Update 8-25-09

I thought you would like some kind of update about how things have been going since I arrived in Guatemala. It’s Tuesday afternoon about 5 pm as I write this. I can always tell when it is almost 5 pm even if I don’t have a clock close by. Why? Because I have 2 dogs that are ready for their afternoon food which they receive at 5 pm. They start getting excited before that and I know it’s getting close to 5.

I’ve enjoyed being able to get out and walk in the neighborhood where I’m living. It is middle class neighborhood. All of the houses have walls around them and usually barbed wire at the top of the wall for safety. There are quite a few embassies in the neighborhood. I have seen the ones for Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Russia and a couple of others. There are fast food restaurants like Wendys, Taco Bell and McDonalds in walking distance. Also two grocery stores, American used clothing stores, local cafes, a drugstore, movie theater and other places.

So far I haven’t driven. Tomorrow morning there is a national lady who is going to come to the house and then we’ll go for a drive. I’ll drive and she’ll be my copilot. That way I won’t have to worry about getting lost. The hard part is that you may be able to find a location but then because of all the one way streets you can’t always return home the same way you went. Plus on the roads here you have to make a decision and go with it. So we’ll go mid morning tomorrow when there is less traffic. I asked her if she wasn’t afraid to go with me, she laughed and said I don’t have fear in the car, just panic. It was cute. She has children so I’m sure she went through the same with them as they were learning to drive.

On Monday and Tuesday nights there are small groups that meet here at the house. One group is studying The Purpose Driven Life book and the other group is studying a book on Phillipians 4:8. The Monday night group has 5 or 6 people and the Tuesday night group has 8 or 9 people.

On Thursday mornings there is a Ladies Bible Study in English that I can go to. I went to it last week and I hope to attend again this week. There is an English speaking interdenominational church close by and that is where I attended the Bible study.

This past Sunday I went to a Guatemalan Baptist Church. The people were really friendly. I think it was about a 2 hour service.

This past Saturday I was able to enjoy a complete day of rest. I was happy because I found a blender in the cabinet so I made a milkshake and it tasted really good.

I had the opportunity to visit with some of the missionaries last week and this week I’ll visit in the homes of other ones.

I’m sure there is more that you would like to hear and more that I could say but I don’t know what it is right now.

By the way, the Voices of the Faithful second book is available now. You can order it from the IMB website at www.imb.org/resources or it should be in stores soon. I received my copy in the mail today and was happy to see my writing on July 25 and to see other writings where I recognized the writer. It’s really neat to look at a day and think I know that person….