Home!

Well despite the lack of entries on our blog, time continued on in Santiago. We had a wonderful goodbye party with all of our 'Atiteco' friends and co-workers, complete with a Pinata. (We bought it for the kids, but EVERYONE had a blast diving for candy!) We are now in Harrisonburg, staying with Jared's parents for a week before we go to Goshen, then PA, then back to Harrisonburg before moving out to Phoenix sometime in early August. We'll try to post some pictures later, and will probably keep using this blog to post updates about our lives in Arizona for the next year. If we get enough comments and encouragement we might make more entries. . . hint hint. Also, we're both on Facebook and some updates can be found there.

For now, we just want to say it feels good to be home! We have greatly appreciated your support and prayers throughout the year, and will be greatful for your continued thoughts as we transition back into life in the US, and a new place to call home.

Jared and Traci

Computer down

Well folks, looks like round two of computer problems. . . this time it´s hardware. Too bad, because we were just about to get high speed internet at home!

Brief update from the internet cafe- Jared has been working in the ANADESA tree nursery filling plastic bags for coffee tree transplants. Also, on May 30 we´ll be getting a delivery of about 200 Macadamia nut trees for several communities on the outskirts of town. Google Valhalla Antigua for information about the macadamia nut farm and the many benefits of growing the trees.

Traci has still been working hard at the library, and leading an English club Saturday mornings. ´

We recently found out that we´ll be moving to Phoenix in August to manage a Mennonite Guest House there, and will be involved in an intentional Christian community for adults with developmental disabilities called Goldensun. Their website is www.goldensunonline.org if you want to check it out. Hopefully we´ll be able to put more pictures up sometime soon, but with our computer down it might be a while.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

We Have a Plan!

These last 6 weeks have been some of the most stressful times in both of our lives, but now we are so happy to be able to say that we have a plan! We have been given the opportunity to manage a Mennonite Guest House in Phoenix Arizona. It all came together so wonderfully, and we feel that God has opened some doors for us after many disappointments. We are so glad to know what we’ll be doing after our return. The house is co-owned by MCC and Trinity Mennonite Church, where Traci did her Ministry Inquiry Program a few years ago. It was bought as a location to house the many MCC SOOP (Service Opportunities for Older People) volunteers who go to Arizona in the winter. We will work to keep it full the rest of the year as well. It is a large 7 bedroom house and is connected with a program nearby for disabled adults, where many of the SOOP volunteers work. The house was formerly named SOOP House, but is now going by the title Phoenix Mennonite Guest House. We are very excited about this opportunity! Jared will be taking a few classes at ASU as well. Having some certainty back in our lives feels really good, and I think we'll appreciate the remainder of our time here even more now that we don't have to worry about what comes next.

So here’s the plan for all who are interested.
July 4th – Jareds parents will meet us at the airport when we return from Guatemala. We will be in Harrisonburg until the 16th. In that time we will hang out with family and friends, get some needed new and clothes and haircuts, celebrate birthdays, maybe do a little work around our house and begin the packing process.
July 16th – Drive to Goshen to be with Traci’s family until the 27th. Don’t yet have any itinerary for that time, but I’m sure it will involve some days at Tonya and Jason’s pool.
July 27th – Drive to Lancaster. We have our re-entry retreat in Lancaster from July 3oth – August 2nd so we decided to go 3 days early and hang out with Jared’s extended family there.
August 2nd – Drive back to Harrisonburg
August 8th – Begin the Drive to Phoenix
August 11th – Arrive in Phoenix.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement through our uncertainty.

To make a long story short. . .

The computer is fixed! I took the 2.5 hour bus ride to Mazatenango (again) and got the computer reformatted, and it appears to be running well now! The extended version of this story includes a night of no sleep prior to leaving, passing the time by catching a movie at the theatre that turned out to be the worst movie I'd ever seen- (yes, even worse than Open Water, and I was the ONLY one in the theatre), delays in the repairs that meant I had to stay overnight, staying in two different hotels (the first one was stifling hot, full of mosquitoes, and after 2.5 hours of laying in bed counting the passing seconds I got up and left) and then approximately 4 hours after checking in to the other hotel I got up and caught the 4AM bus to Santiago since I couldn't sleep anyway. To top it off I'm now battling a head cold and my sleep schedule is so thrown off I think the weekend is going to be a bust.
In more positive news, I caught a direct bus to Mazatenango and only paid 20, both unexpected joys. Tono, the computer repair guy was so incredibly nice! He let me play the Incredibles on Xbox while waiting for the computer, after I left the first hotel he let me back into the store where he was STILL working on the computer, even though they had been closed for hours, and after it was done he drove me around to 5 different hotels before we found a place with a vacancy. I invited him to come stay with us in Santiago if he wants to come out- I hope he takes me up on the offer!

Jared

Frustrations

So the past week has had more than its share of above average annoyances. . .

First, I have a lot of pink clothes. Traci bought a lovely wraparound skirt in the market, soaked it in vinegar water for a day, washed it by itself, and threw it into the laundry a second time with our normal load. Turns out, wasn´t quite done bleeding. My jeans have some lovely shades of purple and pink- but they´re still wearable. Several shirts took on a distinctly pink hue, as did most of my boxers. Some of these shirts we soaked in water to prevent them from setting, and threw them in the wash again. Oddly enough, they came out clean- but several new shirts are now pink (and soaking in bleach water). Annoying yes, debilitating- nah.

Traci led her first English club on Friday! She was well prepared for the group of 10, ranging in age from 9-11. Well when 20 kids show up from ages 4-14, it kind of changes everything. . . She felt unprepared and was disappointed with how the class went. Having an evaluation right after class pointing out everything that didn´t go as planned certainly didn´t help anything either.

Finally, the thing weighing on my mind the most at this point (besides not having any idea what the future holds after July 4th): Our laptop has slowly been going senile. First in May we noticed that the drive for camera chips had stopped working. No big deal, we still have our cords. Then the volume display (you know, green letters and bars) stopped showing up on the screen. We can still adjust the volume, just can´t see it. Odd, perplexing, but no big deal. Then in one fell swoop, Itunes stopped working, and the internet won´t load e-mail. This has so far resulted in several long difficult phone calls with the internet company, countless restarts, reboots, uninstalling and reinstalling programs, and last night one of our housemates spent 30 minutes or more cleaning up the computer. It runs a lot faster- but still has all those same problems. I´m writing this from an internet cafe in town- and we´re both praying this problem gets fixed so we can keep e-mailing from home for the last few months. E-mail feels especially important now as we´re applying for jobs and trying to make our plans for next year.

Thoughts, prayers, and computer fixing suggestions are much appreciated!!

Jared

Semana Santa

Holy week in Guatemala (and Central America in general) is a completely different experience than in the US. I think of easter baskets, egg coloring, and getting together with the family for lunch as my Easter tradition. Down here, this is the biggest holiday of the year. Nearly 80% of Guatemala city disappears- going to Antigua, the beaches, and staying with family in their hometowns.
Early in the week, Santiago started making preparations. They created pine covered trellises to line all the streets that the procession would follow. The mayan diety (or Catholic Saint depending on who you ask) Maximon, had a small parade on Wednesday, making a stop at the Municipal building before being 'hung' in his small chapel on the Catholic church plaza. Some say he represents Judas, hanging himself in shame of betraying Jesus. For others, this is his punishment for all the bad things he's done this year. Unlike other saints, people visit Maximon to curse other people in addition to the health and prosperity requests.



We went to Antigua with some friends and saw the incredible alfombras, artistic 'carpets' made out of colored sawdust, flowers, pine needles, and other natural items. There are so many processions in Antigua that these carpets are constantly being created, destroyed by the marching crowds, cleaned up and recreated.



The alfombras in Santiago didn't have as many flowers, pine needles, etc- but they made up for it in the sheer quantity created.



Elaborate processions with LARGE floats are carried from the church, around town, and back into the church. In Santiago the men wore their traditional garb, but in Antigua the streets were packed with men in purple.





The processions included reenactments, music, LOTS of incense, and the floats, which can weigh up to 3 tons. These guys carried the floats literally 50 blocks or more, switching off periodically. It caused us to reflect on how much we jump straight to the Resurrection, with it's chocolate, marshmallow bunnies and pretty pastel colors, glossing over the suffering, lamenting, and pain of the crucifixion. On the other hand, Easter Sunday felt really anti-climatic; people were mostly just traveling back from vacations, trying to get ready for work the next day. I think both cultures could stand to learn a little from each other about the meaning of this Holy Week.

We went to Casa Horeb, a Mennonite church in Guatemala city for Easter Sunday. The service started at 6AM and had a lot of special music, singing, and a sermon that was probably pretty good. (It's hard to listen and understand Spanish when you're so tired!) We did miss singing familiar songs- I couldn't get "Up from the grave he arose (he arose)" out of my head all morning. Instead of Easter Breads before the service, we had tamales afterwords, and didn't get back to the Mennonite guest house until 10:45. We had a chance to Skype with Jared's ENTIRE extended family that were all gathered together, and with Traci's family as well. It was a lot of fun to catch up, but made us homesick as well.

I know we always say this, but we plan to update the blog again soon. . .




I especially loved this alfombra, located inside one of the Catholic churches in Antigua that used mangoes, corn, peppers, carrots, watermelons and bottles of honey as part of the decor.

Connections

Here is an overview of our life and work in Santiago. This will be in the April issue of Connections magazine. We wanted to share it with those of you who don't receive the magazine:

We live on the beautiful Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. The lake is the crater remains of a volcano many years ago that has now filled with water; three inactive volcano’s still stand at the shores. The region is very unique and has many indigenous small towns on the waters edge. Each of these towns is named after one of the apostles. The indigenous people of Mayan descent in these towns still wear traditional clothing and have many Mayan religious practices, even though they have been deeply influenced by Catholicism.

Together we are managing a nice guesthouse that is being leased to the local grassroots hospital. They have asked us to oversee this property and host the guests. This has involved fixing up the house, battling bed-bug outbreaks, meeting guests when they arrive and lots of cooking. Our Mennonite cookbooks Simply in Season and More With Less are a big hit here. The majority of the guests are hospital volunteers, including nurses, doctors and medical students. We have a wonderful place to live and enjoy sharing God’s love through hospitality with the people staying here.

Jared enjoys his work promoting water filters in the community. Until recently, diarrhea was the leading cause of death for children under five and this was largely attributed to drinking contaminated lake water. This involves education and follow-up with the families. He is also supplying wood stoves to replace open indoor fires that cause a multitude of respiratory and vision problems. Both these project are through a community development organization here in Santiago called ANADESA. Jared has built good friendships with the staff and families there.

Traci works at a children’s library with a mobile program that goes into the schools and shares story hours and tutors children. She also helps with tourist and educational groups by giving tours of the library and their services in the community. She has made friends with her co-workers and the children through her work and continues to improve her Spanish. Most mornings are spent with her good friend and tutor Victoria, and most afternoons she plays a game of basketball with the kids.

We feel so blessed to be here and are so grateful to many of you that have made it possible for us through your funding and prayers. We know that God is faithful and has brought us here with a purpose. We will be forever changed by our year with TranSend.