Las Primeras Dias

I chose to name my blog “Las Puertas Abiertas” (The Open Doors), because this experience has just unfolded in front of me through various open doors. First and foremost, my parents opened a door for me by leaving me without debt after college. By paying for my education, I had the flexibility to do something like this. So thank you, Mom and Dad. Secondly, the opportunity to even come to Huehuetenango, and stay with Sheny and Otto and volunteer at the orphanage all came to me through a series of open doors. I was blessed to have Brooks fall in love with this place, and ask if I wanted to come back with him. Our living with Sheny and Otto is thanks to a suggestion from Linda, the missionary here in Huehue, and I can already tell we are so blessed to have this family to stay with. So I envision this experience as a series of open doors, God leading us in the direction He desires for us, the direction He wants to use us. Never before have I put less planning into going so far for so long, and I am very excited by that.

Traveling Day: Portland to LAX to Guatemala City to Huehuetenango

Brooks and I were humorous travelers starting in Portland, giving the whole travel experience a very lighthearted feeling. Brooks overpacked by 10 lbs. and had to do the open suitcase, pull out stuff last minute routine. And both of us, as we were trying to go through security had packed our laptops into our backpacks so well it took us about ten minutes to struggle them out to place alone on the scanner. From that moment, I could tell this was going to be a great traveling experience. And after the laptops, it really did go quite smoothly. Our only real hold up happened in LAX, at 11pm, trying to check into our flight to Guatemala City. The woman behind the counter told us our bags weighed too much to be carry-ons, and we would either have to lose 5-10 lbs., our check them, paying $125 each. We did not know what to do in this moment. Luckily, the supervisor was called over, and we were told we could check our backpacks free of charge. Awesome. Once in Guatemala City, getting through the airport was easy, all bags arrived on time (hooray! Not my experience during previous trips), and we ended up in a mostly empty exit vestibule, waiting 3 hours for Laura to arrive on her flight. We slept awkwardly in small plastic chairs, right alongside the tourism in Antigua booth. I don’t think we made it look very good. We found her on time, and continued forth. The taxi driver who took us to the bus station was very nice (he even had “Jesus” written above his stereo. This was a comforting sight to see), and the people at the bus station were very helpful as well. Before coming to Guatemala, Laura and I had read bad stories online about the bus system in Guatemala, and were so relieved when we saw our clean and sleek looking bus, with luggage going underneath and not thrown haphazardly on top of the bus. The ride to Huehue was long, 6 hours, but luckily I was so tired from our other travels I slept most of the time. Once in Huehue Sheny met us at the bus station and walked us to her house. Her home is beautiful, and her and her family (and extended family – There are about 5 people that live her regularly, and other tourists that stay for short periods of time to learn Spanish) were so kind, we instantly felt like we belonged. Especially welcoming is her daughter, Lucia, who is two and was very friendly with us. Sheny told us she is usually shy around strangers, and her comfort with us was something special. J

Today, our first full day in Huehue, we walked down near the center of town where they were having a large parade, complete with bands, princesses, and boys doing gymnastics. It was wonderful. After the parade we walked to the orphanage, where we are planning to spend a good chunk of our time here, and met the kids. They are all so loving and friendly. They give hugs, grab hands, ask you to go here and there with them. They are all so precious, and I am excited to go back for many days to come, and say “nos vemos” to them, we will see you again. While we were at the orphanage, they were listening to various English Christian songs, and “Our God” by Chris Tomlin came on. The lyrics “And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us/And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?” caught my ear. I had made this song my unofficial theme song for Guatemala, using it to reassure myself that traveling to a “dangerous” country like Guatemala is not so scary with God behind you. Hearing that song on the radio at the orphanage warmed my heart and made me feel again that this was where I was meant to be. Everyone we have met has been so kind and welcoming, they have such loving hearts. Even at the orphanage, the older children look after the smaller ones, giving them hugs and pushing them around in toy cars. I am very blessed to be here in this place and to be meeting these people. Very blessed. 

Photos still to come!