Details about Tikal

Here are my journal entries from our 2 day vacation to the north of Guatemala.

Day 73 – 4/12:

What a day! It started at 3:50 – we got ready in 10 minutes since it was so early. The shuttle came right around 4, but we couldn’t get out! We didn’t have our keys, but luckily our host mom woke up to the doorbell and let us out.

We rode with ½ the group to the airport (more like a tiny little hanger) – a 45 minutes windy ride. I felt the car sickness once we got there, and eventually got sick. I felt better afterwards so I passed out suckers to the group and only told a few people that needed to know.

We boarded 2 different planes (they were THAT SMALL) around 6:15 and took off right away. The plane I was in was an orange vial, 19 seat, tiny thing. We had full view of the pilots, so I taped take off. The other plane passed us in the sky so everyone was already there when we arrived an hour later. I bought a Sprite and soon we loaded up a bus, equipped with middle isle jumpseats, and went on our way with Eric, our guide.

In an hour we got to Tikal. We started at the tourist center, then walked looking at nature and stuff before hitting up the ruins. We heard the howler monkeys while walking, but didn’t see them. The first ruin we went to was an old bath area, then the central area with a cemetery, Temple I and II, and other ruins. We were able to climb Temple II. We hiked a bit more the V – it was a near vertical climb to the top! We hiked a lot more to IV – the tallest one, currently being restored. While hiking to the park’s restaurant we ran into 2 spider monkeys playing in the trees! Yay! We ate lunch – soup, grilled chicken, veggies, rice, tortillas, and fruit – then loaded the bus and drove for an hour to our hotel. We were all exhausted so fell asleep.

Our hotel was on the island of Flores. It’s beautiful. We hung out a bit, then, after buying water, went to Capitan Tortuga – a pizza parlor type restaurant. I just got lemonade and ate the toppings of 1 slice. We got ice cream afterwards. We relaxed after dinner, and I eventually unintentionally fell asleep.

Day 74 – 4/13:

Again, what a day! I “got up” at 7:15 like every other day down here, but stayed in bed until 8:30. We got ready to face the world then went down for breakfast – tomato, onions, and peppers in scrambled eggs with plantains, beans, coffee, juice, and a hairy sausage which I avoided.

Rachel and I explored before Bible study. We studied Timothy for ½ and hour, then went swimming in the lake (that later caused our hospitalization) and checked out of our hotel rooms.

Rachel and I went to Cool Beans Café for lunch. I got coffee with ice cream, eggs, and potatoes. Yummy. We explored and relaxed until leaving at 3:30. *Observation – it was 40˚C inside, which was much cooler than it felt outside. We’re guessing it was close to 50˚C.* We boarded the same plane and left. Rachel and I did the crossword puzzle (in Spanish) until we hit clouds then landed. We drove back and I had snacks in my room for dinner. We crashed early, to say the least.

Dad's Visit

My dad came to visit me. It was perfect timing, as I got out of the hospital the day he came.
Here's a slide show he made!

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/jZ4aB2rA

Health

Dear friends,

The reason why I have not updated my Tikal post is because 14/20 of our team ended up in the hospital, myself included. The doctor believes we contracted something from the lake we swam in.

I got a bacterial infection and parasites. When I went in I was shock because my blood pressure was low (80/60) and my fever was high (102), and was not doing well.

Afer 4000ml of fluids, 4 rounds of antibiotics, and other drugs I was dismissed after 2 days.

Just my direct roommate is left in the hospital, with a UTI in addition to bacterial infection and parasites. Not fun, so pray for her. Tonight will be her 4th night there if she is not dismissed this afternoon. --- Update from later in the day. Abbey was able to get out, but is still receiving daily injections from the doctor and is not feeling at all normal.

I hope you weren't worried, and that your doing 10 x's better than we are!

My dad is here taking care of me until Monday (it was already planned that he would come, it just happened to be when we were sick).

That's all. I may find the energy next week after catching up from the 4 days of school I missed to write about Tikal.

I love and miss you!

Wild Monkeys, Ancient Ruins, and Much More!

Yep, I saw that stuff this weekend. I'll eventually have the energy to write about it...
for now here are some pictures and a VERY EXCITING video!

This was our very TINY airplane. It was not safe, but we lived.

This is the national tree of Guatemala - it reminded us of Dr. Seuss.

These were the 3 rules of the park - self-explanitory, or maybe not?

Central Plaza of the Mayan Ruins.

View from Temple II

On Temple II

Hanging out in the ruins of the Central Plaza.

The climb of Temple V - the hardest one, because it's pretty much vertical. Fun.

View from Temple V.

On top of the highest Temple of Mayan Civilization - Temple IV.

View from Temple IV.

A MONKEY!!!

A VIDEO OF A MONKEY!!

The architecture of the Island of Flores was beautiful.

Self-portrait at Cool Beans Cafe on the island.

The amazing view from my hotel room.

Yep, it was incredible.

An update on life in general

So, I haven't updated in a while...

That's because life has been crazy for the past two weeks!

It was rough getting back into the swing of ministry sites after Spring Break, then the majority of our team hit the culture shock wall, which lasted about a week. We started language school in the midst of this, which made life even crazier. To add to it all, my roommate and I had to gut our room and wash EVERYTHING (it cost Q280 for all of our stuff, which is around $35) due to an invasion of bed bugs and microscopic mites. Gross.

But, it's finally the weekend and we have time to do nothing! I don't have any new pictures since the last post, but plan on taking some today as we wander around Antigua amlessly!

It feels wonderful to not have a plan, or bugs crawling all over my skin.

I hope all is well, and would love to hear some news from back in the States!

OH! One thing I forgot to mention! Yesterday I was woken up at 6:12 AM by a small earthquake! I didn't think much of the shaking room and went back to sleep. Later in the day I found out there was a 4.8 size earthquake with the epicenter just 30 miles away. Neat!

Spring Break and Semana Santa

Here are the highlights of this amazing week!

On Sunday I got up early to go pick up Tiffany and Laura at their hotel in Guatemala City. There were some problems getting out of Antigua due to the processions but eventually we made it to the hotel and I got to see them! Unfortunately I did not see their luggage and it turns out it got lost somewhere in Mexico City.

On Monday we didn't do much besides shop at the market and eat. The luggage did not come.

On Tuesday we went to Santo Domingo to visit the museum. In the afternoon we climbed Pacaya - an active volcano! It was definitely the greatest thing we've ever done in our lives. We got withing 6 feet of the flowing lava, but it was too hot to get any closer. We got to watch the sunset as we climbed around on the molten rock, then hiked back down in the dark. It was incredible.
On Wednesday we had a lot of coffee to help give ourselves a boost from the exhausting climb. We even visited a coffee plantation and museum. We had a personal tour around the place and got to help contibute to the process by cleaning the beans for a bit. After a call to the airport for the billionth time we found out that their luggage was in Guatemala City at their hotel from Saturday, and no one would bring it to Antigua. Fortunately the SI director, Fernando, saved us and took as to the hotel. Even though it was more than half way through their trip, both Tiffany and Laura were very glad to have their luggage.

On Thursday the madness of Semana Santa began. Before it really started we had the best Chai in the world, ate at Cafe Sky with an amazing view of the city, and had a cozy dinner at a favorite restaurant of mine - Doña Louisa's. During the day we explored the ruins of the Cathedral, and returned during the evening to see a beatiful alter and candle display. We also watched a reenactment of Jesus's trial and experienced a night procession.On Friday we got up to join the crowds at 4:30 AM. Really they had been out all night long, preparing alfombras (carpets out of colored sawdust) for the following day's processions, but we chose not to show our faces until 4:30. The little boys carrying banners were exhausted and kept on dozing off before the start at 5:00. It was pretty exciting to see, even if it was early. The rest of the day we rested, and Laura and I went out a few times as Tiffany was not feeling to well and the insence made it worse. There were atleast 4 processions, beginning at 5 and ending at 3:30 AM. We only lasted until about 9 before crashing. Even so, it turned out to be a pretty fun day.

Today was the reversal of yesterday - Laura was feeling sick instead. We had a light breakfast then packed up their suitcases and took them to my house. The shuttle driver had no problems today, and we arrived at the airport at 11:50. I said (a quick) goodbye and we returned to Antigua. Now I'm updating this! I'm going to rest for the next few days before heading back to work on Monday.

May everyone's Easter be filled with joy!

A general update on life!

This past week was an incredibly exhausting but awesome week. The week to come will be about the same, but for a completely different reason!

Tiffany (my sister) and her roommate, Laura, are coming to visit for Semana Santa - it just happened to be the Spring Break for all three of us! They'll arrive late Saturday night, then we'll spend Sunday through Saturday together visiting the sites around Antigua, going to a coffee farm, climbing Pacaya (an active volcano), and enjoying the Semana Santa celebrations. I'm very excited to share a little bit of my life with them!

This past week we worked at our ministry sites again - I'm at El Gorrion (see previous blog post). On Tuesday I was sick so missed out on work, but as it turns out, everyone else did as well. A gang had taken over a bus on the way to Guatemala City and murdered the ayudante - the man who collects all the money and helps out the driver. Once this happened, the buses stopped running for the rest of the day. Please pray for the bus system here - there are many problems with violence and gangs on the buses, which makes it harder for us to get to our ministry sites. We've been taking a private shuttle for a few days now, but it's much easier (and cheaper) to ride the bus. However, until it's more secure, we'll be avoiding the buses to our ministry sites.

A little bit about what we did this week -

~On Monday and Wednesday we made tambourines out of flattened bottle caps, wood, and wire. The kids really went crazy with paint, and decorated their instruments.

~On Monday and Wednesday we also tutored two moms of the community after school. We're helping them with the manuscript and also reading skills. We're trying to build relationships with the families in addition to the children, and spreading the love of God around the village. Each time we tutor we end with a time of prayer, where we all lay our hands on the women and pray for whatever they've requested or shared. It's a blessing that goes both ways.

~On Thursday we spent our time preparing for today, because the kids had the day off of school. This was a good time of relaxation and conversation.

~On Friday we led an Easter craft. We made Easter bags with rabbits and eggs, and in the end filled them with a bible verse and candy. We were able to share a bit about the meaning of Easter, some of our traditions in the US, and spoil the kids with candy.

~After school on Friday we visited the homes of the two moms we work with to say hi and see how they're doing. In one of the homes we learned how to make the staple here - corn tortillas! It was amazing, and incredibly difficult to do! Eventually, by the end of our time, we were making some that looked about 1/2 as good as hers. Even though they didn't appear great, it was awesome to learn. We even got to eat one, fresh!

~Now I'm doing some homework for an education class, updated folks back home, and trying to wait patiently for the arrival of Tiffany and Laura.

I hope that everyone has a blessed Holy Week, and truly experiences Christ's love through this season!