xela, my new home

so i moved to quetzaltenango a few weeks ago and have been settling in my new environment. couple things: 1, they call quetzaltenango- ¨xela¨ for short, (pronounced shay-lah). 2, it is cold here!!!!!!! rainy season has just about ended, but now the cold front is about to move in. it´s nice during the day when the sun is out, but inside anywhere- houses, church (really the only places i´m in) are really cold because there isn´t much heat available. i didn´t realize it would be so cold in guatemala, but because of the high altitude the temperature pretty much stays pretty cool year round.
here´s just an idea of what it´s like:
denver, colorado- 1,609 meters (5,280 feet)
juf, switzerland- 2,126 meters (6,973 feet)
xela, guatemala- 2,333 meters (7,795 feet)!!

besides the weather, i´ve really loved my time here! let me tell you, my host family is amazing!! i can´t think of a more extravagant word to describe the generosity and kindness they´ve shown me. my first few days i would tear up randomly because i couldn´t believe how blessed i was to have such a great family to be a part of. i live with dad- marlon, mom- mimi and 3 year old son alejandro. they´re a pretty young couple so they´re not only my family who takes care of me, but they´re my friends to have fun and joke with :) marlon is a music teacher, musician, and worship coordinator at our church. he teaches youth how to play all kinds of instruments, and even has a little band with 2 of his students from the high school. he´s pretty involved in the music scene in xela, and plays jazz, latino, or classic music in cafes a few times a week. oh and since he has a mini music studio in the house, i get free guitar lessons! mimi is my favorite though i would say. she just has so much love, so much joy, and so much excitement for life that it's contagious to be around. she also knows english but won't use it so i can learn spanish... but that's nice to know if i'm ever in a spanish emergency i can turn to her.

my family is amazing. i mean, they really take hospitality to a completely different level than i'm used to, and i'm moved by that. i'm moved by the love they exude, and that they love God and are in deep relationship with Christ that shows in and out of the house. and i love that they are humble and desire peace, and care about being in relationship with people. they are incredibly amazing people to know, and have been more than generous (i can´t stress that enough!) in caring for me. i feel greatly encouraged.

church is still a working progress. i mean that in a good way, and mostly by work i mean learning the spanish language haha. (spanish will always be the underlining working progress in everything i do here in guatemala). but let me tell you more about the church. it's an episcopalian church, which to me seems more or less like a presbyterian church but with more liturgy (if you can imagine that). but what i love about the service is that there's more call/answer type songs and prayers, and prayers that extend within the congregation but also beyond church walls. what i also love is the church's love for the community and neighborhood of xela. with the sponsorship of a church in jacksonville, florida, we're starting up a program for the elderly (los ancianos) in the community to provide hot lunches 5 days a week, open up a comfortable space to visit and rest, and few recreational activities in the afternoon. what's interesting about this project, is that it's completely uncommon. there are hardly any programs that specifically serve the elderly population in guatemala despite its increasing need (is what i´ve been informed by some locals). so when they first opened the doors to those that were interested, only expecting a handful to show or if those had even heard of the program, 70 showed. it was neat to meet a few of them and begin at least the introductions before we officially have everything ready to begin the program. some came in with great big smiles and plenty of understood nonverbal communication, and other times there were definite language barriers. i'm really excited though!!!! slowly by slowly, poco a poco, i will learn. we still have details to work out until the program can start, so when it does i'll update more on that.

i also had the opportunity to accompany padre roberto on a trip to train las comadronas (midwives) and other woman leaders of a small community near volcano santa maria, a little outside of xela. they gave a presentation about HIV/AIDS involving awareness, prevention, birth control options, so that these women could educate their village, that never had the resources to learn about HIV/AIDS. what was also interesting, was that part of the discourse was to address stigmas or stereotypes people had about HIV/AIDS. some thought it was a disease only contracted by prostitution. some thought it was airborne or could be passed on through saliva, by which hostile stigmas were created. it was a fairly brief discussion lasting maybe an hour, but it was powerful to see how education brought awareness, awareness including prevention, and the possible change it could bring to a community of people. i´m really understanding more the necessity of education than maybe i have understood it back home... which sounds ridiculous to not have understood or appreciated it before, but to see how directly it changes the outcome of a person´s life is a whole other story. and to think i´ve only gotten a few glimpses, a few stories during my month here, and this is only the beginning of what i´m learning.

okay, i´ll write to you again soon blog. some days are hard, like when i´m sick or when i can´t speak spanish. but most days, if not every day, i praise God that i´m even here. because i think there´s a lot i don´t know about a lot of things. what privilege is, what suffering is, what illness is, the power of education, the power of the church universal (or lack of, abuse of)... so many things. there are just SO many things!!!! and i know i won´t learn all of these things in guatemala alone, but some of this is just so rampant here that you can´t not think about these things. so keep praying for me if you could friends.