Happy freaking March 1st! Here's a few things that happened in the month of February:
February was ¡feliz cumpleaños! month for 3
of our 4 residents in this household. Melissa, Richard, and I celebrated our
birthdays and friends came to party with us!
Finished this book with tears in my eyes
and conviction in my heart, and have since picked up this hilarious and thought-provoking one written by one of my favorite bloggers. Can I
just say I LOVE being out of college and LOVE reading books for fun?!
We’ve been continually blessed by the
people we’ve met here. So many families have reached out to us in different
ways—one of those ways being inviting us over for dinner at their house.
Through these acts of kindness, Zach and I have had the chance to get to know
our neighbors better and hear their stories and eat great food. We love stories
and we love food. Hurray!
I had the incredible privilege of joining
Dr. Rivera and Dr. Erick and a nurse who is also my friend, Patty, on a teeny
tiny little missionary plane to a community in the mountains of Quiché. The
flight only made me slightly queasy, but it was an amazing ride with
breathtaking views, as you can imagine. Spending a few days in this village
attending to patients in the clinic was like a childhood dream come true for
me. I am so grateful for that opportunity. Would love to do more of this and may have another chance down the road.
I’ve been venturing out in traffic more. We
live in the capital, not in a village, so you would think they would have some
road rules here… nope. So I usually let Zach or somebody else drive because I’m
a big baby and don’t want to DIE in a car wreck. But yes, I’ve been trying to
drive more…
We got MAIL! So fun to receive, and what an
encouragmentJ
I talked with both Grandma Labenz and Nana
Menchaca last month!! Woop woop! Nothin like chats with grandmasJ
I saw my first scorpion. Terrifying. Haven’t seen once since though, gracias a Dios.
This month Zach has reported more confidence and ease in teaching students in the classroom. I think a lot of his insecurities at the beginning came from knowing that a majority of the students in his Spanish classes already speak fluent Spanish because they’re missionary kids and have lived here their whole lives. Needless to say, Mr. Borchardt always finds ways to help them improve their grammar and other skills. :)
The kindergarten girls at Prince of Peace continue to be as cute and craaazy as ever during our hour craft sessions!
We had Dr. Rivera over for supper on
Valentines Day. I have grown so fond of this goofy and father-like doctor I
follow around all the time, so I wanted the people I love to have a chance to
get to know him, too. It was wonderful! Zach did a good job being the
translator, as Dr. speaks minimal English and the Jeffersons speak minimal
Spanish. We are all learning!
One Saturday I decided to devote the
afternoon to writing a song and putting it to music, and it was successful. Haven’t
tried to do that in over a year, and it felt really good. I write songs just to
play them for nobody, but it is just something I really love to do when I’m
able. Plus sometimes one just really needs a few good hours of alone time with
a piano and some thoughts to elaborate on…
3 words: Sunday night worship. You just have to come visit to know what I’m talking about. It is one of my favorite parts of the whole week.
Helping at the clinics continues to be such
a joy to me. At Prince of Peace, Dr. Rivera and I are busy the whole time
seeing patients, but at the clinic in Palín there can be a lot of down time—which
is not bad at all because it is in those moments that I get to practice my
Spanish with the staff there. I love them sooo much! Am praying/thinking hard
about how I can specifically help this clinic in a big way before Zach and I
have to leave… stay tuned for that…
The night we “crashed” somebody’s
Quinceañera (big celebration for a girl turning 15): We were invited by some
friends, thinking it was only a family get-together. When we pulled up to the
address we had written on a piece of paper, there was loud music and fancy
decorations (fancier than our wedding!) and people in their best dresses/suits.
We were a little late and walked in the back, and everybody turned and looked at us. Zach and I looked at each other
and both thought, should we slink away
and pretend we never came? But our sweet friend quickly came to our aid and
escorted us to the very front (Zach was wearing jeans and, why didn’t I put on
a dress?!) and we ended up really enjoying the whole night! Everyone was so
kind to us, the girl who was being celebrated (already forgot her name!) was
beautiful, and our friends hooked us up with 3 Guatemalan doctors and their
phone numbers in case we ever needed something. Now THAT is hospitality! We
were so blown away. And yes, the cake really was good.
Adios, February 2013.
Kristen
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