But it wasn't exactly a romantic get-away. Or even a vacation.
But I'm not complaining. The trip was a dream come true and we had a wonderful time.
Holly and I
Twelve or so years ago, my dear friend Holly went to Guatemala to serve as a nurse in a mission clinic. A year later, I was able to visit her. And I've always wanted to go back.
The Good Samaritan Clinic
But I married, and had children. Occasionally, Ed would mention visiting Guatemala someday but it looked impossible. I figured we would have to wait until our children were grown.
Benj and Holly, Ed and I
Six years ago, Holly married one of her co-workers and she and her husband Benj made Guatemala their home. Their days are spent encouraging others and their small house is presently the home to, not only Benj and Holly and their three young children, but also five youth.
The two clinic nurses who live with them.
To continue their ministry of discipleship, Benj is building a larger house. Several months ago, Ed shocked me by saying that he wanted to go help Benj build the house. Now, not some future day. Ed didn't have to twist my arm too hard to come along! Thanks to the generous offer from my parents to keep our children, a dream became reality.
The two young men who are presently also living with there.
The trip there was grueling. Guatemala contains various climates and terrain. Holly and Benj live in the Peten which is the northern tropical region. We flew into Guatemala City which is located in the mountains. It was after dark and we were already tired from a day of traveling but we were not there yet. We spent the night traveling through the mountains and curves with whitened knuckles.
There was more than one reason why I was relieved to see Benj and Holly's front gate (with its lovely flowers in the early Saturday dawn.
Since their house was already maxed out, Ed and I stayed in a tent in the backyard under the coconut palms. We enjoy camping and had no complaint about our accommodations.
But unknown to us, our tent was pitched under the chicken roosting tree. Whoever says that roosters crow at sunup were never in Guatemala. Hours before daylight, an ear piercing screech sounded directly over our tent. I thought I could tune out a lot of noise but the five roosters in the tree crowed loud enough to blast the ear drums. It was answered by the dozens of other roosters all over town.
After enduring what seemed like hours of this, I stuck my head out of the tent door and yelled at them to be quiet. The roosters ignored me but the dog next door woke up and added to the din. Ed thought it was rather funny. Not the roosters, but my attempt at shushing them. At that point, we might as well be l laughing.
The children and I climbing the chicken roosting tree.
The sun came up at 5:30 and mercifully put an end to the racket as the roosters jumped down and began to harass the hens. The next night we dragged our tent to the other side of the yard. We could still hear the roosters but at least they weren't directly over us. We slept much better, but maybe we were just too tired to care about noise.
Most of our meals were served in the back yard. It was cooler out under the trees, and much less crowded then the small kitchen.
Food always tastes better outdoors anyway. And we did eat good! I wish I would have thought to take photos of our food. We ate homemade corn tortillas at least once a day, sometimes every meal. And of course, lots of beans and rice. So good!
I did remember to take pics of tamales, a special holiday treat in Guatemala. Inside the banana leaves is a corn dough, meat and sauce. Yummy!
I've rambled on enough for today. Next I'll show you some pics of the work we did while in Guatemala.
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