My Week So Far

Hello to all reading this! This first blog will mainly just be a review of the 3 days that I have spent here so far. Plus, I'm new to this....so not sure how it will turn out...

6/6/10--Sunday

The airport travel here was long....and hot....and boring at times. But about 3.30pm Central time, I arrived at the Guatemala City airport. From the Washington DC airport to El Salvador to Guatemala, it was as if I was already in another country! Pretty much everyone spoke Spanish (which wasn't a big deal for me (: ) but, it was a change...Well, a man named Gilberto was waiting at the airport for me and we loaded up in the van and hit the VERY busy streets of Guatemala city. Bienvenidos a Guatemala (welcome to Guate)! It truly is a different world. All I can say is---I'm glad I wasn't doing the driving...! I was glad to just take in the sights and enjoy the ride. We rode for about 3 hours to Solola and arrived at Nido de Aguila (Eagle's Nest Camp). I was greeted by missionary Larry Boggs and led to the apartment where I am staying. After a bit, I went up to meet some of the orphans. How precious they are! I had just met them and they were climbing all over me! Well that night, I got settled in and got ready for the next day.

6/7/10---Monday

This morning, I joined Mr. and Mrs. Boggs as they traveled to Quetzaltenango---about 2 hrs. away. I went to a meeting at a seminary with Mr. Boggs where I got to sit in on the meeting and meet some of the pastors of that area. Quetzal. has several "American" type stores, so we did some shopping there before heading back. We left that morning at about 7 am and ended up returning about 5.30 pm. When we got back, I spent some more time with the kids and had some 'play time' with them.

6/8/10---Tuesday

One of the things I will be doing here is helping at the Christian School started by Mr. and Mrs. Boggs. The school is called Nuevo Dia and has about 89 students. I will be teaching a little English, Bible classes, Swimming Class, and Gym. This morning, I met the teachers and many of the students there. I even got a chance to teach a few things in English to the 2nd grade class. Today, I also helped with the Feeding Program held here at the camp. 30-40-50 kids come in from the surrounding areas for a lunch everyday. Mr. and Mrs. Boggs lead the kids in Christian songs and share Bible verses with them. I will be continuing to help with this program in the following weeks. Tuesday evening, I got the chance to go to a town called Panajachel right on Lake Atitlan. It is so beautiful here. I must have forgotten the cable to upload photos on my computer. I hope to get something figured out soon so I can upload pictures. To ride down to Pana, we rode on a packed out bus (I guess Americans call them chicken buses). On the way back, we rode in the back of a truck (a little bit different of a bus---but an experience in itself). All in all it was a great time to enjoy a taste of "la vida guatemalteca" (guatemalan life).