Tomorrow will mark the start of our fourth week in Guatemala. Before we left I was considering our move here to be more like a life pit-stop - just a quick pull off the side of the road, but not the real destination. I realize now that I even packed with that mentality. “Ah, we’ll just get (fill in the blank) there. It’s no big deal.” Thinking in my mind it was just a week at camp and anyone can survive a week at camp without (fill in the blank). I now understand that I don’t want to be at camp for a year and a half, I want to be home. We are slowly making our beautiful house here a home, but we still have a ways to go!
We arrived Monday, August 16th at 2:30 in the afternoon. Our flight was very smooth and the kids were amazing. By the end of the first week, we had acquired most of the essentials we failed to or were unable to pack – a crib, towels, groceries, Internet, a new microwave, and even a new (very small) TV and we’re settling in nicely to our new house.
Although we had seen many pictures on the Internet, our house was still a wonderful surprise. We have what’s called in Spanish a “casa de corredores” or a corridor house. Our house is like nothing you would see in the United States. We call it our indoor/outdoor house. Our house is a big square. In the middle of the square is a patio terrace. The living room, dining room, kitchen, and both kids’ rooms run along two sides of the square and the doors to all these rooms open right to the terrace. When Sam wakes up and opens his door he is essentially outside inside our house. Stephen’s and my room is on the second floor. Our door opens and leads either to the roof top terrace or our indoor outdoor stairs. I think it took me about 24 hours to adjust to a totally new style of house and then another 24 hours to absolutely fall in love with it. My children have never had so much wonderful, fresh air!
Our house is in a very nice and very secure residential neighborhood on the south side of Antigua, Guatemala. Antigua is a sheik tourist attraction town. The local adjective for the town is “tranquilo.” It is essentially a ten by ten block town mixed with old churches and new hotels, flanked by three volcanoes and all paved with cobblestone streets. It took me about 24 hours to adjust to walking and commuting on the quaint cobblestone streets and about another 24 hours to absolutely hate them. OK, not hate, but I’m easily annoyed by them. Sam loves to imitate driving on them – bump bump bumpidy bump bump bump.
We have lived three weeks in the middle of Guatemalan winter. This essentially means that it rains everyday (EVERYDAY) and is often cool in the afternoon and evening. Come November, we will adjust to Guatemalan summer, which apparently means perfect temperatures all day long. Regardless, it’s beautiful.
By the second week we attempted to start a normal routine. Ideally, Stephen works a full work week on his dissertation. The University of Texas has offices in the middle of town (five blocks from our house) and three days of the week he walks in to work. Two days of the week, Stephen travels into “Guate” to do further research at archives and libraries not available in Antigua. I am home with the kids, but work most mornings on my translation job through Wayland Baptist University (a wonderful opportunity that materialized this summer). Monday through Friday, I have a woman named Sonia that comes from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 to clean, help watch Ruthie while I work, and help with lunch. Samuel attends a new pre-school every morning while the three girls (me, Sonia, and Ruthie) keep the home fires burning. The afternoon is naptime and play time for me, Samuel, and Ruthie. We have already had many fun afternoon adventures (playing in our neighborhood park area, the public park in the middle of town, and playing at one of two indoor play lands when it rains).
In just 20 days, we have already met many wonderful people. Our neighborhood has been an amazing blessing and so far all of our “friends” are in our neighborhood. Some of the important people in just the first few weeks are:
• Sonia, Antonio, and Cecilia – Sonia is the woman that comes everyday to help. Her family is lovely and includes her, her husband, and their three year old daughter, Ceci.
• Judy and John – The house across the street from us belongs to a missionary couple. Judy knocked on our door the first week with a smile and a loaf of delicious banana bread. Judy and John operate a “transition home” for girls who come from orphanages but now need help “transitioning” to find a job, perhaps continue their education, etc.
• Fredi, Amalia and their three daughters – Right next door is a beautiful Guatemalan family. The younger two daughters (ages 5 and 9) have fallen in love with Ruth. Amalia, the wife, works in Guate and Stephen has been able to ride with her when he goes to work in the city. What a blessing!
• Maritza – Already a dear friend. Maritza was raised in Puerto Rico, lived 25 years in Atlanta, Georgia (after moving there for college) and has now lived here for two months. She is very kind and I am excited about our growing friendship.
I am proud of how our family is adjusting and I am soaking up the beauty of where we live. So far, there have only been two real hurdles and I am confident we will successfully jump over them soon. The first has been transportation. Before we moved we had planned on depending entirely on public transportation. While we have done well with that (Stephen takes Sam to school every morning on a “chicken bus” and Ruthie and I pick him up every afternoon the same way), it has gotten old fast. Relying on public transportation has make some days hard getting Sam to and from school, going grocery shopping, taking the kids to the park, and more. We have decided to buy a car (thanks to the help of my in-laws!!) and will hopefully be acquiring a 1989 standard Mazda 323 this week. Niiiice. I’m SO excited if it all goes smoothly this week and I’m looking forward to finally learning how to drive a stick-shift. Having a car will make so many things easier. The second hurdle has been finding a church. Granted we’ve only visited two so far, there are many things that make this tough. We actually have another missionary friend here that I didn’t mention above. When we called her the first week and asked her where we should visit she said, “Yeah, if you find a good one, let me know.” We pray we are sensitive to understanding how to adjust to this cultural difference and where we can best serve our community and raise our children.
And, ahh, my children. I will close with a brief description of how they are. Samuel is amazing. It is obvious he loves our home, his new room, and the routine we’ve established. His biggest adjustment has regarded going to school. Most days when we drop him off he is in tears, but smiling when we pick him up. The school is very nice and his teacher is very loving. I feel confident that after a year and a half his Spanish will be beautiful, but now it’s a source of frustration for him. He has asked me several times if we can only have English in our house (which is tough with our visitors, neighbors, etc.). Ruthie has grown even more in the past three weeks alone. She turns 14 months old tomorrow and still is not walking. She is close, though, and I think this will be a big month for her. The cobble stone streets don’t help, though! 100% of her words (besides our names) are in Spanish. Some things she loves to say are: agua, abre, patcha, leche, Bubba, “Ruti,” and of course Mama and Dada. She has a smile on her face from the moment she wakes up from the moment she goes down. She is very outgoing. Anytime I’m on a walk with her or out in the middle of town, she waves and smiles. Both my kids have become “popular” in town (they’re easy to spot and remember!).
Although we are enjoying our new home, we really do miss our family and friends. We love to hear from you (e-mail, Facebook, snail mail, skype). Know that it is only with your prayers and support we have been able to bask in the blessing of this transition. We love you!
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