Thoughts on Prayer

I just felt the need to share a couple of things with you all. First, the picture is one I took in Santiago Atitlan of the sunset and thought it would look nice on the page. Second, yesterday when I got home from checking my e-mail and walking around Antigua, I sat down and proceeded to lose myself in thought. The following is taken from my journal.

Prayer~
It’s such a simple and basic thing, spending time talking with and listening to God. All too often though it becomes talking to or at God, instead of with, and you quickly run out of time to listen. I too am guilty of this; I haven’t allowed myself to really sit with God since I got to Guatemala. That’s the most difficult part of prayer, becoming aware and then paying attention to God speaking to you, allowing the space.

This is all brought on by an event that happens daily in this house and the book I’m currently reading. Christine and Jorge sit together and pray everyday. They’re Roman Catholic so I think that most of it is repetitious and the same every time, but then there is more. I’m never sure exactly what they’re saying but I would guess that they are praying about their lives and those who share in it with them (family, friends, strangers…).

Two contrasting ideas; prayer as a personal, solitary thing, private: prayer as something to be shared with all, especially those closest to you, corporate. (For those of you grammatically or punctuation-ally gifted, sorry if that last sentence drives you nuts:) Neither one is easy, though they are both principally simple. I’ll work on shared prayer another time, right now I find my thoughts dominated by solitary/personal prayer.

In that current read I’m enjoying, Blue Highways, the writer, William Least Heat-Moon, just spent some time with a monk in Georgia who says it well, “When I go quiet I stop hearing myself and start hearing the world outside me. Then I hear something very great.”

I know that learning how to be quiet will be a life-long pursuit however; it is something that I will do for my whole life as well. As with my Spanish, I use what I have and know already daily, learning something new every time I do. I have good days and bad days, clear understanding followed by obscurity and confusion. Times when I can fully communicate and times when it seems as though I am in a foreign land where my words fall on deaf or closed ears. So it is with prayer.

“… a man becomes his attentions. His observations and curiosity, they make and remake him. …Maybe the [journey can] provide a therapy through observation of the ordinary and obvious, a means whereby the outer eye opens an inner one. …Whitman calls it ‘the profound lesson of reception.’ New ways of seeing can disclose new things…Do new things make for new ways of seeing?” ~W. L. Heat-Moon

The ordinary and the obvious are different in Guatemala than in the states, but should still facilitate the opening of my inner eye. (Perhaps more so than in the states) New perspectives can uncover new experiences and hopefully understanding and I have to believe that if one is tuned in, has good ‘reception’, that new things or experiences must lend themselves to the discovery of new perspectives or ways of seeing.

What does all of this mean?

I can only answer that for myself and for me, I realize that I have to work hard to not fill all of my time with stuff. Leading up to moving here I was certain that it would be easy for me to slow down and spend more time with myself and God. Easy; right! I am addicted to doing things and being with people. The reality of any addiction holds true for this too. I have to be a lot more: aware of my own signs, weaknesses and strengths, and more intentional.

Now, to my own defense, the last month of my life has been a continual whirlwind of activity. I have gone from person to person, place to place, all the way up to stepping on the plane. Then, as soon as I got off the plane the same pattern emerged. Only now are things starting to settle out, and come the end of this week it will get stirred up again as I will be moving out of the Velasquez home to (???). Perhaps it’s a justification; perhaps it’s the truth; perhaps, and more likely, it’s a combination of the two.

Therefore, I promise myself here (and in all of your presences) to be more aware and intentional while at the same time honoring the new relationships and experiences to come; to spend more time with myself and God while leaving the future un-written and trying not to impede the writing of the present.

A speacial thanks to Ann Smith for giving me Blue Highways, it is a great book and I have really enjoyed reading it. Please add your thoughts, observations, or wisdom.

Week Two

Sunday November 18th I got up, put on my running clothes, grabbed my mp3 player and headed to the Central Park to attempt to run 6.2 miles. When I got there I met up with Rocio and Terry (Rocio works at the project and is dating Terry who's in the Peace Corps, teaching in Ciudad Vieja). The music was far to loud for being set up next to a cathedral on a Sunday morning, but I found out that they don't have mass at 8 AM on Sundays. We also ran into Karen, a long-term volunteer in the clinic, right before the race started. The beginning of the race was on Calle del Arco. We ran out of Antigua to San Felipe then over to Jocotenango, back South to Antigua passed the market and on to the highway to Ciudad Vieja, then cut east just South of Antigua to Alemeda del Calvario, heading north to 4th Street and back West to Central Park. I had felt pretty good through most of the run, less a minute or two around Km 7, and opened up for the last Km. I finished the 10K of Antigua in 59:55, and after not having run since the 23rd of September, I was pleased with my performance. The rest of the day was pretty lazy around the house and I got to meet one of Jorge and Christine's grand kids and two of there great-grand kids. That night I went to Cafe Sky to watch the sunset. While there I met Jack, from AZ but had been living in Oregon most recently, and Carl, from Toronto. They had met on the fight to GUA. We had a few drinks then decided to go get some food, we got some pasta near central park and then ended up at Cafe 2000. We watched The Guardian while enjoying some more drinks. Jack is here learning Spanish for a few weeks then traveling all over Central and South America before starting a job in Brazil. Carl is here just to be here, working odd jobs and hanging out. He taught English in Paraguay for a year and volunteered for a year in another South American country, but had spent the last year in Toronto working as an arborist and decided he missed the Latin-American vibe and needed to come back. Cool guys.



Monday I wasn't nearly as sore as I had thought I would be, so that was great. I had orientation in the clinic today. I started with the Director, Dr. Alvaro, a real nice man who was born in Guatemala then went to school and worked in Minnesota for 30+ years and moved back to Guatemala to work with C.H. I spent a little while at the reception desk, pulling files, checking people in and taking temp/weight/height for some of them. Then I spent a few minutes with the Lab Technician, they have a lab that can do a bunch of blood tests and diagnose a lot of diseases. This year they have only had to refer people, for something they couldn't diagnose, a couple of times. Then we had the Despedida for Karen, she had been here for a year and was returning to the states to begin her residency at a hospital. Then I spent a little bit of time with the dental assistant. Britt, a Vision Team coordinator, approached me and asked if I would be willing to translate for the Don Filaberto Tour on Saturday. After some convincing I agreed to do it. The rest of the day was normal: home, lunch, school, home, dinner. After dinner I was reading and pulled up some classical music on my computer, Jorge really liked it and wanted me to burn him a CD of it. Then off to bed.

Tuesday~ Woke up after a not-so-good night of rest to French Toast for breakfast, YUM! It also made me think of Sarah as she doesn't like the texture of French Toast or Pancakes... ;) I was also excited because today and tomorrow I got to work in the construction area with some of the volunteers and the Vision Team. I arrived to meet Gary and Mary and their two High school aged boys, Andy and Scott and another young man Tim. We all loaded up in the back of the truck and headed to San Juan where we hung the windows, doors and the roof. I had another incident with and laminate nail where I knocked the collar off the head of the nail and cut my thumb..., my left thumb may be very funny looking in a year, if I still have it..., knocking on wood... When we finished we had several extra boards and one of them was already nailed together for the roof, 28 feet long. So we took all of that wood down the street to the next site, where we would start work the next morning. Everything fit in the bed of the truck except the long board, so Pablo, construction employee, at 5 foot maybe, and I carried this board down the road, I'm sure it was a funny site, but unfortunately I didn't get a picture of it... Then home for lunch and off to school, except today I didn't want to sit and study so we went to the market and then to the central park, had some coffee and tea (guess which one was mine...) and a piece of cheesecake then just wandered Antigua. Luis told me all sorts of cool things as we went. When we finished, I called Gwyn to see if this phantom game of soccer was going to happen or not, and she guaranteed that it was. So I went home changed and headed back to the project. The game ended up being staff vs. volunteers, that meant the Discovery Teams (including the family I had worked with earlier in the day) vs. the Guatemalans, Gwyn and I. We had a lot of fun, and after some of the Discovery folks left it became Gringos vs. Guates. We hung in there for a couple of points and then they just kicked our butts... good times :) Went home and Jorge had some blank CDs so I burned him some of my classical music and a Frank Sinatra disc, another of his favorites. Dinner and bed.

Wednesday I got to the project and met up with some of the Vision Team that was going to work with us building a house today. We had a Doctor, Dentist, Accountant, Federal Prosecutor, College Anthropology Professor, and a Techno Geek Tim (started a company that does 3-D printing??? retired and now just travels and writes for some magazine every once in a while). The house that we were building today was a little different that others in that it had two walls already there. They were the concrete block property walls, so we just had three walls to erect, two exterior (two doors and windows) and one interior. We also got a new tool that the Discovery Team had brought down, a Sawz-All. The Guatemalans had never seen, let alone used, one before, so it was fun to show then the versatility that they have and after a couple of minuted they were hooked! Home for lunch then off to school where we looked at definite and indefinite articles and the rules for usage and omission. It was very frustrating and there are a lot of strange rules I survived though and I think I kind of understand them now. Today I also started the process of finding a place to live come the beginning of December. Britt has a house and Karen was her roommate so I talked to her and then Kaela, another C.H. employee, told me about an apartment at her complex that will be available soon. When I got home after school I talked with Jorge for a while, we have really connected over music, and I have started to look at Jorge and Christine as my Guatemalan Grandparents. I found out that Jorge is 82 and I think Christine is a little younger. Good day.

Thursday- Turkey Day in the states, here there was nothing. They don't have a Thanksgiving Day and it was fun explaining what it's like in the states during this week, with Turkey Day, no school from Wed. on, Black Friday... I got up and went to work as did everyone else. I worked with the support group today, that means I cooked, swept and mopped, and worked with the maintenance guys doing all sorts of stuff. Then home, lunch, school, and back to the project for the Despedida for the Discovery Team that was here (Gary and family and another Family). Britt gave me directions to her house and I stopped by on my way home. Her house is just Southeast of Antigua in a pueblo called Santa Ana. It's right off the main square in Santa Ana. It's a nice piece of property with 4 houses on it on the corners of a central garden. Got the tour and met her boyfriend, Charlie, and headed home for dinner. I like the idea of living in Santa Ana because it's away from the tourists in Antigua and around more actual Guatemalans, so I really like that option..., we'll see, I'll be moving like Dec. 1st. I called my family and a couple friends to wish them a Feliz Dia de Gracias, had dinner and went to bed.

Friday- PANCAKES!!! YUM!! ;) Again another normal day, off to orientation at the project, today with Maribell, director of education (she reminded me of my friend Holly S.), and then in the Psychology department. Home for lunch, school, then I went to the Bodegona and bought a bunch of fruit, I'm making a fruit salad for the Thanksgiving Dinner that all of us Gringos are having Sat. afternoon at the project, then went to the Project to make the salad and help prepare food for 40 people. We peeled 30 lbs. of potatoes, watched The Bee Movie (pirated, you can find almost anything in the market), cooked a huge pot of Broccoli, made some Jell-o, and called it a night. Tamalyn, Felipe, and Sam dropped me off at home where I was in bed pretty fast.

Saturday - I got up at about 6 am loaded up my pack and headed to the project to go with the Vision Team to Don Filaberto's home. Don Filaberto has a couple of affiliated kids and takes groups from his home in San Miguel Escobar to his farm land a couple kilometers up the Vulcan de Agua. All 12 members of the Vision Team were going, so we all piled into a van and headed out at about 6:40. I did the D. F. hike with both Vision Teams that I came with, so I was familiar with what to expect but I was still a little unsure about my translation abilities. Luckily there were two young women on the team that spoke Spanish as well, so when I had trouble with anything they helped. We sort of rotated translating. They're a fun group and joked around a lot, so I fit right in. They moved kind of slow, but they are flat landers..., Minnesotans... We had fresh tortillas, guacamole, and black beans at D.F.'s property then headed back down. We returned to the project at about 12:30. I took a shower and sliced up a pineapple to complete my fruit salad with, then headed to the kitchen where I helped Jeff and Sian to carve the Turkeys and make the gravy. At a little after 2 PM we started eating, there was a ton of food, we all ate too much, talked and laughed, and then went back for more food. When I was done Sam solicited me to come play with him on the trampoline. I was full, but I couldn't turn a three year old down. For a good hour and a half Sam and I played on the tramp, under the tramp, around the tramp, and luckily I was given some rest every once in a while when Sian would come and play with him for a bit. Then I found the couch and just sat for a long while, occasionally throwing the ball for Jeff's dog Sasha. Everyone left and it was just me a Gill, Sian's mom staying at the project. We chatted a bit, I checked my e-mail and passed out pretty early.

This morning, Sunday, I got up at 5:30, ate some food and got ready to go riding with Chicho. We were going to meet at 6 AM in front of the project, at 6:30 I just came back in. We arranged this on Tuesday and I didn't remind him, nor do I have his phone number so it just didn't happen, no worries though. I watched the sun as it crept down the volcanoes, Fuego and Acatenango, and at about 6:50 Fuego said good morning to everyone with a burp of smoke. Then I crawled back into bed and slept off some of that turkey:) I got up a little later had some leftovers and started in on updating this blog.

So there you go, I am up to date. Now if I could just get the picture thing figured out...

Blessings and Peace to you and all of yours.

Love and Hugs :)

PS- Check out my friend Pam's blog (fellow river guide and traveler extraordinaire): http://wherewasiyesterday.blogspot.com/


PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12588&l=ae4dc&id=752630746

My first week in Guatemala Part 2

Well Internet access hasn't been as easy as I was hoping it would be. That is mostly because I am still not here at the project full-time, that will change in a week though so I should be able to update a little more often. I am still confused about why my computer doesn't want to connect to Kodak so I may just try and host my pics else where..., now for the conclusion of my first week in Guatemala.


Tuesday 11/13 saw me awake at 6:45 to have breakfast and leave for the project, day 2 of orientation. I got to have orientation with Hospitality, they are the ones that work with the Vision Teams, so I was pretty familiar with their program. It lasted about 15 minutes. I then spent some time chatting with different people and headed to the warehouse, Bodega, to work with Bob sorting and organizing donations. I left for lunch around noon and then was off to more school. That evening after school I headed back to the project to play soccer with some of the staff, only to find no one there and find out that it had been canceled for Tues. Dinner with the family and I watched Signs with Mel Gibson and Juaqine Phoenex.

Wednesday started like Tue. and I got to work in Centro Infantil today. Yes, I got to hang out with the 6 and unders. We played outside and it didn't take long until I was going back and forth from swing to slide to play house to play car and so forth to my name being shouted..., good times. We then headed inside to play with blocks and read, Mr. Spanish here read to them. It was very difficult and they were just children's books :( The kids were great though, they knew most of the stories and if I said a word wrong they would giggle and correct me. I got to read one story that I knew, Where the Wild Things Live, I think that's the name, I'm having trouble remembering it specifically. That wasn't as hard as the others. After about 3 hours with the little people I went to the Social Work department to be orientated. Here as well in Centro Infantil they spoke nothing but Spanish and after the reading my head was starting to hurt. By the time I left for lunch I realized that it was so difficult for me because I was translating every word from Spanish to English in my head to comprehend it. I had the 286 processor and needed to upgrade to at least the Pentium II. Anyway, school that day was hard too because I just couldn't stay focused any more, my brain had checked out. That night was nice though. After dinner I went out to meet up with Andrea and Ingrid, a short-term volunteer with C. H., at Ricci's Bar where we had a drink and moved into this little room in the front of the place to listen to a live Salsa band. They were great, and on one of their breaks I talked to the Leader/ Lead Singer, Ignacio. He played with the Buena Vista Social Club for many years and is now in Antigua. The group he is playing and singing with now call themselves, Buena Vista de Corazon. There were several people dancing as well, one little guy in particular and this young blonde were just fun to watch. I spoke to the little guy, Gerson, after words and found out that he's an instructor, so I got one of his cards..., I'll be taking some lessons here in a few weeks. Also got to meet and talk with a guy from Quebec who was here learning Spanish. He quit his job a couple of years ago, technology work of some sort, and got his pilot's license. Now he flies helicopters for 6-8 months out of the year and travels/hangs out for the rest of the year. From there we all headed to the after hours bar and paid Q15 to get in, got home around 3 A.M.

Thursday started shortly after Wednesday ended, when I got to the project I sat around for a little while waiting for my social worker. Today I was going on some visits with a social worker, Paola. We went to San Juan del Obispo and visited with four families, including one in which the teen aged son had been in a motorcycle accident the day before. He was banged up, but going to be all right, and he had waited a long time for medical attention and hadn't gotten any medication for the pain yet because the family couldn't afford it. Paola told them to go in and see the clinic at the project and they could help. We were done with our rounds by 11:30 so I went home and studied my new vocab before lunch. School was good and then back to the project for a soccer game..., yet again, nothing... I chatted with Narciso (Chicho) for a while and he invited me to go riding with him at 5:30 AM on Sunday. I wanted to but I was going to run in the 10K of Antigua Sun. morning, so we scheduled it for the following Sunday. Came home had dinner and went to bed early... One week down...

Friday was routine, I started my orientation with Sian in communications then was off to the library, but Luis Felipe wasn't there so I went back to the construction area where I made windows for the rest of the morning. The afternoon was routine as well and after school I went for a walk and ended up in Cafe 2000. It's a bar that shows movies in English with Spanish subtitles. I enjoyed a Bombay on the rocks and a Moza plus the end of Hairspray. Then it was to the house for dinner a shower and back out again. This time to Cafe No Se, where I met up with Ingrid and her schoolmate Tonya. Tonya is from San Francisco and has a sister who lives in Highlands Ranch, so we chatted about Denver and skiing for a while. There was a table full of people that had a couple of guitars and come castanets and spoons jamming out. After a few beers we moved back to the Tequila Bar, behind the kitchen, for some Tequila and more conversation. We met the manager and talked to her for a while, she had been a chef with some French guy in Guatemala City but left to move to Antigua and was now managing Cafe No Se and another restaurant near by. Tanya left us and Ingrid and I sat in the front bar, enjoyed a few more beers and music then bi our farewells, Ingrid was leaving the next day. Walked home and went to bed.

Saturday I got up for breakfast at 8 AM then went back to bed. When I did get up around 11:30 I went to La Bodegona, the supermarket in Antigua, and picked up some food for Sunday, laundry detergent, and drier sheets. After lunch with the Velasquezs I went to the project to do my laundry, checked my e-mail and changed my blog address. By the time my laundry was done the sun was down and I needed to leave the project, as the road isn't real safe at night for travel on foot or bike, so my first post was cut short.

Week one..., I promise pictures are coming soon...

PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12584&l=cd489&id=752630746

My first week in Guatemala

Well, I'll start by saying that the weird void feeling that I had while I was in Atlanta passed. I found myself at the end of a long and amazing journey that had been 25 years in the making. I have experienced so many things, good and bad, and as I sat in the airports in Denver and Atlanta I felt an overwhelming feeling of not belonging. But, I have arrived and I feel at home.

I did take a nap after I posted last and it was great. I had some food, watched the sunrise, and rested. Then boarded the plane to Guatemala. When I arrived I made my way throught the new wing of the Guatemala airport to pick up my bags and go through customs and immigration. That all went smooth and I exited the airport to find my ride. I was met by a huge crowd of people, but alas they weren't there for me. Some Latin-American TV Host Laura Bosso? was arriving as well. I made my way through the crowd with my wide load (my bike box, not my head OR butt...) and met my driver Jaun Carlos. After an uneventful drive I was at the project by 2 PM and settled into my room. There was nothing scheduled for me until Monday so I got to do whatever I wanted. I went back and started working in the construction area with Mario, department manager, Felix, Pablo, and Narciso (Chicho). There was a short-term volunteer as well, Ingrid. She's from the states but has been living in Germany for 14 years. So, Thursday afternoon and Friday all day I worked with the construction crew. On Thursday night I made my way to the Foosball table and found that my Foosball skills are seriously lacking, it is a nightly thing for several of the Guatemalan staff including Mario and Felix.

When I arrived several of the staff from St. Paul were here for budgeting meetings. Shari Blindt, the executive director of Common Hope, and I had met a year ago when she and John Huebsch, co-founder and former exec. dir., came to Denver to speak at CUC. They stayed with Jody and I and we spent a lot of time together. Anyway, she invited me on Friday night to accompany her and her friend Suzan to Lake Atitlan. How could I say no. I got up Saturday morning and jumped in the van with them. It took a while to get there and we were impeded by construction which left us sitting on the road at a complete stop for about half an hour. Then once we started to move again we were almost crushed by both a chicken bus and a dump truck, very exciting. We did finally make it to Panajachel and met our guide for the day. We got in a Lancha, a small boat/ water taxi, and were off to tour Santa Catalina, San Antonio and Santiago Atitlan, our final destination. Our tour guide, Thomas, was a funny,as in strange, guy. He would walk us around and show us stuff and then take us to shops to see some cool things, but it was obviuos that the store owners were friends of his and we think he must have been getting a kick back for anything that we bought. It was great though and the lake is beautiful.

{side note: I want to post pictures,and there are a lot of them, but my computer is fighting with Kodak's web site right now..., I'll keep working on it and hopefully have them posted early this week.}

We stayed in a beautiful hotel, Posada de Santiago, and enjoyed some cocktails while watching the sun go down. The next morning we had breakfast and headed back across the lake to Panajachel. We shopped for a while, well Shari and Susan shopped, I walked and took pictures, then we got in our shuttle back to Antigua. This ride was a lot quicker as we didn't go on the same road. When we got back to the project I assembled my bike!! Showered and went to dinner with some volunteers from New Hope Village that were headed home, Scoti and Holli. Lacy, another volunteer from New Hope also joined us. When we were done with dinner we headed to La Sala, a bar that has Salsa dancing on Sunday Nights, for their despedida, going away party. Several of the other volunteers showed up and it was a great night of conversation and laughs. After the despedida, scoti gave me his cell phone so I didn't have to get a new one and he could no longer use it.

Monday began with my first step in the orientation process, my formal introduction to the whole staff. That entailed going around the entire project and saying hola and mucho gusto while forgetting all of there names. It was nice though, it was over in about an hour and I was off to work with the construction crew, mixing and pouring a foundation for a home that will be built in the coming weeks. Then back to the project for lunch. After lunch I hoped on a chicken bus with Lucia, Tamalyn's assistant, to Antigua so I could get set up and started with spanish school. I met my teacher, Luis Godoy, and started my first three hour lesson. We sit on top of the school, the roof is a patio, it's tough :) When I was done I got to move in with my family, Jorge and Catherine Velasquez. A very nice old couple who have been hosting students for 45 years. There's another youg lady staying in the house as well, Andrea is from Holland and here volunteering with Safe Passages. That night it rained as I was falling asleep, very nice.

Well, I've only made it through Monday and it's already really long, so I'll leave this post as is and do the rest in another one.


PICTURES: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8779&l=4f3e2&id=752630746

New Blog...

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Hasta Luego