Guatemala: Day 10

hola! me nombre is Tessa. I think some of you know me.

hey so me and my freaking awesome roommate, Valeria (aka. V-dawg, V-digs, V-swizzle, V-slice), were supposed to blog on Wednesday, but we thought we were set for Thursday. but by the team Thursday came around, we had 0 time to blog….there was a lot of packing and other things to do.

so some of you are probably asking why I’m blogging if our trip is over? well…I just felt like it. I thought I’d do some sort of summary or something about the trip. if nobody reads this, that’s fine. I just like to write things.

hola! me nombre is Tessa. I think some of you know me.

hey so me and my freaking awesome roommate, Valeria (aka. V-dawg, V-digs, V-swizzle, V-slice), were supposed to blog on Wednesday, but we thought we were set for Thursday. but by the team Thursday came around, we had 0 time to blog….there was a lot of packing and other things to do.

so some of you are probably asking why I’m blogging if our trip is over? well…I just felt like it. I thought I’d do some sort of summary or something about the trip. if nobody reads this, that’s fine. I just like to write things.

so. Guatemala. whoa! thank you Guatemala for taking me in, and for teaching me a lot of things, and helping me answer some questions. This missions trip was defs not easy. but it was so good. For the first week, in the 9am-12 time slot, while some people were doing construction, I was practicing the drime with the Codester, Daniel, Bella, and Valeria (with Bran Muffin there to give us much-needed constructive criticism). and let me tell you, this was not all fun and games. no, it was hard. At first, I had the same attitude as Daniel about drime…we really did not like drime. but after practicing it like 100 times, we started to realize that it is a very powerful drime, and it can be kind of fun. we really pushed ourselves to make it as good as possible. I played the “bad girl” (or “chica mal”) in the drime, and this proved to be a huge challenge for me. there was one day when we were practicing, and I just was not performing as good as I should’ve been. there are some very powerful parts that I have to act out, where I have to show extreme pain, anguish, etc. but I for some reason could not summon those emotions. so Brandie led us in an “emotional count” …I won’t bother explaining what that is, but let’s just say, I went to that “place” and I found myself crying. from then on, when we performed the drime, I apparently did a much better job. and I think it really touched a lot of people. sweet!

then for the next week I was on construction for 3 days. and for those of you who know me, you would know that there’s not much muscle to be found on my body. and you’re probably like “what? TESSA did CONSTRUCTION? whoa! how did she not die?” yeah, I did construction. and it was good. we shovelled dirt for 3 hours in the heat, and I worked just as hard as every body else. I didn’t even get burned! aleluya! I got a sweet blister on my hand. we sang the song at the beginning of the movie Holes a lot…“dig it up oh oh dig it…” and it was a lot of fun. let’s just say when we went back home for showers, I scrubbed layers and layers (and layers) of dirt and dust of my skin. it was disgusting and rewarding.

VBS was sweet. but by the last few days, I think every single member on our team was silently praying for PATIENCE with some particular kids. it was a lot of fun though, and we really bonded with the kids. I’m so happy that we got to bring pure joy and happiness and fun and excitement into their lives for 6 afternoons. cool!

I think everyone on my team will agree when I say that our team meetings we had in the evening were amazing. freakin’ wow. yeah, they were that good. we had 4 I think…there were supposed to go from 7:30pm-8:30 pm…but they always went at least 1/2 an hour later. we would go around the circle and share things..personal things. and it was so powerful and good. we would pray together and sing together. everyone cried. a lot. everyone hugged. mm it was so good. we had this one team meeting that was devoted to letting go of some burdens. I won’t go into detail, but let’s just say it was very powerful.

we went to a church in Jocotenango twice (Julianna and Jacobo’s church). that was crazy. man they worship on a whole other level. seriously.

oh and I gotta say this. so first of all, the men in Guatemala are creeeeeeeepy. we all got pretty tired of the whistling and cat calls and once-overs and such things. I won’t miss it. and about half-way through our trip, I adopted a full-time creeper. yep. he would wait for me outside the school, or stand in a doorway and watch me during the whole VBS. so one day during VBS I was like, “ok I’m really creeped out” so I told Brandie and she’s all like “oh, easily solved. just pretend you have a boyfriend” …and to make a long story short, that’s how mine and Cody’s relationship blossomed into what it is today. hah! but man, even though I had a “boyfriend”, that creeper watched me for like a week straight. oh good times.

so anyways. Tizate. it is beautiful in its brokenness. sure it’s a poor village, nobody even really knows it exists (I have to admit, I was in shock for a while…because when we were driving from the Guatemala City airport, we had been driving for like an hour on this highway, and all of a sudden, we pull off the highway and it’s like “we’re here”. I was like whoa.) their houses are very small and very rustic by North American standards. it’s not exactly a clean place. but bless their souls, because they make do with what they have. Tizate has like a billion stray dogs walking around…some of them are horrifically skinny and creepy, and some of them are super adorable. but you’re not allowed to touch them. Tizate also has a lot (a LOT) of gallos …or roosters. and they don’t care what time of day it is…they just let loose. the sounds are very loud at time. sometimes I think of Tizate as the Central American Las Vegas…because it really doesn’t sleep! there are always noises. and not just from animals. for example, there was this one man that sits inside of his house, with a megaphone on top of his roof that he is somehow connected to, and will chant these really creepy chants for like hours that you can hear all over Tizate. crazy. oh, Tizate is also basically a village on a mountainside in case you didn’t know. lots of hills. the road you have to walk up to get the construction site makes San Francisco look like nothing.

um…I’m in love with Antigua. it’s so beautiful and amazing. I love the buildings and I LOVE gardens. and Denika will tell you much she LOVES bartering …“It’s addicting” she’ll say. hhahaa.

well this is already like way too long, but hey, it’s me. what do you expect? all in all, I have learned a lot over this spring break. the first night in Guatemala, I was very very homesick, I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into, and I really doubted my decision to come on this trip. but man, I am soooooo glad I did. (i remember emailing Brandie a few months ago in great distress, because I did not know if I should go on this trip. I had said “I really want to go. but I”m just not sure if God wants me in Guatemala in March 2010. then, our first day in Guat. as Katrina was talking to us, she said, “I’m so glad you’re all here. God planned for you to be in Guatemala in March 2010” that blew my mind. I was like wow, thank-you God. now I know that I’m meant to be here, however hard it’s going to be.

It was a time of love, learning, growth, challenges, tears, hugs, laughs (Cody and Daniel have like a billion quotes written down from our trip), a time in which we were humbled, we were broken, our eyes were open, a time to grow and mature, and a time to rely completely on God.

I love my team so so so so so SO much. I’m blessed to know these amazing people. we became really close and I’m so proud of them. seriously. How wonderful it is that they were willing to come to Guatemala to love and serve. amen!

but for me personally, I learned a lot. I think I know now that God wanted me to go on this trip because he used it to answer some of my questions.  but at one team meeting, I came to this crazy realization. when I was sharing with the group, I said something like this “I’ve really been struggling lately about what God wants me to do in life, and where he wants me to go. I wanted to know right now. But now I have this peace in me. It’s like, with each day, God is revealing to me a little bit more about his plans for me. he’s teaching me to have patience, and to just be content to wait on him. because I know that whatever his plans for me are, they are good plans” and I have Guatemala to thank for this. I’m so blessed to have this peace. it’s a peace I never thought I would know.

I just want to give a shout out to a few really cool people from this trip. First of is Kat, Kat you are amazing. I don’t even know what else to say. You are so cool, and you are a huge role model for me. Thank you for what you are doing for God’s kingdom. then there’s Jervin, Louis, and Carlos (this really cool kid). and of course, my host family: Flori, Byron, and there kids Heidi, Anderson, and Dayana. thanks guys for being so awesome!

so yeah. sorry that this is so long and that it’s in no logical order and it probably doesn’t make sense. but I just want to end off with this: God is good, and he is powerful and mighty and holy, and he loves us.

love,

Tessa, Conqueror of Volcanoes.

*new material*

hey so I forgot to mention a few things.

first of all, I forgot that I wanted to mention the sense of community in Tizate. everybody greets each other at all hours of the day, they help each other out, rely on each other, etc etc. and I was really touched by this, because this feeling of community is something I don’t know here at home. I barely even talk to my neighbours, in fact, we kind of avoid each other. which is really really sad. but maybe that can change. the community in Tizate is a beautiful thing. and I think God looks down on it and is pleased. In Shane Claibourne’s book The Irresistible Revolution, he says “Community is what we are created for.” I completely agree.

second of all, it feels really weird to be home (right team?) I feel like my house is a mansion. everything is so bright and clean! it was so nice to shower and clean my nails!! woo hoo! but seriously…there’s some major reverse culture shock going on. I can’t believe I’m on a computer right now. having some trouble typing… but it’s weird because I feel like I’ve fallen right back into my normal routine. which I have…how can’t you? but what I’m saying is that while I’m laying in bed with my music playing, or while I’m on the computer or watching TV, while I’m using the bathroom as much as I want to and putting toilet paper in the actual toilet bowl…I feel guilty for doing all these things. it’s like there’s this voice in my head saying “tessa. didn’t you just come from Tizate? how can you be doing all these things and not thinking twice? how can you be taking advantage of all these luxuries so easily? you should feel ashamed.” yeah, it’s crazy. but I gotta say, i’m really happy to be home. as much as I miss Guat and my team (I REALLY miss them) I’m very happy to be home, in my room, with my family.  It’s like I’ve been running a marathon for two weeks. and this time of rest is completely necessary.

I probably forgot lots of other stuff. but I’m tired.