The past two months....

It has been a while since I (Jenny) have posted, so here is an attempt at a very quick, comprehensive summary of the past two months (give or take).

December: Worked almost every weekend, sometimes 10 hours a day putting together food baskets to give out to needy families. While we gave out about 1,300 food baskets, there were still many families begging us for food, and each day became increasingly more difficult to say no. Draining, exhausting, and confusing. Still dealing with many unanswered questions from these few weeks.
Christmas: We LOVED having family visit us. We packed the days full so they could experience our daily lives, meet our new friends and neighbors, and enjoy the beauty of Lake Atitlan. It was sad to see them go, but we're so grateful that they came!
Home: We moved to a new apartment in December. It was a difficult decision, but we felt it was necessary. While we really miss Santiago, we're hoping to continue to see him regularly. Our family was able to visit him in his home while they were here. He graciously borrowed a table, chairs, and glasses from his neighbor so we could have a place to sit and drink Cokes with him and share tamales. It was a great time of community.
Health: A few weeks ago David was the sickest I've ever seen him. It was terrible (and I'll be honest, scary) to see him so ill. We ended up having to take him to get a shot to reduce the number of times he was vomiting. He's fully recovered now, thank God. I've stayed relativily healthy, except for waking up with huge bug bites on my back, arms, neck, and face. Still not quite sure what is eating me at night (and why David doesn't have a single bite), but I now wear bug spray to bed. Blah.
Church: Our church pastor and his wife went home (Florida) for Christmas and most of January, and asked David and I to lead the Sunday gatherings while they've been gone. David has done a great job sharing from his heart, but it's Saturday night and I'm not sure what we're going to talk about tomorrow...
Spanish: While we've both come a long way with our Spanish abilities, we're looking to challenge ourselves at home. We're thinking of implementing Spanish Thursdays (in honor of you AU friends).
Books: Thanks to a very generous and awesome and sweet friend (I will not embarrass her here), we were gifted with a Kindle for Christmas! My parents and brother loaded it up with books and brought it down to us. I've loved having so many books at my fingertips.
Meals: Many of you have probably heard how we eat a basic diet of black beans, carrots, and potatoes. Well, thanks to our parents and the many groceries they brought down for us (how I've missed seasonings from the States, BBQ sauce, and granola bars!) and thanks to another generous, kind, and very thoughtful friend who sent us a Christmas package, we've received lots of yummy meals and treats! We feel like we're eating like kings!
Community: We feel blessed to live here, but definitely miss our family and friends back home. Email and Skype are wonderful, but not the same. I have come to dread facebook and barely get on because it often depresses me to see so many people I love so far away doing so many things I can't be apart of. I knew that this would be part of the deal when moving overseas, but there have been some difficult days. Thank God for my wonderful husband who listens to me when I'm lonely and plays games with me when I miss our old game nights with friends.

Well, I guess that wasn't as short as I intended, but now we're all caught up. ( : 

Our First Visitors

This weekend we had our first house guests. Many of you have heard of Bernabe (the Church of God pastor) and his family. They live in Parramos, a smaller village outside of Antigua. I’ve known Bernabe and his family for 4 years now. They graciously brought me into their home on a weekly basis when I was studying in Antigua; they always made me feel like family. I’ve visited them on and off these past 4 years, but we’ve always kept in touch through email and phone calls. Whenever I am in Guatemala I always know that I have a home with them. I have been greatly blessed by them in so many ways.

All that to say, when I told them we were moving to Guatemala they were very excited and happy for us. They jokingly told us that they don’t understand why we’re leaving the US to live in Guatemala when many Guatemalans wish they could go to the US. But they understand our hearts and our desire to be living here.

They came to visit us in Pana on Saturday and it was so good to see them. Baby Nirma has grown so much since we last saw her in March. Kayla is so much taller, and even Anderson is, well, huskier. ( : They came to our house and I immediately found myself in hostess mode. I wanted to offer them something to drink, as I know that having any type of pop is a treat for them. But we didn’t have much pop, so I sent David to get a 2-liter. Then I thought I should offer them something to snack on, but we only had crackers and Guatemala’s version of Oreos. So we offered them what we had, but I couldn’t stop thinking that we should have been more prepared for them. We should have some games or something for the kids to play with and I should have baked something (or bought something that looked like I baked it, because we don’t have an oven).

But then I remembered the countless hours I have spent at their house, sitting on a wooden stool at their table with a cup of coffee. And I remember how Kayla and Anderson would often just sit at my side, listening to us talk. Very rarely did they play with any games or toys. And then I remembered that it is never about what is offered or what is eaten. It’s the people, the conversation, the community. So even though we didn’t have much to offer at our home, we sat and talked for hours over glasses of Pepsi and David taught them how to play Blink. And it was wonderful.

Maybe next time I’ll be more prepared and a better hostess. But I’m learning to embrace the simplicity of Guatemala and to focus more on offering myself and my time and my energy, and not worry about offering so many things. Not to say that offering things or food is bad, because food is a great way to build community. But Guatemala is teaching me to worry less about what I have to offer, and focus much more on who I am and how I can offer myself.

It was a great first weekend in our home! We love having visitors...so come visit!