VISA, Campamento

The water this past week was limited- the city was working on the pipes or something so all we had was our own water supply that we have in a tank in the back- we had to be careful with our water use and take quick showers.  Thankfully, we never ran out of water, and now it's back to normal.  Meanwhile, I learned to take faster showers! 

I went to get my 90-day VISA renewed last week.  Mr. Ruano took me on Monday to get it renewed, but when we pulled into the parking lot, the attendant informed us that the building was closed for the day, so we had to wait until Wednesday.  It was sort of complicated to get it renewed- I sure was glad I didn't have to do it by myself.  First, we went to the main floor, got a ticket number and a form to fill out.  Once out number was called, we went up to the window and showed them my form but were told that we needed to turn in a recent photo of myself, in addition to a copy of my passport.  So we had to go out of the building, down the street a little, into this little office where they took my photo with a digital camera and printed out 4 copies right there.  (So now I have three little passport sized photos of myself that I don't know what to do with...it turned out better than my actual passport photos.  Always when it doesn' t matter...sigh.)  Anyway, we went back into the Immigration building, turned in my photo and forms, and then were informed that I was in the country illegally by one day.  So that meant I had to pay a fine...a grand total of 10 quetzales!  About a buck and a half.  But it was more than just paying money.  We had to walk up two flights, turn in my license, get a receipt, go allll the way downstairs to the first floor, where the bank was, pay my fine and the fee for my VISA, get another copy done of my passport, go back upstairs and get my license back, go back downstairs where we first started, turn in everything, including my passport which they have to keep for 8 business day!  Whew!  And you thought that the DMV was bad....at least that doesn't involve going up and down stairs!  Oh well, I need the exercise haha. 

The days are counting down for the Campamento...I am in two groups.  One group is for a drama (there are 4 dramas) and the other is a team of kids (there are 4 teams).  I am on a team with Monica, Jose and Louis.  I'm excited, Saturday we went shopping to buy fabric to make our flag.  Since Monica's and my favorite color is green, of course our team color is green :)  We only have two more meetings until the camp and we still have to make our flag, make a uniform with a cape for one of the kids (I guess kinda like a team mascot) and finish up making our theme song.  We are meeting this Tuesday night to practice our dramas and make our flags.  I hope it goes well and that we get a lot done! 

Independence Day

For Guatemala´s 191st Independence Day we went to see the parade at the Capitol.  There were so many people at one point that we were seriously packed in like sardines.  While we were struggling to get past the bottleneck of traffic, I was thinking in my mind ``Don´t fall down or you will get lost under a bunch of feet and die...`` It was like nothing I´ve ever experienced.  We were on our tip-toes, we were so squashed and at one point the crowd started pushing and we almost all fell down.  There was a lot of shouting to get the people to keep moving.  So it was funny more than scary.  I´m just glad that we got past that and eventually found a good spot to watch the parade.  All the schools from Guatemala that had marching bands were represented in the parade.  It was funny because the family members of the students marched behind them, so there would be lulls in the parade were there were just a bunch of normal people walking by.  It was pretty cool to see all of the costumes and dancers.  I heard two songs that they play on our Independence Day- one of them was ``Johny Comes Marching Home`` and the other I can´t remember the name of.  I didn´t see any fireworks.

 Sunday we visited a place called Amatitlán- there is a lake there and we went with a group of friends after church, just for fun.  There was a looot of candy for sale, as you can see in the photo.  They sold little trinkets and stuff.  I bought some bracelets, but I didn´t really bring money so I couldn´t buy any more than that.  Though I got a new purse-it has the Quetzal bird and ``Guatemala`` on it.  Edgar (Monica´s brother) had me pick one out and he bought it for my birthday.

Loooots of candy...

The Lake at Amatitlán

L-R- Edgar, Dennis, Alan, Bryan, Chema (below), Diego, Rossanita, Kitty, Me, Chochy and Jose

  There was also a lot of food for sale, mostly fried fish and such, since we were right on the lake.  It had just rained, so there was a lot of puddles to avoid in the potholes.  After we walked to look at the lake, we went to look at the horses that were in the park.  They were for rent and everyone wanted to ride, but I didn´t really want to at first.  I had never been on a actual horse before, only on a pony a couple of times so I wasn´t too sure.  The workers of the horses were all right there, calling out for people to come ride their horse and they were kind of aggressive.  Before I knew it, this lady was like pushing me over to a horse and saying something to me in Spanish- I don´t even know what it was.  And there I found myself, on top of a horse, having no idea what to do.  The guy who helped me up told me to give the horse a gentle kick if I wanted it to go faster- I was thinking ``Yeah right.``  I thought that he was going to lead the horse around or something, because I thought he could tell by my face that I had never done this before, but no, the horse just went of by itself and I was left trusting that it wouldn´t freak out or anything. Thankfully, my horse was really tranquil and when I tried to make it go faster, wouldn´t budge.  Dennis and Bryan got their horses to go faster- it was really funny to see them go bumping around.  Afterwards, Edgar pointed out a wooden hand painted sign that was nailed high up in a tree- something about riding at your own risk.  Thankfully, no mishaps! I count it as a successful experience- my first horse ride ever.

Diego, Dennis and Bryan

Volcano

Yesterday the cousins got evacuated from their house because the Fuego Volcano was erupting. If you click on the link it tells you a little more about it- they had to evacuate thousands!  The cousins came yesterday afternoon, so we have a full house now- the three cousins, the aunt and Chochy´s mom.  We think we can see some of the erruption from the house- there are a bunch of clouds that look foggy and last night we could see a lot of lightning in them.  It was pretty cool looking.

I got to experience opening up a coconut with a machete yesterday afternoon.  That was interesting.  It also was my first time trying fresh coconut meat- it was really good.  At first, it´s disappointing because it´s not sweet.  But I decided that it tasted kind of like a nut, and I got used to the taste.  I also tried fresh coconut water, which I have had before because you can buy it in the States, but I didn´t like it very much.  Though it is definitely better straight out of the coconut rather then what you can buy packaged.  We worked really hard to get the meat out of the coconut afterwards, using knives and spoons.  It was difficult! I think I did two and half coconuts.  My hand hurts still- oh and I cut one of my fingers using the knife.  Haha, that´s the second time I´ve cut my hand in the past week- last week it was while cutting watermelon!  Last night Chochy boiled water, sugar, cinnamon sticks and added blended coconut and milk to make coconut ice cream.  Today she put it in little individual plastic baggies(that´s how they make their ice cream), so this afternoon it will be ready to eat.  Yummy! 

Car trouble

So yesterday we were driving Jose´s car home from the kid´s soccer and swimming training when all of the sudden Chochy pulled up onto the median.  I didn´t know what she was doing, when I realized that the engine had gone out.  Thankfully, we were in traffic so we hadn´t been going very fast, and we were able to come to a stop somewhat safely.  She tried several times to start the car again, but it wouldn´t.  The alarm went off and she couldn´t stop it.  We were only a block or so from their neighborhood, so when she called Mr. Ruano for help, he came on foot, along with Jose.  But before they came, a motorcyclist had stopped to help and got the engine running.  We thought it was better but when Chochy tried pulling into the street, it died again.  The boys got out and they all started pushing the car and eventually it was able to coast, since it was downhill.  Because the car wasn´t on, the only brake Chochy could use was the emergency brake which squealed like crazy and I´m sure was awful for the car. I was kinda scared that we would hit the car in front of us, but we didn´t.  When we turned into the neighborhood, they really had to push the car because it was a little uphill.  So we got home safely.  Feel bad for Jose though, not sure how fast the car will get fixed.

Right now I´m in the clinic but we don´t have any patients, so while we wait I´m blogging :)  I like going to the clinic, though this is only my fourth or so time.  I get to practice my Spanish with Kevin and Dr. Ruano.

 This Saturday is Guatemala´s Independance Day, so we don´t have practice for the kids camp, youth group or homegroup.  I asked if we are going to do anything, but it doesn´t sound like we are.  They have in past years gone into the city for the parades and marching bands, but Dr. Ruano told me that he doesn´t like to go because there are so many people and it is difficult to find parking- sounds like the 4th in D.C.  But I´m dissapointed becuase they only do fireworks for Christmas!  Well hold that thought- I just asked Kevin about it and he said that yes, they do have fireworks for Independance Day.  So I guess I´ll just have to wait and see what happens.

Chochy concert

Almost everyone on the Chochy team has a pair of Converse...mine are the signed ones with zebra laces :)

So I only uploaded a couple photos...I would post more but it is way faster to post them via facebook...sorry to all you non-facebook people. Both of these are from the first Chochy concert I was in.

Cumplo 19

Last Wednesday was my 19th birthday and my request was that we go shopping in the market :)  I really didn´t want a party even though they wanted to give me one, because it´s awkward to have a lot of people come for your birthday when you can´t really talk to them, right?  We went to El Mercado Central, where we had gone before with the Chantilly team in the beginning of August.  Wow, even though that was only a month ago, it feels like forever!  Anyway, I had a lot of fun shopping, though I am so indecisive...it´s worse in a market because you´re trying to focus on what your looking for amongst all these colorful things, you´re trying to make choices between items and you´re trying to bargain for good deals.  Oh, and on top of that I was trying to think money in Spanish, though most of the vendors know how to speak a little English.  I still have trouble with numbers in Spanish, and then it messes up my adding abilities when I try to switch over to adding in English.  Eventually, I made up my mind and bought a purse with hand-embroidered pink roses on it and I also got some earrings and scarves.  Pretty good deal-I got my bag for $5.  :) 

Annnyway...the rest of the day went as normal, we hung out at the house in the afternoon, I made a gluten free ``cake`` for myself, and then we all went shopping for groceries and the boys got some new soccer shoes.  When we got home from shopping, I helped a little to prepare for dinner by making guacamole.  We were going to eat taco salad.  Rossanita had finished cutting up the other vegetables, so we went upstairs to watch TV and wait to Chochy to call everyone to dinner.  I checked my facebook and email, responded to the birthday wishes, and still, no call to dinner.  It was 8:30, not very late for eating dinner around here.  I thought, ``Oh, she´ll call us in a half an hour or so.`` But then I heard her and Mr. Ruano practicing their song for the kids camp, and still no dinner.  Finally, at 10 minutes before 10, Chochy called me down.  ``Feliz Cumpleaños Rachel!`` shouted Kitty, Gaby and Monica as they jumped out at me.  They all gave me a big hug and then I heard firecrackers in the front of the house and Alan (Kitty´s boyfriend), the other Alan, and Edgar (Monica and Gaby´s brother) came in.  So it was a good sized party, they invited only people that I knew pretty well.  It was awesome! I was so thankful to be able to spend my birthday with all of them. 

Even though I can´t eat gluten, they had to buy a cake so that I could blow out the candles!  And, what´s a party without cake?  Dennis J. tried to face-plant me in the cake after they finished singing- that was funny.  You could see my teeth marks in the cake, but it all got eaten anyway! 

Week 11

Haruko de Japón
The past two Sundays I got to deliver a few lines in a little skit for the kid´s church.  They have a different story for each month, and this month the story was about a little girl from Japan called ``Haruko``.  They had a girl from church dress up like a Japanese girl with the chopsticks in her hair and even make-up on her eyes to make her look Asian.  It was so cute! haha. They needed someone to be the missionary, so, of course I was perfect, being the gringa that I am.  The first Sunday, I had to memorize my little paragraph in half an hour.  This Sunday, I had read over my lines beforehand, so even though I memorized them that morning, at least I was a little more prepared, and Chochy said that I did a good job.  Yay! My last line this Sunday was ``Si ustedes son sabios, leeran la Biblia para conocer a Jesús como su amigo y Salvador.`` (``If you all are wise, you will read the Bible to know Jesus as your friend and Savior``)

Bible
Speeaaaking of the Bible, how have you all been about reading?  Have you been challenged?  I am trying to get in the habit of waking up and immediately reading my Bible- I have a stool next to my bed that I just leave my Bible open on.  That makes it easier.  Also, I like to read a little before bed, so that I have the Word fresh in my mind at night, as well as in the morning.  It´s hard because I´m like ``Noo- I´m so tired!`` But then I think to myself,``You know, if I have a feeling I should read my Bible, I should never say no.``

Halfway! 
So it´s already been over 11 weeks- out of about 21.  Crazy!  I feel like it´s been going slow, but then when I realize that it´s halfway over, I´m like ``Whoa! How did that happen!`` I had two dreams recently that my family came here to pick me up- early.  I was relieved when I woke up to realize it was a dream.  I mean, I am looking forward to being home, but I´m not ready to leave Guatemala yet.