I'm here!

Hello again! I have made it to San Cristóbal safe and sound! It was a long day of traveling yesterday but it was generally uneventful, and I was thankful for that. I arrived in Guatemala City around 2pm and was met by some people from the ministry at the airport. We waited around for a few more people to come and left the city around five. It takes about 3 or 4 hours to get from the city to San Cristóbal, (depending on who is driving J). When I first arrived, I was ecstatic, first of all to be off the airplane, and secondly to be outside when it was warm. It has gotten pretty chilly, though, which caught me off guard because I didn’t realize how cold it would be. It was especially cold at night, and our house doesn’t have heat so I had to pile on the layers.

There has been so much to take in, from the differences in the landscape to the architecture, to the way people drive. Last night as I was laying down to sleep, I could see that the Lord is once again taking me out of my comfort zone. The way our house is built, none of the rooms are closed off, because there’s no ceiling, the walls end and then there’s empty space up to the tin roof. The light bulbs are way up on the underside of the roof, so when you turn on the light in one room, it shines over to the next one too. We have curtains instead of doors on the bedrooms. So things are very open and not very private. There will be nine of us women sharing the house. We do have two bathrooms, which I am thankful for. We have indoor plumbing, but right now the well is low so we have to really conserve water, because you can’t always get water. Usually they don’t have problems with water supply until March or so because winter is the dry season, but this year it has already begun in January. They are hoping to get someone down here to drill a deeper well to help with the water shortage. (Prayer request!)

Another thing I will have to adjust to is the noise at night. Last night I slept surprisingly well, probably because I was so tired from traveling. After I laid down, it wasn’t long before every dog in the area was howling, and someone was setting off fireworks. Then there were roosters in the morning. I couldn’t find my earplugs but I slept pretty soundly anyway, which is remarkable since I’m usually the lightest sleeper in the world.

So there are many things that I will have to adjust to, but those are all superficial things. Yesterday when I arrived it wasn’t long before I felt “at home” with the people that I met. I know I will be blessed with many good friendships while I am here, and that is the most important thing.

Well, today has been pretty low key, our only scheduled activity was a welcome lunch with some of the missionaries at the Lewis’ house. There’s supposed to be a volleyball game later, which should be fun. It’s been so long since I’ve played. Volleyball is one of my favorite sports, and I guess they have a league going so I’ll have the opportunity to play often.

So I guess that concludes today’s post. Thanks everyone for praying for me!