A day in the Life -- Part 2 - Travels on Tues 2nd Feb

8am – I check my emails quickly before getting the bus to Totonicapan. My bus is actually quite empty so no squeezing 3 people to a seat today. People often ask me why I don’t buy a car here, and are pleasantly surprised that I normally use the buses (missionaries here have a reputation about being scared of using the buses and buying themselves big cars). I have a few reasons – the environment being one of them – but mainly it’s because I don’t want to separate myself from ‘normal’ society here. I see so many missionaries who come to Guatemala saying they want to share the gospel with people but then do everything they can to protect their own lifestyles and families and isolate themselves from the very people that they say they’re here to reach (living in closed communities with security guards, never using public transport, sending their kids to private schools, shopping at the foreign supermarket and buying all the same food as they would at home). For me it doesn’t make any sense, and I know that the simple act of being on a bus is a way of sharing in the normal lives of the people. But I digress.......... So I spend 3 hours on the bus – I used to try to read but with the roads winding around the mountains, it just makes me feel ill, so these days I amuse myself by making funny faces at the child staring at me from a few rows in front, and thanking God for the amazingly beautiful country he has brought me to.

12.15pm - I arrive in Totonicapan and meet Joe, one of the Striders, and we walk to his home. Joe has been in Guatemala and Honduras for a year now but has recently changed projects. We talk through his 6monthly review form that he has completed – how he’s adapted to the culture, what he’s achieved and what goals he wants to set himself for the next 6 months, and chat about his new project.

2.30pm –We enjoy lunch with Joe’s host family. Chicken, rice and tamalitos never fail! Joe just moved here a week ago. Normally I meet the host families beforehand and explain all about the programme and their expectations – but this time, the placement was organised a bit hastily and I didn’t get a chance to visit previously. But he’s working with GEU (the Guatemalan Christian student group) –who have received striders in the past so have a good understanding of the requirements for a family – and as I talk with the family, I’m glad to discover that they made a great choice here for Joe. I explain a bit more about Latin Link and the way we work. Families are often worried that they haven’t got the right mod-cons for volunteers from Europe – or that they should cook things that the volunteers are more used to instead of traditional Guatemalan food. I reassure them that the idea of Stride is that the volunteers get to experience real Guatemalan life – so the family shouldn’t change anything – it’s the Striders responsibility to adapt to life here. (Sometimes that can be difficult to start with – but usually Striders enjoy seeing and eating the real thing! – and often end up stuffing as many tins of frijoles in their suitcases as they can when they go home)

During the conversation we also discover that Joy, one of the daughters of the family, is just graduating as a nutritionist and has been working on a UN project. I tell them about Hannah, another strider who’s also a nutritionist and developing a project in Zaragoza – but who has had trouble finding Guatemalan growth charts or information about how malnutrition is identified here. Joy offers to help – This might just be the connection that answers Hannah’s prayers.

4pm – I’m back on a bus – this time to San Pedro La Laguna, a bit of a detour on my way home.

6ish - As the bus negotiates the hairpin turns down the side of the mountain, I strain my neck to see the sun setting red behind the volcanoes on the other side of Lake Atitlan. It is incredibly beautiful, and makes me wish I was better as taking photos!

7pm – I arrive in San Pedro La Laguna and walk down the hill to the shore where my usual hostel is. On the way the smell of the coffee de-pulper hits me before I see it (think silage rather than roasted coffee). Many of the communities around the lake produce coffee and the chemical runoff from the de- pulping process is one of the causes of the blue-green algae that has plagued the Lake recently. But as I get to the hostel and glance over the pier, it looks like the algae has cleared significantly since I was last here – so I decide I’ll definitely try to get up for a quick swim tomorrow morning before meeting Jeanine for mentoring over breakfast.

7.30pm – I order some food at one of the lakeside restaurants and write a letter to a friend whilst I’m waiting. (Guatemalan culture does involve a fair bit of waiting – so I try to always have the odd postcard or bit of paper in my bag so that I can take advantage of the time and write to friends and supporters). One of the other good things about San Pedro (a bit of a hippy tourist town) is that several of the restaurants also show movies in the evening – so I settle down to watch before hitting the sack at the hostel.

A Day in the Life of a Latin Link Short Term Coordinator 1

Lots of people ask me what my typical day is like. That's a question which is quite difficult to answer as my work isn't at all regular. But I've decided to write a few blogs over the next couple of months to describe my days which will hopefully give you a better idea of what I do.

When I first started this job in Guatemala, I moved into a 3 bedroom house. It's more space than I need, but I really wanted my home to be a place of refuge for the Steppers and Striders here - so I give the Striders keys to my house and they know that they are welcome to come whenever they need to crash out, or have a break from speaking Spanish all day, or just want a English cup of tea! I don't actually like tea -but everyone who comes out assumes that that's what I'm missing most from England -so I always have a good supply to provide comfort and solace to home-sick Striders! -- (Of course the Swiss Striders would be equally comforted if I had a good supply of Swiss chocolate!!!!!.......)

So anyway this first 'Day in the Life' is when I've got a fairly full house - there's 5 people here; 2 new Striders, who arrived earlier this week and are staying with me for their orientation this week, 2 'old' Striders who are around this weekend to help introduce the newbies to Guatemalan life.

Saturday 16th January 2010
7.30am

My alarm goes off - although I've been half aware of the buses going past since about 5.30am. I sit up in bed and read my Bible for a bit. I have a 'rota' of people I pray for regularly -- some days it's difficult but a few incidents recently have focused my mind more.

7.50am

I'm just thinking about getting up but listen to noises outside my room that tell me that someone else is in the bathroom. The noises get stranger -and more squeelier - and I can make out Anna (who is quite excitable at the best of times) saying "Amy, get up! You've got to come and look! There's poo in the shower!". So I get up and discover that there is in fact poo in the shower and that both the toilet and the shower are draining very very slowly.

I think that the newbies didn't quite believe me when I told them that the Guatemalan drainage system can't cope with toilet paper being flushed down the toilet. (It has to go in the bin instead.) I think they believe me now!

8am

So I've got dressed quickly and crossed the road to the local hardwear shop - thankfully it's open and I buy two bottles of the magic unblocker stuff (that worked when the toilet was blocked on Boxing Day) - thinking that it'll be a good idea to have a spare bottle in the cupboard. But in fact I need both bottles and the plunger to unblock the pipes and then bleach the shower.

9.30am

We all leave and get the bus to Antigua. As usual that means squishing 3 people to a seat. I sit next to Gina, one of the newbies and chat about some of her concerns about starting her work placement next week.

10am

We meet a few of the other 'oldies' on the outskirts of Antigua. We'd arranged to meet up for a day out so that the newbies can get to know the oldies -and Antigua. After waiting for Hannah, whose bus comes from the other direction and has had to walk across Antigua, we all walk to El Pilar. I walk with Amy and we chat about how her placement is going and the recent changes that they've experienced.

10.45am

we get to El Pilar, a nature reserve with a set of 3 swimming pools fed by fresh mountain spring water. Thankfully there's not many other people there (Guatemalans seem to think that the water is cold!) so we enjoy a nice couple of hours swimming, chatting, relaxing and sunbathing, then make our way back to Antigua for lunch.

3pm.

We all split up. Some go to the market in search of cheap trainers, others to show the newbies the important sites of Antigua (where they'll be studying Spanish from Monday) - ie the best internet cafes with skype! I get the bus back with (Swiss) Mirjam, who has a concert with her church youth group to go to, and Trish. I chat with Trish about how she's coping with her host family, and commuting from there to her work placement, about an hours journey across the city.

4pm

At home I check my emails and start to write to another Latin Link missionary with some of my thoughts after a meeting we had the previous day with the ministry she works with. .... but soon the others return to the house.

During the next couple of hours Anna uses the computer to transfer some Spanish songs she's learning from a CD onto her ipod, Amy uses it to check out the website of an organisation she wants to work for when she returns to the UK, Hannah skype chats with a friend who'll be visiting her next week, (German) Mirjam has a sleep upstairs, I make a carrot cake as I realise that the previous cake has mysteriously disappeared, and Gina and Maddie continue to question the others about their experiences. Hannah's story of saying the word 'fart' (pedo) every time she wants to say 'but' (pero) keeps them particularly entertained and everyone compares their ability to roll their r's.

7.30pm

Most of them go out to my church youth group - so I enjoy a bit of peace and quiet with Hannah.

9.30pm
They all return home excited about their youth group deciding to organise prayer pairs -to pray for each other throughout the week. We finish the evening with some luxuries -- eating cake and Minstrels (which the newbies brought over for the oldies) whilst watching a few episodes of Gavin and Stacey (from a parcel from some of Anna's friends!)

new year's eve 2009

This year I spent New Years Eve with the Ortiz Family and some other friends. Every celebration in Guatemala is marked with fireworks. From near their house we could see all the fireworks from all over Guatemala City -- and of course had a few of our own to entertain us.

(Health and Safety doesn't exist in Guatemala!)

Christmas

Christmas in Guatemala is actually celebrated on the evening of Dec 24th -- usually with a lot of fireworks. Everyone sets off fireworks in the evening and especially at midnight -- then they open presents and have a meal!!!

For most of the Striders, they celebrated in Guatemalan style with their host families and then came to my house to celebrate in British style on the 25th

Turkey and stuffing, Roast potatoes, brussels sprouts (but no parsnips! boo hoo!) -- and Crackers -thanks to my sister, Jen!!

Living Nativity

Here in Guatemala, Christmas can be a bit of shock for Christians from overseas. Here the majority of the population are nominal Catholics. So churches and many shopping centres have very large nativity scenes -- although I've seen some that have replaced the shepherds and Wise Men with Reindeer and Santa Clause queueing up outside the stable. Many of the Catholic churches have vigils and processions.

On the other hand, many Evangelical / Protestant churches see the Christmas celebrations as too materialistic - or as having a too big a focus on Mary, that they decide not to celebrate Christmas at all.

It can be difficult to talk about the real story of Christmas in that atmosphere. But one of the projects where one of the Striders is working have taken on the challenge. Aulas Abiertas (Open Classrooms) is an educational project in Zaragoza, supporting children who are at risk of dropping out of school. This week they've held a kids holiday club, helping the children understand the real message of Christmas. The week culminated today with a performance of 'Living Bethlehem' in the town square of Zaragoza. The performance involved all the children who had attended the club this week, as well as live animals and a real baby - so definitely drew a crowd.

Habakkuk in the mountains

Yesterday I went with a Guatemalan friend to visit some communities up in the mountains north of Tecpan. He has been working with these communities and churches for about 12 years - and remembers when you could only get there on a motorbike, (it was still difficult with a 4x4). It's also a place where there had been a lot of guerrilla activity during the 36years of civil war here. As a response the army murdered whole villages and burnt them to the ground. My friend pointed out where he knew there's a cladistine grave where many of these were dumped. Now many of these villages continue to live in extreme poverty -- with many divided families as a result of the war and work migration.

We met pastors in some of these villages -- one pastor who had had to sell his motorbike recently due to the economic crisis -- but who continued to visit and preach the revolutionary good news of Jesus in other villages -- walking 7 hours to one village where he knew the pastor was sick - to be with him and minister to his family.

We read some of Habakkuk together...

God, How long do I have to cry out for help before you listen?
How many times do I have to yell, "Help! Murder! Police!" before you come to my rescue?
Why do you force me to look at evil, stare trouble in the face day after day?
Anarchy and violence break out, quarrels and fights all over the place.
Law and order fall to pieces.
Justice is a joke.
The wicked have the righteous hamstrung and stand justice on it's head.
(Habakkuk 1: 1-4, The Message translation of the Bible)

This is definitely something that Guatemalans can relate to - recently there's been an increase in the number of lynchings -- one where a community stormed the police station where 2 people accused of being members of an gang that was extorting money from local businesses etc, were being held. The police and army took several hours to regain control of the situation, which ended with the 2 accused and one police officer dead and 2 police vehicles burnt out. The community says that although the police arrest criminals, within 2 or 3 days, they are often released and back threatening the community members. For them justice has definitely become a joke.

Habakkuk continues -talking of situations when crops fail and natural disasters happen -- all very close to home for these rural villages.

But we read on...
Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen
Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty,
I'm singing joyful praise to God.
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Saviour God.
Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
I feel like I'm king of the mountain!
(Habakkuk 3: 17-19 The Message translation of the Bible)

That's the response of so many Christians here -- choosing to look for God on the move in their communities and neighbourhoods -- choosing to rejoice in God's goodness in the midst of violence and disaster -- choosing to trust that God is building his reign in this place -and choosing to be a part of that hope rather than despair.

Sailing on the Marine Reserve of the Sapodilla Caye of Belize

I've just come back from a weeks holiday with my sister onboard a sailing boat. It was incredible! We started off in Rio Dulce in Guatemala, then sailed down the river to Livingston on the coast.
Sunset over Rio Dulce.

Then we sailed out to the Barrier Reef of Belize -- the Marine Reserve of Sapodilla Caye. Incredibly clear waters....

... even with no land for miles around, the water was as shallow as 5 feet with pure white sand, where the coral grows. We saw loads of amazing fish, sting rays, star fish - (but no photos - sorry!)

The full moon over the boat was stunning.

This is Nicolas Island

The Captain and crew went snorkelling every day and caught enough fish and lobster and crab for us all.

Our fellow sailing companions ... the boys.... Joe, Odd and Angel.

.... and the girls....Cat, Rosie, Beth, Emma, Lina, Mareya and Jen.

..... and the Captain, Raul

Our boat --- from Livingston.

... and our cabin.....