January 19 Tactic, Guatemala

After four days of sickness, one in bed, two dragging around and one on the road to recovery it is good to be back in a better state this afternoon. I have never been sick away from home before so it was an experience having this happen when I am more or less on my own. (The team here from Regina and Les the Director of the Mission have done very well accomodating and including a sick stranger in their midst.)

I am so glad I got to come to rural Guatemala. I am not sure how my friends are fairing further south but from the pictures it sure looks like they are getting better weather. Today the sun shone for the first time since Tuesday. I wore sandals for the first time but still needed my sweater. All around the country side you see laundry drying on barbed wire or clapboard fences or on bushes. We drove to the smaller villages around here this afternoon to see where the other schools are and to locate our sponsor children. I did not get to meet mine yet as we could not find his home.

I spent the morning with a little girl whose mom was cleaning at the house where I am staying as I was not well enough to attend the teachers celebration of school starting. She and I tried to teach each other spanish and english. She stuck with it for about two hours...amazing. She told me here favourite thing to play is "sweeping" ...seriously! Later I found that her dad was murdered last year when his truck was stolen.

It is hard to describe what it is like here and pictures just do not do justice. The bare feet in the cold, the weaving mats set up on mud floors where women sit and make beautiful tapestries, the children carrying thier siblings who are almost the same size as them, cows and goats tethered here and there, horses mingling (with no riders) among the traffic on roads meant to be used by donkeys, cell phones ringing, people hugging and smiling and stopping to greet and talk no matter the urgency of their travels, groups of people watching a drag line working on the ravine, schools in the midst of construction that are being opened tomorrow where a thousand children will swoop into classrooms with cement floors, no heat and very basic furnishings or none at all. There is so much to see that does not remind one of home. I have so much respect for these quiet and dignified people whose lives by comparison to ours are very difficult.

The church is awesome....started at 4:00 which meant 4:15, Opening prayer lasted 15 minutes, worship singing lasted 1 hour, announcements took 15 minutes and then the testimonies and preaching began, ending with prayer time at 6:45. Could understand little but enough for God to touch my heart. Two little boys about 6-7 years old were in the front row by themselves. They sang their hearts out, imitating the faces and actions of the men leading worship.

That is it for today. I head to the city, Guatemala City, on Wednesday and so may not get to add to the blog until then. Meanwhile, thanks for praying, especially about my health. In all it has been wonderful and I would recommend this to anyone!

Blessings,

Shanon