1st 2 wks- TIG

Saturday May 12th
Wow 2 weeks! It's been generally good, but man does it sometimes seem like it's been 2 months! My correspondence in this update will assume that you've ready my most recent "update #3" email. Please email me if you did not receive this.

I've been writing this in my head for a long time...so much I want to tell you about. So I've got the feeling this is going to be quite long. You may want to read it in sections and at more than one sitting. Just thought I'd warn you.

Let's see...what kind of trouble have I gotten into? Well, last Sunday after talking to a couple of friends and family members, I was feeling rather melancholic, so I decided to take a walk. I got lost. REAL lost. I intended to explore the other side of town (that I've never gone to before) and decided while I was there I'd stop at the Bodegona (think Wal-Mart Latino style but very unorganized)to pick up a couple of things I'd like to have for school. Anyhow, there are several doors, and I didn't end up exiting the same doors that I entered. Big mistake! I based my turns on leaving the opposite doors. Next thing I know it's the "ite" of twilight and I could hear a storm in the distance, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that I was not in a good section of town and had no idea which turn would get me out of trouble. I just kept walking. Ended up leaving the bad section but found myself walking beside what seemed like a never ending tall white-washed wall on one side (maybe a jail?) and a field on the other side and not a single soul in sight. Don't think I wasn't praying! I finally ran across a guard at the wall and he told me that I needed to go about 8 blocks one way, then 6 blocks another way...and then who knows what. Oh, by the way, yes, I did have a map with me. But it's only useful in the main part of the city because there are no street signs anywhere else. Even in the city, the signs are not necessarily intact or correct. There's a particular intersection that has a different street name on each of the 4 corners. (Street signs are painted or nailed on the sides of buildings...if they're there at all.) Later I ran across an old man and asked him how to get to Central Park. His eyes got really big and told me that it was a long, long ways off. Great! By now it was truly dark and the rain had started and lightning was not too far off. Eventually I started seeing more life and figured I was on the right track. Stopped a couple more times to ask for directions. Can't tell you how glad I was to see Central Park! When I entered the house it was 9pm! I was exhausted, physically and emotionally, but so thankful to the Lord that He watched over me. It has occured to me that I could've very easily been captured and harmed, and not a soul would know it. Nor would anyone know where to look for me if they noticed I was missing. I looked a little into purchasing a cell phone, but it's not in my budget and the system used here may not work in El Salvador. So for now I think I've decided to not get a cell...although I will probably need one for safety eventually in El Salvador, but in the meanwhile will try to be a bit smarter.

Let's see..what other trouble have I been in? Oh, I almost got run over by a took-took. A took-took is faster than a mo-ped and kind of shaped like a golf cart with 3 wheels (one wheel in front). They're cheaper than taxis, drive like maniacs and think nothing of making extra lanes where there are no lanes. Except for businesses that cater to tourist (like coffee shops), most don't open until 9am or so but stay open later than the USA. But the traffic on the local roads are in full swing by noon. As I was coming home for lunch...about 5 long blocks btw school and home, I crossed a busy intersection. A took-took decided to go around the car stopped in front of him, and then cross over a lane and make a turn onto the street I was crossing. As some friends/students say, "TIG" (This is Guatemala.) Keep in mind, that due to the cobble stone roads (and usually sidewalks), you can only look up but so much because of missing stones. Can't tell you how often I and other American turn our ankles or nearly fall. No problem...I had about a foot between me and the took-took! Anyhow, God is good and the guardian angels are working overtime.

The streets here amaze me. You can find new and ancient models of cars and trucks, motorcycles, mopeds and bicycles with entire families aboard, took-tooks, horse drawn carriages, and people on horseback- all sharing the same road space at the same time. You name it, and it's here.

YWAM (Youth With A Mission) has a coffee shop btw my house and school. It's know as the hang out for gringos (Americans). It's a nice play to go sbut has limited business hours due to the lack of volunteers. Really nice folks though. I went there last Thursday for a church service done entirely in English. What a blessing! Beside it is a church that I attended last Sunday. I heard some familiar worship songs being played, and just followed the music until I found the church. It's funny how I thought I knew words to a bunch of worship songs, but when it came time to sing along side the Spanish folks, I could hardly remember any of the words. I'm told that they sometimes have a projector running to show the words on the wall. Hope this will happen soon! Per the tradition in Latin America, there was a person playing keyboards as background music the entire time the preacher speaks. Unfortunately, if the pastor said something dramatic, then the music follows suit, and thus drowns out the translator standing beside the pastor. But, TIG.

One of the hardships I've run into is the lack of anything familiar. Not my bed, not my hall bathroom that I share with others, not the climate/altitude, not the language that still seems like Greek to me most of the time, not the roads I walk, not the ability to know what food or locations are safe, not my daily routines, etc. Nothing, that is...except God...and I'm positive that's His point. Before I left the states I knew he was asking me, "Am I enough (for you)" I told Him yes. There's not a day that goes by that He doesn't still ask me..."am I still enough for you...am I sufficient?" The answer is still "Yes Lord, but I didn't know it would be this hard." You see, I'm extraordinarily blessed to have been surrounded by realms of friends back home...you guys. I always knew that if I was down or having trouble of any sort, that I could depend on my friends to be there for me. Now...everything has changed. Yes, you, my friends, are still there...but it's not the same. That first week, when reality came crashing down on me and I seemed a world away from anything familiar or comforting...well, it was really tough. And wouldn't you know that my Palm Pilot (that I'd taken so much time to carefully load with every one's phone numbers) had somehow erased all my phone numbers that I'd collected over the years. Additionally, my best friend was in Honduras on a mission trip. Additionally that week my "Uncle Joe" died and one of my good friend's mother died. I even had difficulty in accessing the internet. It felt like there wasn't a soul I could reach out to...and that too was His point and plan. When the weekend finally arrived I was able to use my computer to call home. If you know me, you know that there's very little I value more than my nephews and niece. I called my nephew on Sat. to wish him a happy birthday (that I hated to miss) and he wanted to know why I wasn't there...why I wasn't coming to his birthday. My heart broke for him..of course he can't understand...he was just turning 5. Those sort of things are hard.

I never thought of it before...never needed to...but our rituals at the time of death (like the family night visitation, the funeral service itself, gathering with friends and family to talk about good memories) are part of the way we process death. Have you ever been far away when a close friend or close relative died and you could not be a part of any of the services? I haven't until now re: my Uncle Joe. As strange as it sounds, I didn't know how to grieve. There were no rituals to help me process. It, like so many other things, was a new hurdle to overcome...and more difficult than I'd imagined.

Speaking of friends, I've made friends with the other students in the house... Amelia from Taiwan (really quiet and shy) and especially a neat couple (Ginny and Kevin Holmes) who are just a little older than I am and also brand new missionaries. I've always been able to make friends easily, but now there's a larger than normal risk involved. The problem is that the friends leave. You see, each student can study one day or one year...it's up to the individual. And it seems that you've no sooner gotten to be friends with someone before they're packing up to leave. The house is in a constant rotation of students. Not only does this rotation happen among students, but also with the YWAM folks since they rotate in and out pretty often. So you have to know going into it, that if you get too attached, you're going to get hurt again. This too has been tough already. Nevertheless, I've become pretty good friends with Ginny and Kevin. They and one other student can be seen in the picture labeled as the "penthouse". Their room is the one standing all beside itself on the roof. My room is beside theirs. Ginny and Kevin work with the very poor people who live in the huge Guatemala City dump. It's an extraordinarily dangerous place to work. They will soon start a rotation (to accommodate teams from the USA to help at the dump) of studying for one week, then traveling an hour to the city to stay for a week, and etc. I will miss them when they're not here.

This past Friday late afternoon I was talking (via Skype on my computer...great invention!)to my best friend/roommate. I won't go into details, but she was having a super hard day. The reality of me not being there had hit her in the face as she came home to an empty house...and it seemed overwhelming. Added to her stress was some very real concerns over her dad's health. It broke my heart to not be there to comfort my best friend of 14 years like I always had before. We'd always been there for each other. Now I wasn't there... and in fact I was part of the reason for the heartache. We both knew these days would come. We both know and agree that I'm doing the right thing...but it doesn't mean it's easy. We both left the conversation sad and in tears. My face still showed signs of my tears as I walked home from school. I prayed, "Lord, you are enough, but I sure could use somebody with skin on, and so could my friend. Please bring us comfort." I knew there wasn't a soul that I could go to. It was getting dark and I didn't want to go at this late hour and use the internet cafe and moan to someone else via the internet. And I knew I was going home to an empty house since all the other students were out for the evening or weekend. Then God showed up. As I walked the narrow, wobbly sidewalk towards home, I passed a YWAM member that I'd met earlier that day. He saw my red eyes and face, and stopped to show his care. There it was...help with skin on. God came through...again. When I got home, I spent some time in prayer before dinner. Knowing that my heart was downcast, I decided to do something new and radical to serve God- and therefore escape the "poor pitiful me" party that I may have thrown for the rest of the night. I joined some YWAMers for street evangelism at Central Park. I wasn't much help with my pathetic Spanish...but I could pray. It was a beautiful night and there were a good number of folks in the park. I paired up with Mark. He didn't beat people over the head...he didn't even carry a Bible. He just asked people if they had 5 min and he used a hands on illustration to demonstrate the Gospel. It was amazing! The 1st two guys we approached were about 20-something I'd say. Bottom line...they accepted Christ! Mark said that folks here were often very receptive, and the harvest was ripe for picking. Later we approached another couple of guys..maybe 20 years old. They too were very interested. When Mark asked them where they'd go if they died tonight in their sleep, they both calmly said they'd go to hell. Wow! Mark presented His story and sincerely told them this was a big decision...a decision only they could make...when suddenly it sounded like we were caught in gunfire. Ends up that we were just really really close to some really loud firecrackers set off by some teenagers who were enjoying the reactions. But it made for a good illustration that in a blink...any of us could die. And who knows how many opportunities we'll have to change out eternal destiny. Ultimately, both guys said they would think things over and asked for some literature. Not a bad ending to a really tough afternoon. I was so pumped up when I came home that I decided to stay up and hand wash my clothes. More on that later.

Some good news...my temporary residency card has come in and is in the hands of Teri at HIS. It expires near the end of July. My real residency card should be available for me to pick up when I have my break from school at the end of June.

School is going pretty well. I study like crazy, but not so sure how much of it sticking. But all I can do is my part, and I'm leaving the rest up to God. ALL prayers are welcome! I'm very glad I went back to Grade A. I will probably take the Grade A exam early to mid next week, then on to Grade B. Woo hoo!

Oh, there's another God story I wanted to tell you about. A really good friend of mine has discovered that her employer will match funds for donations made to a charitable organization. She jumped thru all the hoops with her employer, then sent her personal check (along with the blank form to be filled out for the matching funds) to me at the HIS mailing address as I instructed her. The courier delivered it to the wrong home in El Salvador. If it wasn't for a kind, honest, English speaking recipient, my friend would not have known the check was mishandled, and I no idea the check was on the way. After many calls (initiated by the recipient to my friend) between several people, the very sizable check was retrieved and now is safely waiting for me at HIS. Thank you God...again.

I got to ride the public bus this week as part of a school field trip to a macadanian nut farm. Those who have visited Latin America know that we usually call this the chicken bus...for good reason. Like I said earlier, the guardian angels have been working over-time. I'm very glad to have that experience past me and it's OK if I never do it again. The chicken bus is like a school bus, except the benches are longer, making the isle quite narrow. Now I know I'm a big girl, but in order to pass btw seats, I had to turn sideways and push myself through the opening. Add to this that after a few stops, there were at least 3 people sitting on each bench (and hanging well into the isle...including me). So that anytime someone got on or off the bus there was quite a shuffling of folks and getting really close to others was just the norm. I also took a field trip to the local market with my teacher in order to learn the names of fruits and veggies (particularly the types that I've never seen before...not grown in the US as far as I know). In building after building, row after row after row after row there were connected wooden booths or people spread out with the produce on the ground. It all looked alike, and I have no idea of how you'd ever know where you were or how to get out and which exit it the correct one? I was honestly kind of nervous. There are constantly reports of vandalism or worse at the market...the crush of people always up against me...being called at by vendors constantly...the noise level...the heat...the smell of raw meat hanging from hooks, row after row...YUCK! Like I said earlier...it's OK if I never go back. On a good note, they also had numerous vendors of fresh flowers...wow...what an amazing gathering of colors! And they also had numerous vendors of 2nd hand clothes. Hmmm...interesting. All I bought were some peaches (which are just slightly bigger than a gold ball for some reason) and a round bar of soap specifically made for washing clothes. Most people here wash their clothes by hand. They don't have the money for a machine, nor the wiring or plumbing necessary for it. After having my laundry done once by the local laundry place, I decided that's it's too much for my budget too. I'll be glad to have access to machines when I return to HIS.

Oh, there goes that blasted bell again. My house is surrounded by 3 major noise makers: a very busy road often traveled by loud smelly diesel trucks and ambulances with wailing sirens, a large Catholic church (with it's never ending bells), and a school associated with the church. We've noted that the church bells don't seem to ring at any particular time, nor does the number of rings seem logical. Per my teacher, the number of rings is unpredictable and not important, and can be rung for one of at least 3 reasons: announcing an upcoming service (possibly several times as reminders), announcing a death or birth, and/or announcing a celebration (a festival recognized by the Catholic church of which there are many, or the birthday or anniversary or a member). It seems the bells are ringing nearly all the time. The school bells are set to announce classes as they start and stop through the day. However, it seems that the bells are on a 24hr system...regardless of whether school is open or not. Grrrr! Fortunately, I think I'm beginning to tune them out. Between firecrackers, bells, and sirens, I think I could go crazy at times.

Speaking of crazy....I ate cow tongue this week! As students, we eat very traditional Guatemalan foods. But fortunately, Elizabeth knows where to draw the line. This week there were 2 times where the family ate one thing and the students were offered something a little more mundane...thank you Jesus! Last weekend the family ate pig livers and fried pig skins....I gratefully declined. A couple of days ago, the family ate cow tongue. I think it was boiled and had salsa on it. I again declined, but after one student tried it, I decided to walk on the wild side and try it too. If I didn't know what I was eating, it wouldn't have been too bad. It tasted kind of like what I thought tongue would taste like.

The mosquitoes haven't been too bad...have seen just a handful although now that rainy season is upon us I guess things could change. None of the windows here have screens, and I'll roast if my windows and door aren't open at night. So I hope the mosquitoes don't get bad. However, several of us have been eaten by something that doesn't leave a mark like a mosquito. I only have a few as compared to Ginny and Kevin. Hoping it's not bed bugs or skin lice. Yuck!

We've only had one significant earthquake tremor since I've arrived. Last Tues we had a 4.6 tremor per the US news on the internet. It was the talk of the day among students. Immediately following the tremor, due to our roof top view, we could easily see smoke billowing out of the closest volcano. Quite a picture for my collection. The town sits in the valley surrounded by beautiful volcanic mountains. Lately, since rainy season is close, the mountains have been hiding behind the clouds. The temperatures are moderate during the day and comfortable at night. Recently my room has been around 76 when I went to bed. Not bad at all if you compare it to the stupid heat that El Salvador is experiencing. Quite glad I'm here and not there right now!

OK...I think I've about caught you up and rambled enough. I'll try not to write a full length novel in the future...but will instead will cut it into more manageable chunks. Please continue to email me and tell me about your life, the struggles and the good stuff, and let me know how I can pray for you. Thanks for listening to me ramble as I share my life. Love you guys! Deb