I arrived last night and after a little while Liz and her husband Fabian picked me up outside the airport. Liz is on charge of overseeing the interns through CTM (there are 10 coming over the course of the summer) and Fabian is a professor at the Seminary and in charge of their night-and-weekend theological studies program. They're a really great couple, and speak both English and Spanish.
So here is some of my cultural initiation experiences...
As we left the airport and pulled onto the main road, we were nearly rear-ended by a car that didn't want to let us into traffic. As we continued on (it was dark out) I experienced the honking, jerking, pot-hole filled streets of Guate. At one point we had to put our hazards on and merge into another lane because there was a man crawling across the road, probably drunk. No one really blinked an eye nor tried to help him, just continued on their way.
There have been a few other interesting experiences, some of which emphasize the cultural values here, and how different they are from home. For example, a nice car or cell phone isn't as big a deal, because they make you a target (and the roads are full of potholes)!
Today I also bought a nice pair fo jeans for about $7.50... definitely much more affordable than the States! I have a prepaid cellphone also that cost about 20$, that i can refill when i need to over the summer. It wil be very helpful.
Liz also tells me that a Guatemalan gov't lawyer was just killed and left a video accusing the government (and a particular Guate bank) of being responsible. There have been demonstrations in the city, so we have avoided the municipal part of town, and there have been a lot people closing accounts at the particular bank that was accused of being involved. This is an example of the chaos and corruption in the government.
I am so very grateful that the Lord is faithful, just, and sovereign over the seeming chaos of our world. It's a comfort to know he's in charge!
Thursday night I will be heading to Santa Catarina Pinula (or just Pinula) and will be spending the rest of my time there. I will be teaching in the mornings at the Elementary school, and in the afternoons I can choose to work at the teen ministry center where they teach English and have vocational training, or I can teach at the high school. They teach young children in the morning and then the older kids in the afternoon, using the same building.
That's all I know for now... and it's about time for some rice & beans with beef (its 1pm here, time for the 'big meal' of the day)
paz y amor,
'Kim
Today I also bought a nice pair fo jeans for about $7.50... definitely much more affordable than the States! I have a prepaid cellphone also that cost about 20$, that i can refill when i need to over the summer. It wil be very helpful.
Liz also tells me that a Guatemalan gov't lawyer was just killed and left a video accusing the government (and a particular Guate bank) of being responsible. There have been demonstrations in the city, so we have avoided the municipal part of town, and there have been a lot people closing accounts at the particular bank that was accused of being involved. This is an example of the chaos and corruption in the government.
I am so very grateful that the Lord is faithful, just, and sovereign over the seeming chaos of our world. It's a comfort to know he's in charge!
Thursday night I will be heading to Santa Catarina Pinula (or just Pinula) and will be spending the rest of my time there. I will be teaching in the mornings at the Elementary school, and in the afternoons I can choose to work at the teen ministry center where they teach English and have vocational training, or I can teach at the high school. They teach young children in the morning and then the older kids in the afternoon, using the same building.
That's all I know for now... and it's about time for some rice & beans with beef (its 1pm here, time for the 'big meal' of the day)
paz y amor,
'Kim
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