Guatemala and Other Service Adventures

I taught the majority of a childrens´ class this week! Our virtue of the day was service. After a prayer and short discussion of the meaning of the theme, I helped the children memorize a quote and sing a song (in Spanish). I also read a story to them that demonstrated an example of ¨servicio¨. We end each class with something artistic, usually drawing = so cute!

My usual week here consists of a childrens´ class, multi-faith devotional meetings, two English and virtues classes with local youth and study circles. Baha´is all over the world provide these services to whomever is interested.

Plus, as you may see, I´ve recently been spending time traveling to other parts of El Salvador to teach my faith. During my conversations with people, an attidude of sharing is emphasized. I am not here to preach to people, but to share a message I love dearly. I like this simple, easy-going approach and being able to aquaint myself with amazing people, both of my religion and not.

My roomie, a family from Olocuilta, and I traveled to Guatemala last week. After 5 different buses and 15 hours we arrived in the city of Cobán. I met a lady who had moved there from California 30-some years ago. She had white skin, like my mom, and blue eyes as well. The host family we stayed with looked like my cousins from my dad´s side of the family. I like these reminders of my family a lot and it further demonstrates the unity of mankind. Some women of Cobán wear their traditional blouses and skirts. It was neat to see the mix of old culture and modern clothing walking side by side in the streets. When we visited the Baha´i Center, I could see some beautiful houses of many colors on the hillside. In my mind I thought, ¨Wow, I want to live in one of those houses.¨ Turns out, it was a cemetary...oops.

My new camera was delivered to me by a gracious friend from Fairbanks, who visits the country frequently. A part of me is happy, but it´s also difficult to find joy in such things when you walk in poverty. There are so many beautiful things about life here, but much sadness as well. And I know I´ve just begun to learn about the least of it. I am so lucky and my duty is to share what I was so fortunate to have been given. Love is all around me, but there is a large part of me that can´t rest while there is such injustice in the world.

And please post a comment if you´d like to know more about a certain aspect of my service. My hope is to share positive international news, but also portray as realistic as possible the conditions of life in this country. Hasta luego, adios.

San Juan Tepezontes, La Esperanza and more!

Right now, I'm happy to just be sitting in a chair. That being said, I've been able to visit more of the area around Olocuilta, by bus some of the time, but mostly by foot. My expeditions began this past Sunday. A group of us took a bus to San Juan Tepezontes, which is about 50 minutes up the mountain. After I got off the bus, I was told we'd be taking a walk. Now this meant hiking down a cobblestone and dirt road about three kilometers in the sun while I was wearing flip flops. Truely not complaining, because the scenery was amazing! And when we arrived in the town of La Esperanza, the people I visited made the journey worth it. I'm getting to where I can better understand the Spanish of children. At one home, I sat near a grandma whose grandson was on the other side of her. He kept trying to poke me with a balloon on a stick, until it popped in his face, then I decided to sit next to him and we chatted for a bit.

Earlier today, we took a much longer hike to a place I forget the name of. The journey went someting like this: walking along the highway, up a hillside, through a little residency, down a dirt path to the edge of trees, down through the trees to a river, along the river rocks, and finally arrived at a little house in the middle of paradise, or so I'm going to call it. All of this took 3 hours. I made this journey with two Baha'i families I met here. Some of their kids navigated the trails effortlessly and inspired me to get into better shape! The little house turned out to be a place where water was filtered and stored. I'm getting better at transitioning between places with running water and without. If I haven't mentioned already, you generally can't flush toilet paper in the country. It's deposited in a wastebasket instead.

There's a whole list of little things such as these I've become more or less acclimated to. Up until recently, I always wondered if I had changed. I kept thinking, "Okay, if i go home now, will anyone notice anything different about me?" Today, I stopped trying to look at things that way. Perhaps this is not the time for such a question. Currently, I'm focusing on taking it all in. The ups and downs of adjusting to a new culture and life are just a part of the process. The main point is that I'm dedicating a year of my life to helping other people. Whether things go as planned or not, it is nice to know I have another life in Alaska awaiting my return.