Worth a Thousand Words

Today I had an uncharacteristic desire to take pictures. 

Even though I've seen women in their colorful traje carry large baskets on their heads hundreds and hundreds of times, today I wanted to capture it. 

I wake up to a view of the volcano everyday, but today I wondered why I didn't wake up every morning and take a picture of it.

Even though Ruthie has made tortillas at our favorite lunch place before, today it seemed extra special and extra cute.

Sam has gone to Angel Gabriel preschool for two years (and Ruth since January) and only today did I finally go get a picture with their teacher and their friends.

Leyda (our nanny) and I have shared two years of being friends and raising these children.  For some reason, five pictures with her on the couch with my kids today didn't quite seem like enough.

If I capture it, will it stay? 

If I take a picture will I remember better? 

God, I hope so.

That's Just the Way Things Are

For the past two years we have been living in Guatemala as "tourists."  This means that every 90 days we must either exit the country or renew our tourist visa.  Let's just save a long story and say that that's what most people like us do. 

 That's just the way things are.

Stephen recently traveled to the US when he defended his dissertation, so he's good to go.  Georgia is Guatemalan, so no problem there.  However, Sam, Ruth, and I have to have ours renewed before we leave this month.  Even though Stephen is good to go, he's always the one to take care of this kind of thing.  Always.  (I love you, Stephen!!)

Last Friday, Stephen traveled to Guatemala City to complete necessary paperwork on our behalf.  Two hours and $20 worth of transportation later, he came back to Antigua to report that the visa office was closed. 

 "Why?"  I asked.

 "Oh, you know," he says, "Guatemalan Labor Day is on Tuesday."

"What?  But today is Friday."

That's just the way things are.

 So today Stephen made another trip to the city in yet another effort to pick up our passports and renewed visas so that we can successfully leave the country in 13 days.  Although he anticipated being home at lunch-time, he calls at noon to say that if he's lucky he'll be home around 4:30.

That's just the way things are.

While Stephen is reading history books in the visa office in the city, I am playing with my daughters in our house, and Sam is playing with his friend Josh at Josh's house.  Josh's mom agrees to meet me in the park (half-way between our houses) when the play date is over. 

"I'll call," Marcia (Josh's mom) said when I dropped Sam off.  "This way we can both leave our houses at the same time and get to the park at the same time."

 But I don't get cell service in my house.  And my land-land phone is connected to the Internet company that has been fickle lately, so my phone can't ring. 

That's just the way things are.

I decide to go to the park around 5:00 p.m.  As I'm waiting for Sam, I illegally park with my two-year old bouncing around in the front seat in her swimsuit and my baby in the back in her car seat, although not buckled.  I wasn't worried about all the offenses, because I put on my flashers.  Putting on your flashers is the all-Guatemalan way of saying, "I know this against the rules, but no tenga pena, no tenga pena, no tenga pena…"  No tenga pena is the all-Guatemlan way of saying "no worries."

That's just the way things are.

Here come two police.

My heart races because I'm American and view police in a very American way and think that police can give you fines and put you in jail and I'm in Guatemala and only two of my three kids are with me and none of us are following the rules and my heart races.

 (In Spanish…)

"Excuse me, m'am," says police officer #1.

"I'm so sorry, I can move the car now," says me.

"Oh, yeah.  You probably should, but I just wanted to ask how much you're asking for your car.  You're selling your car, right?"

 My pulse slows.  He starts asking me lots of questions about the car that I just can't answer.

 "You can call my husband," I keep saying.

Finally he asks to see the papers for the car so that he can see more information, just in case his sister wants to buy it.  Then he tells me the papers are expired.  Another offense.  I'm illegally parked, my kids are not buckled, I'm not buckled, and now my papers are expired.  Here goes my pulse again.

"Look," says the officer, "You could get some fines for all these things, but no tenga pena.  Go ahead and move your car now.  And by the way, my sister may be calling your husband about the car."

That's just the way things are.

And then Stephen calls and says he obviously won't be home at 4:30 after all.  Only Ruth's passport was ready.  He'll have to come back to the city again tomorrow to get Sam's and my passport.  A third trip to the city.

That's just the way things are.

So I get home and get dinner on the table for the kids while we wait for Stephen.  Sweet Sam eats all his carrots and all his meat and says he's sorry he just doesn't like the potatoes. 

"Please eat at least two bites of potatoes, Sam, if you want dessert," I say.

So he does because he's Sam and he's lovely and obedient.  As he's chewing his last potato he gets up to get more water to wash them down and then projectile vomits on the kitchen floor.  In the same moment, he trips and falls in the projectile vomit.  And Stephen is still in the taxi.

That's just the way things are.

 And it's beautiful. 

Dr. Dove

Five years ago Stephen started a PhD program in History at the University of Texas. During his first semester he took a night class twice a week. I remember clearly how nervous I was about him being gone those two nights not only because I missed his company, but it meant I had to bathe and put Sam to bed all by myself.

Tonight Stephen flies to Texas to defend his dissertation tomorrow– completing the last chapter, so to speak, before reaching his goal. I'll have the next three nights "all by myself," but this time in a foreign country and with three children. Wow. I'd say we've come a long way in several regards.

I'm incredibly proud of you, Stephen Dove, for starting the journey of your career and your family all at the same time. You have balanced the two beautifully and excelled in both. You need no luck tomorrow, just the comfort and knowledge that four times the number of people are cheering for and supporting you now as when you started. May you finish strong.

Then...

Now...

I Get Around

Antigua, our home for nearly two years, is about a 45 minute drive from Guatemala City, which by many measures is one of the most dangerous cities in the entire world. (#2 according to this most recent 2012 statistic: http://www.mostdangerouscities.org/)

Antigua, however, is an oasis of relative safety, tourism, and beauty.

Part of the charm of colonial Antigua is that the small 10 by 10 blocks of only 35,000 residents are paved entirely in cobbblestones.

The cobblestone streets are flanked by three picturesque volcanoes. The picture below is the actual street where our neighborhood is located. Take a real moment and look again. This actual picture is from my actual camera on the actual street where I actually live. The beauty takes my breath away every day.

There are more transportation options within these ten blocks than I have ever seen in my life. Many people walk, bike, and ride motorcyles, but that's not all.

Let me introduce you to the "tuk-tuk" pictured below. I particularly like this picture because when he saw I was taking it, he threw me the deuce. Come on, you know that's cool.

The tuk-tuk is the town's version of a moto-taxi. While we have "real" taxis, this is the most popular option by far. It's a three-wheeled vehicle and costs 15 Quetzales (or about $1.80) per ride no matter where you're going in the city. Before we purchased our car in October 2010, this was our main mode of transportation. Sam spent the first five months of our lives here saying he wanted to be a tuk-tuk driver when he grew up.

Although mostly for tourists, you can also see the city in a horse-drawn carriage. I like this picture because our Guatemalan chofer is texting and driving. Come on, you know that's cool.

In my opinion, the most unique mode of transportation is the buses. You may have never thought about it, but what happens to old American school buses when they're far too past their prime? Well, they're driven down south, given some mechanical work and a brand-new paint job. The design of most buses is decided by the driver and/or owner and tout phrases like "Mi nenita preciosa" or "Dios es fiel" or any other religious and/or sexual phrase. Come on, you know that's cool.

Buses can be dangerous, and not just because they're far too big for our quaint cobble stone streets as you can see above. Monthly deaths occur on these buses due to driver error, armed robbery and more. (There's actually a documentary making it's debut at SXSW this year about these unique buses and I'm excited to eventually see it: http://latinalista.com/2012/02/giving-new-life-to-old-american-school-buses-in-guatemala-is-subject-of-documentary-premiering-at-sxsw)

And while the cobblestones are pretty and quaint. And while there are a lot of fun ways to navigate them. They can be a pain. in. the. butt. I will not miss the bumpy cobble stone streets.

Guatemala has six months of rainy season followed by six months of dry weather. During our six months of rain, the cute little cobblestones wash away one by one by one. Driving, walking, busing, biking, moto-taxining - anything, can get tricky during the rainy season because there are so many dangerous pot-holes.

Then comes the dry season when it's time to fix all the pot-holes. And that makes navigating these streets tricky, too.

Because on our already narrow streets, you have to go around guys like this...

Doing things like this....

So that we can have the finished result like this...

So, no, we may not have the most modern systems or the best roads in the world. But I live in gorgeous Antigua, Guatemala. Come on, you know that's cool.

Hablas espanol??

As of today, we officially have less than three months left in Guatemala. I am sad. Over the past year and a half I have used this blog to share our day to day experiences as well as to keep my own personal account of our time here.

However, as we anticipate the future and reflect on the past, I see that I've talked a whole of Dove and not much Guatemala in a blog called "Doves in Guatemala."

So, one of my many goals over the next three months is to share with you (and for my own 21st century scrapbook-memories) a little bit more about Guatemala. And, of course, about the Dove family in Guatemala. Lots to come. Be excited.

One of the most amazing things about being in Guatemala has been watching my children learn and speak Spanish. Both Ruth and Sam are fluent, no kidding, and it makes me so proud. In the house I don't often get to hear them speak because the language of choice is English. However, there are a few moments I overhear them speak with friends or with our nanny, Leyda, and it's really cool.

Recently, I shot some "secret" video footage of Sam with his friend Sebastian speaking in Spanish. It's terribly out of focus (in my effort to have him not realize I was filming), but the audio is clear. It's only 36 seconds long. Take a listen. Be amazed.

We still struggle with him counting to 20 in English and a few other "basic" things in English, so I imagine there will be lots of adjusting when he starts Kindergarten in August. But in Spanish? No problemo for my little canche.

We're Not (Really) Missionaries

Despite popular belief here in Guatemala and in the US, we're not (really) missionaries. So why are we in Guatemala, again? And we're moving where?

I think I can best explain with a timeline, even though it will barely skim the surface of events in our (almost) nine year marriage.

All of these events and moves and changes in our lives have been coupled with a more beautiful story of spiritual growth and "love" growth. Many parts of this more beautiful story can be inferred as you read through the trajectory. And the deepest part of the story takes too many words– lovely, eloquent, challenging words – which I just don't have for a blog.

1999 – We meet at Baylor through a Christian missions group

2001 – We fall in love and talk a lot about missions

2002 – We engage



2003 – We marry and live in San Antonio, Texas. Stephen works at the San Antonio Express News and I work at BaptistTemple. We want to be missionaries, so we decide to save money and raise money and do it.



2004 - We move to Chiapas, Mexico and volunteer at the Good News Friends clinic (www.goodnewsfriends.com) for seven months. We love it, but start wondering if this is the "kind" of missions we are destined to do. In August, we move to Pasadena, California. Initially we were both to enroll at Fuller Seminary in our journey to become missionaries, but for some reason I have a change of heart about this and don't want to go. Stephen still does. I decide to get my teaching credentials instead. I enroll at Pepperdine while he's at Fuller.



2005 – I land a job as a high school Spanish teacher even before my degree is finished. I love the job. Stephen starts talking about maybe not wanting to be a missionary in the traditional sense after all. Through the help of professors, friends, and the seminary experience in general, he realizes he may be cut from a very academic cloth. He begins to think about how he can tie together academia, missions, living abroad, his gifts, etc.

2006 – I finish my Master's degree and then we get pregnant.



2007 – Samuel is born in February. Stephen decides to enroll in a PhD program and applies to University of Texas's History program with an emphasis in Religion in Latin America. He's accepted even though he has no background in history. And didn't even take one history class in college. And has a seminary degree. In the summer, we move to Austin and Stephen starts
his PhD program. I continue to work as a high school Spanish teacher.

2008 - After the first few months of being full time mommy and teacher, I realize it's too much. Money is tight, but I am fortunate and start working part time. We become licensed Foster parents. I get pregnant again.



2009 – Ruth is born in July. That fall, Stephen stays home with Ruth in the mornings while Sam is at preschool and I'm at work. He balances work and classes in the afternoon/evenings. We have 3 short-term Foster care placements.



2010 - In the spring, Stephen is awarded the Fulbright Fellowship to research his dissertation about religion in Latin America in Guatemala. In July, I am offered work by Wayland Baptist U to translate textbooks. In August we move to Guatemala with our 3 year old and (barely) 1 year old. Stephen dissertates. I translate.



2011 – We enjoy Guatemala so much that we talk about perhaps living here during Stephen's 5th (and final) year of the program. In the summer, UT decides for the first time ever to offer a study-abroad program here in Guatemala. Stephen is offered the assistant teaching position and we have an official reason to stay. In the summer, I'm also offered a new on-line teaching job. I get pregnant again. In the fall, we start our new jobs and have our new baby. Stephen starts applying for tenure-track professor positions.

2012 – Stephen gets a job as a professor at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. And then…

Little Miss Ruth Noel

Little Miss Ruth Noel is often times a little too articulate, and perhaps even too self aware, for her mere two and a half years. Here are a few recent, favorite quotes.

On going to school…
Ruth: "School again?"
Me: "Yes. Ithought you liked school."
Ruth: "Uhh. Not that much."

On being a good girl…
Ruth: "I'm a good girl, but I cry sometimes."
Me: "Why?"
Ruth: "Well,that's just how I am."

On potty training…
"I'll just go in my diaper like a baby does."

On sleeping…
Ruth: "I did sleep."
Me: "No you didn't."
Ruth: "Oh, I was just tricking you."

On demanding Mommy's attention only…
Me: "Ruth, Daddy or Leyda or Bubba or anyone else can help you, too. Why only me?"
Ruth: "Becaaaause. I like you."

I like you, too, Ruth.
Truth is, I really love you.