Christmas Is a Comin'

I love Christmas! I count down the days until I can decorate, listen to Christmas music, make festive treats and bundle up in warm clothes. Yes, it is necessary to bundle up here especially when you crawl into bed and your sheets feel damp. Curse the humidity. We are approaching our second Christmas in Guatemala. Last year I would have hopped on a plane MT bound in a heart beat if I won free tickets, but this year we would have to turn down the tickets (something about women delivering midflight is undesirable). Last year we went to multiple homes on Christmas Eve where we ate many tamales and enjoyed good company with friends. The hospitality we experienced last year challenged us in how we will be celebrating future holidays. So often it's easy to be selfish with our holidays and we want to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible, which means we surround ourselves with family and close friends. We had only been here (our current city) for four months and close friendships don't form overnight, so it would have been easy for us to wish we were somewhere other than where God had us. Is there anyone you can think of who may want to celebrate with your fam' this year?

We postponed leaving for the Capital (where I'll deliver) until after Christmas so we can enjoy it with friends again. God has given us some amazing friendships this last year that we are incredibly thankful for. Trust me when I say that these friendships are from God because with very different cultures, styles of humor, and our limited vocabulary it hasn't always been easy. God is good!

Mold Madness

After only one month of disuse look what we found in the bottom of the closet!

It is really damp this time of year and we are battling mold big time. We even blow dry our sheets each night before crawling into bed because they feel so wet and clammy. My hair dryer is also used to dry our clothes each morning because they never get completely no matter how long they hang for. Our pillows smell terrible and we just bought new ones in September, there’s nothin’ like laying your head down on a bag of mildew after a long day of work. These are some of the unfortunate things about humidity but on the bright side my skin feels o-so-smooth and perhaps it will help prevent stretch marks over the last 9 weeks of pregnancy. I never need to use lotion or chapstick but rather I powder my feet with gold bond each morning before I slip on a pair of stinky sneakers. Yes, our tennis shoes permanently reek since they are always cycling between wet or just damp.

The Big SEX Question

In the states, people have all sorts of theories for guessing the gender of the baby while those stubborn, old fashioned couples choose not to have the answer revealed on an ultrasound screen. Here are a few I´ve heard over the years.

carrying high = girl (x)
carrying low = boy ( )

Lots of morning sickness = girl ( )
Less = boy (x)

fast heart beat = girl ( )
slower = boy (x)

craving sweets = girl ( )
craving salty and sour = boy (x)

EVERYONE here thinks I´m having a boy for a few of their own
reasons......................

Mom´s that gain weight everywhere = girl ( )
Just a basketball / all belly = boy (x)

Mom´s face generally looks worried and stressed = girl ( )
Mom looks relaxed and happy = boy ( x)

Lots of kicking and movement = boy (x)
Less movement = girl ( )

This next one is my favorite!

A rounded, beautiful belly = girl (x)- Shane's pick
Pointed and not very pretty = boy (x)- Guatemalan's pick


I figure the Guatemalans have more kids than Americans, so as far fetched as some of these sound I´ll assume it´s a boy until proven differently. Besides, I´ve been told many times that my belly is pointed and not pretty like it would be if it were a girl so they better be right or I´ll just be offended that my pregnant belly is unattractive regardless of the gender.

So what do you think?

Montana Teams

Since we arrived back home from Montana, much of our time has been spent with short-term teams from Montana, so I thought I would give an overview of what they did. Who knows, it may spark someone’s interest for next summer?

The first team was from the church, SHEC, in Missoula and many of the team members had never been on a missions trip before. They came to show Christ’s love through work on a classroom in the community of Satexa and through building relationships with the people. With the kids, they sang, pushed them in wheel barrels, had water balloon fights, and led a vacation Bible school on the book of Jonah. The team visited homes and community gardens, encouraging and affirming parents in their hard work of raising kids. They worked alongside the community men to move a mountain of dirt for where the next classroom will be built.
Overall, in their activities the team formed a strong bond with Satexa through the sharing and showing of Christ’s love. At times some of the team expressed a little frustration with not being able to share their testimonies and the gospel due to the language barrier. But they came to understand that their role was to be the hands and feet of Christ and support our staff, who are teaching about the Bible and pointing people to Jesus on a daily basis. I think I can also speak on behalf of the team in saying that their two weeks here was mutually beneficial. The team came not only to give, but also ready to let God work in their own lives through the experience. People here are so generous and hospitable, even though they have far less material things, and there are many lessons we as Americans can learn from them (I speak out of experience). So thanks to the SHEC team, for following God’s leading to Guatemala and being His ambassadors.

One night the team came over to our house for a candlelight dinner. Kallie cooked her signature orange chicken tacos. My sister, Katie, was also part of the team. It was sure nice being able to introduce her to Guatemala and get to spend time together.


That overview was longer than intended, so you’ll have to stay tuned for Montana Team 2 later.

Countdown: 3 1/2 months

We had a crazy month and a half with 4 weeks of it spent with 2 Montana teams. We are a bit frazzled but thoroughly enjoyed our time with fellow Montanans and are glad the trips were so fruitful. Pictures and updates will be following shortly. Thanks to the teams I now have some gringo products that I just can´t live without including LOTS of brown sugar and cans of pumpkin (Thanksgiving without it is depressing).


Pray that we can find a good hospital in the capital and a doctor we can trust. Private hospitals in Guatemala have a C-section rate of 70% which is quite discouraging for me since I´m wanting to go as natural as possible. As a first time mom I already have concerns about pregnancy but then adding cultural differences and expectations to the mix has me feeling somewhat stressed. We are 5 hours from the good hospitals so pray that the baby doesn´t decide to come early or we´ll have a chaotic drive full of speed bumps and curvy roads.





We are getting more and more anxious to enter the wild world of parenting and with only 16 weeks left we won´t have to wait much longer. Just two weeks ago we got to feel the little blueberry's movement for the first time! Many have congratulated us through emails and facebook. Thanks for sharing in our excitement.

Little Gringo

For all of you who don´t know.............I´M PREGNANT!!! After a great first year in Guatemala and 4 wonderful years of marriage we thought the time was right. We surprised our families with the news during our time visiting Montana this past month.


We are expecting the baby to make it´s appearance around January 12th. I'm 16 weeks along and through with morning sickness! We will travel to Guatemala City a few weeks before the due date where we can take some advanced Spanish classes as we wait for the baby to arrive. Our side of the country doesn´t have very good medical facilities or equipment so we don´t feel comfortable staying here. I know this is practically unheard of these days but we WON´T be finding out the sex. We want to be surprised. I´m thinking it´s a boy and Shane´s guessing it´s a girl so we´ll see who´s right come January. Please pray for a healthy pregnancy and smooth transition into parenting!

Back in Chamelco........finally

Does anyone else hate airports as much as I do? We were suppose to leave Wednesday night, but after a 6 hour delay there was no way to make our connecting flight. So we quickly called our 2 airline carriers to change our tickets, which had to be successfully done within an hour or repurchasing tickets would have been neccesary. Then we learn we will leave Missoula Friday morning and have to hang out in Las Vegas until Saturday night. Bummer.
We did make the most out of this unexpected time in Vegas and enjoyed spending some much needed ¨us¨ time together after our packed 4 weeks in Montana. We think the worst is behind us and only smooth sailing from here on out until at check-in in Vegas we find out we can't board until we purchase return tickets since we don't have our work visas yet (after 12 months of waiting) but only tourist visas. So once again the race was on and there we were trying to buy return tickets within the hour and making sure we could get them credited to our account when we cancel them. After that near panic attack was subdued we arrived in Detroit at 1 a.m. and had to spend the night in the terminal since we had to be back at 4 a.m. for check-in. I slept only about an hour when I overheard some disgruntled airport workers discussing the ¨campers¨ behind their work station. Oops. Due to that one delay in Missoula and switching our flights we flew from Missoula to Vegas to Detroit to Fort Lauderdale to Guatemala City. Yikes. Why we had to fly to Detroit I have no idea.

I successfully accomplished two things from my ¨top 10 least favorite things to do¨ list. First was sleeping in an airport and the second was throwing up in a confined space. There I was head hung over my barf bag as we landed in Guatemala City. How humiliating.

Then I had to board a bus for a 5 hour twisting, turning road. 58 hours after we left Missoula we arrived home and were able to reunite with our o-so-loved puppy, Scout.








As you can tell by the pictures we had a great 4 weeks with friends and family.

Montana Bound

We will be heading to Montana for the first time in 14 months. Woohoo! Don´t expect any blog posts in July. We are looking forward to seeing everyone and we´ve missed good ole Montana too. The majority of our time will be spent with family and since we have 70 monthly supporters and many friends we won´t have much time to see people one on one, although we´d love to. Therefore, we will be having 2 barbeques for family, friends and supporters. Our newsletter tells the house addresses (don´t want to give them out over the internet) so please come!

The Billings barbeque is July 1st (Friday) from 5-8
The Missoula barbeque is July 17th (Sunday) from 2-5

Fire!!!

Pop, pop, poppity pop! Everyone in the FH office abandons what they are doing and runs to investigate the noise. The source of the sound is an electrical cord sparking and smoking. Turning off the breaker proves ineffective, so the sparks grow into small flames. In the meantime, chaos takes over. The reactions range from panicking people running around and screaming, thereby adding greatly to the already mounting chaos, to the few, paralyzed with fear, just staring at the flames from a distance, while still others are busy removing vehicles from the burning area. Rather than using the preferred method of using dirt to put out the flames of the electrical fire, it is getting doused in water (for those of you who didn’t take fire safety: electricity + water = a bad thing). In the mayhem, the cord is severed with a nearby broom, putting an end to the excitement. To our surprise we noticed the doctor, from our office, taking people’s blood pressure making sure the fright of the event wasn’t causing serious health problems. I kind of chuckled as I thought this was some sort of joke, but quickly realized that this scenario was taken very seriously.

Now let me bring it up close and personal to an experience two weeks earlier. One morning before work while enjoying a shower I start to notice a strange smell. Mind you, bizarre smells are common in our bathroom, so I didn’t think too much about it. However the smell became much stronger so I quickly rinsed the soap off my eyes to assess the situation. Looking directly up I see my shower head…on fire! Yes, on fire! The natural question that pops into your head is probably the same as mine, how in the world does a shower head catch on fire? Well, hot water heaters aren’t common, so an electric shower head can make a freezing cold shower warm. Anyway back to the shower…I leap out of the shower covered in suds from head to toe hollering for Shane to throw the breaker. My relaxing morning quickly turned thrilling since it’s not everyday there’s an electrical fire just inches above my head and in water at the same time. The wiring in many homes and offices isn’t done by professionals and are wrapped and repaired with little things found around the home. Bad wiring was the culprit of both scenarios, and I’m hoping two fires in one month are all I will be experiencing.

Joys of Dry Season

There is quite the social gathering going on over at the river just outside of town these days. People bathe (while wearing clothes), wash laundry and fill up pitchers to carry to their homes for drinking. It doesn’t matter how much money or how nice of a house some have when it comes to running out of water in the dry season. The dry season affects every socioeconomic status. Whoever is on the city water system (almost everyone) has no water during the day and a drizzle for a few hours in the middle of the night. We haven’t been able to flush the toilet at work for about 2 months. Apparently everyone but me knew that all you have to do is to fill a bucket with water (the drizzle from the night before partially fills a sink) and pour it into the toilet so it can flush.

The first month of dry season we weren’t affected since the ranch we live on has a different, more abundant water source for only 5 houses. The second month we were without water about once a week with an occasional 5 day stint without. This month we have had more days without water than with. Everything stinks without water, literally. I am down to my last pair of clean socks today, haven’t showered in 4 days, we still cook every night, but aren’t able to wash the dishes afterwards. We buy 5 gallon jugs of purified water so thankfully we do have clean drinking water.

I have also noticed how insanely dusty everything is when it doesn’t rain 5 or 6 times a week. My Dirt Devil experience occurs every morning on my way to work when a bus goes flying by and I feel as if I am trapped in a vacuum bag holding my breath waiting for someone to hit the power button. The humidity allows the majority of these tiny particles to stick to every inch of visible flesh. “Oh, how a shower could make everything better”, I say as I walk home with fingers crossed.

~Kallie

a.k.a. Señor Gordo

My jaw has dropped many times in the last year when it comes to fat comments and here are a few I've overheard in just the last month.

On the way back to the office one day we stopped to pick up one of our other workers . We didn't see him in the usual meeting place so our friend hung his head out the window and asked the nearby children if Señor Juan had already left? They shrugged not recognizing the name, so our friend then asked if Señor Gordo** had left? They immediately nodded and pointed.

Marta is 26, single and carries a little extra weight around the middle. Her concerned friend pulls her aside and explains to her, "Marta you are still a señorita*, but you look like a señora^. You really need to lose weight or you´ll never get married looking that way."

After a weekend with friends I mentioned I had eaten too much. My friend turns to me and says, "yeah, I have noticed you've gained some weight in the last few months and you're stomach isn't as flat anymore." Ouch, not exactly what I had meant by one weekend of overindulgence. But surprisingly, I do find their honesty quite refreshing most of the time.


*Senorita = young, single
^Senora = married with children
**Gordo = fat
^^Names have been changed to protect the innocent

Speaking of weight. Here are some women waiting to get their children weighed for the month to know if they are growing like they should be.

The Story Behind the Frown

The staff does and has been doing great work in the communities here. They are out in the villages every day, teaching, encouraging, motivating, and building trusted relationships with the people. Fighting poverty is a proccess. It requires time to change ideas, not quick monetary fixes.

With that being said, I'm so glad that we can be part of the FH Guatemala team. I have not been able to do as much engineering type work as I would have wanted this first year in Guatemala, but that's ok. I'm glad I have been able to lend a hand in other things that need to get done and I'm glad that I have been able spend time in the communities building the relationships and trust that is so vital to what we do.

For example, one job I have had is taking pictures of kids for the child sponsorship program. Sounds fun, it sure is. Sounds easy, it sure ain't. When taking pictures the typical cultural thing to do is get rid of your smile, just like Americans did 50 years ago. Not exactly what we want when we send updates to sponsors or are trying to get new sponsors. The kids here are adorable, especially with their big smiles that they almost always have, so my difficult task was to capture it. I think I've said "smile, look at the camera" a million times in Q'eqchi, in a million different ways to get kids to smile for me. In fact, when I'm in the communities now I commomly hear a kid repeating those words I'm now so known for "Se'en, i li camera". Overall, I think I've done a decent job, but there are some kids, if you saw their picture, you would think they were pretty depressed.


So next time you recieve a child update and they seem to be angry, imagine, just two seconds earlier they probably had the biggest, cutest smile of all. And if you ever are thinking about sponsoring a child and are flipping through photos, don't skip over the kid with a frown because it was only the lack of skill on the part of the photographer to draw out that wonderful smile.

Changed

One whole year in Guatemala has flown by now and I believe the whirlwind has left me (Shane) a changed person, in many ways.

This last week a friend commented that I drive more like a Guatemalan now. Not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not, but you may not want to catch a ride with me when I'm back in Montana. I carry a purse (a man bag here) to town sometimes and am not the least bit embarassed. In fact, purses are actually very practical men. I don't even mind hopping on the back of a motorcyle with another guy now, it's totally normal. The extremely over sugared coffee in the communities does not taste so bad anymore (I've had to get some cavities filled at the dentist though) and for some reason I have not noticed the food being nearly as salty lately (and I should probably get my blood pressure tested).

I'll also see the world through a different pair of glasses now. I've seen first hand that material possessions don't lead to happiness, and though I knew this truth before, I now understand it much better. Related to this, I also understand that poverty is not just a of lack of material things, but of relationships, with God and other people. I also understand much better how every culture has it's evils and goods and how shaped we are from the culture we live in. I've learned the only way to truly sort things out in this world is to better understand God's will revealed in the Bible, this will take a lifetime.

Recently, while doing some surveying in "Caclaib" for a water project I was invited to join the community for a special lunch. It's corn planting season here and communities all plant corn together, taking turns planting eachothers fields. The family that is getting their field planted cooks a special lunch for everyone on that day. I was very grateful to be able to celebrate with them and as I sat at the table not understanding Q'eqchi, I thought about how cool it was that God has placed me here in this tiny community in Guatemala to be a part of their lives. Not a scene I could ever had pictured a year ago, but now a memory that I don't think I'll forget.

Festival de la Familia

As I mentioned in an earlier post I've been participating in our Festival for Families. We go to each of our 15 communities and two dramas are performed. The first is a grumpy, unloving family where dad doesn't interact with his children, orders his wife to bring him food and she shoves her child out of the way as she frantically prepares the meal and cleans house. Laughter is so loud that it's hard to hear the actors at this point. Next Flory, an FH worker, shares about Christ loving the church as a husband should love his wife. Also, children are taught that God commands them to respect their parents. Then a second skit is acted out of a family who is loving and interacting in accordance to these biblical principles. The husband even offers to hold the baby which is so out of the ordinary and foreign that everyone erupts in the loudest burst of laughter yet. I had asked for prayers in this activity and thank you for them. Yesterday, in Chioya a man came to the front of the group and said that he was unable to laugh during the first skit because he was reflecting on how he treats his family. Even though he is a faithful church go-er he hadn't heard about these biblical principles and was convicted to change. Although the majority of people go to church, far too many know little about the Bible, including the Gospel message. Pray that God will help this man, among others, to begin treating his family in a way that brings glory to Himself and that they will accept Jesus. This is a clip from the first drama. It's in the Mayan language but you'll still get the idea.

Getting Personal

Yesterday a few of us went to visit an 84 year old woman, Aura. She fell three weeks ago and hasn't been out of bed since. We sang some songs, visited and finally prayed for her. We wanted to cheer her up and see how she was doing. She has a wood bed, without a mattress or even cushions, and she is wrapped up in some blankets. It's chilly, damp and dark in the modest home. There is a rope hanging from the ceiling, so she can clutch it to pull herself to an upright, sitting position. Aura is in pain and without any medicine to help relieve it.

Initially, I only notice what she doesn't have and feel sorry for her. Then, I start thinking from a different perspective, and I notice what she does have… some food, dry shelter, blankets, a neighbor who is visiting, and her daughter’s care. Although she is in poverty, physically that is, she is blessed through her relationships. She lives with family whom she is around everyday. I’ll bet she likes hearing the kids play out front and the clanging pans as her daughter cooks a meal for the family.

Silence is the enemy in the U.S. For many aging adults (every other age group as well), boredom, isolation, and loneliness is a devastating form of poverty. It is relational poverty and is all too prevalent in the States. As I think about the contrasts between Guatemala and the US, I've realized that to me I’d rather be in pain and near people I love as opposed to being drugged up and feeling good but all alone in my final years of life.

When Adam and Eve chose to sin, all areas of life are affected…including our relationships with each other. Fortunately, through Jesus ALL things, even relationships, can be reconciled. When the book of Acts describes the church growing by thousands, I think this is due to relationships. Christians were close, sharing time, conversation, debate, and were also reaching out and showing Christ's love to others.

I urge you to consider poverty from the relational rather than the physical standpoint As you are reading, does anyone come to mind when thinking about this form of poverty? Put the busyness of life aside and give them a call or better yet…stop by.

Workin' for a livin' or workin' for more?

Kallie and I definitely get our fair share of praises for being in Guatemala. We often hear things like "I'm so proud of you for following God's call to Guatemala, I could never do that", "Thanks for giving up an immediate career out of college to serve God overseas", or "You guys are so awsome for doing what you are doing". But though the compliments are nice, something has always struck me as a little off.

I think many Christians have the idea, whether consciencely or unconsciencely, that the best Christians have given up a normal job to enter into full-time ministry; but this is simply not true. There is a couple of articles written by Bob Thune on "The Theology of Work" that I found very helpful to understand how God wants us to see work. I think they are biblical insights that are both encouraging and challenging (and short for those busy with work). Follow the links below...

What are you called to do?
Created For Work
Work Cursed and Redeemed

The fourth article will probably be posted tomorrow.

What's your method?

I was just asked by the pastor of our church, "Are you unable to have children or are you using birthcontrol and, if so, what type?" Wow, very straightforward. Keep in mind we´ve barely spoken with the pastor pryor to this. This isn´t the first time I´ve been asked this, but it still surprises me everytime. The majority of the men in our office have asked me this same question followed by, "Does Shane know you are preventing pregnancy?"

In many of the communities the man is completely incharge and makes all the decisions without regarding his wife's desires. Normally within a year of the wedding a couple will have their first child so when it is discovered we've been married almost four years and don't have children people are curious. At times a woman who has more kids than her husband can provide for will secretly take things into her own hands since birth control is free at the public health centers; hence the question about Shane's knowledge of the situation.

This question stems from two roots, one, pure curiousity (our pastor) and two, the belief that women don't have rights and shouldn't. As one may assume, this idea of women not having worth has a very negative impact on families. This question takes me off guard everytime, but has been a great way to talk about how God views marriage and women.

This month we are putting on skits and dramas (people LOVE these) and sharing what the Bible says about the family in all 15 communities. Pray that God will opens hearts, especially the fathers, as we address family issues with His Word as our guide.

Let the Good Times Roll

We were blessed with back to back visitors last month. Scott and Nancy
(Shane's parents) came for two weeks followed by a two week visit from
Mindy (Kallie's sister) and Charlie. We loved spending time with them
since we have only seen one family member in 10 months, which is way
too long.

With the Hoffner's we used a few vacation days to see Tikal, the
famous Mayan ruins which are so extensive we only saw half of it in 5
hours. In the U.S. I would expect everything to be roped off so the
structures could be "properly preserved" but instead we could walk
through them, climb them (at our own risk and peril), and touch them. I wasn't expecting them to be anywhere near as cool as they are. We also camped and explored some caves where Mayan's had once carried out religious ceremonies and lived, this seemed like a good idea until I saw hundreds of little bats hung upside down. Our puppy, Scout, didn't wake them, though, and our first spelunking experience was a good one.

With our next guests we headed east, ditched our car at the base of a river and canoed with Mindy and Charlie to Livingston. A ship of Nigerian slaves wrecked off Guatemala's coast a long time ago and still to this day there isn't a single road going into this area. This people group is called Garifunas and many of them even speak English along with Spanish and Garifuna. We ate delicious seafood, hiked and kayaked.


Many Guatemalans are busy with birthday parties or weddings of family members (extended family out to 4th or 5th cousins) almost every weekend it seems, and so making friends is a slower process. Therefore, we loved spending our evenings playing cards, cooking together and just being able to spend time with family.

How much?

Here it comes. I cringe as I anticipate the question that so often gets asked. How much did that cost? Even when we made a fellow staff member meatball subs for dinner he asked, "how much did these cost to make?" Really? Why do you want to know? Are you considering making them, are you just curious, or are you being nosy? People have asked how much our dog cost before they even cared to kow what kind he is. These are the questions we have grappled with and, in the midst of a different culture, we don't always know what to think.

We think one reason behind this question is an idea that everyone in the States are born very rich and there is a curisosity to know how rich. Blame it on Hollywood I guess, but because of this we are always trying to avoid this blunt question. My co workers can hardly even believe that we don't have a house back in Montana just waiting for us and many have asked me, "why don`t your parents buy you one?" I'll be sure and put that on my Christmas wish list next year.

Although I am not a fan of this question, it has made me think twice before I buy something. Many know that I am already a tight wad, but I still end up accumulating a bunch of things that I really have no need for. While around so much poverty my idea of needs and wants has definitely been challenged. For instance, a refrigerator or hot water is not a household need, it's a blessing from God. Don't get me wrong, the solution to poverty isn`t about redistributing resources, but I find that I'm noticing more of all the Bible verses about money I typically haven't lingered upon.

Puzzle Pieces

As we have stated before, making Guatemala our home is crucial to the effectiveness of our work. Last Sunday we fulfilled a four year desire of ours, we bought a German Shepherd puppy! After just finishing the book Last of the Mohicans together, we named him Scout since he is a true adventurer. The streets are filled with an assortment of mutts, but we opted for the nine hour car ride to and from the capital to get exactly what we were looking for.


Life as we knew it has already changed. We are up bright and early to take this 11 week old bundle of energy for walks before work. Next we power walk home on our lunch hour to play. A new form of exercise is sprinting after him to save favored items in the house that look like chew toys to the little guy i.e. computer cords, comfy chairs, shoes and laundry strung up to dry. Shane has successfully earned the coveted position of "alpha male" and I (Kallie) am still battling for our Scout to see me as an authority figure. I think I am lowest on the pecking order at this point. We just love his temperament, though, and have embraced the change of pace in our life. Everyone loves puppies which helps us meet more people and is a great conversation starter. In our last week with him we have had multiple conversations with our neighbors about why we are here and what we are striving towards.

Pieces of the puzzle are falling in place as Guatemala feels more andmore like home rather than an extended missions "trip".

Christmas Eve

The expectation was to celebrate the holidays alone and missing family, but fortunately Guatemalan customs didn't permit it. We were bombarded with invitations for the 24th, so much so we had to turn down two of them. Tamales require almost 8 hours of preparation and women will get together and assembly up to 300 for the festivities. On Christmas Eve we first went to Sandra's home which was filled with uncles, grandparents, cousins, second cousins, and the list goes on. We were able to get in on the tamale making action by wrapping up the leaf and tieing it closed with a piece of twine from another type of plant (how organic!). These tamales aren't the mexi-american style we are use to either. Most are kind of mushy, made with crushed corn and water and then filled with a small piece of meat, a slice of pepper, a date and sauce. First tamale we ate was at 4 o`clock and she sent a bag of four tamales with us.

Next, we visited a couple just a little older than us and they served a fruit punch, called ponche, which is filled with tiny pieces of cocunut, pinneaple, grapes and apples. There is no way you can drink this without a spoon. Then we were each served two tamales, one with the typical corn base and the other with a potato base. By 6 o`clock we had each eaten 3 tamales.


Finally, we went to another gal from works house. As we arrived a family was leaving and we were able to visit with just the two of them for a few hours. People come and go and some will continue visiting homes until the wee hours of the night. Flory, my friend from work, is in her 30s and her husband is 40 and we had a great time just getting to visit around the table in a relaxing environment. Age doesn't seem to be as noted here and friendships of varied ages are common. Shane plays soccer with her husband, Selvin and I have helped Flory lose 15 pounds in the last few months, so between sports and health we had plenty to talk about. At 8 we each ate another tamale which was our 4th in just a few hours and she too sent us home with 2 tamales. I was pleasently surprised that I enjoyed eating this typical Christmas item since I haven't liked the ones prior to the 24th. Either our friends are better cooks or I am getting a little more Guatemalan.

People here are wonderful hosts, not only do they feed their guests, but it's customary to send them home with extras. They were perfectly at ease when there was a moment of silence and since celebrating birthdays and holidays are done with a 100 or more people, they are accustomed to inviting people into their homes, which are quite small I might add. We have been challenged not to be skiddish or timid when it comes to invitations. I normally worry it might be akward if I don`t know them really well, or they won't like my food. I am much more prone to want to meet them at a coffee shop than bring them into my home. Our culture suffers from relational poverty where many feel lonely and desire more friendships. Step out and invite someone into your home this week and see how God will use it!