enjoyed both.. What I love most about it is that being bilingual, and therefore having an English translation for the sermon as well as the songs, I can actually worship in my own language, freely, and out loud - not restrained by not wanting to be heard singing in my room at home! And whilst I haven't really been there long enough to establish proper friendships, each week I have met new people, even gone for lunch with some of them, which makes me feel part of a church community again - something I REALLY miss from home. So overall a real answer to prayer and a help to me the past few weeks as I've tried to stay spiritually fed.

A big highlight of the past few weeks has to be the relationships I've been forming and building with various people. This is especially when reflecting on my first few weeks here when I experienced quite a bit of loneliness in this area. I've made some great American friends in the school who I've had various outings with... from visiting an orphanage; to going on walks around Antigua; trying guacamole ice cream, yes - guacamole flavour....going to the market and buying bargain price nail varnish (1 for Q3 - about 24p); hanging out in our favourite cafe, Bagel Barn - which ironically does great bagels, as well as funky flavours of licuados (although i wasn't too keen on their avocado, orange juice and banana one...) and generally just the fact that I've been able to be my crazy self around them has just been so awesome and such a blessing (although I still require a regular Skype to Jenny Stewart back home to get my real crazy out, haha ;)).

I've also really enjoyed getting to know one of the other Striders with Latin Link - Murielle from Switzerland. Despite all of our conversations needing to be in Spanish (because she doesn't speak very good English) we can surprisingly communicate very well and so have become quite good friends. A few weekends ago I even stayed over at her house in the city after a film night with the youth at her church. Lets just say I never want to watch 'Prometheus' in Spanish again... disturbing I tell you! But a cool thing was that the following morning we went to her church service (which is the one that me and Nahum went to our first Sunday in Guatemala), and in comparison to the previous time I had been, the level of the Spanish sermon that I understood was a lot higher! So that was really encouraging - its the weird little things like that that reassure me that I am actually making progress!

On the Spanish theme of things - its one of the things I'm always asked about so I'll give you a brief overview of how that's going...

Baring in mind that when I came to Guatemala, the only Spanish I had was some basic vocab for fruits and other objects, I know I've made huge progress overall! I can now have conversations lasting hours with Guatemalans - and have even managed a few phone calls in Spanish which, trust me - is hard! Of course there are many occasions I still get lost in conversations, especially in group conversations, but these days I can follow the gist of most things at least, it all depends on how fast and clear the person speaks really! I've only got one week of lessons left now, which will bring me to the end of two months of intense learning. I'm grateful to say that in the whole time I have only really had one week that I really struggled and felt defeated, but I'm thankfully past that week and have been feeling positive again since then! Learning languages has nevereverever been a gift of mine, but I know that God is blessing me with the ability to learn Spanish right now. Its only through him. At the moment the main problem is that I've learnt so many tenses etc, that its all started to get a bit muddled! I'm therefore looking forward to moving to my new family and project so that I can be practising daily, not learning anything new as such, just getting all the endings for different tenses in order in my head! 

In the past few weeks I've also visited Nahum in Alotenango a few times, mainly to take part in activities with his project. We had another celebration afternoon for the children which included some fun games involving balloons, sweets and such like. The other day I went whilst a group of Americans where there from Birmingham (in Alabama though - sigh) giving free health care to the community. It was pretty cool talking to them, as well as hearing Nahum translate the story of feeding the five thousand, and chatting more with some of the girls from the youth group that were helping out. It was funny - they literally sat me down and ordered me to practice my Spanish! (which I did - I even told a few jokes which they laughed at - hurrah!) 

On another afternoon I also went and played basketball and football with the youth group. I'm not going to lie and pretend I was good, cause if you know me, then you'll know I'm not exactly the most talented when it comes to sports... but I did score a few baskets... and it was generally good fun ;)

One of the experiences I have yet to decide about being either cool or terrifying is the earthquakes. So far I have been awake and therefore felt 2 - although I am aware that there have been some small ones during my sleep also D: The first was a few weeks ago, during my Spanish class in the morning. There was a small shake and then a BIG sway of... well, life! (5.5 on the Richter scale if you're interested) I'm not gonna lie, it scared the heeby jeebies out of me, but it also feels pretty awesome to say that I've felt an earthquake... Then the second was the other day - again I was at school when the ground shook. This one lasted about 10 seconds, so longer than the last, but not quite as strong. However, what we found out only hours later was that in other parts of Guatemala it was a lot worse. It was a 7.4 on the Richter scale, which is the worst they've had since 1976 (I think?). In the paper yesterday 50 had been reported dead, 28 still missing and 17,000 affected in some way - either through their house falling down or being injured. I can only hope and pray that whilst they are a little cool, we don't get any more serious earthquakes here any time soon.

Some other cool stuff I've done the past few weeks:

• I visited the project Ill be working in for the next 6 months which was awesome - so encouraging and exciting, and really motivated me to get through the last of my time learning Spanish in Antigua.
• I also visited a potential family to stay with whilst I'm working at my project in San Cristobal and am happy to say that they now are going to be my host fam! They were an absolutely lovely old couple, who are just, hilarious. I can really see myself loving living with them.
• Me and Nahum took a trip to a place called Sumpango on the 1st November to witness the extravagant celebrations that take place for Day of the Dead which include gigantic kites, or 'barrilletes' which later they try to fly, in the purpose of sending up messages to their dead loved ones. The day was full of colour, people and Guatemalan food (all of which Nahum of course wanted to try out!).

• Me and Nahum took a weekend holiday to the black, volcanic sand beaches of Monterrico for some rest and relaxation! We made the most of the nice pool, hot-ish showers and nice food at the restaurant. We also went on a boat tour of the nature reserve at sunrise, watched baby turtles race into the sea and even went on a night walk along the beach to try and spot momma turtles burying their eggs, but unfortunately we didn't see them. We did however see some beautiful sunsets and stars, reminding me once again how amazing and big our creator God is :)

Of course, whilst I am here health is a major issue as I'm exposed to so many new and strange things. So far I've not been so lucky. Obviously I spoke about issues with IBS last time, and trust me when I say that God was so faithful through that time, but since then I have encountered other nasty things which have made some of my time here a little less fun :( Not long after my last post I got bitten by a spider on my right hand which caused one of my fingers and some of my knuckles to swell up and go all red. Fun stuff. Thankfully it was nothing serious and was better in a few days after a course of anti-venom and antibiotics. Although it was a slog to get the medication - 4 hours waiting at the hospital to see the doctor, who wasn't even there! He hadgone to mass and not even told anyone! Typical Guatemala right there for you. 

Secondly, Monday last week I discovered I've got E-coli :/ I was put on a load of medication but that doesn't seem to have killed the parasites, as I'm still experiencing bouts of illness :( What makes it worse is that with my IBS, its slightly more intense, and the doctors have to be very careful about what medication they give me. So overall, not really having a great time on the health side of things so really appreciate all the prayers on that front. 

Also, a few weeks ago Nahum got what we're pretty sure was Dengue fever - thankfully he's better now - but evidently we don't seem to be having much luck in general!

A little update on what Gods been up to in my life:

As was expressed in the previous posts - becoming accustomed to spending time on my own has been hard. Especially when Nahum stopped coming to Antigua and I therefore had even more time on my hands! However I really feel that my initial struggles were all to help prepare me for this time as I now am able, and happy-ish to spend time on my own. I also really feel that this is all leading towards my time in San Cristobal, where I will probably find myself with even more time alone - or at least time that I cant spend with English speaking friends. The reason I think this way is because I'm pretty sure that God is telling me! A constant theme I've been picking up in all of my different bible studies, both with Nahum and on my own, is that God uses challenging times to build our endurance, patience and reliance on him. And in all truthfulness I can see this promise to be true! So yeah, Gods being really amazing and faithful and always, even through the struggles and I'm proud to say that I need to depend on his strength through all of this! :)

For those who pray:

Things to be thankful for:

• That God has been protecting me and Nahum during throughout our time here, especially during the earthquake.
• That God has blessed me with so many friendships during my time in Antigua.
• That God has blessed me with an amazing project and an awesome family to live with.
• That my Spanish is constantly improving, only through his power!
• That God has blessed me with so many opportunities to experience fun cultural things in Guatemala.
• That God has been surrounding me with his presence daily to help me get through the struggles that come with life here and that he has been faithful in answering prayer.

Things to be praying for:

• That no more earthquakes or other disasters would occur and that the lives that have been affected may start to be rebuilt.
• For the transition I face as I move to my new family next Friday and start my project the following Monday. That I would get along with the family and feel at home.
• Continuation of prayer for my Spanish - that it would all start to solidify in my head and that it would become natural, not needing much thought as to the tenses I'm using etc.
• Continuation of prayer for me and Nahums health - that neither of us would pick up anything new, that we would remain healthy, and especially for me during this time - that I would be able to get rid of the E-coli and return to health with no more issues!
• That God would continue to use my bible studies to speak to me but also that I would be able to hear him when he speaks to me in different ways, as I'm not always the best listener.

Animals, ice creams and a trip to the hospital

Hello all! What a crazy 2 weeks it has been. Whilst I haven't exactly been super busy, lots of things have happened and events have occurred in the time since I last posted. All will be revealed...

So the fun starts last Tuesday when I went with the school to a place called San Miguel to see how they celebrate the day of Saint Miguel... La Union – the Spanish school I'm studying in, is pretty good in the sense that they offer a different activity every day in the afternoon, from random one off trips like this one, to regular trips to coffee or macadamia nut plantations to regular weekly trips up the volcano. I was initially quite scared about going on the trip as I was going without Nahum, and therefore didn't know anyone. But Nahum made me go, telling me I needed to make friends for when it comes to the time that he wont be studying in Antigua any more – leaving me solo! So I went, and it actually turned out to be a great opportunity to meet people. In the bus I got talking to a few people, all from the states, about why they were here in Guatemala, etc and it was so awesome hearing peoples different motivations and stories as to how they ended up here. One girl I met was called Emily and she has inspired me so much! She is 18 like me, but is here alone, without an organisation or travel company, and is just travelling around and getting involved in various projects that she finds along the way. Just, mind blowing to think of the craziness that that involves! On arriving to San Miguel, none of us quite knew what to expect, but we were greeted with smoke and smells of all sorts, emerging from the numerous stalls locals had set up to provide food to accompany the entertainment that was around the corner. We walked into an area swamped with people. There was a massive wooden fence that had people clambered all over it looking at something in the middle of this ring of fencing. Eventually we managed to find a space to squeeze into to look through a gap between peoples legs, shoes, heads and the panels. What we saw was truly ridiculous. It was a 'Corrida del toro' event – which basically translates as bullfighting. But this was no professional sort of bullfighting. This was lots of locals, including children, running into and around the ring, with flags and brightly coloured material, all with the purpose of teasing and aggravating the bull that was trapped inside. The bull would frequently charge after people causing everyone to suddenly go crazy as the people inside would try to get on the other side of the fencing. Although this didn't exactly always do the trick. As many times the bull stamped on people who were behind the panels. This continued for about two hours, with energetic Spanish music blaring in the background, in the pouring rain as well might I add! A very odd event to witness considering it was meant to be to celebrate a saint, but also a very fun experience that laid the foundations for some good friendships here in Antigua. :)

Following on from making some friends on the trip on Tuesday, I ended up spending the majority of Wednesday afternoon with 3 girls – Becca, Cristiana and Emily, who I spoke about before. We walked around Antigua, saw quite a few of the old colonial ruins that resulted from the numerous earthquakes in Guatemala, visited the famous Arc, used the opportunity to take some touristy pictures, visited the apartment where Emily is living (another thing that makes her so cool – cause she's living totally independently, not with a family organised by the school like everyone else), and ended up sat in the cool shade on the benches in Parque Central with a load of other Americans from the school that we bumped into, eating the best ice creams ever (that I ordered in Spanish – wahey!). It was such a blessed afternoon. It simply reconfirmed that God is most definitely on it when it comes to my prayers about feeling alone and needing some friends. Its like every day he's just reminding me that 'hes got this'. Spinning of from this is also the fact that I found out that a lot of the Americans from Spring Arbor university at the school happen to go to 'Inglesia del Camino' which is the church that I had been hoping to visit which is awesome, as it means I now don't have to be afraid about going on my own etc! So that's another answer to prayer. I write this blog on Saturday afternoon, so its actually tomorrow morning that I'm going for the first time, so Ill let you know how that goes!  

Another exciting thing I've done is visit 'Cerro de la Cruz' which is the famous cross on a hill that looks over Antigua and Volcan Agua. Me and Nahum took the trip with my teacher, Suellen as well as two other students called Allison and Abby and their teachers. We went in the second half our lessons and so, still had to 'study' as part of the trip, in that we had to talk to our teachers the whole way up about what we were doing etc (in spanish, obviously). The walk was only short – about half an hour to cross to the other side of Antigua and then walk up the many steps on the hill to reach the cross. Getting to the top was breathtaking. It was awesome to see Antigua from a different perspective. Made it seem a lot bigger and yet a lot smaller to look at it from a height. In addition, the landscape of hills, mountains and the volcano tumbling around the city made the sight idyllic, even though a big cloud was covering the peak of Agua.

Saturday was a truly interesting day. After a precious one hour lie in, I made my way to San Fransisco, the church that's a minute walk from my house. Saturday was the day of celebration for the Saint, Fransisco... so, following on from the last demonstration of how Guatemalans like to celebrate Saints in a rather ridiculous fashion, we basically witnessed masses of locals get their pets blessed by a priest from the church, who had an iguana on his shoulder, using the head of a broom with some 'holy water' from a bucket. Seriously. What was weirder, was the fact that there was such a diverse range of animals present. In addition to the hoard of dogs, there were many with cats and kittens in bags (to hide them from the dogs), people with cages of birds, a lady with a parrot on a pole, a man with a turtle (which he carried around on his head), people with little boxes containing terrapins... and the funniest had to be a little boy carrying a small bowl that had a little fan tail fish swimming around inside. Just ridiculous! Following the blessing at the church, a huge parade, involving three different marching bands, who all played a different concoction of odd music – from your traditional marching band tunes to 'Bad Romance' by Lady Gaga, marched and danced around the streets of Antigua, accompanied by lots of children dressed as animals and the standard 'bombas' which are basically reeaaaallly loud firecrackers!

After the madness of the morning I spent the rest of the day chilling. I spent some time in the Parque with two other American girls I have met here, where we chatted a lot and had more of the amazing ice cream we discovered the other day! And then later on I went with Abby and another girl to the market for the first time. Being Saturday meant that it was a crazy day for the markets which explains why we got quite lost on a few occasions whilst inside the indoor market. There is truly no way to describe with accuracy what the markets are like. All I can say is that when your there, every sense is alive. There's smells of meat going funny in the warm temperature. There's sounds coming from every direction – from people bartering, arguing, talking, and shouting out their best price, from things falling over, from motorbikes and cars outside. There's sight of lots of people milling around, foods piled high, goods hung onto any spare part of wall, pirate DVDs and 'legit' TVs and electronic devices being sold for 'a good price', and lots of funny looks at the white person. There's the taste of dust and humidity on your tongue. There's contact with lots of people as you try to squeeze your way past through the narrow pathways that form the maze that is the market. Its a truly unique experience. We also visited the artesians market which is basically the market that is specifically for tourists wanting to purchase some kind of traditional Mayan hand craft. From dolls to jewellery to hammocks to fabrics, its all there, piled to the ceiling in a beautiful array of colours.

Sunday was the day I got to travel to Alotenango to visit Nahums church and family, and to take part in celebrations for 'Day of the children' (you might be starting to realise that Guatemalans like to celebrate pretty much everything!). Arriving in Alotenango was a very different experience to arriving in Antigua. The town is more rural and a lot poorer. It had a similar feel to it though – lots of stray dogs and a 'Tienda'(/corner type shop) on each road. Our first job for the day was to fill the three piñatas with, literally, thousands of sweets! It was harder than it looked, lets just say that. Afterwards we had a short prayer meeting and I was introduced to everyone helping out and then me and Nahum were placed in a 'room' built by one of Latin Links Summer Step teams this year. We were given a table and a few chairs and it was basically our job for the afternoon to paint the face of every child who attended. 165 children attended. So lets just say it was kinda hard work! We did Spidermen, Batmen, Butterflies and LOTS of flowers. Nahum discovered he is especially good at cats (haha ;)).

Things changed in the afternoon, however. All week I had been having trouble with my IBS which is a condition I've had in England for many years now. But on Sunday afternoon things took a big turn for the worst. I experienced pain to a level I have never felt before and it was just, awful. As a result, Pastor Juan ended up reviving a very old car and driving me back to Antigua early. I spent the rest of the day in bed, in a lot a lot of pain – to the point that Suzanne had to come to me from the city to take me to the hospital. Thankfully by the time she got to me, me and Nahums prayers had started to work as the pain had significantly subsided. Suzanne therefore went back home with the new plan that we would instead go in the morning, when I would receive a better service. So this is what we did. Monday morning I had an 'enjoyable' examination in the school lounge by a doctor, and then a trip to the hospital to have a load of tests done as the doctor was under the impression that I had picked up a fever or a bug on top of my IBS as I had feverish symptoms and rather low blood pressure that aren't normally associated with IBS. The test revealed that luckily I hadn't picked up anything dodgy, but that the reason it had gotten so bad was because I had a unusually high level of a certain bacteria. Following these developments I was prescribed some medicine which I have been taking over this last week. But in all honesty the medicine that has really been the one to work has been Jesus. I say this because even before I started taking the medicine, as soon as me and Nahum and other people started praying hard over the situation, I had a massive improvement, and experienced virtually no pain on the Sunday evening, the Monday and the Tuesday. So its been truly amazing just how faithful and good God has been about sorting me out! :) Thanks to all those who have been praying for me back home! The level of love I've felt from you all has been touching :)

Having been ill, I've taken it quite easy this week, but did go on another activity with the school. This was a trip to a place called San Antonio which is an area which still remains full of indigenous people whose main language isnt even Spanish! The afternoon involved us sitting in a 'room' made of corregated iron on little plastic stools about to break, trying our hardest to understand a little old lady telling us about the traditions in Mayan culture. Traditions about dress, about the meanings of the colours and patterns featured on fabrics, and about marriage. They performed a cute little dance for us with incense and lots of bobbing around which was fun if not awkward to watch. They also showed us how they make coffee - from grinding the beans away from their shells to cooking them to grinding them into a powder, to filtering them, to adding a load of sugar to then drink! The final thing they did was interactive, which we weren't expecting. Me being the only girl, meant I had the joy of being wrapped up in traditional clothing with a veil and a tiara, to then have to reinact a Mayan wedding. Awkward and embarrassing doesn't quite come close! :/

Other than all these specific activities I've got up to over the last week, I've also enjoyed a lot of other things :)

I've had quite a few get togethers with the people I've met at the school, from going for more ice cream, to going out for drinks, to just chilling in the Parque. There was also a 'meet and greet' at the school last Friday which was another good opportunity to meet new people and further develop the relationships I've started to form, so that's awesome – there was lots of dancing and Guatemalan snacks to try!

I spend quite a lot of free time chilling in the school at the moment, doing extra study, reading, journalling or checking facebook. This has been really good as its meant I've had lots of conversations with various teachers and people who work there – in Spanish! So its been great practice as well as fun to get to know others.

I've had two more mentor sessions with Suzanne which seem to be getting better each time in what we cover and also as our friendship develops. We have just started studying Esther together so I'm excited to see how Gods going to speak to me through that. Me and Nahum have also started studying Pauls Letters together, starting with Romans, so we're both eager to see what God wants to say through that as well. We're sure that it will provide a good opportunity to regularly encourage and build each other up in faith.

In addition to doing these studies with Suzanne and Nahum I have started a daily bible study plan from Scripture Union. I share this because I was reminded when I started them the other day how God works in funny ways to prepare us for things. This is because I was actually given the study books at Momentum whilst in a rush to get to work. I remember I had politely said no due to being in a hurry but that the lady had been persistent in giving them to me. Id put them in my bible case and forgotten about them, only to discover them here. and find that they're actually really good and perfect for keeping me reading Gods word regularly whilst I'm here. Funny how things work out, aye?! ;)

Something else I've found really beneficial in regards to my spiritual life, has been listening to podcasts on my ipod. A line from one I listened to last week has really stuck with me, so I'm just going to share it below along with a song I've also been totally loving recently.

Until next time, Adiós!

Elle :)

'Peace is not the absence of troubles or problems, but the presence of Christ'

All my hope - Hillsong

For those who pray:
Things to be thankful for:

• That God has continued to be faithful in answering prayers regarding friendship making as well as making my free time beneficial
• That God has blessed me with a very speedy recovery from being ill
• That God has been preparing me in many ways for my time here - such as with the bible studies

Things to be praying for:

• This coming week is Nahums last week that he'll be coming to Antigua every day for school, as he starts his project full time the week following. This will mean I have even mooore free time, but also that I wont see him very much and might get quite lonely. So prayer that the friendships I've made in the school so far would develop more would be good, and just that I wouldn't struggle without a friend for company.
• Also prayer for Nahum as he goes on to start his project full time and takes on his full responsibilities.
• That as I finish my prescribed tablets my IBS wouldn't come back as an issue, but that God would keep me in good health for the rest of my time here

A Jam Packed Weekend! (written Monday 1.10.12)

In this entry I just wanted to update you on the goings on of the weekend as it ended up being quite busy!

The weekends activities started on Saturday morning after a lovely lie in (got up at 9:00 as opposed to 7:00 which is the time I have to be up for school every other day!). I met Nahum in the central park of Antigua which is a beautiful place with huge old fountains, benches, mass areas of lush foliage, and at the weekend – lots of locals and a big market. We continued to find the bus stop together (which is quite hard when you consider that they aren’t actually marked in any way - you just have to walk around and listen out for a person shouting the destination you are aiming for!), and got on a chicken bus we were about 50% sure was the right one. The journey was fine, if a little breezy with all the windows and doors open, as well as a little unnerving when we realised it was going a different way to the last time we went on it! But by chance alone we managed to get off at the right stop in San Lucas where we met Suzanne and a Suisse strider called Murielle. We all then walked to Char and Benjamin’s house (who have been in Guatemala for 2 years as striders with their 3 boys) which was located in a really nice area just a short walk from the busy main road and the rows of crowded shops. The purpose of the afternoon at their house was to meet as members of Latin Link to eat food and pray (so all good stuff really! ). Not only did me and Nahum get to meet Char, Benjamin and the kids for the first time, but we also got to meet the Marroquin family who are Guatemalans going with Latin Link as striders to England for a couple of years. We ate curry, chatted in English, chatted in Spanish, prayed for each other and updated each other on how we were doing individually, and also prayed for other Guatemala Latin Link members who weren’t able to make the afternoon. It was a really encouraging afternoon and it was lovely to meet everyone. If anything, today was possibly the hardest for me so far, as it was the first time I actually felt culture shocked! Odd, considering I was around so many English people. I think it was just because I had been looking forward to an afternoon when I didn’t have to try and speak and understand Spanish the entire time – but pretty much the whole afternoon ended up being in Spanish due to the Marroquin family not speaking any English and everyone else being able to speak Spanish very well – including Nahum as he has studied it in England the last 4 years – so I was very much the odd one out.

Getting home proved to be the most adventurous part of the day… Just the same as getting there, me and Nahum had to get a chicken bus back to Antigua. The start of the journey was spent stood up, very cramped and uncomfortable due to the fact that it was rush hour so the bus was absolutely rammed. Not only were people squished into the small seats but the whole middle aisle was a jumble of people standing up (which included us). To demonstrate how squished together we were – I personally had a woman sitting on my arm and also had my face stuck in Nahums armpit, by no choice of my own. Lovely. The chicken buses are renovated American childrens school buses and are definitely not meant for full grown adults – even Guatemalan adults who are naturally rather short! After a while stood up some people got off and so we eagerly leapt for the empty seats, despite the fact they were the ones at the very front next to the door – therefore being the least safe if someone was to try and hijack the bus or anything along those lines! The traffic was awful going into Antigua so by the time we got there it was night time and therefore very dark. As a result we missed our stop and ended up in Antigua bus station. Thankfully Nahum managed to navigate us back to the main road where I saw him off on his bus to Alotenango and then found the road that takes me back to my house the other side of the city. The whole experience was rather scary and unnerving however God definitely protected us and got us both home safely. It was a good experience to have any way, as it had to happen sooner or later, and its probably better that we’re practised in dealing with buses at night sooner, as well as at least together! :/

(Central Park in Antigua)

Sunday went from being a completely empty day to even fuller than Saturday thanks to Benjamin and Chars kindness to me. As I am trying to find a church to settle in in Antigua, the day started with me accompanying them to their church a few streets away from where I live. Just as Suzannes church was very different to the Bolivian church we visited in London, this church was very different also… in fact, it was on a completely different level. It was craaaayzeee. To help set the scene for you, it was located in a room in a hotel in which they had closed off all light and filled with smoke for a dramatic atmosphere. The only lights were on the stage which were projected onto curtains and random bits of fabric in various colours. The worship was modern and actually well played (something that hasn’t been the case in the other churches). They sung a lot of English worship songs that had been translated wrong – so that was interesting…. The weirdest part of the service had to be the sermon, as oddly, instead of someone going up to preach, we had to watch a recording of a man preaching to us on screens, which Char tells me is played to lots of churches in Guatemala. I had an earpiece for me to listen to a live translation to English, however it was temperamental, unclear, and the translator often stopped speaking if he didn’t know the English! Overall, the service was like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and although I’m pretty sure I won’t be returning another Sunday, it was fun to be part of just the once to add to my encounters of various different Guatemalan churches!

After church I went back to Char and Benjamins house in San Lucas. It was great to play with Jonah and Daniel for a few hours before lunch as I really miss helping out in Junior Family Church at home, having done it for so many years. I also had some cuddly times with Elijah who is only a few months old which was lovely  Lunch was an amazing pizza homemade by Benjamin which was a refreshing change to the carb on carb meals I’ve been eating day to day at my house, which include lots of bread, tortillas, vinegary vegetables and rice (I will go into more detail about food in a separate blog post soon).

At 3.30 we then picked up Suzanne and all went to a ‘quince años fiesta’ (15^th birthday party) for the pastors daughter from Suzannes church. The only thing I can compare it to is a wedding. In Guatemala, becoming 15 is a big deal, especially for girls, so they make a pretty huge event out of it! The daughter was wearing a beautiful green prom-type dress and was positioned at the front throughout the service after making an elaborate entrance (just like a bride at a wedding, after the family all walked in and sat down). The service included worship and a talk about the gift that life is. The general theme of the event was very much a thanksgiving to God for her life – it even included her making promises to live a life pleasing to god, to stay pure until marriage, etc - again very much like a wedding, or like a baptism. After the service we all had to line up to greet her and wish her a happy birthday, then continued to eat reaaaally yummy food under a big white marquee (it was raining as per ) and had chance to chat to others. I sat with a guy I had met at Suzannes church last week called Alex, who did Stride a couple of years ago - going from Guatemala to Essex for a year, along with some of his friends. The whole event was so amazing and I absolutely loved it all. It was really great to experience such a culturally special event which I may never get to do again.

(The brother giving a speech about his sisters birthday at the quince anos fiesta)

To finish of a great day I was also invited to a whole night of prayer and worship on Friday with the Christian union of a university in the city, which Alex and his friends go to - so I’m really hoping to be able to go to that.

This is only one example of the way God has already started answering my prayers about being lonely and wanting things to do in my vast amount of free time at the moment.

I have also gone from an empty Sunday where I would have to try and find places in Antigua to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner on my own (because the accommodation deal doesn’t include food on Sundays) to having a jam packed day of much fun and lots of different events with Char and Benjamin.

In addition I have also been invited to Nahums church in Alotenango by the pastor on this coming Sunday to celebrate ‘dia de la niños’ (day of the children) which will involve lots of games, piñatas and that kind of thing! There is also a few other things I now have lined up for the week including a few activities with the school in Antigua and a meeting with Suzanne.

Chatting to Benjamin yesterday was also really encouraging as he was able to relate from when he was a strider in Bolivia when he was younger and experienced similar feelings. He was able to suggest practical things for me to do for the occasions when I do have a lot of time alone which will benefit my relationship with God. As a result I now have outlined a few things for me to do solo if I find myself feeling lonely during the next few weeks, and am overall feeling so much better about the whole situation, which is a great relief. Now my job is to keep depending and trusting in God that he will continue to deliver over the coming weeks, like he has already shown he can.

And that’s my weekend done! I hope you enjoyed reading about it, I’m sorry it ended up quite long – only, a lot a lot of stuff happened!

This week will be full of more Spanish study, which I am eager to do as I am desperate to improve daily! Today we finished the 10 groups of irregular verbs, so I’m excited to find out what comes next. I’m hoping we will move onto the past tense soon-ish as I can currently only speak in the present which can get a little frustrating!

I am also hoping that the rain will start to lessen now that is October (and therefore no longer the rainy season) as today me and Nahum got absolutely DRENCHED head to toe, through and through, on the 7 minute walk to the central park where we went to get some lunch. And I mean drenched. It was horrible – but an entertaining experience seeing Nahum being such a wimp in the rain ;)

(The rain we just ran through! :( )

For those who pray:

Things to be thankful for:

• That God has already started to answer my prayers and that he is such a faithful, caring God.
• That I have been able to meet other Latin Link members and that I have been encouraged by all in many areas.

Things to be praying for:

• That my Spanish would continue to develop, that God would help my memory to improve and that I would have the confidence to test out what I have learnt in public situations.
• Nahum starts teaching English this week to various groups of adults and children and is doubtful in his ability to do so well – so just that he would succeed and that the time would be beneficial to the students as well as him, but mainly that he would be filled with Gods presence, so even if he does fail, or things don’t go to plan, he would be able to rest in the knowledge that God is greater than it all and that it is God who ultimately gives him the strength and ability to do these things.
• Continuation of the last prayer points about God making my free time beneficial etc.

Thanks for everyones encouraging emails, facebook messages and comments, I really do appreciate them more than you know.

Until next time, Elle :) xxx

Hola Guatemala!

So, I've been in Guatemala 1 week and already so much has happened!? (I will try to keep it as short as I can ;))

Me and Nahum (the guy that I have come to Guatemala with who is also doing Latin Link) had no troubles with our flight and arrived on schedule to Houston and then Guatemala. The length of flight #1 (10 hours) wasn't particularly enjoyable but I made the most of it by decorating my travel journal some more and watching one or two of the films available. The wait at Houston wasn't great either (5 hours) but we filled the time by getting a bite to eat at 'Wendys' - nice and healthy!

To finally arrive in Guate was odd and really overwhelming, but totally exciting at the same time. For both of us it suddenly became real that this was the next 8 months of our lives! Suzanne, the short term coordinator for Latin Link in Guatemala picked us up from the airport and took us in a rattly taxi... late at night... through Guatemala city... to her house in San Lucas, Sacatepequez.... a pretty scary experience after hearing so much about the lack of safety in the city!

But we got to Suzannes house fine and went to bed quite promptly for some sleepy times, as hard as that was with creepy crawlies all over the place, including a woodlouse scuttling across my pillow!

Over the first few days we did our in country orientation with Suzanne which included going through some similar stuff to what we did at orientation in England such as how to deal with culture shock; as well as a walk around San Lucas - visiting the local market, buying some exotic fruits and trying them when we got home; practising travelling on the 'chicken buses'; going into Antigua (where I am now) to register with the spanish school and get a feel for the place; going to Suzannes church and lastly going for lunch at 'Pollo Campero' which is a very large and successful fast food chain in Guatemala, like KFC which everyone is mad about!

On Sunday evening I was transported to Antigua to start living with my host family. I am so far loving living with them. As my Spanish develops more and more each day, the more I am able to converse with them and build relationships. Up until yesterday there was also an American girl called Kiddissar staying with the family who spoke a lot of Spanish, which was a real blessing to help me settle in as she has been able to translate some of what the fam has said to me and has been able to teach me the tricks necessary to living in the house, like how to get hot(-ish) water from the shower, how to open the doors, what the dealio is for meal times etc. 

The house I'm staying in is a 2 minute walk away from the school and a 10 minute walk away from the centre of Antigua so is in a pretty convenient location. The house itself is quite small but has two floors, and I'm lucky to have quite a big room. It has an open roof meaning that on stepping out my room I can see quite a lot of Antigua which includes a perfect view of Volcane Agua!

My family consists of Connie, the mom; Luiky, one of the daughters; Heidy, another daughter, her husband Fransisco, and their 5 year old son, Fransisco jr; as well as Connies son, but he comes in very late at night and leaves very early in the morning so I haven't actually met him yet! They are all really lovely and welcoming. None of them speak English but Connie has been hosting students of the school for 15 years so that's really helpful as it means they are all very practised in speaking really slowly and simply for me, and don't get annoyed when they have to repeat things over and over again! :P

(The view I get of Volcane Agua by simply stepping out my room!)

The school I'm attending is called 'La Union' and I'm loving it so far. I started classes on Monday so have only had 4, however each lesson is 4 hours long with only a short break in the middle, so they're quite intense, but really beneficial, and I feel like I've picked up a lot already, which is great. It has been quite interesting though, as baring in mind I have never studied Spanish before (and told my teacher, Suella this at the beginning), I have been doing nothing but verbs – which are quite tricky! Suella only realised yesterday what I had been saying, and was very apologetic, but we have carried on with them anyway because I seem to be progressing okay with them! Lessons consist of a lot of conversation to practice using the verbs I learn, as well as some fun games like bananagrams and Scrabble (in Spanish of course?!).

I am starting to feel acclimatised to Antigua. It is a fairly small city with a lot of restaurants, cafés, traditional hand craft shops and colourful houses all muddled together. I have already mentioned the view of Volcane Agua but in addition to this are lots of hills rolling into one another as well as lots of splashes of colourful flowers lining the streets. It really is beautiful.

I think I'll probably leave this blog there for now, as I am aware I have written a lot! Sorry about that, I promise posts from now on will be a lot shorter, I just had a lot to write about ;)

For those who pray:

Things to be thankful for:

- Safe travel and arrival

- That I am starting to feel acclimatised into such a new, different culture and that I am picking up the language quickly.

- That I have been blessed with a nice family and a good teacher and that me and Nahum are getting on well together.

Things to be praying for:

- That my Spanish would continue to develop at a fast pace and that I would find my time at the school as well as with my family really beneficial in building it further.

- That I would soon find a church in Antigua that I feel comfortable in and can fit into (as I found out when I got here that my family are actually Catholic).

- Due to the fact that at the moment I am in Antigua with the sole purpose of learning Spanish to a good enough level to be able to start my project in San Cristobal in a month or two, I have a lot of free time after class and after I've done my homework as well as extra work I have been setting myself. Although on some days I am able to chill with Nahum for a couple of hours or meet with Suzanne, a lot of the days I am going to be on my own with nothing much to do, as Nahum has already started aspects of his project. Because of this I am starting to feel a little lonely on my own so prayer that god would provide me with some people at the school to make friends with would be good, and that I would generally be able to find a way of making my free time really beneficial to myself, to my relationship with god and to others also.

- That I would remember to depend on God in every aspect of my time here in Guatemala. He is the one who has brought me here, and so he is the only one that is going to get me through this year!

Thanks guys, much love, and missing everyone lots and lots

Adiós for now! xxx

Orientation

Hola! :)

The countdown has officially begun as in 12 days I will be on a plane to Guatemala!

On Thursday I returned home after 8 days at All Nations Christian College in Hertfordshire where I had my 'orientation' or training for my time in Guatemala.

The week included a wide variety of session led by teachers at the college which covered topics such as culture shock, safety and security, the history and politics of Latin America and working in cross cultural teams, which were all very useful and beneficial as they covered practical things to know and to consider. In addition however we also had sessions on areas such as understanding ourselves and maintaining our spiritual life which benefited us all in another way.
In addition to the sessions we had lots of tea breaks with lovely selections of biscuits as well as free time in which we played games of frisbee, volleyball, or chatted to each other in.
Every morning we also had a time of devotions which was either led by a lady called Caroline or by one of the country groups. These times provided to be the most challenging to me personally, as God really used them to speak to me about various things in my life that he wants me to sort out with him before I go away. One thing that God really emphasised to me was that he really does have the best plan about everything, even if we cant see what that is, or understand why that is.

I would say that there were a few highlights to the week:
Firstly, last Sunday we visited a Kairos church in London which was Latin American - therefore all spoken in spanish and very Latin cultured in the way that everyone greeted eachother and worshipped. Although my spanish wasnt quite up to scratch to understand all that was said, I managed to get the gist of what they were preaching about, and overall felt it was a really great thing to experience to prepare me for the kind of church I might be based in whilst away!
Secondly would have to be the people I met. Not only did I get the chance to meet many previous Striders with Latin Link, including two Striders who had been to Guatemala and were therefore able to share advice specific to there; but I also got to make friends with some awesome people, some my age, some a bit older. I know that God really blessed me with the people as I have been able to connect and relate to them so well and we already have plans in place to keep in touch whilst all in different areas of Latin America.

Overall God has really used this week to encourage, equip, prepare, challenge and teach me in so many different ways. I know that this last week at orientation as well as my time at Momentum a few weeks back have really been used and blessed by God to get me in the right place for going away and now just cant wait to go!

For those who pray:
Things to be thankful for:
- That God really spoke to me over the summer
- That God got me there and home safely
- That God blessed me with so many friendships
Things to be praying for:
- For a productive time over the next 12 days as things are coming together at home ready for my departure
- For a safe flight
- That the preparations and practicalities would come together over in Guatemala ready for my arrival

Thanks for reading! :)

Dios te bendiga! (A phrase I learnt at the Latin American church meaning 'God bless')