Guatemala, Part 3

Here is the continuing story of our mission trip to Guatemala. . .

Tuesday (7/23/13)

I woke up around 6 a.m. when the guys started talking about coffee. I got up just before 6:30 a.m. and took a fast shower (it’s always cool.)

Then I went down and did my devotions, journaled, read, and chatted with everyone. Pastor D started doing card tricks and had everyone worked up before breakfast. J

Card tricks around the table.

Today we had a more Guatemalan breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, *amazing* refried beans, shortbread cookies, plantains, and bread with butter. To drink, we have this orange concoction that’s like Sunny D with pulp.

Breakfast!

We left around 9:00 a.m. for the school.

Part of the drive to the school.

Today we started with the little kids and did “Fut-bol.” Two teams played against each other for 20 minutes. I got to play half a game. It was fun!

Trying to join in on the soccer game. J

Then we had small group time. Mrs. B shared her testimony today. The kids were really interested in the Texas Longhorns she mentioned. J

The younger group tends to participate more and be more affectionate. The little girls love hugs and kisses. One little girl in our group named T is *beautiful* and knows a lot of English words.

Watching the Futbol game with the little girls.

Next we did the older group. They were really competitive during the games. Mr. T and Mrs. B were also more aggressive. J

When we finished, some of the guys did a 5-on-5 soccer game. I was sitting journaling and got smacked with a ball. By Ben! Thankfully it wasn’t bad at all.

On the sidelines during the coaches game.

Today we had lunch at the school. We had 3 different types of sandwiches: turkey, PB&J, and chicken salad. We also ate pineapple, watermelon, and a rice drink.

After that, we walked over to the opportunity center.

We started off with a matching game between the English words from our Gospel bracelet to the Spanish word. Then we did the “Gorilla, Man, Gun” game.

Teaching the kids the game (it’s like a full-body version of “Rock, Paper, Scissors.”)

Then we broke into groups to do our craft. As the kids strung their beads, I read through the English explanation once, and then a second time while the kids repeated after me. Then A read the Spanish explanation. I read in Spanish a few times. J

At the end of our time at the opportunity center, each group recited one of the verses in English. They did so good!

On the drive home, I sat near one of our translators, M, so I could ask questions about what we were passing.

One of the views on our drive home. Each day, we drove across the heart of the city.

When we got back to the mission house, we relaxed a bit. Pastor D twisted his ankle playing soccer, so he iced it with a can of Coke. Then we kids practiced our dance. J It was amazing.

The 5-stringed guitar was a popular time-passing object over the week. J

Then the guys went upstairs and did some jowling. It was funny! After that, we had an amazing dinner! We had steaks hot off the grill, corn tortillas, guacamole (some of the best I’ve eaten), salsa, chips, mango, pasta salad, and green salsa. It was *amazing!*

Our amazing dinner!

After dinner we gathered to play spoons. We had 13 people playing at one time! Quite a few of the Guatemalans joined us. It was nice to finally mix together with them at the mission house. The games got pretty loud and wild. J

Everyone lunging for spoons. J

After we played 3 rounds, we had our debrief time. We talked about things we appreciate about each other. And we talked about how things went. We prayed over Pastor D. Pastor B came in, so I borrowed his phone to call Mom and Dad. I think they miss us a lot. L Then we all prepped the “Ojo de Dios” craft for tomorrow.

J and Ben worked on an update email while the rest of us hung out upstairs. Pastor D got us all worked up with a riddle about Billy Bottle. We didn’t go to bed until midnight because we wanted to figure out the riddle. I’ll sleep good tonight!

To be continued . . .

Guatemala, Part 1

Guatemala, Part 2