Guatemala - Day 4

Hi Guatemala blog fans! This is Emily Erickson, "guest-writing" today :) I'm a leader on the med team, which has been so awesome! There was such a big difference in confidence and organization in our clinic from Monday to Tuesday, and I'm excited for our third service day tomorrow here in Tejutla (pronounced Tay-HOOT-lah).

We were sad to leave our sweet host families and say goodbye at Renuevo (Renewal) church in Guatemala City this morning, but excited for the next adventure and to see a new part of this beautiful country. We traveled in a small caravan of two chicken buses, two vans (that the mime and service teams use to travel to their sites) and our mission partner Jaime's pickup truck. We headed west along the InterAmerican Highway and stopped for lunch at a shopping mall with a foodcourt, like one you would find in the States. Back on the bus, we continued up into the mountains on some windy roads with beautiful mountain vistas. At some points, we were literally in the clouds! I was fascinated by the farms I saw (#plantnerd), as all the agriculture is done by hand. There were lots of corn plants, some wild bananas, and other crops planted in the hillsides.

We spent a total of about 9 hours traveling, but passed the time sleeping, chatting, enjoying the scenery, and playing games, summer-camp style. (There was also the occasional exclamation of surprise when the chicken bus went over a bump.) But the highlight of the day was definitely our arrival at the church here in Tejutla! We were greeted by host families who had made welcome posters with the names of the students they are hosting written on them as well as an amazing marching band made up of the students at the church! They had an incredible drumline and horn section, and we all enjoyed dancing along to the upbeat music. We shared a spaghetti dinner in the cafeteria (the church complex also houses a school), unloaded our bags, then went home with the host families to prepare for our first service day here in the highlands tomorrow!

We so so so appreciate your prayers-we had safe travel today and have been blessed with an incredible team of Guatemalan and Salvadoran volunteers who are serving and interpreting with us, as well as kind and hospitable host families and churches. Your prayers and support mean so much, and it's crazy how fast the trip is going.

Enjoy the photos from the past few days!

As our Guatemalan friends say, ¡Que Dios les bendiga! (May God bless you!) y hasta la próxima (and until next time), 

Emily