Surprise!

Things that surprised me after moving to Guatemala:
• Most everything really is cheaper, but not everything. I can feed my family of four on about $80 a week. Produce is delicious and super inexpensive (ex: $.50 for a pound of strawberries) but other things are not. Cheddar cheese is sometimes hard to find and costs about $8 a pound. I also had a big surprise buying soap for my dishwasher at $7 for a small box of Cascade. Most of the reason certain things are so expensive has to do with supply and demand. I think I have one of only about five existing dishwashers in the whole country (I’m exaggerating, but probably not by much…)
• The size of my house totally surprised me. It’s the first time in my adult life that I’ve had tons of space and not a lot of stuff. Usually it’s been just the opposite (I mean I lived in LA…remember?)
• The views from my roof didn’t just surprise me…they amazed me.
• I’ve been pleasantly surprised about how wonderfully easy it’s been to make friends. I pray this continues
• I am definitely surprised that we haven’t been able to find a church that feels comfortable. Regardless of the fact that I’ve lived in Mexico three times and found a church I liked all three times; regardless of the fact that Guatemala is the largest evangelical country in Latin America; regardless of the fact that Guatemala has more missionaries than any country in Latin America…we still haven’t found a church. (I'm pretty sure those semi-statistics are correct...) We called a local missionary our first week here and asked her for a recommendation and/or the directions to the church she went to. Her response? “Yeah…well…if you find one, let me know.”
• I didn’t anticipate wanting a car so badly, nor did I anticipate the dread of relying on public transportation. (As a matter of fact, all taxis are on strike today…relying on the unreliable is tough.) I am so fortunate we had the support to get a car. Yeah to the ’95 Nissan!
Things that haven’t surprised me after moving to Guatemala:
• I knew they would, but my kids really had to toughen up (literally and figuratively). Everywhere we go, including our own home, is hard, tile floor or make of rock. They fall…daily…they scrape their knee…they cry…they fall again. I think I deal with either a Sam or Ruthie fall about five times a day. I knew they also would have to be strong in adjusting to cultural and language differences. They have been strong, brave, and resilient through the change.
• I knew we would all miss home. I think it’s probably toughest for Sam. We moved our entire lives without being able to move all our familiar things. Usually once a day Sam remembers something he used to have (and really still does) and asks for it. That’s tough. Things are just things, but a three year old is just a three year old. And he misses his Lightening McQueen car, his light-up airplane, his sandbox, you get the idea…He really missed his stuffed dog, Blizzard, but Nana and Grandpa helped Blizzard make the trip through the postal system. I’m so thankful for that!
• Even with all the rain, the weather is still so lovely.
• I really do enjoy my schedule as much as I thought I would. I liked teaching high school for six years, I really did, but I didn’t think I would miss it and I don’t. Not yet anyways.
• I have enjoyed my Kindle (and yes, I am willing to advertise for them!). I have read four novels in the past six weeks. Keep it comin’ Kindle. I love you and I love my books. Recommendations from the past month include: Little Bee, Outliers, and Ford County Stories.
• The coffee really is good. There’s a reason Starbucks features coffee from Antigua, Guatemala.