Feb 21, 2011 "Sundayyyyyyy!"

I had a weird dream last night, about Oral Interp, but that’s a whole nother story. We woke up decently early to get to church. But first, we went to cross on the hill. Cross on the hill is a giant cross… on a hill…that overlooks Antigua. It is a very beautiful spot. We all wore our orange shirts and spent time taking pictures and such. We loaded back up and drove to church. Pastor Ronnie’s church is one of the few churches in Guatemala that is more contemporary and not catholic, thought I’m sure of the exact denomination. The service lasted about two and a half hours long, which is different than church services back home. There was not even a clock in the sanctuary. They just worshipped God and weren’t gonna leave until they were done. The songs were sung in Spanish and in English, flipping back and forth between the languages. It was so cool to worship with people of different backgrounds and languages and cultures, but be able to worship the same Great God together. The service was very powerful, causing a few people (including myself) to shed some tears. It really filled us up and got us prepared for the week.
After church, we went out to eat at a fabulous restaurant, if that’s what you choose to call it. It is the same place we went last year for supper on Sunday, and I know why. It is the back yard/patio of a Guatemalan family. They play marimbas, make tortillas and serve amazing food. I was happy to see that my tortilla making skills have improved ten-fold from last year! The food was great, but it was a small meal. We got to meet Bindy and José’s (I don’t know if that’s how you spell it. It’s pronounced “Hoe-sway”) awesome kids. We spent lots of time laughing, bonding, playing marimbas, and getting under giant ladders and dancing around as very tall Guatemalans!
After we ate, we came back to the hotel and let people change if they wanted. After a quick ten minutes, the people that wanted to keep out and about boarded the vans again. I, of course, was one of them. We first went to a textile factory, I guess you could call it. I expected lots of loud, dirty machines, but found just the opposite. All of the textiles (that awesome colorful fabric found in Southern or Central American countries) are made by hand. The intricate designs all of a sudden became more and more beautiful, knowing they take months or years to create. Bindy showed us the many different styles and patterns of the textiles, and how each area of Guatemala has a different unique style. We had time to look around and possibly buy things if wanted. I, for some reason, really really wanted an authentic skirt, like the beautiful one’s that the women here wear. And, I found one! It was more expensive than I wanted, and I went with a cheap one, but it is super cool, I’m not gonna lie.
After the textile plant, we went to the market…again. I love the market, I just spend wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much money there. Haley es no dinero. Haha, just kidding. I don’t know Spanish. But seriously, I’m darn close to out of money. In the market, I had to buy myself an awesome blue soccer jacket. My favorite thing about the market, is watching people barter. The language barrier isn’t horrible, but it sure is comical. I love when people speak completely English, just throw on a horrible Mexican accent, and have NO CLUE why the Guatemalans STILL don’t know what they’re saying! It makes my day.
When we finally got out of the market, we came back to the hotel and enjoyed an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G supper of fish. Yes, fish. I hate fish. But this fish. This was good fish. Holy cow. I hate a lot. A lot of fish. And rice. And vegetables. And TEA. GOOD TEA. I’m full.
Most of the medical team arrived!! Which is super exciting! Alejandro and George (Hore-hay…sorry, I would hate for you to say GEORGE. Cuz that’s not his name) came to devotions tonight, which was super awesome. The Gideons in our group, Tom, Wayne, and Kerry, gave bibles to Lydia for all of her hotel rooms. She cried and gave us a blessing, and it was super super cool. People are going to be super blessed by those. Barb and Tom did devotions tonight, and their devotions were about taking the choice to move past our comfortable zone and be positive and receive God’s blessings, which, ironically (or God-ly) was the SAME EXACT message including the SAME EXACT scripture that Pastor Ronnie talked about in church this morning. Coincidence? I think not.
Sleep should hopefully come quickly, because tomorrow will be an early morning, and a long day. Matthew (the plumber) is feeling under the weather, so keep him in your prayers. Thanks for everything, everyone! Sweet dreams in the states!
Oh and P.S. à enjoy the weather (: (: (: and get rid of all the snow before I get home if ya could kthanks!