Well, tonight it was time to pack up that huge suitcase again. I could hardly believe it.. feels like I just got here a few days ago. And yet, I also feel like I´ve been here for months and months. Weird. This also means that tomorrow I have to say goodbye to Ixi and Pablo for a while. I will see them the day before we leave to come back home in April, because we´re having a celebration dinner for all the families. But it will still be hard tomorrow since I´m leaving their house and won´t be spending time with them again like I have been. I have really grown to love and appreciate them, more than I thought I would. It´s ok to cry though.. that´s what I´m telling myself.
So yes, our group is leaving tomorrow afternoon at 3pm to travel to Tikal - Mayan ruins and jungle here in Guatemala, also REALLY hot there. We´ll be there for the weekend and then travel onto Cobán, in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala for a week of service. It will be rainy and very cold there. And we will be bathing with a bucket, possibly with warm water, possibly not. Our leader for the service trip, Rob Cahill, MCC, told us that if you tell them you have your period you get warm water because the Mayan have a belief that you shouldn´t mix hot with cold and when you are menstruating your body is hot. Weird, but if I have to pretend I´m ¨hot¨ to get warm bathing water, I´ll do it!
I´m anticipating this week of service to be a stretching and growing experience. I will be living out of my backpack, with only two different t-shirts and no beauty supplies! Also, they speak a language we don´t know.. but apparently it is easier to learn than Spanish, so maybe I´ll come back fluent in 3 languages! From the pictures we´ve seen the area is beautiful and I´ll be able to get lots of good photos. We´ll be walking among cloud forests and mountains. I am excited for a change of scenery and pace. Also, we will be eating some mixture of beans and corn/tortillas at every meal. I can´t say I´m terribly enthused about this, but I will survive. I stuffed some pringles and smarties in my backpack, just in case. : ) Also, us ladies will be wearing (and get to keep) a skirt made out of about 8 yards of fabric. Basically all the fabric is on a string and you just keep pulling it tighter and tighter and bunching it up around you. I think it will be very heavy. Rob told us that if we didn´t feel fat before, we will when wearing this. I´m pretty excited that I will finally look like every typical Mennonite girl doing service in a Latin American country should look like... native skirt down to your feet, sneakers (of course), a tshirt that doens´t really match the skirt, and hair pulled back in a bun. All I´m lacking is a covering!
Anyways, back to the present. We had our final Spanish exams today and I feel pretty good about how I did. I have now completed 6 credit hours of Spanish! Yay! Tomorrow morning we have our ´Clausura´ which is a party basically where every class has to present some humorous skit or song or story about their semester and what they´ve learned so far. I am excited for that.
Tonight 8 of us sang a few songs at Casa Horeb Mennonite Church for the 25th Anniversary celebration of Semilla, the Anabaptist seminary where we have been studying Spanish and spending all our days. It was fun and I got to wear the new dress I bought here! During the middle of the program (which was long, given that it was in Central America) Pablo came in and wanted me to come outside with him to play. I was glad to. Except that it was FREEEEZING outside. So at one point I told him I was cold, and he wanted me to pick him up and hold him so that I stayed warmer. It was cute. He wrapped his legs tight around me and was laying his head on my shoulder. I asked him, ¨Me vas a extrañar?¨ Are you going to miss me? And he said, ¨y tu a mi?¨ Will you miss me? And I said yes and he said yes. Then he just looked at me for a while, puckered up, and kissed me right on the lips! HAHA. It caught me off guard. I think I was probably his first kiss...
Well, it´s 12:19am here, and I had just finished packing and wanted to update this before I went to bed. Unfortunately, 6 hours of sleep will not be sufficient. Perhaps I can sleep on the bus or plane tomorrow on the way to Tikal, though this is doubtful. We´ll return to CASAS for a day March 9th to unpack, wash clothes, take HOT showers, repack and get ready to travel for a MONTH out of the same backpack (uh oh), so on that day I will check my emails and update this again, hopefully with some pictures from my week. I´ll definitely need and appreciate your prayers this coming week as I will definitely be more out of my comfort zone than I have been so far. But I am going to carpe the diem and make the most of this experience! Having a positive attidute is the only way I´m going to survive!!! Please pray I don´t encounter any strange creatures in my bed at night.. I actually don´t know if I could survive that. : )
Hope everyone enjoys their last two days of February. Seriously, where has the time gone? Today was day 50 so we are exactly halfway done with our trip. Looking forward to hearing from some of you!
Hasta luego until later,
Lindsey
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Truth is...
Truth is...
...coming into this semester I was expecting a great life changing event that I´d come away from with a new passion or a new confirmation that I should keep studying photography and ESL or that I would learn something completely new about myself. And maybe I will.. but probably not until I´m looking back on it. And that´s ok.
...I have seen a lot of new things that have at least challenged my way of looking at things or how I´ve always believed what I´ve been told in History about the US which really isn´t the WHOLE story.
...I´ve gotten a lot more attached to Ixi and Pablo than I thought I would. I knew the time would fly and I would only be here for a little. And I wasn´t trying to put up a wall of defense or not get close to them.. I just didn´t feel like we´d hit it off at the beginning. But slowly, without even realizing it, I´ve grown to love them and the thought of leaving in one week is CRAZY. I´m glad she works at CASAS so I will still see her every time we come back through there..
...the people I´ve encountered here have opened their homes to me and accepted me and loved me just as I am, without knowing hardly anything about me. And that is powerful.
...We´re only 44 days done out of 100, and it feels like it´s been forever, and I kinda wish I could take a jet plane home for a weekend.
...I knew there was a chance of getting sick off the food but I always assumed it wouldn´t happen to me. Well, I just got pretty sick last night and today, I think food poisoning, and that made me really miss my mom.
...this is probably the hardest cross-cultural academic wise out of all of them at EMU.. and part of that might be our leaders. I used to resent this and complain about all the work, because it is an enormous amount. But now, I feel confident that somehow it will all get done in the end, and even if I am stressed, I will appreciate all I was required to do later on.
...sometimes it feels like we´re getting so many new experiences and so much information that it´s just all bouncing around my head and I don´t know how to process it all. For this reason, I think I will have a lot of processing to do when I get back home.
...I´m looking forward to traveling to the other countries in a week but not to living out of a small duffel bag for a month with limited internet and laundry access. This will be a stretching experience.
...(for the Grosh family) on Valentine´s day I ended up playing air hockey and pool with my host mom´s brother and his girlfriend. The dancing and drinking would have been later in the night, in Antigua, but even they didn´t end up going then. Phew!
...it´s hard being away from my family and friends, but I think it´s been good for me to have been stripped of my physical support system and been forced to rely more on God and the prayers of those back home, rather than their physical presence.
...I´ve still been able to entertain my OCD habits of plucking my eyebrows every 2 days, and counting things. I don´t know what I´d do if I couldn´t.
...I´m excited for what the rest of this trip holds and I thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I need em!
Feel free to send emails ANY TIME! I love hearing about things back home.
I hope that everyone is healthy, safe, and happy.
With love,
Lindsey
Sweet pants Amy and I bought in Santiago Atitlan that are really comfortable. I had my rolled up cause of dusty roads.
Our spanish class singing a spanish love song to Loren and Pat Swartzendruber - the president of EMU who came to visit for a weekend. I was only pretending to play guitar..
Our spanish class won the Valentine´s Day card competition! Our card was pretty simple looking compared to others so we were shocked. We won cause of participation, and use of grammar. The inside was a love poem I wrote. Maybe I´ll put it on here and translate it sometime. Our prize was a box of chocolates... gross!
The ring I bought myself on Valentine´s Day shopping with Amy!
Bec, tonight Pablo came into my room and looked at this picture and started singing, ¨Estas enamorada! Estas enamorada!¨ which means ¨You´re in love, you´re in love.¨ And I said, ¨No, that´s my sister.¨ ¨Porque parece como hombre?¨ (Why does she look like a boy?) I told him it was cause he couldn´t see your hair. I had to laugh a little though. Sorry!
Thanks for the roses Jake! HA, syke nah, bought them for myself. : )
This is my little brother. He´s pretty hard core, and I love it!
...coming into this semester I was expecting a great life changing event that I´d come away from with a new passion or a new confirmation that I should keep studying photography and ESL or that I would learn something completely new about myself. And maybe I will.. but probably not until I´m looking back on it. And that´s ok.
...I have seen a lot of new things that have at least challenged my way of looking at things or how I´ve always believed what I´ve been told in History about the US which really isn´t the WHOLE story.
...I´ve gotten a lot more attached to Ixi and Pablo than I thought I would. I knew the time would fly and I would only be here for a little. And I wasn´t trying to put up a wall of defense or not get close to them.. I just didn´t feel like we´d hit it off at the beginning. But slowly, without even realizing it, I´ve grown to love them and the thought of leaving in one week is CRAZY. I´m glad she works at CASAS so I will still see her every time we come back through there..
...the people I´ve encountered here have opened their homes to me and accepted me and loved me just as I am, without knowing hardly anything about me. And that is powerful.
...We´re only 44 days done out of 100, and it feels like it´s been forever, and I kinda wish I could take a jet plane home for a weekend.
...I knew there was a chance of getting sick off the food but I always assumed it wouldn´t happen to me. Well, I just got pretty sick last night and today, I think food poisoning, and that made me really miss my mom.
...this is probably the hardest cross-cultural academic wise out of all of them at EMU.. and part of that might be our leaders. I used to resent this and complain about all the work, because it is an enormous amount. But now, I feel confident that somehow it will all get done in the end, and even if I am stressed, I will appreciate all I was required to do later on.
...sometimes it feels like we´re getting so many new experiences and so much information that it´s just all bouncing around my head and I don´t know how to process it all. For this reason, I think I will have a lot of processing to do when I get back home.
...I´m looking forward to traveling to the other countries in a week but not to living out of a small duffel bag for a month with limited internet and laundry access. This will be a stretching experience.
...(for the Grosh family) on Valentine´s day I ended up playing air hockey and pool with my host mom´s brother and his girlfriend. The dancing and drinking would have been later in the night, in Antigua, but even they didn´t end up going then. Phew!
...it´s hard being away from my family and friends, but I think it´s been good for me to have been stripped of my physical support system and been forced to rely more on God and the prayers of those back home, rather than their physical presence.
...I´ve still been able to entertain my OCD habits of plucking my eyebrows every 2 days, and counting things. I don´t know what I´d do if I couldn´t.
...I´m excited for what the rest of this trip holds and I thank you all for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. I need em!
Feel free to send emails ANY TIME! I love hearing about things back home.
I hope that everyone is healthy, safe, and happy.
With love,
Lindsey
The lake at Santiago Atitlan, where our group went for a weekend.
Sweet pants Amy and I bought in Santiago Atitlan that are really comfortable. I had my rolled up cause of dusty roads.
Our spanish class singing a spanish love song to Loren and Pat Swartzendruber - the president of EMU who came to visit for a weekend. I was only pretending to play guitar..
Our spanish class won the Valentine´s Day card competition! Our card was pretty simple looking compared to others so we were shocked. We won cause of participation, and use of grammar. The inside was a love poem I wrote. Maybe I´ll put it on here and translate it sometime. Our prize was a box of chocolates... gross!
The ring I bought myself on Valentine´s Day shopping with Amy! My bedside stand, complete with roses I bought myself for Valentine´s day.
Bec, tonight Pablo came into my room and looked at this picture and started singing, ¨Estas enamorada! Estas enamorada!¨ which means ¨You´re in love, you´re in love.¨ And I said, ¨No, that´s my sister.¨ ¨Porque parece como hombre?¨ (Why does she look like a boy?) I told him it was cause he couldn´t see your hair. I had to laugh a little though. Sorry!
Thanks for the roses Jake! HA, syke nah, bought them for myself. : )
This is my little brother. He´s pretty hard core, and I love it!Saturday, February 14, 2009
Waste of space
Today at the mall I observed something new about Latin American women..
It seems that generally speaking, if there´s extra room in the legs of their pants (if they are baggy at all), it is a waste of space. They like pants that FIT.. really well.
And that is all.
It seems that generally speaking, if there´s extra room in the legs of their pants (if they are baggy at all), it is a waste of space. They like pants that FIT.. really well.
And that is all.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Story time!
GOOD NEWS! I finally found 100 (and 101 too) on a license plate today. This is extremely rare, especially that I find two in one day, because there´s only 3 numbers on each plate.. so I got lucky. I had been looking for days.
Ok, this post is going to be lots of random little stories.. mostly humorous ones.
The other night at a church meeting I was playing with Pablo outside because he was getting antsy and disturbing our mom. We played all kinds of things from Pato, Pato, Ganzo (Duck, Duck Goose), Power Rangers, Pikachu, freeze tag (kinda hard with two people), and Veo, veo (I spy). Earlier that night I kept hearing Ixi say ¨Fijate¨ to Pablo and then he had been saying it to me. So I asked him, ¨Que significa fijate?¨ What does fijate mean? And he responded, ¨Cuando tu mueras y vas al cielo, Dios va a decirte que significa fijate.¨ When you die, and go to heaven, God is going to tell you what fijate means. HAHA! So he wouldn´t tell me. It was a pretty clever response though. He´s always making me laugh. I did later find out that it means pay attention or look here.
When I ask Pablo questions like this, he always says ¨Tu no entiendes nada!¨ You don´t understand anything! and lets out this huge sigh. Oh well.
That same night, while playing pikachu (a chinese action figure), I pretended I didn´t know what pikachu meant. And every time he said the word pikachu I´d say ¨salud¨ bless you. He was getting really annoyed and kept saying ¨NOOO.¨ I thought it was funny though.
Lots of Pablo stories.. the other day we were waiting to leave for school and we were looking out the window at cars and he yelled ¨CUCARACHITA!¨ COCKROACH! and punched me! I looked and saw a VW bug. Apparently they play the punch buggy no punch backs game here too. Cause every time we see one he yells that and punches me.
He´s a very curious boy and every day on the way to school he asks his mom different questions about what stuff means (kinda like me), and one day he asked her what ´person´ meant. It was cute. He was also asking about turn signals and when Ixi explained it to him he said ¨I´ll understand when I´m bigger, right?¨ : )
Sometimes Pablo is correct in saying that I don´t understand anything. The other night I had gone to the University here with my mom´s brother and his girlfriend. They are students there and showed me all around which was a really good experience. I found out it costs them about $12 per year here for school. Did I already say that in another blog entry? I forget. But I was shocked when they said that. And likewise they were just as shocked when I told them what my schooling costs. Anyways, they took me to Burger King afterwards and were asking me random questions. His girlfriend, Ligia, asked me ¨Te gustas pintarse?¨ And I thought she was asking if I liked to paint... since I´m a photographer major and artsy kinda. So I told her ¨No, not really. I´m not that good at it.¨ and she asked, ¨What about anyone in your family? Your mom? Sister?¨ and I said, ¨No, not really. My dad a little. He´s pretty good at it..¨ Well she gave me a strange look and didn´t say anything for a little. Then she explained that she meant ¨maquillarse¨ which is make-up. So apparently here when they say pintarse they mean to paint yourself, and I had just told her that I didn´t like to wear make up but my dad did a little and he was good at it. OOPS! Sorry dad! At least I know now..
Ok, two more stories. Tonight we were about to leave my mom´s parents´house to go to her grandma´s for our weekly tradition. I was putting my purse on my shoulder and the strap was caught on some of my hair. So I went to pull my hair out from under it and felt something strange in my hand. I didn´t look right away so I grabbed it a little tighter to pull whatever it was out of my hair. Well, I have no idea where it came from, but when I looked at my hand I realized I was holding a cockroach. Uhh, yeah. I immediately flinched and dropped it, managing to keep my shock and disgust inaudible. I kicked it to make sure it was real.. it was. BUT, it was dead. Which made me feel a little teensy bit better about the situation. But still.. GROSS! And where did it come from.. ick.
Lastly, while we were at her grandma´s house eating dinner they were talking about new shoes Ixi´s sister had bought today. Ixi asked me a question and I was having trouble understanding what she meant. I knew it had to do with shoes and me.. so I thought she was asking how much they usually cost in the states. I told her it depends but usually around $20. Well, everyone kinda reacted strangely and then she explained that she meant what shoe size do I wear. I had told them I wear size 20.. gotta love those confusing language situations! We got a laugh out of it though.
Well, those are all the stories for now. Oh also, whenever I need some comic relief here or get tired of reading my boring history books, I turn to my buddy Patrick McManus and read about shooting canoes. I´m very thankful I packed that book last minute! Well, it´s 11pm here and I still haven´t started my two page essay on migration that is due tomorrow.. written in spanish. Some things, like the fact that I procrastinate, never change I guess. To all the Groshes - enjoy butchering weekend! I pulled up my butchering project website from last year and showed my mom and her boyfriend all the pictures last night. Can´t say my mom was too enthusiastic about the whole thing.. especially the ones with red blood. But now they know a little bit more about me! I´m sorry I can´t be there. To everyone else - enjoy your Valentine´s day, while you´re NOT butchering.
Love to all,
Linds
Ok, this post is going to be lots of random little stories.. mostly humorous ones.
The other night at a church meeting I was playing with Pablo outside because he was getting antsy and disturbing our mom. We played all kinds of things from Pato, Pato, Ganzo (Duck, Duck Goose), Power Rangers, Pikachu, freeze tag (kinda hard with two people), and Veo, veo (I spy). Earlier that night I kept hearing Ixi say ¨Fijate¨ to Pablo and then he had been saying it to me. So I asked him, ¨Que significa fijate?¨ What does fijate mean? And he responded, ¨Cuando tu mueras y vas al cielo, Dios va a decirte que significa fijate.¨ When you die, and go to heaven, God is going to tell you what fijate means. HAHA! So he wouldn´t tell me. It was a pretty clever response though. He´s always making me laugh. I did later find out that it means pay attention or look here.
When I ask Pablo questions like this, he always says ¨Tu no entiendes nada!¨ You don´t understand anything! and lets out this huge sigh. Oh well.
That same night, while playing pikachu (a chinese action figure), I pretended I didn´t know what pikachu meant. And every time he said the word pikachu I´d say ¨salud¨ bless you. He was getting really annoyed and kept saying ¨NOOO.¨ I thought it was funny though.
Lots of Pablo stories.. the other day we were waiting to leave for school and we were looking out the window at cars and he yelled ¨CUCARACHITA!¨ COCKROACH! and punched me! I looked and saw a VW bug. Apparently they play the punch buggy no punch backs game here too. Cause every time we see one he yells that and punches me.
He´s a very curious boy and every day on the way to school he asks his mom different questions about what stuff means (kinda like me), and one day he asked her what ´person´ meant. It was cute. He was also asking about turn signals and when Ixi explained it to him he said ¨I´ll understand when I´m bigger, right?¨ : )
Sometimes Pablo is correct in saying that I don´t understand anything. The other night I had gone to the University here with my mom´s brother and his girlfriend. They are students there and showed me all around which was a really good experience. I found out it costs them about $12 per year here for school. Did I already say that in another blog entry? I forget. But I was shocked when they said that. And likewise they were just as shocked when I told them what my schooling costs. Anyways, they took me to Burger King afterwards and were asking me random questions. His girlfriend, Ligia, asked me ¨Te gustas pintarse?¨ And I thought she was asking if I liked to paint... since I´m a photographer major and artsy kinda. So I told her ¨No, not really. I´m not that good at it.¨ and she asked, ¨What about anyone in your family? Your mom? Sister?¨ and I said, ¨No, not really. My dad a little. He´s pretty good at it..¨ Well she gave me a strange look and didn´t say anything for a little. Then she explained that she meant ¨maquillarse¨ which is make-up. So apparently here when they say pintarse they mean to paint yourself, and I had just told her that I didn´t like to wear make up but my dad did a little and he was good at it. OOPS! Sorry dad! At least I know now..
Ok, two more stories. Tonight we were about to leave my mom´s parents´house to go to her grandma´s for our weekly tradition. I was putting my purse on my shoulder and the strap was caught on some of my hair. So I went to pull my hair out from under it and felt something strange in my hand. I didn´t look right away so I grabbed it a little tighter to pull whatever it was out of my hair. Well, I have no idea where it came from, but when I looked at my hand I realized I was holding a cockroach. Uhh, yeah. I immediately flinched and dropped it, managing to keep my shock and disgust inaudible. I kicked it to make sure it was real.. it was. BUT, it was dead. Which made me feel a little teensy bit better about the situation. But still.. GROSS! And where did it come from.. ick.
Lastly, while we were at her grandma´s house eating dinner they were talking about new shoes Ixi´s sister had bought today. Ixi asked me a question and I was having trouble understanding what she meant. I knew it had to do with shoes and me.. so I thought she was asking how much they usually cost in the states. I told her it depends but usually around $20. Well, everyone kinda reacted strangely and then she explained that she meant what shoe size do I wear. I had told them I wear size 20.. gotta love those confusing language situations! We got a laugh out of it though.
Well, those are all the stories for now. Oh also, whenever I need some comic relief here or get tired of reading my boring history books, I turn to my buddy Patrick McManus and read about shooting canoes. I´m very thankful I packed that book last minute! Well, it´s 11pm here and I still haven´t started my two page essay on migration that is due tomorrow.. written in spanish. Some things, like the fact that I procrastinate, never change I guess. To all the Groshes - enjoy butchering weekend! I pulled up my butchering project website from last year and showed my mom and her boyfriend all the pictures last night. Can´t say my mom was too enthusiastic about the whole thing.. especially the ones with red blood. But now they know a little bit more about me! I´m sorry I can´t be there. To everyone else - enjoy your Valentine´s day, while you´re NOT butchering.
Love to all,
Linds
Monday, February 9, 2009
Greetings to all my faithful readers,
Today we had a free afternoon and were going to take Loren and Pat Swartzendruber (our college President and his wife, who came to visit for the weekend) to the central market. I was excited and ready to spend some cash! On presents for friends and family, of course. But, there was lots of traffic and by the time we didn´t even get there.. it was basically time to turn around. So 4 of us came back. While we were walking to catch a bus back here to CASAS I saw a woman at the street we were stopped at waving at me. I thought she was telling us we could walk in front of her. Then I realized it was my host mom´s best friend! What are the odds.. in such a big city, of seeing someone I know? It was crazy. She asked where we were going and if we wanted a ride, but she would´ve had to let us off before our stop.. so we just grabbed a bus. But when we grabbed a bus, not long after a couple got on that had been on the same bus going to the central market. Again, what are the odds in such a huge city? It was crazy!
Also, I´m up to 100 on my license plate number game.. which is really inconvenient.. mostly because the license plates here only have 3 numbers and 3 letters.. so from here on out it´s hit or miss. Mostly miss though.
This past weekend our group traveled to Santiago Atitlan and it was kinda like a vacation. We had to listen to some speakers and met with some missionary couples (one that were EMU grads) but mostly we relaxed. Saturday we had free time to shop a little and going swimming in the pool at the beautiful hotel. It was freezing though. However, I did dive in, and stayed in for a while.. you would´ve been proud Bec! Then Sunday after our group worship service we boarded a boat and headed over to Panajachel.. a touristy town for more shopping. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I had spent all my money the day before.. so I didn´t buy anything. But most of it was the same things I´ve been seeing all semester anyway, so no loss. I did manage to make a fool of myself though. I wasn´t watching where I was going and some silly Guatemalan put TWO steps at this one spot instead of one.. and I missed it.. falling forward. Luckily my wrists broke my fall and NOT my camera. I walked away with only a severely bruised and sore knee.. hurts to bend it.. oh well. Oh, and I got burned again. But I´m not complaining.. number 1 because it will turn to tan.. number 2 because I should have known better. 3rd time´s the charm, right?
We started our second semester in Spanish today.. woo hoo! I already have an essay due Friday. All our Spanish classes did short presentations for Loren and Pat in front of the whole group. My class sang a love song in Spanish and gave them flowers. I pretended to play guitar. It was awesome! There´ll be pictures on the EMU website sometime in the next week..
Well, I suppose the Grosh family is getting ready for butchering this coming weekend. I´m sad that I won´t be there. What a fun Valentine´s day activity! I was talking in Spanish class about it. My teacher Albertina wished she could come too.. and eat our meat cause she said it´s probably better than the meat here.. she´s right. She was all into it! I´ll have to show her the website of the photo project I did on it last year!
Spiritually I was challenged this weekend during some quiet time to think about what it means to live a grateful life. Too often I just say quick prayers of thanks each time I feel guilty for taking something for granted. But I don´t wanna keep doing that. Hearing stories and seeing firsthand the poverty and injustices here has really challenged me.. especially in my Western consumeristic tendencies. I feel blessed to have parents who have asked me ´Do you NEED this, or do you just WANT it?´ because that question has stuck with me and I have put things back on the shelves when I haven´t been with them.. It´s also interesting thinking about the fact that I only brought about 8 shirts and 3 pairs of pants with me and I´m surviving with this limited wadrobe. Meanwhile, I have dozens of shirts back home (that Becca is probably wearing all the time..) that I don´t actually need! I guess this is just something I need to keep wrestling with..
Today is the 33rd day here so that means we´re 1/3 done with our entire trip.. crazy! Well, that´s all for now. I probably won´t write again for about a week since our free afternoon was on a Monday this week! Hope you all have a great week and a good Valentine´s Day spent with the ones you love! I´ll be thinking about you all and missing you this weekend.
Today we had a free afternoon and were going to take Loren and Pat Swartzendruber (our college President and his wife, who came to visit for the weekend) to the central market. I was excited and ready to spend some cash! On presents for friends and family, of course. But, there was lots of traffic and by the time we didn´t even get there.. it was basically time to turn around. So 4 of us came back. While we were walking to catch a bus back here to CASAS I saw a woman at the street we were stopped at waving at me. I thought she was telling us we could walk in front of her. Then I realized it was my host mom´s best friend! What are the odds.. in such a big city, of seeing someone I know? It was crazy. She asked where we were going and if we wanted a ride, but she would´ve had to let us off before our stop.. so we just grabbed a bus. But when we grabbed a bus, not long after a couple got on that had been on the same bus going to the central market. Again, what are the odds in such a huge city? It was crazy!
Also, I´m up to 100 on my license plate number game.. which is really inconvenient.. mostly because the license plates here only have 3 numbers and 3 letters.. so from here on out it´s hit or miss. Mostly miss though.
This past weekend our group traveled to Santiago Atitlan and it was kinda like a vacation. We had to listen to some speakers and met with some missionary couples (one that were EMU grads) but mostly we relaxed. Saturday we had free time to shop a little and going swimming in the pool at the beautiful hotel. It was freezing though. However, I did dive in, and stayed in for a while.. you would´ve been proud Bec! Then Sunday after our group worship service we boarded a boat and headed over to Panajachel.. a touristy town for more shopping. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I had spent all my money the day before.. so I didn´t buy anything. But most of it was the same things I´ve been seeing all semester anyway, so no loss. I did manage to make a fool of myself though. I wasn´t watching where I was going and some silly Guatemalan put TWO steps at this one spot instead of one.. and I missed it.. falling forward. Luckily my wrists broke my fall and NOT my camera. I walked away with only a severely bruised and sore knee.. hurts to bend it.. oh well. Oh, and I got burned again. But I´m not complaining.. number 1 because it will turn to tan.. number 2 because I should have known better. 3rd time´s the charm, right?
We started our second semester in Spanish today.. woo hoo! I already have an essay due Friday. All our Spanish classes did short presentations for Loren and Pat in front of the whole group. My class sang a love song in Spanish and gave them flowers. I pretended to play guitar. It was awesome! There´ll be pictures on the EMU website sometime in the next week..
Well, I suppose the Grosh family is getting ready for butchering this coming weekend. I´m sad that I won´t be there. What a fun Valentine´s day activity! I was talking in Spanish class about it. My teacher Albertina wished she could come too.. and eat our meat cause she said it´s probably better than the meat here.. she´s right. She was all into it! I´ll have to show her the website of the photo project I did on it last year!
Spiritually I was challenged this weekend during some quiet time to think about what it means to live a grateful life. Too often I just say quick prayers of thanks each time I feel guilty for taking something for granted. But I don´t wanna keep doing that. Hearing stories and seeing firsthand the poverty and injustices here has really challenged me.. especially in my Western consumeristic tendencies. I feel blessed to have parents who have asked me ´Do you NEED this, or do you just WANT it?´ because that question has stuck with me and I have put things back on the shelves when I haven´t been with them.. It´s also interesting thinking about the fact that I only brought about 8 shirts and 3 pairs of pants with me and I´m surviving with this limited wadrobe. Meanwhile, I have dozens of shirts back home (that Becca is probably wearing all the time..) that I don´t actually need! I guess this is just something I need to keep wrestling with..
Today is the 33rd day here so that means we´re 1/3 done with our entire trip.. crazy! Well, that´s all for now. I probably won´t write again for about a week since our free afternoon was on a Monday this week! Hope you all have a great week and a good Valentine´s Day spent with the ones you love! I´ll be thinking about you all and missing you this weekend.
Con amor (with love),
Lindsey
Here´s me being enthusiastic about my camera and being on a boat in the sun in Santiago Atitlan this past weekend. Jin, don´t make fun of me for scrunching my nose!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Technology! GRR!
I´m experiencing technical difficulties at the internet cafe with uploading images. I have about 15 to put up. I might try my profesor´s computer if I get a chance before the weekend. Our big spanish final for our first 3 credits of spanish is tomorrow. I´m not too nervous but maybe I should be! We´ve been here a month now, but it feels like much longer. It´s crazy that our trip is almost 1/3 done! Amy and I got pedicures today during our free afternoon and it was wonderful!!! I´m starting to feel pretty comfortable here and more like my host house is ´home´ for now. I think it´s gonna be pretty hard saying goodbye to Ishi and Pablo. The other night I taught Ishi and her brother and his girlfriend how to play taboo! It was so fun. We were laughing and having a great time. I think I´ve opened up more around her and her family which feels good. Well, one minute left on here so that´s all for now. Hopefully some pictures SOON!!!
Love,
Lindsey
Love,
Lindsey
Finalmente, algunos fotos.
AND FINALLY, SOME PICTURES! The first few are a blast from the not so distant past..
Here´s Dad doing what he does best the day I left for Guatemala..
Jake squeezing me one last time!
Family picture (minus Eric and Lindsay, sorry).
Our Spanish class and 3 others went to the zoo one day.. this picture is for papaw!
Dad, ´Como se llama?´ How´s your llama?
This monkey reminded me of my sister.. HA! Just Kidding.
Here´s a picture for Meme!
This is my Spanish class.. Me, Anna, our teacher Albertina, and Allison. Also some giraffes for mom!
A shot of the hot springs 5 of us girls visited one Saturday while the rest of the group hiked a huge and difficult volcano!
How´s that winter weather? (P.S. I´m getting sun burned in this picture)
Aerial shot of the hot springs from the top of the building you could climb. There were 11 pools of varying heats. Did I also mention we got massages? All for the low, low price of $20.
Here´s my brother, trying to run from the camera. He seemed to think it was a fun game, even though I just wanted one good picture of him!
Now Pablo´s trying to duck out of the way of the camera. He makes me laugh!
And a confused look.. not sure why. But at least he stood still!
The picture Pablo took.. of his power ranger. It´s funny when he sings the theme song in English. He also likes to change into ´turbo´ and then fight me.
Yesterday Amy and I went to get pedicures in our free afternoon. So good!
All smiles after getting pampered!
Hi everyone, LOVE YOU ALL! Also, look how tan I am - you can tell on my wrist where I wear my hair ties while tanning : )
Here´s Dad doing what he does best the day I left for Guatemala..
Jake squeezing me one last time!
Family picture (minus Eric and Lindsay, sorry).
Our Spanish class and 3 others went to the zoo one day.. this picture is for papaw!
Dad, ´Como se llama?´ How´s your llama?
This monkey reminded me of my sister.. HA! Just Kidding.
Here´s a picture for Meme!
This is my Spanish class.. Me, Anna, our teacher Albertina, and Allison. Also some giraffes for mom!
A shot of the hot springs 5 of us girls visited one Saturday while the rest of the group hiked a huge and difficult volcano!
How´s that winter weather? (P.S. I´m getting sun burned in this picture)
Aerial shot of the hot springs from the top of the building you could climb. There were 11 pools of varying heats. Did I also mention we got massages? All for the low, low price of $20.
Here´s my brother, trying to run from the camera. He seemed to think it was a fun game, even though I just wanted one good picture of him!
Now Pablo´s trying to duck out of the way of the camera. He makes me laugh!
And a confused look.. not sure why. But at least he stood still!
The picture Pablo took.. of his power ranger. It´s funny when he sings the theme song in English. He also likes to change into ´turbo´ and then fight me.
Yesterday Amy and I went to get pedicures in our free afternoon. So good!
All smiles after getting pampered!
Hi everyone, LOVE YOU ALL! Also, look how tan I am - you can tell on my wrist where I wear my hair ties while tanning : )Ok, so now that I finally got those up I wanna write a little bit about a typical day..
I get up around 6:55 and shower and almost always get back to my room from the bathroom at 7:26.. it´s kinda creepy actually. Then I make my bed (which I never do at home), finish getting ready, and go eat breakfast. Most mornings I eat breakfast alone but sometimes the other two are ready when I am. My last box of cereal was OH´s which reminded me of grandma and grandpa and the beach. We usually leave the house around 8:15 and we´ve been driving instead of walking lately cause we have to drop Pablo off at school which is close to my school and Ishi´s work. Everything with Pablo is a contest or a game. We always ´race´down to the car from our 3rd story apartment, and we race to the apartment when we get home in the afternoons. Naturally, he always wins. Usually I let him, but on the days I wear skirts and heels, he wins legitimately. I always pretend to fake cry and he calls me ´chiona´ which means cry baby! It´s funny.
I get to school right before the bell rings and have Spanish class from 8:30-10:30. We usually talk about a story we read the night before, or do grammar exercises (my fav.. not), or talk about random topics such as our weddings and families back home. Then we have a half hour snack break at 10:30 and we can only talk in Spanish with our friends. We usually have some kind of sweet bread or chips and dip.
We go back to class from 11-12:30.. more talking, usually some games, and listening to a spanish song and writing down the words then singing it. Then we have lunch, which I usually eat most of.. and always consists of some kind of rice, tortillas, sometimes beans and usually foreign meat. I usually ask for no meat.. I much prefer Heindel meat that I´ve helped butcher..
After lunch we have a little free time until our group activity. Mondays are history class with our leader Jim. Tuesday´s are a field trip with CASAS to either the MCC office, a church, museums, or something like that. Wednesday´s are our free days.. when I go to the internet cafe, get ice cream, check email etc. Thursday´s are another CASAS activity, usually a native person comes for a lecture. And then Fridays we have group debriefing. We talk about relevant topics, homesickness, our weeks, announcements for the weekend, and usually have a time of worship at the end.
Most days we´re done by 3:30 or 4 and then I wait around for my mom to get off work at 4:30. We go home and I either do some homework or take a quick nap. Then we usually have something in the evenings. Some nights we have meetings at her church, or activities like an Oriental Night at her church this past Tuesday. Every Wednesday we go to her Grandma and Aunt´s house.. with her parents. It´s their family tradition that they said they´ve been doing forever. I really like it because it reminds me of the Grosh family Friday tradition. We always eat eggs, beans, cream and bread.. It´s my one authentic Guatemalan meal each week! Other nights we might go to restaurant with Ishi´s boyfriend or friends, and occasionally we do stay at home.
Ishi doesn´t really cook that much.. and when she does it´s usually pasta (which is fine with me), or frozen dinners heated up.. Or she makes me grilled cheese and pb&j! I feel like she is always cleaning.. her family was teasing her about it the other day. She brooms the floor, mops it, and dusts, collects the garbage, and does the dishes just about every single day. It´s crazy! But our house is always clean. I think that´s kind of cultural.. buut maybe not because Amy told me her host parents never clean and there´s always clutter.
I usually finish up homework after we get back home around 8 or 9.. or after dinner. Sometimes I watch part of a movie with Pablo but he´s always changing them 20 minutes in! Oh well. I normally get to bed between 9-10 which is nice. And then start all over again!
It has started to feel normal and like a routine. I feel comfortable in my host house and with my host family. It´s crazy that a month is already gone.. and we only have another month being stable here in Guatemala. I´m not looking forward to saying goodbye to Ishi and Pablo..
Alright, I have about another hour until my oral part of my spanish exam today. The written part and paragraph part went really well. I feel pretty good about them. I am kinda nervous about this oral part though. We´ll see how it goes!!
I always appreciate getting emails.. and I can receive mail here at CASAS too.. (ask Mom for the address if you want it). Hope everyone had a good Groundhog´s day. Also, today is my half birthday.. so HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO ME!
Much love and prayers from Guatemala,
Lindsey
I get up around 6:55 and shower and almost always get back to my room from the bathroom at 7:26.. it´s kinda creepy actually. Then I make my bed (which I never do at home), finish getting ready, and go eat breakfast. Most mornings I eat breakfast alone but sometimes the other two are ready when I am. My last box of cereal was OH´s which reminded me of grandma and grandpa and the beach. We usually leave the house around 8:15 and we´ve been driving instead of walking lately cause we have to drop Pablo off at school which is close to my school and Ishi´s work. Everything with Pablo is a contest or a game. We always ´race´down to the car from our 3rd story apartment, and we race to the apartment when we get home in the afternoons. Naturally, he always wins. Usually I let him, but on the days I wear skirts and heels, he wins legitimately. I always pretend to fake cry and he calls me ´chiona´ which means cry baby! It´s funny.
I get to school right before the bell rings and have Spanish class from 8:30-10:30. We usually talk about a story we read the night before, or do grammar exercises (my fav.. not), or talk about random topics such as our weddings and families back home. Then we have a half hour snack break at 10:30 and we can only talk in Spanish with our friends. We usually have some kind of sweet bread or chips and dip.
We go back to class from 11-12:30.. more talking, usually some games, and listening to a spanish song and writing down the words then singing it. Then we have lunch, which I usually eat most of.. and always consists of some kind of rice, tortillas, sometimes beans and usually foreign meat. I usually ask for no meat.. I much prefer Heindel meat that I´ve helped butcher..
After lunch we have a little free time until our group activity. Mondays are history class with our leader Jim. Tuesday´s are a field trip with CASAS to either the MCC office, a church, museums, or something like that. Wednesday´s are our free days.. when I go to the internet cafe, get ice cream, check email etc. Thursday´s are another CASAS activity, usually a native person comes for a lecture. And then Fridays we have group debriefing. We talk about relevant topics, homesickness, our weeks, announcements for the weekend, and usually have a time of worship at the end.
Most days we´re done by 3:30 or 4 and then I wait around for my mom to get off work at 4:30. We go home and I either do some homework or take a quick nap. Then we usually have something in the evenings. Some nights we have meetings at her church, or activities like an Oriental Night at her church this past Tuesday. Every Wednesday we go to her Grandma and Aunt´s house.. with her parents. It´s their family tradition that they said they´ve been doing forever. I really like it because it reminds me of the Grosh family Friday tradition. We always eat eggs, beans, cream and bread.. It´s my one authentic Guatemalan meal each week! Other nights we might go to restaurant with Ishi´s boyfriend or friends, and occasionally we do stay at home.
Ishi doesn´t really cook that much.. and when she does it´s usually pasta (which is fine with me), or frozen dinners heated up.. Or she makes me grilled cheese and pb&j! I feel like she is always cleaning.. her family was teasing her about it the other day. She brooms the floor, mops it, and dusts, collects the garbage, and does the dishes just about every single day. It´s crazy! But our house is always clean. I think that´s kind of cultural.. buut maybe not because Amy told me her host parents never clean and there´s always clutter.
I usually finish up homework after we get back home around 8 or 9.. or after dinner. Sometimes I watch part of a movie with Pablo but he´s always changing them 20 minutes in! Oh well. I normally get to bed between 9-10 which is nice. And then start all over again!
It has started to feel normal and like a routine. I feel comfortable in my host house and with my host family. It´s crazy that a month is already gone.. and we only have another month being stable here in Guatemala. I´m not looking forward to saying goodbye to Ishi and Pablo..
Alright, I have about another hour until my oral part of my spanish exam today. The written part and paragraph part went really well. I feel pretty good about them. I am kinda nervous about this oral part though. We´ll see how it goes!!
I always appreciate getting emails.. and I can receive mail here at CASAS too.. (ask Mom for the address if you want it). Hope everyone had a good Groundhog´s day. Also, today is my half birthday.. so HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY TO ME!
Much love and prayers from Guatemala,
Lindsey
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
