The First Week in Antigua
Hola de Antigua, Guatemala!!
It has been a week full of learning more Spanish, meeting people from around the world, visiting beautiful places, eating yummy food, trying to understand and pray in Spanish. The highlight for me has been all of the wonderful encounters with new people. Similar to the Camino de Santiago, there are many interesting people traveling from all over who are very open, adventurous, seeking beauty etc.
This week, I met my teacher, Sonia. She is a very kind and interesting woman who is missing her two front teeth. It definitely adds to her charm. She's great. Despite the difficulty she has experienced with her father leaving at an early age and her own separation from her husband, she has such a joyful outlook! She is quite an animated woman. I am beginning to understand more Spanish, and my favorite part of my four-hour lesson is when we are just talking about life and interesting tidbits. I am surprised how much I have learned already, but now I see the huge mountain of knowledge that I am going to need to tackle. However, it is hopeful that I can "get by" at this time with the little that I do know. Thankfully, I am finally learning the past tense, so I no longer need to say, "Yesterday," give an apologetic glance and continue, "I go for a walk through the city." Yo fui is very useful.
It has been great to get to know some of the other students at the school. I live with a man named Deenanath - he is a fantastic Dutchman. He is full of jokes and has been traveling the world for the past five years. Christopher, another Finca missionary, is also staying at the Guatemalan host family with me. It is nice for the comradery, but makes me practice Spanish less - oops! The other Finca
missionary who is already here, Cat (Catherine), lives about a 10-minute walk from us. I love that we can walk anywhere in this city! The other five missionaries will come on August 26th. We had another student, Andrea, staying here as well, but sadly she has moved on (students typically only stay a few weeks in Antigua). She was a good friend as well. We also got to know a very sweet woman from Germany named Katrin. Cat, Katrin and I waltzed into the nicest hotel in town (Hotel Santo Domingo). It was previously a Catholic Monastery and still has a Church inside it. It is hard to describe how beautiful this place is. We walked around for a few hours and none of the workers cared in the slightest, even granting our request to try the juice sitting out in the hallway. It was so lovely!
We also got to visit Volcán Pacaya, which was an amazing experience. Cat and I's friend from the airplane from Houston to Guatemala, Sandra, joined us on our trek! She was going to Guatemala City, but after the flight, she said she'd come to Antigua to visit us - and she actually did! Along with three other students, we hiked 4k up through the forest to a spot where we could see sparks flying from the top of the volcano. We were surrounded by beautiful foggy hills and abyss. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. When we got to the top, it began to rain fairly hard, but we ventured down below the volcano to roast marshmallows in the holes of hot earth at the base of the volcano. Very touristy, but so amazing nonetheless!
This week, I was just getting comfortable, but next week my goal is to get to know the native people better. There are many poor people here. During the day, you see them with loads of goods to sell and at night, you see the very poor sleeping outside all over the sidewalks. I do not want to buy from them, but I want to try to get to know them. I also have inquired at a hospital about volunteering some nursing services there. I hope that I can begin next week! My host mom here is a former nurse as well, and she is a super generous woman. The money she receives for hosting students, she uses to provide medicine for the poor people who knock on our door throughout the day and night. I got to meet a family that she was helping, and I hope to begin to help her provide services - giving injections etc. There is a lot of freedom in this first leg of my journey before I get to Honduras, and it is easy to use my time selfishly. Although I definitely want to enjoy my time here and see beautiful things, I do not want to lose sight of this mission Christ has called me into. It has been wonderful to be able to share the Lord with our new friends, and I am confident that God is using us. He is using my relationship with Sonia - she has already shared much of her life story with me, and we share faith in God. She is also Catholic, and she has a strong faith. The Lord has also provided deep friendships even in one week with some of the students at the school! I am so grateful.
Thank you so for your prayers and for making it to the end of this lengthy post. Blessings to all! I hope that Jesus may find you and you may find Him in the exciting moments as well as the routine ones.
 |
| From left: Sandra (Houston), Christopher (Finca missionary from Florida), Frederick (Germany), Andrea (California), Me, Cat (Finca missionary from Oklahoma), Katrin (Germany) |
It has been a week full of learning more Spanish, meeting people from around the world, visiting beautiful places, eating yummy food, trying to understand and pray in Spanish. The highlight for me has been all of the wonderful encounters with new people. Similar to the Camino de Santiago, there are many interesting people traveling from all over who are very open, adventurous, seeking beauty etc.
This week, I met my teacher, Sonia. She is a very kind and interesting woman who is missing her two front teeth. It definitely adds to her charm. She's great. Despite the difficulty she has experienced with her father leaving at an early age and her own separation from her husband, she has such a joyful outlook! She is quite an animated woman. I am beginning to understand more Spanish, and my favorite part of my four-hour lesson is when we are just talking about life and interesting tidbits. I am surprised how much I have learned already, but now I see the huge mountain of knowledge that I am going to need to tackle. However, it is hopeful that I can "get by" at this time with the little that I do know. Thankfully, I am finally learning the past tense, so I no longer need to say, "Yesterday," give an apologetic glance and continue, "I go for a walk through the city." Yo fui is very useful.
missionary who is already here, Cat (Catherine), lives about a 10-minute walk from us. I love that we can walk anywhere in this city! The other five missionaries will come on August 26th. We had another student, Andrea, staying here as well, but sadly she has moved on (students typically only stay a few weeks in Antigua). She was a good friend as well. We also got to know a very sweet woman from Germany named Katrin. Cat, Katrin and I waltzed into the nicest hotel in town (Hotel Santo Domingo). It was previously a Catholic Monastery and still has a Church inside it. It is hard to describe how beautiful this place is. We walked around for a few hours and none of the workers cared in the slightest, even granting our request to try the juice sitting out in the hallway. It was so lovely!
 |
| Roasting marshmallows :) |
This week, I was just getting comfortable, but next week my goal is to get to know the native people better. There are many poor people here. During the day, you see them with loads of goods to sell and at night, you see the very poor sleeping outside all over the sidewalks. I do not want to buy from them, but I want to try to get to know them. I also have inquired at a hospital about volunteering some nursing services there. I hope that I can begin next week! My host mom here is a former nurse as well, and she is a super generous woman. The money she receives for hosting students, she uses to provide medicine for the poor people who knock on our door throughout the day and night. I got to meet a family that she was helping, and I hope to begin to help her provide services - giving injections etc. There is a lot of freedom in this first leg of my journey before I get to Honduras, and it is easy to use my time selfishly. Although I definitely want to enjoy my time here and see beautiful things, I do not want to lose sight of this mission Christ has called me into. It has been wonderful to be able to share the Lord with our new friends, and I am confident that God is using us. He is using my relationship with Sonia - she has already shared much of her life story with me, and we share faith in God. She is also Catholic, and she has a strong faith. The Lord has also provided deep friendships even in one week with some of the students at the school! I am so grateful.
Thank you so for your prayers and for making it to the end of this lengthy post. Blessings to all! I hope that Jesus may find you and you may find Him in the exciting moments as well as the routine ones.
 |
| Photo Cred: Katrin Dogs prowled about the top of the hill near the volcano. |
Comments
Post a Comment