Okay, I'm back in California, unwinding and getting prepared to make the big move to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. My brother is watching Star Trek, my nephew is taking a nap and I just finished an ice-blended mocha (the likes of which I will not see for many months on end). All is relatively well. Here I have included some last pics of my experience in Guatemala. From the top down: me with my Spanish teacher Noemi, an older beggar woman (it cost me 20 quetzales to take this photo!), one of the 'personajes' of Antigua-- the blind guy who begs enough money to be a lender!, me and Alejandra-- the 12-yr old girl who works in the house where I stayed (her father abandoned the family and she and her older sister had to quit school to work), me in front of Cerro de la Cruz-- a beautiful spot that overlooks the city, a wall of chairs, another personaje-- Dona Tonita, frying up dobladas, me trying my hand at mixing clay in the 200- year old tradition of a family of artisans, one of the family-- a man in his 80's mixing lead-based glaze by hand (a job he's been doing 8 hours a day for his entire life), and a cool shot of some of the family's pottery. I have so many more photos, but these are some of my favorites. At the end of my stay there, I had the opportunity to spend more time with the SI staff as the president of SI, Dave Hansen, vistied on a vision tour with about 17 other people. It was an awesome time of getting to know staff from California, Guatemala and soon to be Costa Rica staff. I also was able to make an awesome connection with Ginny, the manager of the YWAM coffee shop. We are hoping that she might be able to come spend time in DR in the future. Overall, Guatemala was a great experience and my Spanish greatly improved. Please continue praying for me as I make the transition to living more permanently in another culture. I will have to learn a whole new way of hearing and speaking Spanish, all the local slang terms and customs and learn how to live away from my family for an even longer time.
Okay, I'm back in California, unwinding and getting prepared to make the big move to Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. My brother is watching Star Trek, my nephew is taking a nap and I just finished an ice-blended mocha (the likes of which I will not see for many months on end). All is relatively well. Here I have included some last pics of my experience in Guatemala. From the top down: me with my Spanish teacher Noemi, an older beggar woman (it cost me 20 quetzales to take this photo!), one of the 'personajes' of Antigua-- the blind guy who begs enough money to be a lender!, me and Alejandra-- the 12-yr old girl who works in the house where I stayed (her father abandoned the family and she and her older sister had to quit school to work), me in front of Cerro de la Cruz-- a beautiful spot that overlooks the city, a wall of chairs, another personaje-- Dona Tonita, frying up dobladas, me trying my hand at mixing clay in the 200- year old tradition of a family of artisans, one of the family-- a man in his 80's mixing lead-based glaze by hand (a job he's been doing 8 hours a day for his entire life), and a cool shot of some of the family's pottery. I have so many more photos, but these are some of my favorites. At the end of my stay there, I had the opportunity to spend more time with the SI staff as the president of SI, Dave Hansen, vistied on a vision tour with about 17 other people. It was an awesome time of getting to know staff from California, Guatemala and soon to be Costa Rica staff. I also was able to make an awesome connection with Ginny, the manager of the YWAM coffee shop. We are hoping that she might be able to come spend time in DR in the future. Overall, Guatemala was a great experience and my Spanish greatly improved. Please continue praying for me as I make the transition to living more permanently in another culture. I will have to learn a whole new way of hearing and speaking Spanish, all the local slang terms and customs and learn how to live away from my family for an even longer time.