Weekend News

Home sweet home! We are back at Hannah's Hope guest house after trekking around the country. It was nice to come back to home base again. I will update both days to catch you all up on what we have been doing.
Saturday
We all slept good and woke up ready for a new day. We ate breakfast and Nicole and I discovered a new drink..it is milk and pineapple mixed up. They call it a shake it is just thinner but they are deliciouso! While we were sitting there a little girl came in to sell her wares. She was adorable and we could tell she was extremely nervous. Ashlee started talking to her in Spanish and found out that this was the first time her mom was making her sell and she was afraid of the Americans because she thought we would try to steal her. It was so sad but of course she made a sale because we all felt sorry for her.
Then we were off for a 30 minute boat ride across Lake Atitlan to Santiago. This is one of the towns that was devastated by the mudslide back in 2005 after hurricane Stan came through. The need here is so great. We got off the boat and boarded a small Toyota pick-up truck. Our driver, Juan was a local Christian who knew the people and communicated for us. We would just stop and Juan and Ashlee would ask the parents if some of their kids could go with us to lunch. Of course Ashlee has been here before and they knew Juan but there were 8 Americans on the back of the pick-up that they didn't know from Adam. We went back into a more remote village that was totally destroyed by the mudslide. The government has given them temporary housing...if you can call it housing. It is basically a roof over their heads. We had balls with us and their faces just lit up when we got the balls out and started playing with them. We also saw stood in the field where hundreds of people were buried alive in the mudslide. The mudslide came in the middle of the night with no warning and many causalities. After touring the villages we took the 10 kids to lunch. None of these kids had ever been in a restaurant to eat before. The one little guy would not eat because he had never had chicken and didn't know that was what was on his plate. We also gave them hygiene packs before we left. The kids were all so grateful, they went around and gave us all hugs and said, "Gracias". It was a really neat moment. I think we all agree that so far this has been our favorite day of the trip. Being able to minister to those kids and their families was unbelievable. We have no idea what it is like to live like they do.
After a boat ride back to Panajachel we were off to dinner at a local pastor's house. They opened up their home to us and made us a feast of beef, mashed potatoes with red pepper, and fried spring onions..which we all loved. Eating this meal at their house was special but it definitely stretched some of us. This family lost everything in the mudslide. They have 14 children and used to live in a 10 bedroom home now they have 3 rooms with and open air kitchen and 3 mattresses to share among them. It was definitely a neat experience.
Next we had a 2 hour drive through the mountains to the city of Xela. If any of you think PA has bad roads you ain't seen nothing yet. We were on a main highway and the roads were horrendous. Once in Xela we got settled into our room and Mariah jumped in the shower first. While she was screaming that it was cold the lights went out in the hotel. My girls "love" when the lights go out so there was more screaming. The lights continued to go off and on about 5 times. Our night in this hotel was memorable to say the least. There was also alot of partying going on outside so it made for a noisy night.
Sunday
After breakfast we headed to a Catholic orphanage. When we got there we learned that this was a special needs orphanage. It was so sad to see those kids. When we walked in this girl maybe about 12 started screaming excitedly and just grabbed on to Morgan's hand. She did not leave go of it the entire hour we were there. She didn't want to play anything just wanted to walk and hold her hand. When it was time to go they literally had to pry her hand out of Morgan's. Most of the kids were tied into wheelchairs and bottle fed. These kids I am sure get very little loving attention. The women taking care of these kids are truly special people to be willing to work with these kids on a daily basis and they work hard just meeting their very basic needs.
We left and headed up into the mountains to a village that a revival has gone through and now most of the people are Christians. They have people praying for the village all day everyday. This village is so high that the clouds settle below them in the valley. It was beautiful to see. The men and kids also hiked higher and were able to see lava rock. We bought lollipops and gumballs and handed them out to the kids. Again the kids were scared of us that we were going to try and steal them. Ashlee asked an older lady if Americans ever come to their village and she said never. Being here in Guatemala we now know a little what it is like to be the minority.
We spent alot of time driving today. As we were coming off the mountain Makenzie got severe stomach pains and need a bathroom. We stopped at the first one we came to. If she wasn't so sick there is no way I would have let her use it but desperate times call for desperate measures. As she opened the door and stepped inside she slipped and fell front into what I hope was just mud. She was not a very happy camper. So after several very tense moments we got her cleaned up and changed and were off again. I was afraid that maybe she had traveler's diarrhea but thank God it ended and our 4 hour drive home was uneventful....well except for horrible fog, horrible roads, and crazy Guatemalan drivers. All in all I would say that the weekend away was well worth it.
It is hard to believe that our time is winding down here and we will soon be headed home. I think we are all starting to feel a little ready to come home but we also have 2 exciting days ahead of us. Thanks for all you prayers this far and we would appreciate more as we conclude our trip and head home. Good night!
Karen