Upon arriving to Panajatchel, what used to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World, Lake Atitlan, stares us all in the face. Its water reflects the pink and purple of the sky, and never in all my life have I been so consumed by colors. The mountains wore the pink of the sunset, and the light peered itself behind the three volcanoes surrounding the lake. The volcanoes towered over Panajatchel and the surrounding cities as protectors over the land, but they are silent beasts. In Guatemala, there are 37 volcanoes each with their own name and level of activity.
In the city, there were plenty of gringos walking around, so we knew we had finally arrived to one of the highest tourist areas of Guatemala. The street was lined with shops, each having their own colorful textiles, hammocks, ponchos, etc. inside. The street food bellowed with steam and heat, as treats, such as corn with lime and salt, were cooked.
Panajatchel was definitely the type of place a foreigner might go to find oneself. There were the "hippies" with their ratty dreadlocks, loose fitted tank tops, and baggy pants. There were the older tourists who wandered staring at the wonders of Panajatchel. There were also small, young families that enjoyed the small indulgences and sights as they dodged Tuk-Tuks and passing vendors.
My companions and I discovered the city street as we got a feel for the culture. The culture is very different than the city and Puerto Barrios. There is a more reggae feel with the people; more people advertising marijuana on their shirts, and a more relaxed vibe to the movement of the city.
For us, it has been a traveling day. We were able to go to the mega church of Guatemala again, and we worshipped. Even in Spanish, the worship is so alive. For those who enjoy art, creativity, dancing, food, sports, physical labor, or anything that simply speaks to you, worship is like that in Guatemala. It is that sense that you feel your body just rising and your heart being uplifted. You find peace there. You feel safe in that place. You feel that your body is consumed by that one thing. That is what worship feels like in Guatemala. The expression of passion is something beyond comparable to any other activity, and that is where you can feel yourself release that passion. I hope everyone has that one passion, a way to express that power, energy, and peace, like those in Guatemala worship.
Release that passion.
Days 19 and 20....
We set up for clinics in the village of Patzutzun (pronounced Pat-zoo-zoon), where the culture was apparently different than Puerto Barrios. Here, the Mayan people speak Kakchiquel (pronounced cahk-chee-kel). They are more conservative with their dress, as their outfits were more traditionally woven, with covered shoulders, and the women wore long skirts down to their ankles. All of the girls wore the same colorfully patterned material and the men all wore collared shirts and a type of fedora Indian Jones style hat.
It was obvious from the start that these people had more of the necessities than those in Puerto Barrios. They had clean water. Everyone had shoes. They had a good school with lots of room to play on a field. The climate was very cool as we were high in the mountains of Guatemala where the clouds would blanket the ground and another layer would cover right over head.
The people were quieter, but even a small smile spread a warm smile on their faces too. In psychology, we learned that our minds have a tendency to mirror those we are looking at. If you have a frown on your face when talking with someone, the person you are talking to will mirror your frown. If you have a smile, your receiver will mirror your smile, so smile.
These two days my job was to work in the pharmaceutical area counting pills and preparing medications for our patients. It was busy learning how to write instructions in Spanish on the prescription bottles and being able to handle the pressure of being fast and efficient. The second day I was checking in patients, asking them questions in Spanish, such as how old are you, and for females, are you breast feeding or pregnant.
I like both jobs, but interacting with the people brought me such joy to give them a smile before they saw the doctors and giving stickers to the little children waiting for the doctors. All the kids' faces lit up as they chose between Frozen stickers and the Avengers. A specific memory I had was with a young girl who was 23 and upon asking her if she was pregnant, a warm and shy smile grew upon her face, and she nodded in excitement. A joy that felt so warm that she really understood the miracle of God and the creation of life. It isn't quite a joy that can be explained in words, but felt in your heart that, even though having big families in these communities are very common, each one child individually has grateful parents to enter into the world with. After all the tragedy that has happened on this trip, a reminder of life is just the thing needed to set the balance of life and death.
I learned that no matter where I am on this mission, my part matters. Volleyball has taught me that wherever I am needed, it is with a purpose. It is being open minded to wherever I am needed and knowing that it matters to make the purpose fulfilled, and the theme of most mission trips is spreading God's love.
I had a discussion with some of the girls the other night. It concerned what it means to spread God's love and be a "witness" to those we encounter. I told myself I would discuss this topic, and I hope that in my journalling it doesn't bring offense to my readers, but I hope an understanding of perspective. I have encountered many people on my walk with Christ, and the Christian University at which I attend, and I have found some Christians who are very superficial.
What does that mean? Plenty of people in this world can call themselves a Christian. We can talk about God to everyone. We can say how we should pray every day, how we should praise him in all that we do. We can say all these things, but have it mean nothing. They are just words. These same people are those who I hear complaining about their lives. These are people who forget to be grateful. These are people that see faith in black and white, and yet, don't fully resonate God's love.
There are others I have met that when walking in a room can change the atmosphere entirely. Can you guess the difference? These are people who stopped just using words to profess faith. In fact, they stopped using words all together. Instead, they went out. They went out and saw the world. They saw where the love was. You see it isn't always in churches or in traditions, it is out in the world. Many people understand love differently, but the people who want to be a "witness" to the world did it in acts of love not in words. Their focus became to spread love, not words. Thinking back to the theme of this trip, they chose to "speak in love."
I have realized in my faith that it isn't always black and white. I have learned that simply professing words and pushing those words have pushed more people from God then drawing them closer. Instead, I learned to build relationships with people just like Jesus did with the prostitutes and taxpayers. It wasn't that the sick needed words, they needed love. There was a void to be filled and that void needed to be filled with love, and hence, why Jesus did the ultimate act of love.
The question I challenge Christians to ask is how are we witnessing? How are we exemplifying Christ? There are many eyes watching. Are we just speaking words or are we professing in love? It isn't as simple as an act of kindness converting someone to Christianity. I would challenge more Christians to stop using words and to start using love. In the end, I think that method has shown me more of God's love too.
Fun fact: I finally got to play soccer with the kids and I scored two goals. I'm moving up in the world.
Day 21...
As we waved goodbye to Lake Atitlan, we set forth toward the city and stopping at few places along the way. We drove past much of Guatemalan history, with the brightly colored Spanish architecture and grey cobble stoned streets. Guatemala is alive, even in the brightly colored cemeteries.
We made way in our adventure to the touristy town of Antigua where much of Spanish history lies. Spaniards long ago came and settled into the town of Antigua, putting up bright and religiously detailed churches, government buildings, and fountains. Now, some of these churches are just ruins of what old Antigua used to be. The city is very culturally diverse with Guatemalans who resemble Bob Marley, other Guatemalans who resemble the Latin American heritage in dress and style, Gringos that took a blast to the past in the 70's, with men with long blonde hair and paisley vests, or grungy, mysterious tattooed men with piercings all over their faces, women young and old with lean sunkissed bodies and unkempt hair, and other simple tourists with their basic khakis and collared short sleeved button ups, or loosely fitted skirts or dresses. Each of them have a story.
In Antigua, I felt natural walking around among the market places being surrounded by foreign languages, smells of food, and bustling activity. I explored the markets comparing them to the touristy sections and found that most of it was necessities of belts, sunglasses, food, and bags. It was the more authentic areas of Guatemala that made me feel more at peace to be there. The group was able to indulge on cold and refreshing dark chocolate gelato. We were able to people watch (most memorably watching a young hippie couple stare into each others eyes without looking away for 20 minutes on a park bench). We were able to explore old churches and depressing, modern photo galleries. I was able to make friends with a small and precious little girl in the market where we would take masks and just put it on each others faces and laugh and run our hands through brightly colored confetti. It was a simple, yet a most original adventure, because it was mine.
Going shopping made me think back to finally introducing myself to the art of haggling. The idea of haggling has been one that used to stress me out. The awkward dance of never truly knowing how much something is worth, wanting the item I'm trying to buy, and knowing the vendor is charging me way too much. In Tanzania, I worked up the courage to get used to haggling, and the force grew. Now, I've watched my peers make a game out of it. I've watched them haggle a price down to over 80% off. They created a understanding of business just being business, and it was a concept I never truly enjoyed. This time I made a true effort. I used the methods of haggling from distraction to comparing prices to guilt.
In the end, I got exactly what I wanted, which is sometimes how we need to haggle for the things in our life. If we want something, we get it. The art of haggling can teach you how to be charming. It can teach you how to not be taken advantage of and stand up for yourself. It can show you how to weigh pros and cons of something to find its worth in your life, and in the end, if you want it, you find it, you get it.
The days are growing shorter. The end is near, and now, all of us are absorbing as much of Guatemala as we can, all the while we stay open to what may be in store in the next two days.
Days 22 and 23...
After arriving back to the city, in the comfort of Dr. Tito's home, we all rested and reminisced about our last days of clinics in Patzutzun. The consensus was the need was not as great in Patzutzun versus Puerto Barrios, but there was more culture, more beauty to the area, and more comfortable living conditions. However, the coming of our last days have worn on the hearts of the whole team.
The first day, we were able to interview high school students and evaluate their English for future La Mision trips. We were able to evaluate their comprehension of speaking and listening to English, and while most of the children I spoke with weren't as comprehensive, I gained a new appreciation for being on the other side of an interview. It isn't easy being on the other side of someone's fate, but understanding the importance of finding the best fit is something you can't take for granted.
We, also, spent time cleaning up the office after our long month adventure. We organized, cleaned, and packed many of the supplies preparing a way for the new future groups of 2016 to come in. It felt bittersweet to realize we are the start to the new year for La Mision, and now, we are preparing a way for the groups to continue making a difference.
We spent some time as a team relaxing on couches, conversing, and enjoying a good movie, and we all attempted to soak in every moment.
The next day we woke up to head back to the town of Palencia. We were headed back to the school where we spent our very first week on this adventure, and now, we were going to see it filled with the laughter of children. Everyone piled out of the van, greeting all the employees of Palencia school that we had grown fond to work next to, and I watched as the faces of the group beamed with pride. We finally got to see the effects of our work, and our work gave a lot of smiles to 184 students.
Our jobs there were to give the children at the school a small pill, that we had to take as well, called Albendazole, which is a parasite killing medicine. We also rounded up gifts that sponsors of the children had bought for the kids. They were all wrapped in tight, colorful wrapping paper with perfectly made bows on top. We had the children from preschoolers to sixth graders close their eyes, as we placed their gifts quietly on their desks, and watched them open it with such an excitement. Some screamed with joy, and others grinned, and they hurriedly rushed to open the gifts like children on Christmas. The beauty of this moment was not just to see how happy these children were to receive gifts, but to tell them that someone out there wanted to do something nice for them. We got to show them that God put these sponsors in their lives in the hopes they get everything they need to be happy. So, as a result, the Whitworth group for the first time in Whitworth history decided to sponsor a sixth grader named Alex. I have never been a part of sponsoring a child, but getting the chance to see it for myself made me feel wiser about what these children were receiving. They weren't just receiving gifts. They were receiving love and the word of God, and that is speaking love. Sponsoring a child is just doing it to "feel" good about what you are doing. In some ways deciding to take that step should be a way of growth just like it is for a child like Alex. We are quick to throw money at organizations without realizing their true mission for the purpose of feeling good about giving back, but it isn't about that. It makes one question if there is ever such a thing as a selfless act, but instead, I got to see the beauty of what happens when I do put my money into something like sponsoring a child. We gave Alex love,.
Alex has just turned 13 and was one of three students last year who didn't get a sponsor. All of his friends had sponsors except him, and now, he will have 13 young college students loving him until he gets ready to go to high school. We prayed protection and love over Alex, and as we waved goodbye to Palencia for the last time, we left knowing that we did exactly what we came here to do.
That was speaking in love to them, and their smiles back at us was their love speaking to us.
Love you girl and I love reading your blog. It makes me feel not so far away ;)
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