The story of the hiking trip continues from here. So it is midnight, and I am waiting under the carport roof while the rain comes down outside. They were supposed to pick me up at 11:50, but I wasn’t worried when they hadn’t arrived. You really can’t say someone is late in Latin America unless they are running more than 20 minutes behind. At midnight, I decided to walk up to the entrance to the neighborhood in case they were having trouble finding the house or the guard was giving them trouble. I realized I should have told the guard to expect them. As I was putting up my umbrella to walk over to the entrance, a car pulled up and came right up to the carport. They unrolled the window, and I walked over. I couldn’t see who was in the car, but it looked full. I said hi, and I recognized Gaby’s voice saying hi. I realized that they were dropping Gaby off. I started walking to the entrance while Gaby said goodbye. Then she called after me to ask what I was doing. Apparently she had forgotten about my midnight adventure. I told her, and she went back to the house. When I got to the guard’s little house between the entrance and exit of the neighborhood, I asked if a tour van had come by to pick me up. The young man working there said it hadn’t come and asked me what color the bus was. I said I didn’t know. He invited to come into his little guard stand, and we chatted for a while. I found out that he works for 24 hours from 8am to 8pm every other day! I can hardly believe that a person can stay alive with so little sleep. I would think that he would spend most of his day off sleeping. Every time a car/truck entered, I would jump up to see if it could be the tour. Finally, a crummy tan Hummer-ish looking vehicle entered. I thought it might be the tour group. When Ernesto, the guard, let down the chain so that he could enter, he drove past without stopping. I was worried that he was going to my house and I was at the entrance. I ran out into the rain after the vehicle. I met him at the bottom of the hill. I went right up to his window, and asked if he was looking for me and if he was the tour group. He looked confused which I attributed to my poorly-constructed sentences. I repeated my questions, and he still looked confused. He asked me what my address was. I had given my address to the tour company so they could pick me up, so I thought he was confirming that I was the right person. I told him I didn’t know. He thought I meant I didn’t understand his question. He asked, “Where do you sleep?” in English. I was confused by this time, and I then asked him what he was doing. He said, in English, “I go to my house to sleep.” I then realized that he was an innocent bystander in this whole conversation, and I was so embarrassed. Imagine what you would think if a foreigner who could barely speak your language chased your vehicle down at midnight and asked if you were looking for him/her and then asked what you were doing! It gave me much shame.
I went back up to the guard house and talked with Ernesto some more. He only knows the numbers to five in English. I taught him six and seven. I saw Erica get dropped off by someone in a car and then walk by, but she didn’t see me. It was funny because Ernesto and I had just been talking about Erica because he noticed that although she looks like a Guatemalan, she doesn’t speak Spanish fluently. He said that he had seen her walking in and out with another girl, speaking English. I think that was probably Brenda. Although it was a little strange to be talking to a guard at midnight, it was fun to talk with him. Now I will stop on my way in and out of the neighborhood and talk with my new friend. What a great chance to practice my Spanish with a captive audience!
At 12:35, I decided that the tour must not be happening for the rain. I was disappointed because I really wanted to go hike the volcano, and now I will not get to this visit. I guess I will have to come back to Guatemala! Sandy told me that although Volcan Tajumulca (sp?) is the highest volcano in Central America, Volcan Santa Maria (the one I was going to hike) is the most difficult volcano to climb in Guatemala. I didn’t really feel like going to bed, but I took off some of my hiking clothes, added some pajamas to my wardrobe, and went to bed at 12:45am.
I got up at 7:30, pulled on some clothes, and went to go tell Sandy that I didn’t end up hiking last night. I was hoping she would be in the kitchen, but she had already prepared the breakfast, and I could tell from the place settings that she didn’t include me (because she thought I was gone). I went back to my room and ate my peanut butter sandwich and some tostadas that I had packed for last night. I put on a skirt with my new green sweater and went to read in the house. I journaled for a while, and spent some time with God.
Sandy had told me about a church that she thought I would like if I came back in time. I didn’t know where the church was or what time it started, so I needed to ask someone. Finally Roberto and Andre came downstairs. Roberto asked me if I wanted to go to church, and when I said yes, he asked if I knew where it was. He said there is a church near Central Park on 14 Avenida that he thought I would like because it is really tranquil. He said that he was leaving in a few minutes, and he could drop me off near the church if I liked. I said that would be great. Andre, Roberto, and I drove past Central Park, and then they dropped me off and told me to keep walking straight. The church is a Presbyterian church that is directly across from the Municipal Theater. I found it easily. Roberto thought that the service started at 10, but when I arrived a little after 9:30, they were already singing. I quickly found a spot to sit in the almost-completely-full church. We finished singing the song we were on, and then the service was over. I asked a woman standing near me if there was another service. She said there was, but first they had Sunday school. She asked if I wanted to go. I said I did. She told me about all the classes they had. There was one that was for 18-25 year olds and another for 25-35 year olds. I said I didn’t care. She said I could come with her to the 25-35 year old class.
We went downstairs. The pastor teaching the class was a gringo. He has lived in Xela for 6 years and before that, he worked with indigenous people somewhere else in Guatemala for 10 years. His Spanish was really easy to understand. The class was about creation. He talked about the different theories that people have about creation and why they are wrong according to the Bible. I understood the lesson just as well in Spanish as I would have in English! He also talked a little bit about angels at the end. The class ran over its allotted time. A woman named Paulina invited me to an activity at the church that afternoon. I didn’t know what the activity was, so I asked for more details. She said something about going to a place where children are and said something about feeding them. I said I was interested and asked where they were meeting. I asked if they were meeting at the church, and she said no. I was confused, but when we got upstairs, she pointed to an open area and said they would meet on the patio. I thanked her and went into the church service. I was a little late, but I managed to find an empty seat next to a really old lady. The church service was good. I knew some of the songs, but not all of them. The sermon was about Nehemiah and the feast of the booths and the Word of God. The minister we need to bring our Bibles to church, but it is not enough to just bring them, we have to open them, but it is not enough to open them, we have to read them, but it is not enough to read them, we have to understand them, but it is not enough to understand the Bible, you have to obey it. He kept repeating: Bring, open, read, understand, obey. I had an embarrassing mishap with the offering. I had forgotten how the offering is haphazardly collected in some Latin American countries. I was sitting in the front row of the back section of pews. The ushers collected the offering from everyone in my row except me and the old lady to my right. I had my offering in my hand at this point. I couldn’t see what was going on behind us, but it seemed like they had finished collecting the offering. They started playing music, so I discreetly slipped my offering back into my bag. However, right after that, the woman brought the offering plate directly to me, and I didn’t have anything ready to put in. I went to reach for the offering that was now at the bottom of my bag, but the woman had started taking the offering up to the front. Whoops!
The service that started at 11 ended about 12:40. I have never been in such a crowded church with everyone pushing politely to get out the door. I felt more like I was in the subway than a church! I was carried along by the crush of people to the door where I shook the minister’s hand. It was raining, so I got out my umbrella and walked quickly toward home. I got kind of wet, especially my legs and shoes.
I stopped by my room to drop off my bag and wash my hands, then I went in to lunch. Sandy was the only one in there. I chatted with her, and then Hussein came in. We started eating our soup, spaghetti, and black tortillas. Erica soon came in. Hussein was unusually quiet during the meal. I talked a lot about my experience waiting for the tour last night and my church experience. After lunch, I went to my room and wrote a little bit of the blog. Then I changed my clothes and left to go to the church activity. It was sprinkling on the way back to the church, but it was not as hard as earlier, plus I had on jeans and tennis shoes. Paulina had told me that people do not always arrive on time, so I should not be concerned if I had to wait for a bit. I got to the church right at 3. I waited on the front steps because the door was locked. Finally a young woman came and stood on the steps. She asked what I was doing. I said I was going to the activity at 3. She asked me what activity, but I didn’t understand the activity well enough to explain it in Spanish. I had thought she was coming for the activity, too, but she didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. I asked her what she was doing. It turns out she was waiting out of the rain to go home. We chatted for a little while. She was really nice. She left to go home a few minutes later, and I waited a bit more by myself. Then a girl drove up in a car. She asked me if I was there for the activity, and I said yes. She said that they always meet on the other side of the church. I was glad she was there to tell me because I didn’t know that. I went over there and recognized people from the morning class. I realized that it was not a church-wide activity; it was the young adult Sunday school class. We waited in the rain for a while. Someone was supposed to open the gate for us, but someone had to call someone else to get the gate unlocked. Finally we went in and got a big bag of bread out of the refrigerator, Styrofoam cups, and Pepsi. We went back outside with the rest of the group. They decided that the women would ride in a car and the men would walk. We crammed 6 people in a 2 door car and drove to the place. It was called Casa Nuestras Raices. We gathered all the people and went in. There were two dormitories, one for boys and one for girls with bunk beds lined up in rows. We went into a big kitchen area and someone called the boys in from the yard where they were playing futbol (soccer). They got plastic chairs down and set them up in a circle. One of the church people welcomed them, and then we did introductions with just our first names. Then the boys introduced themselves and said where they were from. Most of them were from near Xela. There were boys from Chichicastenango, Huehuetenango, and one from Peten. Then Josue lead a chanting game where you had to remember and repeat parts of the body while touching them. It was challenging for me to say the body parts fast enough. Then Daniela led the Hokey Pokey, only they called it the Dokey Dokey or possibly the Tokey Tokey. It was funny. I was surprised that the boys (who all seemed to be about 12 years old) seemed to enjoy it so much. Another guy led a weird singing game where we had to link arms and sway back and forth, almost knocking each other down. Then Rolando gave a lesson about appreciating our differences. He then presented the gospel and prayed for the boys. Then he asked anyone who wanted to pray with someone to raise their hands. About five of the nineteen boys did. Rolando led the rest of the group in prayer for another 8 minutes or so. Then we quickly prepared the snack. Each boy had a hot dog in a bun that was cooked on a burner in the kitchen, a package of cookies, and a cup of Pepsi. I was surprised by how polite and well-mannered the boys were. They waited patiently to receive their snacks and every one said thank you. I went and chatted with a few boys while they ate. One of the church people had been taking pictures, so I got my camera out and took a few, too. One of the boys named Brandon came over and wanted me to take his picture, so I took one of us. Then other boys asked me to take their pictures, too. They were mostly being silly in them, but it was fun. I asked how old the boys were. The ones I asked were 12, 12, 13, and 13. Then the boys started leaving the room. We packed up and left, too.
We stood outside the Casa and prayed for the boys. Then someone asked if we wanted to go get coffee. I agreed to go with them. We walked to a café called La Luna, but it was closed so we walked to Café Baviera. As we walked, I asked Daniela if that was an orphanage. She told me that it is not an orphanage. It is kind of like a detention center where they take child workers when they take them from their parents. I don’t really understand the whole system, although I had read an article about it in the newspaper last week. If the police find illegal child workers, they take them away from the parents and the parents have to sign an agreement that says they won’t make their kids work to get their children back. What I don’t understand is that Daniela said something about them being “migrantes.” She talked about sneaking across the border to Mexico and to the U.S. I am not sure if she was talking about the parents or the children. I think the child workers were taken from Guatemala. Anyway, the children arrive at the center on Tuesday, and I don’t think the parents can get them back until at least Thursday. I am a little confused, but it is sad. None of the boys seemed upset about being there, though.
As we walked into the café, I saw Erica sitting at a table with a friend. Our group had 11 people in it, so we went upstairs to a balcony and pushed two tables together. I sat on a corner, so it was hard to hear the conversation. I sat next to Daniela and we talked a bit. I didn’t want to drink coffee at that late hour, so I had a strawberry licuado which was very good. We had left the Casa at 4:30, and by the time we arrived at the café it was about 5. We stayed there until 6ish. Paulina asked me if I wanted to come to the Bible study on Wednesday. I said I did. She said it was not at the church, and started trying to describe the location to me. I told her I had a map. I thought it might be easier if she marked the Bible study house on the map. She said that if I wanted to come to the church at 6, she could take me. All of the people are really nice. We went outside and said our goodbyes, complete with a kiss on the right cheek.
The café was near Central Park, so I headed in that direction as every one else went the other way. I got back near the house about 6:20 and decided to walk around a bit and explore. I wanted to find the XelaPan bakery that is supposedly near the school, but I didn’t find it. As I walked, I was overcome with an overwhelming feeling that I needed to pray for the people who lived there. I walked around, praying, for a while. I thought I could find a new way home, but there were too many dead ends. I walked through a poor area that was only a little bit away from my house, but was obviously a poor area. I eventually found my way back to the house. I dumped my stuff, washed my hands, and went to the house. I brought a book to read in case there was no one to talk with. Sandy was cooking dinner so I talked to her and told her about my day. She had a migraine. I set the table. She served the food but didn’t feel like eating. Hussein came in to eat with me, and Sandy went upstairs to lie down because she felt so bad. We had fried eggs (cooked in a little circle pan that she puts on the stove), those runny refried-ish black beans (frijol colido, I believe), leftover spaghetti from lunch, and bread. I chatted with Hussein while we ate. I did the dishes, and he went back to his room. While I was finishing up, Roberto and Andre came in. I sat with them while they ate and talked to them. Roberto has a sore foot. He won his futbol game this morning 4-0. He was glad I liked the church. I went back to my room and worked on my blog. I had some catching up to do. Tomorrow I start classes in the morning with Teresa and I have to talk with Elisa about someone taking my money. I am looking forward to the former and dreading the latter. Bed at 10:20pm.
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