Buying School Supplies for the First Time: Day 1,179

So, today I went to the grocery store with Edgar to buy school supplies for around 49 children.  I think I could wrap up this blog post right there.

At any rate, 5 hours and approximately Q6,500 later, we left the Bodegona with the majority of what we need for those 49 kids for the upcoming school year.  Most lists also ask for things like "A roll of toilet paper" and "a small towel;" so, since we were exhausted and very hungry after 5 hours, we just didn't get those things (yet).

Edgar and Ismael's father did me the favor of taking the school supplies out to their house today.

Tomorrow I'll leave right after church to head out to Los Encuentros to check over the lists and label the bags. I'll make a list of what is still missing and look for it in the market on Tuesday.

Also, on Monday afternoon, we're taking four children to the doctor to see what, if anything, can be done for them.  Two are "special needs," one is missing his left hand (never had one), and the other is deaf (and maybe dumb...and maybe not).

I think I noted today that at least the daughter of the woman who I mentioned in the last entry will be going back to school.  I could, however, have a "Maria Elena" in the program who I'm not thinking of.  (The mother's name is Maria, and I have the daughter listed as just "Elena," but most Guatemalans have two names, and if mother and daughter are both "Maria," then it would stand to reason that the daughter would go by "Elena."  Their is only one last name noted, but it is the same as the mother's.  However, there are lots of people with that last name in the program; it's like saying "Oh, there was a Johnson on the list.")  Whether this is true or I am mistaken, please continue to pray for this family with me.  I am still highly concern about the mother.

Also, in regards to running as low-cost of program as possible, I'll be noting the reusables which we are giving each child.  At this moment it would be highly time-consuming to ask each family if they have a pencil sharpener for each child (etc); so this year, from pencil sharpener to scientific calculator, I bought everything on their lists.  Next year, I am not buying another pencil sharpener, another pair of scissors, another scientific calculator...no.  Maybe if there comes a day that a family needs two calculators (one for each of two children), I'll have to get them another one, but I'm not made of money, and I have to be a good steward of the money which is given to me.  Of course, any new family which comes into the program will receive their whole list the first year.  That's really the only way I can be sure that they all have what they need for school.

Tough Moment: Day 1,176

I know most of you are eager to hear about how today went.  Unfortunately, I'm still digesting it.  In fact, I wouldn't be posting at all except that I need all my prayer warriors, pray-ers, and people who will pray every once in a while if there is a good reason to to do some praying with me.

There is one family who I've been concerned about for a while.  It's the family of the single mother whose husband committed suicide about 3 years ago.  She has two children.  I've written about them before if you really want the whole background.  At any rate, I was afraid she would reject the program, and today she didn't show up for the meeting.  So, we showed up at her house after the meeting.  She saw us coming and hid in her house.  She did not want us there; she did not want to talk to us.  Only when we insisted did she open up the door a crack.  Based on her behavior, the following conversation that Ismael and Manuel had with her (in Kaqchikel), and something that Ismael commented to me later about something a friend of his who lives in that area told him, we are concerned that she is also a suicide risk.

The guys have given her 2 days to get the kids enrolled in school as part of the program (because that's all the time we have with school starting next week), and while I would ask that you pray she does that, I also want to ask that this woman either seeks help or that help comes to her.  I am not in a position to be able to help and give her the social support she needs, but I pray that a neighbor or someone comes to counsel her or be a friend or something.  In the 7 months since I first met her, she has slipped a lot; I don't think she has much further to go.  These kids already lost one parent, and I don't want them to lose another.

Humbled and Honored: Day 1,174

I am sitting here next to a binder which contains information on 45 families and scraps of paper with names scribbled on them for about 4 more families who we have not had the time to visit as part of the application process to the program.  This binder also contains 22 nearly blank sheets--11 edged in blue and 11 edged in orange--for the 22 families who will be starting this exciting journey with us on Wednesday.

And I feel greatly honored that God has selected me to head up this program and that these people are giving me the time of day.  And I feel greatly humbled because, middle-class or not, I came from a privileged life compared to these people.  I was provided for my entire life up until now.  I can't imagine what it's like to be an 11-year old selling gum on buses every day so that my family has something to eat.  So, I feel humbled because they know more about hard work than I think I'll ever know.

Just 36 hours to go...

Wow...money: Day 1,171

So...

Yesterday, I purchased a small package of food for each of the 22 families.  These packages weren't all uniform size but rather slightly geared to family size.  I started with "normal" size based on a 2-adult and 3-school-aged-child household.  Families which were smaller (1 mother with her toddler son or 2 adults with their 3 children under the age of 4) were purchased a half-package size (which was actually a little more than half-size).  And families which were larger (a mother with two older-teen children caring for her parents-in-law, 3 school aged children, a toddler, and a baby) received package-and-a-half-sized portions.  All in all, that came out to Q991.50, roughly $124.  If we divide that cost evenly between the families (despite that they won't receive equally), it comes out to $5.60 per family.

Now we have the question of school supplies.  I sent out one of my helpers to find out the general cost of school supplies in the Solola area, and he reports that depending on grade level, they range between Q225/student and Q350/student.  Great!  So, let's take an average number of Q300/student and multiply that by the number of children in the program between the ages of 5 and 14 (and 1 15-year old who has been in school).

Q300
 x  57
Q17,100
(Q8 is roughly $1; so $2,137.50)

Yes, that's the bottom line for school supplies.  (And, actually, it is that Q300 that keeps a lot of children out of school every year.)  Now, thanks to the ongoing support of a private company in the US (who I'm not sure if they prefer to remain anonymous or would like the free PR and will therefore remain nameless for the moment), we'll be able to cover both costs at this time.  However, for their participation in and good grades from school, these children will earn points.  With these points, they will be able to "purchase" things for their families to improve the living conditions in their homes.  The problem is that these points aren't real money but real money is required to purchase these improvements.

My sending church has reached their limit of how involved they feel they can be in this project; so I'm trying to figure out who can partner up with me to either form our own non-profit or to team up with one that has similar interests.  Because, let's face it, the money I have received to help these people is enough until these people have earned the points to improve their lives, and with as driven as some of them are now that they've been shown a speck of hope, I don't think it will be so long.

Mission Moment: January Newsletter

Just a reminder: this is the newsletter article I write for my sending church.  I have edited it slightly for privacy purposes.

Greetings from Guatemala! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a happy New Year! For me it has been a busy two months. (Yes, apologies for my unannounced hiatus.) In December I did a lot of administrative stuff such as getting a new visa stamp in my passport. This has to be done every 6 months, and I've often handled it by flying for a visit in the US. However, this time, for various reasons including the price of plane tickets, I made the choice to take the bus to Belize instead.

I also made a trip out to Solola to see if the delegated work had been completed. Unfortunately, the letter which I wrote to Manuel (my other community contact) only made its way to him in the last couple of weeks...now that schools are shut down for vacations. However, he said that most of the information wouldn't be hard to get once January gets here; so we'd decided on getting the families together on January 8^th. We are starting with 22 families in 7 different villages. Due to travel distances, we'll be splitting the group in two based on where they live. (I actually just noticed that it works out perfectly even: 11 and 11.) One group will have a meeting in the morning, and the other group will have a meeting in the afternoon.

While I was out in Solola, Manuel took advantage of the opportunity to take me to go see David's family again (the little boy with the basket-making sisters who I wrote about in August). I am pleased to announce that Wendy, the older sister, will be going back to school this year. Her father changed jobs to have a more steady income, and the family hopes to build their own house this year so as to stop renting. It was a pleasure to see the family again. Although I didn't meet the father and David was with him, I did get to meet their older brother who I hadn't met on my first visit. They gave me a bag and a magnet as Christmas gifts. I find it so humbling when people who have so little still find it in their hearts to give.

Also, three of the families in the program have children with special needs. Two of those families will be receiving help via anothergroup. Their daughters will be checked to see what their situation is—I think it's Down's Syndrome—and their son will receive a prosthetic hand (if he wants it) for his hand that never grew. Both of these families are in Manuel's group of 11; so he made the decision to wait until January for all of that.

There is more exciting news for Solola. In January, the group of doctors for whom I usually translate (Children of the Americas) will be serving in Solola. The group has wanted to go to Solola for a long time, but because of the general distrust of outsiders, they have been unable to bridge the gap and gain clear communication with the hospital administration and government. Now that they have finally been able to get in, I expect that there will be a few more trips to the area as the needs are great.

The Care and Keeping of a Missionary

Thank you all for your continued support; the prayers really do help! For the month of January, I'd like to ask that you pray for these 22 families. Between these 22 women, they have approximately 89 children. (There are 89 “children” in the program, but some of them are caring for younger siblings who aren't officially their children, but are in their care.) Some of these children have never been to school; some of these children might not want to go to school. I have a 15- and 16-year old pair of siblings who never went to school; they don't know how to write their own names. I have a 10- and 11-year old pair of siblings who I also wrote to you about in August; I'm really not sure if they ever attended school, but I feel like this change will be difficult for them and their mother. (What I'm really concerned about is that she'll reject the program completely out of the unknown, but they are probably the neediest family I have.) So, please be praying for all of these families. They need your support.

Merry Crimemas: Day 1,158

So, after 1,158 days (or 3 years, 2 months, and 2 days) of living in Guatemala, I finally had my bag slit in the Antigua market.  I was pretty much the only person I knew (Guatemalan or American who lives here) who hadn't had it happen; so I consider it to be a right of passage of sorts.  The would-be thief cut through three layers of my bag but didn't manage to find anything worth stealing.  Joke's on them, but I'm the one left with a bag to repair.  *sigh*

I guess the bright side is that I was carrying my recent purchases of flour and oatmeal in my hand.  If I had put them in my backpack as I typically do, I might have made a nice little white trail behind me through the market...and arrived home without any more flour than I woke up with.

FINALLY! : Day 1,149

Today I took a semi-planned trip to Solola.  I call it "semi-planned" because I didn't really know what I was doing until yesterday and today.

First, I had to drop off all of the information about the doctors who will be there through COTA in January.  "Just drop it off at the mayor's office," they said yesterday; so that's what I did.

Then came the fun(ner) part for me.  We--Edgar went with me--had to locate and talk to Manuel who I apologize for not introducing you all to sooner.  As far as I can figure out, Manuel works with the mayor's office as some sort of liaison for the indigenous people.  He went with me as chauffeur, guide, and translator on my trip in June.  I had sent him a letter in September detailing some information which I needed him to find out for me, and somehow it only made its way to him a couple of weeks ago.  (*sigh*)

Anyway, Edgar had his phone number but was out of minutes.  I had a few; so we dialed in Manuel's number.  Edgar talked to him for a couple minutes, but my phone ran out of minutes.  So, we contemplated what to do.  Manuel called back, but after about two sentences ran out of minutes as well.  So, we headed back into the mayor's office to borrow their phone.  We met up in Los Encuentros where the three of us chatted in Manuel's pick-up until Edgar had to leave for a meeting (back down in Solola).  Manuel called his wife and asked her what she wanted us to do, and she said to bring me back to the house.  We could continue chatting there and she'd make sure I got a good lunch.

On the way, we stopped and visited David's family...or most of it.  This time we didn't run into David, but we saw his mother, two sisters, and his older brother (the latter of which I had not met on our first visit).  David was off helping his father apparently.  The older girl, Wendy, will be going back to school in January.  I consider this the first of many small victories; perhaps the only to be had today, but that's not important.  Today both Floricelda and her mother gave me gifts.  Floricelda gave me a little doll with a magnet on it to attach to my fridge. (I didn't mention that I don't have a fridge, and it is now stuck to my stove.)  Her mother gave me a nice bag that says "Guatemala" on it.  It's actually the perfect size for carrying stuff in; so I can stop feeling like a tourist with my backpack.  (Yes, the irony is that the Guatemalans use the "Guatemala" bags even though they sell them to tourists.)

Then we continued on to Manuel's house where I met his wife, father, four sons (ages 8 to 13), and one daughter (age 6)...oh, and their parrot.  We had a nice visit.  I got the kids to practice their English a little; the government now requires it in the school, but as in most places in the country, the education is particularly poor in that subject.  We had a nice lunch of what I think was pepian (probably my least favorite of Guatemalan dishes, but particularly yummy today).  I'm still trying to figure out what can only be a cultural thing: making the guest sit alone.  The three adults sat around the stove.  The five kids sat around one table.  And the white girl sat by herself at another table.  I showed them pictures of my family.  And, about an hour and a half after arriving, Manuel, his wife, and his daughter drove me back to Los Encuentros to catch the bus where, surprisingly, his daughter gave me her weaving.  (Yes, the 6-year old is learning to weave, and she had told me it wasn't her first piece either.)

So, what's next?
-Edgar is going to find out the cost of school supplies for next year.
-Manuel is going to talk to Ismael to figure out what day we'll get the families together.  Manuel will host one meeting in his town and translate for me in the morning, and hopefully we'll have the other meeting in the church of Edgar and Ismael's father in the afternoon and Ismael will translate for me.
-Annalisa (that's me!) will be counting up the number of students in each grade to figure out how many school supplies we need.  She will also be working on a surprise Christmas bag for each family with food to help them celebrate in style this year.  (Shh...it's a secret!)  I (yes, I got tired of third-person) will also be working on either forming my own non-profit or joining what I do with an existing one.
-Two of the girls are special needs, and one of the boys is missing a hand (since birth, never grew).  I'm working with another organization to help them, and Manuel said that early- to mid-January would be best; so that's on hold for the moment.

So, I'm off to compile data and make a shopping list.  Yay!

Issues: Day 1,131

I don't see myself as a highly vocal person.  I don't speak out on a lot of issues.  Sure, I have opinions, and sure, I'm pretty set on them.  However, I typically believe everyone is entitled to their opinions and don't try overly hard to convince them that I'm right.  I think to some extent this is more pronounced in Guatemala than it was before, but at the same time, I think that sometimes I do try to influence people more here.  (After all, I'm a missionary, right?)  However, in a matter of about 10 minutes, one person managed to hit two of my three big issues by doing something which I felt was not correct.  What are my three big issues, you may ask?  In no specific order they are racism (bad), littering (bad), and education (good).

As a white person in the States, you don't really know what racism is.  Sure, it's this thing that happened to black people a long, long time ago.  No, it really wasn't...er, isn't.  Yes, in the US there is still lots of racism against black people and also hispanic people.  I actually find this theme of racism really interesting because in the US it is the upper classes (or at least the white upper classes) with their racism against the poor, blacks, and hispanics.  (Yeah, it's not just a color line being crossed there.)  Here in Guatemala, I can only speak as a white foreign person who has roughly assimilated into the culture.  There are people who charge me more money for products because of the color of my hair (or skin or eyes).  And when they tell me the price, I kind of just look at them and wonder how much they think I can sell each strand of hair for because I certainly don't have that kind of money to spend lavishly.  So, I typically do without or have one of my Guatemalan friends buy for me. (Yes, trusting someone else's judgement since I obviously can't window shop with them either...)  How do I know that this is happening?  Well, quite simply put, I speak Spanish and I understand Spanish.  So, when I've already asked you about the price on something and someone else comes along and asks for the price on the same thing and you give them a lower price (even though your body language and form of speech shows that you don't know them), well, I'm kind of guessing it's a white person thing there.  So, through the years, I've stopped shopping with those people.  I get the haggling thing, I really do; however, your starting price should be about the same if you're dealing fairly with people.

I'm not really an environmentalist.  I burn things; sometimes I accidentally burn plastic.  I've got about the blackest thumb I know.  (Admittedly, my cats do a great job of killing anything I don't manage to kill. I'm not taking all the blame on this one.)  I sometimes eat tuna which doesn't have "dolphin safe" on the can.  However, I cannot stand people littering.  Now, I get it, their parents and grandparents threw wrappers on the ground...but their parents' and grandparents' wrappers were leaves and paper, not aluminum and plastic.  So, when the times changed, they just kept throwing the wrappers on the ground without realizing this bit about biodegradable materials.  And I hate this.  When I was teaching at the school, I'd be very frank with my students.  "Your country is not a trashcan.  If you throw trash on the ground, you are making it a trashcan.  You are giving permission to every other country to throw trash in Guatemala. [translated, of course]" I don't know if you've ever seen pictures of dumps, but that's what I imagine the entire country of Guatemala turning into if someone doesn't stop these people from littering.  I hope in some small way I'm making a difference by helping every kid I deal with on a personal level with their littering habit.

Finally, I believe that education is the best way to escape poverty.  I don't believe it's so much knowing things as it is knowing how to think.  With logic and reasoning, I can learn a whole lot of things on my own without anyone actually teaching them to me.  If I know how to read, my knowledge base is pretty much limitless.  Uneducated people are taken advantage of every day.  Perhaps in some way it's related to the racism: "If we can keep x group illiterate and stupid, it is easier to subjugate and take advantage of them."  I feel that no person or group of people is better than any other person or group of people, and I feel that no one has a right to try to make anyone feel otherwise.  (Of course, if what I just said makes you feel like I'm saying I'm better than you, you may want to reconsider how you treat people.)

So, today, less than 3 minutes after leaving the bus stop (where the bus stops for about 10 minutes and there are trashcans and stores and whatnot), the ayudante threw one wrapper and two bottles out of the bus (LITTERING!!!), and then as he went through to collect bus fare, he tried to not give me my change of Q2 which, considering the correct fare is Q3.50, was more than half of my fare back home (RACISM...he gave change to everyone else from the moment they paid).  So, since it seems that the buses are no longer numbered, I'll be boycotting the entire Brisas bus line.  (Not a big deal since there is Rutas Santa Fe [the largest], Lillian, and Ruiz as well as maybe one more I'm not thinking of right now.)  You all can do what you want with your money, but I'm not going to give money to someone who is against two of the three things which I feel most strongly about (or even someone who hires people who act that way).

Patience is a Virtue: Day 1,113

I've never been a patient person.

Growing up, my folks had a couple large gardens.  I was okay with the planting part of it, and I was okay with the picking part of it, but I don't recall enjoying much the time in between the two.  I mean, of course I enjoyed it, because it was the time of swimming lessons and swinging on the swing and whatever else I did when I was a kid, but the pulling of weeds and whatnot?  It didn't really interest me.  The plants didn't do anything.  They just sat there.  And looking at them one day to the next and seeing no change was completely boring.

Fast forward about 20 years, and here I am living in a culture where people don't operate much on schedules.  Here I am teaching English to people.  Here I am working with community leaders (who don't see any need to hurry) to try to create a program for the poorest of the people in their community.  And here I am planting my own SMALL garden.

Sometimes I think God sends you places not only to serve others but also to make a change in yourself.  I won't say I'm much more patient that I was before, but He's taking the time to mold me and shape me. And, admittedly somewhat begrudgingly, I'm thankful for that.

One of my favorite prayers is the following:
"Dear God,
Please teach me patience NOW.
Amen."

Educating a Girl: Day 1,102

I'm really bad at making posts for significant marks; so, today is the 3 years and 1 week post.

Today a fellow missionary here in Guatemala contacted me about a rumor she had heard that involved the school where I used to work.  She was unaware that I no longer work there.  However, I had had the good fortune of running into the principal this week on the bus and chatting all the way home; so I was able to give her some details.  This invariably led to me asking her about quite possibly the brightest student I have had the pleasure of teaching.  She doesn't know the girl, but she said she could ask around.

Ana is a really smart young lady.  She was the only one in the entire school who had passed my class by the third marking period.  (You need an average of 60 for the year to pass the class; even if she had gotten a 0 in my class the last marking period, she would have passed.)  But she is not just smart; she is also kind.  A lot of smart kids are ostracized or picked on by their classmates, but Ana was well-loved.  There was never a question of who had achieved the highest grade (in pretty much any subject), but no one seemed bent out of shape about it.  However, Ana's mother (don't know if there is a father in the picture or not) doesn't believe there is value in educating girls.  Ana only arrived to my class through a generous scholarship...or two.  In her 9th grade graduating class of 12, ten continued on to 10th grade.  Only the top of the class and the bottom of the class were kept home by their parents.  Ana could become anything she wants to be if she were only allowed to continue school.  She could be a teacher, a doctor, an astrophysicist, or even the president of Guatemala.

And then I apply that to my own life.  Actually, first I'll let someone else apply it to hers.  Addisyn is a missionary kid (MK) here in Guatemala.  Her family attends my church.  I don't really know her, but I know who she is.  In that link, she shares her thoughts about going to college, about the worth of an education.  And reading her entry a couple weeks ago (and the short exchange I had today with someone else) made me reflect upon my own education.  My parents always told me I'd need a degree to do anything with my life.  With all due respect, I am probably "over qualified" for what I do...or at least my degree probably isn't the right kind of training.  Admittedly, having a bachelor's degree (regardless of major) has been important, or more correctly, going to college for the time I went there has been important.

While I could not have taught middle school English as a foreign language (EFL) in a private school without my bachelor's degree (which is in religious studies, by the way), the mission work I do does not require any special college degree.  God prepares those He sends out, not college, not a degree.  However, He prepared me in college.  He worked to put me in a strong Christian community my sophomore year.  He introduced me to amazing faith-filled people, people who did mission work at least for a time, people who would unknowingly validate the calling I felt to become a missionary.  He also sent me one other important person.

When I was growing up, there were lots of things I wanted to be.  I wanted to be the first female president of the United States. (Annalisa Simmer for President 2020!)  I wanted to be Santa Claus. I wanted to be a lady farmer.  I wanted to be a trapeze artist.  I probably wanted to be lots of other things that only my mother remembers.  And, well, most of those don't require degrees.  In fact, not one of them absolutely requires a degree.  And as time went on, it became obvious to me that what I really wanted to be was a wife and mother.  Yes, I am a person with many talents who could probably do most anything she puts her mind to, but I don't consider being a wife and mother a less worthwhile pursuit than being the president.  The other person I met in college was my fiance.

When you lose someone like a fiance or spouse, you sort of feel like your entire future disappeared with that person.  And while I can't say this in retrospect with 100% certainty, I think I felt like that was my one chance at love, marriage, and children.  I was 22; it was 3 years before I came here to do full-time ministry.  Twenty-two year old single women with nearly $10k in student loans (all paid off due to two people who I love and respect a whole lot) do not receive foster children; they can't get approved for adoption.  And I'm certainly not one of those women to use a guy just to get an offspring.  So, as I saw it, all hopes of being a wife or even a mother were cut off.

Love is a funny thing.  It hits you where you don't think you'll find it.  It comes in unexpected ways from unexpected people.  I more or less have a family here in Guatemala.  I have 4 brothers, a set of parents, 3 nephews and a niece in addition to the church family that I have here.  (I may potentially have more than that; it just depends on how people are feeling and how willing they are to claim the crazy white girl.)  They have chaperoned me, invited me to weddings and birthdays, defended me, visited me, and helped me with manual labor.  They have loaned me money.  They have watched my animals.  They've been wonderful people.  And the children who I help work to get a better education?  They're kind of like my kids.

I may not be a wife and a mother, but I am a woman very much loved.  I thank God for the blessing to be able to live among and serve these people, and if He only gives me another 3 years and one week to serve them, I'm not sure it will be enough for my overflowing heart.

Mission Moment: November Newsletter

As a reminder, these are the updates I write for my sending church.  They need to be turned in by the middle of the preceding month.

Today (October 11^th) is the last day that I'll be watching my little charge. His older sisters have finished school for the year; the school year here runs from January to October. For two barely teenagers, they shoulder an incredible amount of responsibility. As for their uncle, Carlos, he has undergone surgery. His sister, Mari, says that he is being incredibly stubborn about not staying in the hospital. Yes, hospital says are costly, but so are hour-long ambulance rides every one or two days.

The good news for me is that this means I can get back to the work in Los Encuentros. I have a lot of people to meet with as I've been delegating work during the past month and a half. So, now it's time to collect the results of that delegation and see what's what. In reality, I try to stay as uninvolved as possible because my physical presence often causes prices to rise; it's racist, but it's the reality that I deal with. However, some of the people I delegate tasks to don't always see the urgency; so, I am sometimes forced to wait or do things myself.

October 19^th is the completion of 3 years here in Guatemala. I feel that God still continues to mold me to serve the people better. Recently that has come in the form of literature. My reading list for the month of October includes: “Toxic Charity” by Robert D. Lupton, “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” by Paulo Freire, and “When Helping Hurts” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. They arrived yesterday, and I've already found parts of “Toxic Charity” to apply to the work in Los Encuentros, Solola. Feel free to check these books out from the library or buy them to read along with me!

The Care and Keeping of a Missionary

This month I ask for your continued prayers for the family of the little boys who I was watching. I would also like your prayers that the work which I delegated during the past month and a half has been completed.

Thank you for your love and support over the past 3 years. As always, you can contact me via my e-mail: asimmer@gmail.com, and you can read more about the adventure—because life is an adventure when you're not the one steering the ship!—on my blog: http://GringaOnTheGround.blogspot.com

Mission Moment: October Newsletter

 One thing which I have learned over the years is that God will guide me no matter what the situation. Sometimes I misunderstand what He wants from me, and I have to refine the plan and try again.

The day after I submitted the last newsletter article, I received news that the house where I had been planning on living would only be available to me for 4 months (but rent free). A couple days later, I found that the cost of moving would be 2 months-worth of my current rent. So, I weighed and measured the situation, and decided on August 30^th to stay where I am living. A few days later, one of the few neighbors who knew I was moving saw me in the street. And on September 8^th, the daughter (Mari) of that neighbor showed up at my door. It seems that her brother is quite ill and may die. Her mother has gone to care for her brother (who lives in another town), and Mari's two sons have had to care for themselves during the day. The two boys are aged 2.5 and 6 years. The older one attends school in the morning meaning that the younger one was left alone in the house. The God-part in all of this is the date that the boys started this: August 30^th. So, for the past week, I've been a nanny; end date is undetermined and based on whenever their uncle gets better or dies.

When you look at this, it's easy to see the hand of God in it all. He knew that this family would need me, and He knew that I didn't have obligations in Los Encuentros until October. He gave me a reason to not move...and then He showed me why.

So, while the move has been called off and I'm temporarily doing something else, plans to help in Los Encuentros have not been canceled. The new plan is to commute out to Los Encuentros every other week and spend 2-3 days in the community at a time. It will result in a slightly modified plan involving less English classes for the kids, but other than that, it remains the same. I would like to live closer to the community which I am serving, but it seems that for now that's not in God's plans for me. Right now He needs me to serve where I am to a family which is hurting and in need. For now, I'm delegating some work in Los Encuentros seeing about school costs in the area as well as looking at the costs of building a house for Maria and her children Elena and Juan who I wrote about in August.

Additionally, Guatemala dealt with a fairly strong earthquake on September 6^th. I already had some houses on my list which were damaged. I need to make sure that those houses are still standing. If they aren't, houses need to be planned for them as well; in fact, if they aren't, the money which was proportioned for a house for Maria and her children may need to be redirected to other families with more urgent needs. I don't like to do that with money that was given for a specific family or purpose, but sometimes it is a necessary reality of the work here.

The care and keeping of a missionary

This month, I'd just like to ask for a lot of prayer. I'd like you to be praying for the families whose homes were in poor repair that the houses keep holding together. I'd like you to be praying for the family of Mari as they deal with the financial and medical needs of her brother and the possibility that they might lose him. (He is 29 years old.) I'd like you to pray for Mari's two sons—Jonotan and Otto—as they deal with spending time with me. I'd also like you to pray for Mari's two daughters who are 2 of the top 6 students in their 7^th grade class (in a public school which has more than 200 7^th graders) but who may have to drop out of school if their family can't find the money to send them to school. I'd like you to pray for all of the families which I work with in Los Encuentros as they deal with the confusion of me not moving out there like we all had planned on. Finally, I'd like you to pray for some patience in all of this for me. I know God has a plan; sometimes I wish He'd just spell it out a bit clearer for all of us.

On Being a Missionary: Day 1,063

I was very frustrated by something that a fellow missionary said on Facebook tonight, and I responded poorly.  He stated the following: "We could really use a visit from good friends from the States. Fun together, laughter, cards, a few good conversations and a few tears followed by an intense time of prayer. Any takers?"  Now, the reason I responded poorly may have something to do with the fact that I've lived in the same town as him and his family for 2.5 years and we have never done anything together despite the fact that we were the only missionaries in the town until recently.  However, much more than that, it has to do with the fact that we're missionaries.  I don't know if he reads my blog, but I do read his.  I know what his family is going through right now, and I have been praying for them in all of this.  The fact of the matter (i.e. my opinion) is that we are both missionaries (as well as the other family who has moved in to town who I assume knows about his current situation as well).  We are Christians.  We may be "divided" by what church we attend or by what population we serve, but we are all Christians.  That means we should stand together and not be divided.  That means in times of struggle we should stand together...without needing something or someone from the States.  Yes, I have my community I serve, but if my brother falls down and I do not pick him up, what kind of person am I?  What kind of ministry can I claim to be serving in?  I can take time for you so that you can keep doing what God sent you here to do.  I hope you can do the same for me.


That's all for my rant for tonight.  If any missionary or even any Christian out there wants me to take time out of my life to help him or her through a struggle, I'm here for you.  Please just don't piss me off first.  We're all in this together.

A little more of the reason: Day 1,048

It's not often that I share my personal life with you, especially not parts that don't apply to the ministry.  However, there is another factor which plays into my decision to not move (or rather another little inconvenience which made it look like God was saying, "Not this, not now.") which I'd like to share with you and have you praying for.  Those of you who are my friends on Facebook already know about this, but I'd like to share it with the rest of you.   Back in March I was diagnosed with two problems which interact with each other resulting in a mess which is quite difficult to untangle; it seems as if neither one can be fixed without the other one being fixed first.  As a result, I--with the help of some friends and doctors--have decided to go on an elimination diet, a fairly strict one.

Elimination diets are pretty unheard of here in Guatemala, and due to the very precise nature of them, they can pretty much only be accomplished in places where there are lots of foreigners because the stores in those areas cater to foreigners and their weird whims.  Moving to Los Encuentros would have made this a little more difficult as it would require figuring out where to buy the stuff on my diet all over again (and turning down lots of invitations--extremely rude--from my excited new neighbors).  Staying where I'm living with all my old neighbors and easy access to Antigua (tourism capitol of Guatemala) is going to make this much easier.  And while in some ways this diet would be easier done in the US, it really wouldn't be.  I already eat a 95% "natural" diet, none of that prepackaged stuff or preservatives.

So, why am I telling you about this?  Well, I'd like your prayers and your recipes. This is the diet which I'll be following with a few other changes.  There is no fruit allowed on my diet, and many of the allowed foods are not accessible in Guatemala (although my odds are higher in Antigua).  I'll be making a pretty exhaustive list of what is allowed later today once I buy my notebook for the diet.  I'll also be starting the diet on Thursday, September 5th, for those of you who want to be with me on day #1.  Thank you in advance.

Mission Moment: September Newsletter

 The end of August will mark the closing of one chapter on this mission journey and the start of another. It will also mark the 1-year anniversary of living in this house, and we've just passed my 2-year anniversary of living in San Antonio Aguas Calientes by a few days. So, all-in-all, I can jokingly say that the time is right. However, it's not with a little sadness that I'll be leaving this town. I've made many good friendships here, some even recently. It's conveniently located. It's tourist-friendly. Its roads are all on maps (at least the parts of town that I frequent). And yet, looking forward to the future is also positive. My new “next-door neighbors” are people who treat me like a daughter. I'll be able to visit Antigua (and many of my old friends) pretty much every weekend. Kaqchikel—the native Mayan language—will ideally become second, er, third nature to me. I don't really know what the future will hold for me, though; so I'll take the rest of this to tell you about this past month.

On July 22^nd, I welcomed a young woman named Madeline into my house. She is from the Ann Arbor area, and has a cousin who attends the school where my mother works (which is how she learned about me and what I do). She has a heart for helping people, especially kids, and has felt drawn to Central America. We have spent the past month allowing her to explore mission opportunities near Antigua and even took a trip out to let her see what I do in Los Encuentros, Solola. The first two weeks, she served at a project in San Felipe de Jesus called God's Child Project. This organization has many different projects which it runs including a malnutrition center, a homeless shelter, and an after-school program. During her two weeks, Madeline got to experience each of the different projects that they have there.

After that, Madeline has spent these next two weeks working at a project here in San Antonio Aguas Calientes called Paso a Paso (Step by Step). This project is much smaller (and much younger), but it operates an after-school program as well. However, it offers additional support to the families as well. The children here receive lunch 3 days per week. They're offered a safe and structured environment with discipline. And, most importantly, they are offered a lot of love. This program could do a lot more if they had a little more funding, and Ana Luisa, the founder and coordinator, is going to work to set up a sponsorship program for the kids.

Besides the work that Madeline has been doing, we've also taken some time out to see a little bit of the country (nothing I haven't seen before), a bit of the crafting (we're even learning to weave), a bit of the culture (we attending a VERY traditional wedding), and a bit of the food (some of which I have prepared, and some of which I've commissioned a friend's family to prepare). Right now, she's learning how to sweep with a spray bottle in one hand. (Sweeping a concrete floor seems to send very fine cement dust into the air unless it is sprayed in advance and kept wet during the sweeping process. This dust then settles on and sticks to EVERYTHING.) She has also learned to wash clothes by hand. Yes, there are things which frustrate her now and again, but as I have told her mother, I believe Madeline will be back.

The care and keeping of a missionary

I especially ask for your prayers this month as I start up in a new place and get situated in the community. I ask for your prayers for Madeline as she goes back to the States and considers everything that she has seen and done and asks for God's direction for her life. I ask for your prayers for Antonella who has been my “guard dog” over the last two years as we look for a new home for her. (My new home comes pre-guarded and wouldn't be safe for a new dog who doesn't know the area.)

My mother mentioned the possibility of her sending a care package to me in October. I know not all of you do e-mail, and I'd like to mention again that I love hearing from you and how you're doing. Also, for those of you who do use the internet and e-mail, my e-mail address is asimmer@gmail.com, and I have a blog (like a journal, and it doesn't require you to log in) at http://GringaOnTheGround.blogspot.com in case you want to hear stories and get updates more often than once per month. Thanks for being you, for your love and support. 

Quick Update: Day 1,046

There were a lot of things which people wanted to happen before I left where I'm currently living.  Antonella, my dog, needed a new home.  My landlady wanted me to find someone to live in the house.  (She's big on references.)  And I had a few other things to do which required cooperation of a few people...who either never seemed to have time or be around.

The cost of moving seems like it would come out to about 2 months of rent in the house where I currently am.  And, after 4 months in Los Encuentros, I'd apparently have to move again; so that's 4 months rent spent on moving.  So, despite that I'd be getting the house for free, it doesn't seem financially responsible for me to move at this point.

However, I would like to see this project off of the ground and then mostly be able to step back as community members step up to take it over.  So, pending a discussion with a few people, I'd like to travel to Los Encuentros every other week to deal with a lot of the details there.  I would do home visits and run meetings.  I'd stay 2-3 days and come back to my home.  It's a $6 round trip; I think I'm okay with that.

There will be another updating coming in the next few days as details are hashed out about this new idea.

A Disappointing Situation: Day 1,041

So, let me whine and complain a bit.  It's not something I usually do, and I'll try to not take up too much of your time.

About a month ago, I talked to Ismael about renting a few rooms in his house to live in while I worked on the community project that we're starting out there.  He said that I was free to name my own rent price, and so I've just been waiting for him to be around to see if the price I named was okay with him.  Today, I finally succeeded in talking to him.  Today, one of his little brothers also succeeded in talking to him.  It turns out that his little brother (who I will leave unnamed) is going to start building his own house there in January and has asked if the mason can live in Ismael's house.  Apparently, blood is thicker than sentiment.  The only good thing that comes out of all of this is that Ismael is willing to let me live in the house rent-free for 4 months starting September 3rd.  The bad news is that I'm supposed to be out of this house August 31st.  So, I need to talk to the landlady and see if she'll let me stay 4 extra days without charging me an entire month of rent.  If she does, I kind of just want to throw in the towel on this entire thing.  I was okay living in Ismael's house because it is so close to his parents' house.  I don't want to live anywhere else around there; I don't feel comfortable living anywhere else around there.

What I really want to do right now is cry and scream like a baby.  It will make me feel better and burn off the stress that I'm feeling.  What I want you to do is pray for guidance for me.  So much preparation has been put into this move and the project that I was starting that I feel like there must be some detail that I'm not seeing.  Thanks.  (Don't worry.  I'll be praying too.  Just give me some time to cry myself to sleep first.)

Unexpected Gift: Day 1,030

Every once in a while there is something that just completely humbles me...

This week I've been helping out at Paso a Paso, a program here in San Antonio Aguas Calientes.  I was asked to go to Antigua to pick up a family and bring them out to the project...except there had been a mix-up.  The family only had a donation for the project as they hadn't heard back from their contact until that morning and had made other plans for their afternoon.  I invited them to come out a different day, and we chatted for a bit.  People always seem interested in me and what an "American" is doing down here; so I shared with them a bit of my ministry and the whole transition I'm in right now.  As they sent me on my way, one of them put $100 in my hand and told me it was a donation for the work I do.  The suitcase of stuff was for Paso a Paso; the cash in my hand--with no strings attached, no tax slip, and only a name (Carol) to attribute the money to--was for Los Encuentros.  That's a stove or two water filters!

When I was younger, I used to help my mother with her donations for the year.  We would pick out goats and pigs and Bibles for far away places.  I always loved deciding what to order for these people.  However, now that I see their faces and know their stories, it's harder to make those sorts of choices.  I see two families with a great need.  I have the money to buy a stove ($100) for one family--or the other--which would mean that neither families would get water filters, OR I could get water filters ($50) for both, but who knows when they would get a stove because, let's face it, it's easier to get $50 than $100.  And, to be brutally open with you all, I hate sitting on that $50 I have to help the people (a water filter for a third family!) until I get another $50 for that other stove.  I could be improving the quality of someone's water now, and instead I'm waiting to improve the air quality in their home.  Sometimes it makes me feel like a bad person.  It is times like this that I need to remind myself that all good things come from God.  When we need it, the money will be there to make positive changes in the lives of these families.  For that, I give thanks just as I give thanks to Carol for her donations, not only to my work in Los Encuentros, but also to Paso a Paso.

Mission Moment: August Newsletter

Welcome back! I promise you I was not just taking a break during our newsletter hiatus. During the last 2 months I have been translating for Now is the Time (the mission team which I used to come with in the summer), preparing my house for my guest, Madeline, who will be spending a month with me and working at a malnutrition center, and taking multiple trips out to Solola preparing for the program I'll be starting this fall. With the help of local leaders, I have visited 45 families in the area, and I still have 6 to visit. Of those 45 families, 21 have been approved for full-inclusion in the program. Others may receive partial assistance.

The main focus of the program is to break the cycle of poverty. The best way to do this is through education. The idea is to either get the children in school, keep them in school, or get them back in school. However, if their bodies aren't receiving the necessary nutrition or if the children are always sick from their living conditions, the education received won't be as effective. So, there is also an interest in improving their nutrition and hygiene standards.

The majority of this work will be done through the help of donors who feel a desire to help these people; this includes the money that you as a church donate through the mission fund each month. Additionally, if you have friends or family members which might be interested in sponsoring a family, please get them in contact with me!

Finally, I want to share a few stories from my visits, one funny one and one a little more difficult. First I'd like to share with you the story of David. David is only a year and a half old. He is the youngest of four children. The oldest, Carlos, is 16, finished 7^th grade, and works during the harvest (and at other odd jobs when they can be found). Wendy, age 12, also finished 7^th grade and now works full-time making crafts to sell. Floricelda, age 8, is in second grade but helps her older sister make crafts in the afternoons when she gets home from school. This is just some of the information I collect about each child.

When I arrived at their home, Wendy and Floricelda were busy with their work. Carlos and his father were away, and their mother was cooking some beans for lunch. David was toddling around grabbing onto the yarn which his sisters were trying to weave into their baskets. However, they all sat down to chat when I showed up with my small group of translators and community leaders. As I worked my way down the sheet filling in information, we shared a nice camaraderie. David was pleasant and cheerful. However, when I said, “And David doesn't do anything yet because he's too little” (in Spanish, of course) and put a line through the space where I note if they work or study, he let out a howl which made most of us jump. “Okay, okay,” I said (in Spanish), “David works in artisan work as well with his sisters” and wrote through my crossed out line. He instantly burst into a smile which made us all laugh. As we got ready to leave, Floricelda gifted me a little basket; she said, “David wants you to have this to remember what good work he does.” We still call it “David's basket.”

The other story is much more sobering. While trying to find one of the houses—there aren't really addresses—we ended up visiting the next-door neighbor of the house we wanted. It was not hard to get confused. The house we visited was made of metal. It had metal walls and a metal roof. Outside we met Maria and Elena. Maria is a widow with two children: Juan and Elena. Her husband committed suicide a few years back. Maria couldn't support the family; so she sent her children—now ages 10 and 11—to work. She tried to get Elena a job making tortillas, but the people at the tortilleria said that she was too little and couldn't make tortillas good enough to sell. (I believe I was told that Elena was 8 at that time.) Juan sells gum on buses. They have no electricity or water at their home. Their “bed” is a few wooden planks on cement blocks; it has no mattress. They cook over an open fire on the other side of their room; the only way for smoke to escape is through the door or at the corners of the room where the metal sheets don't come together completely. Fortunately, they own their land, and they are able to rent some of it to a potato farmer just to have a regular income.

The Care and Keeping of a Missionary

As I enter the next phase of the ministry which God brought me down here for, I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of you for the support you have given me. Without your prayers and financial support, I might have given up a long time ago. As we enter this next phase, I ask that you keep me and these 21 families in your prayers. Please share this ministry with others who you encounter as we'll need 21 sponsors. The full program outline is available upon request. I'm still working out a few final details; so any thoughts and suggestions (as well as questions!) are more than welcome. Keep me in your prayers as well for my health and that God removes any roadblocks which may show up.

Remember that I update my blog as well at http://GringaOnTheGround.blogspot.com for additional stories and updates which don't always make it into the newsletter, and also I love to hear from you; so feel free to write to me at asimmer@gmail.com. I hope you are all having a safe and wonderful summer!

Introducing Kindred Hearts and an Unexpected Change in Plans: Day 1,013

This weekend, something really special happened: two families separated by two countries and a small language barrier but joined through a mutual love for their children met one another.  If you remember, at the end of March, Juana's family got a new roof.  One week ago, Daniel and Madeline (the husband and one of the daughters of Christina) came to Guatemala.  They spent the week with me, and on Friday we went out to Solola to visit Juana's family.  We brought a birthday party including the cake, a piñata, and presents for everyone.
In rural, impoverished families such as this one, it is unusual to know one's birth date.  Juana, on her information sheet for the program, gave us some dates, but I doubt most (if any) of them are correct.  However, that wasn't about to stop us from celebrating life and years of life.  I'm fairly certain that this was the first birthday party the family has ever had.
Sitting around later with Ismael, I learned more about Juana's financial state.  They were speaking "Kaqchiñol" (Spanish--español--and Kaqchikel mixed), but there was enough Spanish in it that I followed the situation.  (And I verified that I heard what I thought I heard with Ismael a little later.)  Juana's husband mortgaged the house before he abandoned the family.  And as it is Juana and the boys who live there, she's the one who needs to pay it off before the only home they have known gets taken away. Juana makes payments of Q300 every 2 weeks and has 9 payments left to make.  Until recently, this wasn't too taxing.  The two oldest children were making Q700/month and Q400/month respectively.  So, the family brought in a regular salary of Q1100/month and paid Q600/month on their mortgage leaving Q500 for regular living expenses.  However, recently the eldest got laid off from work, "downsized."  You can see that this math does not add up, nor does the family have any handicrafts ready to sell at the moment.  So, we told them to see what they can make in the next few weeks.  I look at the cost of the party--including our bus fare out and back--and feel heavy-hearted because that was an entire mortgage payment, but you can't buy the kind of happiness that those boys had destroying that piñata or eating that cake or unwrapping those presents.  And the family will get past this because they always do.

After that, we went to visit the twins.  I'm pleased to report that Ingrid is MUCH better, and both girls actually ran down to the car when we arrived.  Laura's stomach doesn't even look as bloated.  I forgot to bring another bag of incaparina for the family, but they say they enjoyed the first bag a lot.  Madeline and Daniel had brought sweaters, stuffed animals, and hair bows with them; so we took advantage of the situation and gave a few out.  The girls each got sweaters (although they were a little big on them, but that's better than too small!), and all three of the children got stuffed animals. We had also planned on giving a hair bow to each girl, but we managed to lose one somewhere; so we just gave them one and said we'd bring another one the next time.

On the way to visit a new family, we saw a woman weaving, and because Madeline has such an interest in handicrafts, we stopped to watch her weave for a bit.  The woman even let Madeline pose for a picture with the weaving, but Madeline didn't want to mess up the woman's work; so she didn't take up the offer of doing a few rows.  I'm going to see if I have a friend close by who will teach her during the upcoming weeks.

Then we visited the new family.  It happened to be the family of Ismael's sister-in-law (his wife's sister).  Her situation is that she has 5 children and with her husband's work as a "round up worker," she can't afford the education of all 5 anymore.  The oldest girls are in their teens (7th and 8th grades), and are old enough to work in this culture if the family needs money.  However, they're both smart--neither has failed a grade which is much easier to do here than in the States--and want to work with numbers.  ("Perito Contador" is the career they want to study.  I haven't yet figured out what that translates to.)  So, she's hoping that I'll be able to help with the educational needs of the oldest girls, nothing more.
For me, this is a difficult situation.  I obviously want to help the poorest families, and based on my criteria, this isn't one of them.  However, it's the family of someone who I consider to be part of my family, like if one of my biological (or legal) cousins said that they could no longer care for their child and would have to put him or her up for adoption if they couldn't find help.  If nothing else, I'd say, "Let him or her come and live with me.  I don't have the money to help you there, but here where things cost less, I can feed an extra mouth.  He or she will learn Spanish and maybe even Kaqchikel; he or she will be bilingual or maybe even trilingual.  That will help in the future."  But we already are here.  With your help, I can send hundreds of kids to school.

On our way back to the car after visiting Ismael's sister-in-law's family, Camilo and Ismael mentioned to me that Camilo and Cristina wouldn't be going to Antigua on Saturday as they often do.  They had a wedding over the weekend, and asked if the three of us (Madeline, Daniel, and myself) would like to attend.  On Saturday morning would be the final asking of the groom for the bride's hand, and on Sunday would be the wedding.  I felt a little uncomfortable with that as I only had jeans with me, but Camilo assured us that as his--the pastor's--guests, we didn't have to be dressed up, that "observers" don't have to participate, just observe.  This was a pretty exciting opportunity, and after a lot of reassurance that it would be fine, we agreed to it.  They got us checked into our hotel--the same one where I stayed about a month ago when I was visiting families--and the three of us went out to dinner.

Saturday morning we had to wake up early to meet Camilo and Cristina in Los Encuentros for the trip to the bride's home.  In the U.S., asking the bride to marry you is somewhat a private affair typically involving just the groom and the bride and, occasionally, the bride's father.  In Guatemala, a traditional marriage proposal involves both families, three askings, and lots of gifts.  Marriages often involve two ceremonies--civil and religious--or just one really long ceremony which will include both as ministers here can't legally marry people.  So, Saturday was the final "asking."  And, besides being really long, it went quite smoothly...until the end.
Most of the asking was in Kaqchikel, but there were some parts that were Kaqchiñol.  And, as often happens with multilingual people, when the pressure rises to communicate clearly and effectively between people who speak the same multiple languages, whatever language works for any given word.  There is a word in Kaqchikel for "bus," but "camioneta" is much clearer for the people.  In Kaqchiñol, many of the Spanish words lose their gendered ending because there are no genders for objects in Kaqchikel.  "Camioneta" became "camionet," but I'm so used to this (and do it a lot myself when genders in Spanish frustrate me) that I understand just fine.
The two families don't live incredibly close to each other.  It would not be practical to walk to the wedding, and, in Guatemala, very few families have their own vehicle.  Apparently, Luis (the groom) was supposed to arrange for buses to take the bride's family to the wedding...and he hadn't done that.  So, the father of the groom said that it was obvious that Luis didn't respect Ana's (the bride's) family and didn't want them to be a part of his life.  So, the bride's father was all about not allowing her to go to the religious wedding the next day (and possibly even annulling the civil wedding which had happened the week before, unknown to me at the time).  A lot of yelling and haggling later, they settled on two buses to take the family and other church members to the wedding.  We and the groom's family went back to the groom's family's house to celebrate.

That afternoon, Madeline and I went to the market while Daniel took a nap.  I had something in mind that I wanted to look for, but Madeline found a corte (a traditional skirt) and faja (the belt to hold up the skirt) she wanted to buy.  The asking price for both was more than we had; so, I pulled all the money out of my pocket and said that was how much we could pay.  I was a little surprised she said yes, but Madeline got her skirt and belt.  Broke, we walked back down the big hill to the hotel, got Daniel, and went to visit Panajachel.
Panajachel has always been one of those places that I have avoided because it's a tourist hot-spot, but because it is Daniel and Madeline's first visit to Guatemala, it was one of those things we just needed to get out of the way.  In the 5 years since my first visit to Panajachel (and even in the 1 year since my last visit there!), it has just exploded as far as tourism goes.  I hardly recognized the boat docks where I once collected real pumice stones floating in the water.  We were able to do a lot of cheap tourism shopping there, but besides seeing the lake and buying stuff, there wasn't much to do.  Within about 2 hours, we were on our way back up to Solola where we ate dinner and spent another night.

Sunday morning came early.  We opted out of going to kidnap the bride with Camilo and Cristina.  However, I had a very unwelcome surprise in the morning: Madeline's corte was a style I was only familiar with in name.  The people here call it "tipo bolsa" ("bag style").  That's not what they use in San Antonio.  So, I made it work as best as possible.  We ate breakfast at the hotel, took the bus to Los Encuentros, and then we walked to the church.  Madeline felt a little awkward, and after she admitted she'd feel better if someone checked her skirt to make sure I did it okay, we went to a nearby tienda (small store) to see if the woman working there would fix it for us.  She did, and now I know how to put on a corte tipo bolsa as well.
Besides starting about a half hour late (hora chapina: everything starts late), the wedding went smoothly.  The bride and groom got married, and then we ate carne guisado for lunch.  (This is apparently the second most common wedding food for the area.  The most common is pulique.)  And after that, we headed for home...tired, wearing dirty clothes, but considerably more educated than we started out.

Oh, and I now have somewhere to live in Solola starting in September.