I decided to start a blog, so that I could write all about my experiences in Guatemala! I know I will have quite a few stories. Some will be funny, some will be sad, maybe even some of them will spur you on to pray for me more than ever! :) So, without further ado, I give you my experience so far in Guatemala.
My flight left Indianapolis International Airport at 1:45pm yesterday. Not before my family and I cried like babies as we said goodbye. Goodbyes just aren't our "thing". I got to Miami, then flew to Guatemala City, arriving around 8pm. Randy and Brenda picked me up and brought me back to their house, my house for the next year! It was so good to be back to a country I love so much, but so scary for fear of the unknown. At the house, I met Sherry Alvarez. She and her husband, Javier, are my host family from the school. They have a 3 month-old baby boy named Sam. Yay! I can still get my baby fix! :) Brenda helped me unpack and I finally got to bed around 2am.
Today was my first day at the school. This was orientation for new teachers. Before Sherry picked me up to go to school, I felt like a new student on the first day of school. Will they like me? Will I make new friends? I hope they are friendly! As it turns out, I worried for nothing of course, everyone was very nice. We had several sessions, including cultural issues one might need to be aware of. I learned all kinds of exciting things like how to "check" for amoebas and ghiardia in your stool, if you know what I mean. (I dare you to google it!) Along with that was a whole slew of diseases which complications include blindness, redness of skin, sunken eyes, clammy skin, 24-48 hours in a bathroom, a serious urge to leave the field immediately, "and in some rare cases, death." So, who wants to join me in Guatemala?? :) We also talked about safety issues...basically I can't go very many places by myself. Goodbye independence! Oh, and don't trust the police! Apparently, they say it's best to get away from the police as fast as you can. I did get to briefly see my classroom, I can't wait to set it up!
Sherry, Javier, and baby Sam came to pick me up after everything was finished at 3:30. We then took a trip to PriceSmart which is a Sam's Club. Traffic was terrible, as usual. We came back to the Purcell's and Sherry, Javier, and Sam stayed for dinner. I got to hold Sam quite a bit. I fed him part of his bottle and he fell asleep on me. Nothing better than a sweet, sleeping baby!
So that was my first day! Tomorrow we have more meetings and will do something fun in the afternoon! Right now I just need sleep...I've been here 24 hours and the allergies are in full force! Goodnight!
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