Trip to Tikal

You Better Belize It?!

So to maintain legal status in Guatemala, some Hearts in Action team members and I needed to cross the border into Belize, and then come right back because there were a lot of errands to run that day. (Crossing the border and re-entering will award a person 3 more months of stay.) The trip was meant to be quick but there were some hang-ups that led to an interesting experience.

Xaume went first and passed easily through the passport checkpoint. He has a Mexican passport, and the rumor is that Mexico has a better relationship with Belize than Guatemala due to a land dispute. I went next, and when I was asked why I was entering Belize, I gave them the line we had rehearsed during the 2.5 hour truck ride, "para conocer Benque," or "to get to know the town." I stepped aside, and Annie was asked to step up because we were traveling together and because it's often assumed that we're sisters. She gave the same line, and the official frowned and stated that he wasn't convinced that we were regular tourists and that we needed to talk to his supervisor. Eeek?!

Sooo we waited in line for an hour and made a quick phone call to Fredy, our administrator, who coached us about the next steps. He reminded us that Belize is pretty unfriendly about letting people cross their border just to renew their passports, and he warned us that the officials may try to charge us 70 quetzalas, about $10, each. If this happened, we were to refuse and keep explaining the situation, and he gave us some ideas to elaborate. Behind closed doors, we had to answer more questions and provide identification to prove that we worked in Guatemala, which we didn't have. I remained in the room of questioning while Annie left to quickly grab business cards from Fredy, who was waiting for us outside. Finally after explaining that we had just one day off and really, really, really wanted to be able to visit Belize and also that we may need to pick up a group there for a training event that Hearts in Action is hosting in November and for this reason, we needed to scope out the area for a good meeting place... we were able to walk across the border to Belize. Yep, walk! I've crossed international borders in a car, in a plane, in a train... and now by foot.

It was a rainy day, so once we were on the other side, we jumped into a taxi and headed toward Benny's Kitchen, a restaurant a police officer suggested to Xaume while he was waiting for us and wondering what in the heck happened to us. The car turned right at a handwritten sign that said "This Way to Benny's Kitchen" with an arrow pointing up a hill. The restaurant offered an interesting selection of foods, with many options that were "weekends only." It was only Friday, so we opted for eggs and bacon, chocolate milkshakes, and doughy tortillas the size of your head. Restaurant decor included a prominent painting of John the Baptist beheaded, crates of empty glass Coca Cola bottles, and a giant trampoline?!

I particularly enjoyed this sticker that I found in the gift shop.

The border town in Belize looks pretty much just like Guatemala except the people are taller, signs are in English, and Queen Elizabeth's face is on the dollar bills, which are worth half an American dollar bill.

Crossing back in Guatemala was much less eventful, and then we began a day of running errands with Fredy. Annie and I paid the phone bill in the mall and looked in shops.

We took these pictures to amuse ourselves while waiting for Fredy and Xaume to run other errands and pick us up.

And then we had fun grocery shopping for the team at MaxiBodega?!

The end.

Banana Cake

Welp, I've made 10 more banana cakes... so I thought I'd share the recipe:

In Bowl 1, combine:

4 cups of flour

2 tablespoons of baking powder

In Bowl 2, combine:

2 eggs

1 cup of oil

3 tablespoons of vanilla

2 cups of mashed bananas

1 cup of milk (we add a little vinegar to curdle the milk in the place of whole milk)

1 and 1/4 cups of sugar

Blend the ingredients from Bowl 2, and slowly add and blend in all of the ingredients in Bowl 1 into Bowl 2.

Prepare the pan by spreading butter evenly across the bottom and sides, and coat it with a very thin layer of flour.

Pour contents of Bowl 2 in the pan, and place in gas oven for about forty-five minutes at 225 degrees Celsius. The amount of time in the oven would probably be much shorter in the USA... and I'm not exactly sure what 225 degress Celsius works out to be in Fahrenheit. Alas, I hope you enjoy this recipe. ;)

Tada!

Work, work, work...

Hmmm... it's been a little while since I've written. So much has happened that I don't really know where to begin. Each day still seems to feel like a week, and each week, a month. I'm working harder probably than I ever have in my life. Sometimes it feels completely satisfying to be pushed so hard spiritually, emotionally, physically, and intellectually every day because I know that I am growing and getting stronger... but at other times it feels overwhelming and exhausting. I'm still learning to find the balance.

I've been working primarily as the coordinator for P.I.E.S, A Charity and Sponsorship Program for Children in the Peten Jungle. In this position, I've taken on a lot of responsibility very quickly and am learning all the time. I assign children to new sponsors, translate many letters, maintain lists of current children and follow up with sponsors if their child is no longer attending the school, work to maintain a database, take lots of pictures, do fun art and letter writing projects with the kids, write e-newsletter articles, communicate and collaborate with the P.I.E.S. team which is spread across 3 countries, correspond with over 200 sponsors via email... and more.

I also just started teaching 3rd, 4th, 5th, and sometimes 6th grade English classes each day to cover a maternity leave. My first day, I stuck to the lesson plan left for me, one simple worksheet, and the kids finished in 5 minutes or less. I tried to fill the rest of the hour reviewing colors and parts of the body because I know they learned these things recently. We sang "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and played "Simon Says"... and I failed miserably to remain in control of 3rd and 4th grade. So the next day, I scrapped the worksheets, started preparing my own lesson plans, and prayed very hard before and after each class... and had dramatically different results. I enjoyed my time with the kids. They were attentive, creative and cute with the art I had worked into the lesson, and I think they just might have learned something! Amen!

The topic for the lesson was "Things in my classroom," so the kids learned words such as: paper, markers, crayons, scissors, etc. After taking notes, and a round of "What is this?" as I held up or pointed to each item, I let the kids play with the items and be creative. I purposefully didn't bring enough of each item just so the kids could practice their new vocabulary, saying things like "Can I borrow your scissors?" Some kids wrote letters for their moms, or for me, or drew pretty pictures.

But one kid decided to make a cow mask, mooed, and pressed it against his face, which was pretty amusing. He got embarrassed at some point and threw it away but I fished it out as a souvenir of a day of teaching gone well!

I'm also learning how to be a missionary. We take turns leading early morning Bible devotions and worship and presenting outreaches to children at surrounding schools, churches, and orphanages. We also prepare for group retreats and school or other ministry related activities, and we take turns cooking meals for each other. Last week, I was part of a 2 person team to lead an outreach to 200 children at a school and at an orphanage… I helped make 80 beds and baked 10 banana cakes, chased an iguana out of the guest dorm, and spent multiple hours in dance practice with the team to prepare for a large training event we are hosting at the ranch in November.

Nineth & I setting up for the school outreach.

One of the silly games we make the kids do! :)

Outreach under a tin roof and on a dirt floor at Remar orphanage.

Thank you for every prayer! The tabano (praise Jesus!) has left me alone, and my Spanish is improving little by little. Love to you all!

Dia de Independencia

After months of practice, the big day was finally here! Children from The Jungle School traveled by bus to nearby town San Andres on September 15, 2011, in order to participate in the Independence Day parade. Together with other schools, the children marched down the streets debuting their new school and band uniforms and performing for the crowds of onlookers and supporters. Leading The Jungle School’s portion of the parade were three high school boys carrying the school’s banner, followed by six young girls wearing pageant dresses and sashes they had received throughout the week of activities at the school. Next came the display of flags of the nations carried by many students, the baton girls, and three girls dressed in traditional Mayan clothing. The band was close behind, stopping to give the crowd several performances, and children from the school organized by class and grade marched behind the band with pride. At the end of the parade, all of the schools gathered together in honor of their civic duties, and then came the highlight of the event as each school gave one grand performance. All of the hard work paid off, as the children from The Jungle School looked and sounded great!

The girls from the band spent the night at the school the night before the parade, and I was one of the lucky missionaries selected to chaperone them...haha! Teenage girls in Guatemala are like teenage girls anywhere... they talked and laughed and giggled well after we turned the lights out. We got up at 3 a.m., yes, 3 a.m., to make sure all of the girls were showered and to give time to complete make-up and this beautiful hairstyle on each girl. My crafty roommate Nineth made matching earrings for them as well!

Beautiful Albertina and her new band costume that her sponsor helped her to afford.

Marching in the streets...

& the big performance!

Culturally, it was exciting to watch the kids perform their civic duties. There was a flag processional, and I heard Guatemala's Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem for the first time. But the best part was really just getting to spend a day of fun with the kids. This is the first year The Jungle School has had a band and they were so proud of what they'd been able to accomplish!

Shoes, shoes, shoes!

Thanks to a donation from friends in Guatemala City and a generous gift from HIA, The Jungle School was able to purchase and distribute 271 pairs of shoes for each actively enrolled child. The shoes were purchased locally and are appropriate for the children to wear with their school uniforms, with slightly different styles provided for the various age groups. It was a heart-warming event for missionaries and staff to witness some children immediately trading the worn-out, ill-fitting, or broken shoes they had been wearing for a brand new pair, purchased just for them, and in their size.

Lesser trading his broken shoes for a new pair.

A closer look...

Yes, it was kind of amusing that the brand name for the shoes was Angela. I had to smile watching all of the kids carry around boxes with my name on them.

Kids in The Word

During the last week of July, children from The Jungle School, our after school Bible Club (Club Victoriosos), and from local churches endeavored to memorize 20 Bible verses, or 5 verses each week, to be ready for an evaluation at the end of August. If they could do this, a group called SuperAventuras would reward each child with their very own Bible or a book of Biblical stories for the younger children.

152 children from The Jungle School, 20 children from Club Victoriosos, and 145 participants from the churches of San Andres and Santa Elena completed the challenge. I was so impressed with their dedication and with the speed they could rattle off the verses. It was so beautiful to witness the kids opening their Bibles, pointing at the pictures, and reading to each other.