Guatemala's Last Post

So we arrived in Tecpan and it is FREEZING! We take turns laying in
front of the one little hearter we have, but it's going well. We had a
few issues trying to figure out the shower, but we are all able to take
warm showers. We have been line drying our closes, which is kinda cool.
I'm sorry, but I won't be posting anymore pictures on snapfish until I
get back to the states. The internet connection here in Tecpan
unfortunately doesn't stay connected continually enough to post
pictures.
We painted a VERY long wall and we were all very relieved when we
reached the end.
We've been having open-air meetings in La Giralda which is up the hill
from where we're staying. We'd walk up there everyday, sunshine or
rain. The kids were a little hesitant at first, but when they saw Cara
running through the field they opened up a little. The Tecpan corps has
been going up there for six months yet the kids have never come down to
the corps. We had an average of 60-70 kids on Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday. On Thursday we had a little over 90! The best outcome the
Wilson's said they ever had.
We also had a carnival Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I am VERY
happy to report that we had an average of 176. About 8 of those being
from La Giralda! We dressed up and told Bible stories. I think the
highlight of our night was the puppet show those. Put on20by Annie,
Maggie, and myself. The reason it was so funny though is because we
were able to put a puppet to a team member and then we would make them
do things that team member does. It was great and we had a blast.
On Thursday we ventured off to the market... I don't even know what to
say about that! It was really crowded and a little uncomfortable, but
it was very interesting to see the way it all worked.
I have some pictures of the market and in there you'll see a picture of
some chicks on a truck and I started snapping them and the guy who
owned the chickens showed me pretty clearly that he didn't want me
taking pictures of his baby chickens. It was kinda funny, but we
figured it was because I was white... oh well.
At the market we found roasted iguana, live crabs on a stick and
unproperly refrigerated chicken. As you can probably assume, it was an
interesting experience.
Friday we visited some Mayan ruins! So cool! We saw a few rituals that
were going on as well. We climbed the VERY steep steps to reach the top
of the pyramids. I'm hoping to start a youtube when I get home because
I have some funny videos... on including Cara rolling down the side of
a pyramid. CRAZY girl! We enjoyed ourselves very much.
Friday night we had a cook-out. The members from the corps in Tecpan
came and we enjoyed a great dinner with them.
Wow, after this blog you
guys aren't going to believe we've actually
been doing any work.
SATURDAY WE HIKED UP A
VOLCANO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pacaya was quite an adventure. There are 37 named volcanos in
Guatemala. Four of those being active. Pacaya is the only active
volcano that you can get close to the lava. We were able to get so
close that we stuck our walking sticks into the lava which then BURST
into flames! It was a beautiful climb up. We were able to stick around
the lava for 30 minutes and then had to head out because it started to
rain. It rained the ENTIRE way down!!! We were all shaking and soaked
as we climbed back into the van.
Sunday morning came early, but we were excited to get to the meeting. I
gave the sermon in the morning and David gave it in the evening. We did
our timbrel routine for the 5 billionth time, but they loved it. It's
always difficult saying bye, but we knew it was coming.
We're now in Chimaltenango building on top of the security wall. We're
all VERY sore and it's only day two. We had to putt bushes with tons of
thorns off the fence and drag those around a few different places until
they decided where they wanted them. Then we cut rebar (not sure on the
spelling of that)... with a saw. Installed the stuff and reinforced it
all. It's the end of day two and we are all exhausted and my hands 0D
hurt...
We have 3 more days left of tough labor and then one more Sunday. We're
trying to soak it all in, but there's so much more to do.
We're excited to see you all though!

Team Guatemala