Buenas!!!!
So we have now arrived once again at Suzanne's house, ready for the return flight home to good old England tomorrow. We have had some more fantastic travelling times - the 13 hour overnight bus to Playa del Carmen was horrible as expected - but the result of the destination made it totally worthwhile. Playa was incredible - the sand on the beach was so fine and the sea was gorgeous. Kossy and I decided to splash out and treat ourselves so we went paragliding! It was really cool - the view of the coast and even the water were really cool - it was so much fun! We headed to Chichen Itza the next day (Mayan ruins) which were incredible. They were the 5th mayan ruins we have seen!
The next day was ultimate travel times - we got a bus to Merida and then onto another overnight bus - this time for 15 hours. again it was horrible but we arrived in San Cristobal once again mid day on Monday. We headed to a new hostel advertised by a guy at the bus terminal and fell asleep. We went to the market again in San Cristobal which is really cool - in the shadow of a huge cathedral, before heading bak to the hostel to sleep! We were both really ill in the night - think it was dodgy mango - so decided not to travel as planned the next day. We moved out of our hostel because it was rubbish - very cold and the staff were really rude when we were sick. We headed to another one nearby and i endud up sleeping for almost 24 hours. After that i felt alot better. (we are both fine now).
We had planned to break up the journey back to Su Su's house but now we didnt have enough time so we got a bus straight to Antigua. It took 12 hours - which in a microbus isnt very fun! Crossing the border was interesting - to get out of Mexico we had an unexpected 262 peso charge sprung upon us and we had planned it perfectly to end up at the border with no pesos left, and there was no cash machine. So we were kinda screwed but fortunately 2 very kind aussies called Kim and Vanessa who we had made friends with on the bus lent us some money. We eventually arrived in Antigua and headed straight for Su Su's and have been chilling here since eating all her food :-) - we did make a trip to Antigua today to do some more shopping (sorry Paul i couldnt find any havianas...)
So tomorrow (actually tday in less than 12 hours) we are flying home to England. We have had a truly fantastic time travelling and a brilliant experience as a whole. I have learnt so much over this past 5 months and have so much to thank God for. I am looking forward to being back in England and seeing people but i will definately be missing Central America and people here lots and lots. Maybe one day i might make my way back here.......
Thanks for reading all these blogs - i know they have been long at times1 I hope you have enjoyed them and all the details of the food we have been eating :-)
For the last time...
Lots of love,
God Bless all.
Joel
Thursday, 6 August 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
More travelling..
Been a while - in Mexico now...
Since last blog - we travelled south through belize (hitting the beaches again!) and hired bikes at one point. In a place called Dangriga we met a guy called Bob who was a tailor - Kossy and Luke gave him some money to make some clothes for them and we never saw him again. We went round to his house and he wasnt there - someone told us he was at his uncles house - then when we went back again they said he was in guatemala.... We then did a cool boat journey along the rio dulce river, before saying goodbye to Luke and Claire and heading to Coban - saw places called Semuc Champey (big river that goes underground with loads of incredible pools on top - i climbed down and up a waterfall holding on to a rope - was quite scary but im still alive) and Grutas de Lanquin (massive cave system which is not all explored or mapped - loads and loads of bats). We were in a rubbish minivan which got stuck on a big hill on the way to the caves so aftyer 2 hours of pushing and pulling using a big rope we gave up - had to walk to a nearby hostel and all cram into 1 minivan - was quite cosy... Watched Dodgeball on a TV in the hostel!
Then we had an epic day travel to get to Mexico to a place called San Cristobal de Las Casas and chilled there for a day - really nice town, lots of culture. Then headed up north to the ruins of Palenque which were cool - we are in Palenque town now. Got an overnight bus tonight to Playa Del Carmen which should be fun (sarcasm).
Generally there is lots of sweatyness and smellyness so looking forward to hitting up the beach at Playa del Carmen - the beaches are gorgeous check it out on google.
Will probably blog again at some point.
God Bless
Joel x
Since last blog - we travelled south through belize (hitting the beaches again!) and hired bikes at one point. In a place called Dangriga we met a guy called Bob who was a tailor - Kossy and Luke gave him some money to make some clothes for them and we never saw him again. We went round to his house and he wasnt there - someone told us he was at his uncles house - then when we went back again they said he was in guatemala.... We then did a cool boat journey along the rio dulce river, before saying goodbye to Luke and Claire and heading to Coban - saw places called Semuc Champey (big river that goes underground with loads of incredible pools on top - i climbed down and up a waterfall holding on to a rope - was quite scary but im still alive) and Grutas de Lanquin (massive cave system which is not all explored or mapped - loads and loads of bats). We were in a rubbish minivan which got stuck on a big hill on the way to the caves so aftyer 2 hours of pushing and pulling using a big rope we gave up - had to walk to a nearby hostel and all cram into 1 minivan - was quite cosy... Watched Dodgeball on a TV in the hostel!
Then we had an epic day travel to get to Mexico to a place called San Cristobal de Las Casas and chilled there for a day - really nice town, lots of culture. Then headed up north to the ruins of Palenque which were cool - we are in Palenque town now. Got an overnight bus tonight to Playa Del Carmen which should be fun (sarcasm).
Generally there is lots of sweatyness and smellyness so looking forward to hitting up the beach at Playa del Carmen - the beaches are gorgeous check it out on google.
Will probably blog again at some point.
God Bless
Joel x
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Friday, 10 July 2009
End of Step... :-)
I feel like i should blog as i havnt in ages but its 1.30am so its going to be short - that should make Paul happy though because he might actually read it...
Last wednesday we finished our time working with GEU (the house and garden looks awesome) and started our holiday which has just come to an end. We climbed a live volcano called Pacaya and toasted Marshmellows, and then headed off to Lake Atitlan for a few days which was incredibly beautiful. We have also visited Antigua (a traditional style town with lots of markets and lots of fun haggling)
In about 5 and a half hours, Claire, Luke, Rachel, Kossy and I are getting the bus to Tikal. Claire and Luke are travelling for 2 weeks, Rachel is staying on for summer step and Kossy and I are staying on for 4 weeks. Heulwen is staying for 3 weeks but is meeting up with friends so not coming with us. Everyone else (Faye, Katy, Helen, Matt and Guy) are flying home tomorrow.
Lots of sad times saying goodbye later today which will be very hard but its not a permanent goodybe.
Im shattered so cant write more - Step has been one of (if not the) most amazing experiences of my life. I have learnt so much about so much! Its just been staggering!
Cant wait for travelling - will try to keep you updated.
Much Love and God Bless,
Joel
Last wednesday we finished our time working with GEU (the house and garden looks awesome) and started our holiday which has just come to an end. We climbed a live volcano called Pacaya and toasted Marshmellows, and then headed off to Lake Atitlan for a few days which was incredibly beautiful. We have also visited Antigua (a traditional style town with lots of markets and lots of fun haggling)
In about 5 and a half hours, Claire, Luke, Rachel, Kossy and I are getting the bus to Tikal. Claire and Luke are travelling for 2 weeks, Rachel is staying on for summer step and Kossy and I are staying on for 4 weeks. Heulwen is staying for 3 weeks but is meeting up with friends so not coming with us. Everyone else (Faye, Katy, Helen, Matt and Guy) are flying home tomorrow.
Lots of sad times saying goodbye later today which will be very hard but its not a permanent goodybe.
Im shattered so cant write more - Step has been one of (if not the) most amazing experiences of my life. I have learnt so much about so much! Its just been staggering!
Cant wait for travelling - will try to keep you updated.
Much Love and God Bless,
Joel
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Guatemala times!!
Wow it has been a long time since the last blog so apologies (mainly to Mum - im alive by the way...)
Building has gone really well. We have now finished all the painting work inside and outside. Over the past 3 weeks we have all been covered in paint at various different times, but enough of it made its way onto the walls to give a complete paint job!! We also finished scrubbing, sanding and painting the dreaded balcones. Seriously, those things are the most annoying things to maintain - I am so glad we dont need them in England! I almost cried when Vinicio told us that because they had been so rusty before, they needed a second coat of paint! Nonetheless, we did the job well and got it all finished! We have also had a large scaffolding up over the last couple of weeks at the front of the house in order to paint the higher parts that were otherwise unreachable. It was perfectly safe though - dont worry (Jose - the builder who is working with us is an absolute legend and an amazing ingenious builder - and he put up the scaffolding to make sure it was safe) So after lots of scrubbing, painting and of course lots of laughs, the GEU house is looking much much better. We also constructed a new roof outside because the bases were pretty much rotted through! The house looks very different now which is encouraging!
We now have only 3 days left on site, to finish off the garden that we started this week. We have become the ground force team, clearing and remodelling the garden, including fancy paths and some decking. Guy thought it would be nice to add a water feature to the garden, so decided to pickaxe his way through a pipe in the garden (which happened to be the main pipe from the housr, which drained all the water from the entire house!) Jose was quickly on the scene though, and after cutting of the water supply to the house from under the pavement out front, and blocking the tank on the rof with a cork, the leeking stopped. The garden was, however, partially swamped which put us back a bit but all is good now!
We have also had Luke´s birthday since the last blog. What a day... It started with him having a treasure hunt to find his presents, during which i was dressed as a Puffy Pirate... and Guy was the Rey de las Cocarachas (King of the Cockroaches). It was a right laugh. He had a toffee corn flae cake thingy for lunch and then at dinner had a freshly baked lemon drizzle cake. Complements to the chefs Fay and Rachel for the most amazing cake! To put an end to the day, Guy, Matt and I fulfilled one of Luke´s birthday wishes (everyone gets 10 wishes on their birthday) but giving him a dance. We danced incredibly to Shakira´s ´Wherever, whenever´ which was incredible. Probably more inappropriate than Luke was expecting but that added to the fun.
We also spent a weekend at Su Su´s house (Suzanne Potter - our co-ordinator). It was a really amazing weekend- lots of time to relax and chill and eat Suzannes amazing food - on Sunday we had a full on English roast beef! It was awesome. On Sunday we went to the Fraternidad Cristiano de Guatemala which is a mega Church. When i say Mage i mean it - it had a congregation of 12,000 people and they meet in a building much bigger than Loftus Road (QPR´s ground for those of you who dont know!) It was quite crazy, a very good experince but i dont really think that that is what Church should be like - it definately lacked the family aspect that you can get in the smaller churches here (and in Bless!!).
Last week we went to the National Palace. It was th e 3rd time we had tried to getting in after being rejected in favour of the President of Taiwan (ridiculous i know!). This Thursday we went to the National Theatre to watch the NAtional Orchestra! It was absolutley incredible! (sorry for my lack of interesting adjectives) We got the tickets for free because we had been to see a concert earlier in the week but it was closed due to swine flu. Vinicio managed to blag us some free tickets to this one though so worked out much better in the end!
Yesterday we had an amazing day working with the El Castillo project. They work with street kids so we split into 2 groups and went to different locations. My group went to work with younger kids. We set up differentstations for them in a basketball/football court. My station involved sheets of paper with pencils and paint and the kids could do whatever they wanted. One of them used the opportunity to paint a whole piece of paper blue but he was so sweet it was cool. They loved it all so much - we gave them sweets and chocolates and then fed them some cereal aswell. Taking them back home was quite an upsetting experience. All the kids lived on a big rubbish pile where the waste and refuge from the market place goes. It was really sad to see these people and these kids living in these conditions which made me feel even more privalleged to be able to help them out, even in such a small way.
Life is going really well in general. There are so many bits and pieces that i will have missed out on because i cant remember. We have had so much fun, so many laughs all the time and it has just been incredible. I wish i had time to write about it all (thats not true actualy because typing gets pretty boring after a while) but just trust me that we are having th emost amazing experince out here.
Devotions have been amazing aswell - we are still going with Revelation - we are doing chapter 15 tonight so are on track to get it finished.
Hope you guys are all well - if any other steppers reading this have actually got this far then hello and much love and prayers.
God Bless,
Joel
Building has gone really well. We have now finished all the painting work inside and outside. Over the past 3 weeks we have all been covered in paint at various different times, but enough of it made its way onto the walls to give a complete paint job!! We also finished scrubbing, sanding and painting the dreaded balcones. Seriously, those things are the most annoying things to maintain - I am so glad we dont need them in England! I almost cried when Vinicio told us that because they had been so rusty before, they needed a second coat of paint! Nonetheless, we did the job well and got it all finished! We have also had a large scaffolding up over the last couple of weeks at the front of the house in order to paint the higher parts that were otherwise unreachable. It was perfectly safe though - dont worry (Jose - the builder who is working with us is an absolute legend and an amazing ingenious builder - and he put up the scaffolding to make sure it was safe) So after lots of scrubbing, painting and of course lots of laughs, the GEU house is looking much much better. We also constructed a new roof outside because the bases were pretty much rotted through! The house looks very different now which is encouraging!
We now have only 3 days left on site, to finish off the garden that we started this week. We have become the ground force team, clearing and remodelling the garden, including fancy paths and some decking. Guy thought it would be nice to add a water feature to the garden, so decided to pickaxe his way through a pipe in the garden (which happened to be the main pipe from the housr, which drained all the water from the entire house!) Jose was quickly on the scene though, and after cutting of the water supply to the house from under the pavement out front, and blocking the tank on the rof with a cork, the leeking stopped. The garden was, however, partially swamped which put us back a bit but all is good now!
We have also had Luke´s birthday since the last blog. What a day... It started with him having a treasure hunt to find his presents, during which i was dressed as a Puffy Pirate... and Guy was the Rey de las Cocarachas (King of the Cockroaches). It was a right laugh. He had a toffee corn flae cake thingy for lunch and then at dinner had a freshly baked lemon drizzle cake. Complements to the chefs Fay and Rachel for the most amazing cake! To put an end to the day, Guy, Matt and I fulfilled one of Luke´s birthday wishes (everyone gets 10 wishes on their birthday) but giving him a dance. We danced incredibly to Shakira´s ´Wherever, whenever´ which was incredible. Probably more inappropriate than Luke was expecting but that added to the fun.
We also spent a weekend at Su Su´s house (Suzanne Potter - our co-ordinator). It was a really amazing weekend- lots of time to relax and chill and eat Suzannes amazing food - on Sunday we had a full on English roast beef! It was awesome. On Sunday we went to the Fraternidad Cristiano de Guatemala which is a mega Church. When i say Mage i mean it - it had a congregation of 12,000 people and they meet in a building much bigger than Loftus Road (QPR´s ground for those of you who dont know!) It was quite crazy, a very good experince but i dont really think that that is what Church should be like - it definately lacked the family aspect that you can get in the smaller churches here (and in Bless!!).
Last week we went to the National Palace. It was th e 3rd time we had tried to getting in after being rejected in favour of the President of Taiwan (ridiculous i know!). This Thursday we went to the National Theatre to watch the NAtional Orchestra! It was absolutley incredible! (sorry for my lack of interesting adjectives) We got the tickets for free because we had been to see a concert earlier in the week but it was closed due to swine flu. Vinicio managed to blag us some free tickets to this one though so worked out much better in the end!
Yesterday we had an amazing day working with the El Castillo project. They work with street kids so we split into 2 groups and went to different locations. My group went to work with younger kids. We set up differentstations for them in a basketball/football court. My station involved sheets of paper with pencils and paint and the kids could do whatever they wanted. One of them used the opportunity to paint a whole piece of paper blue but he was so sweet it was cool. They loved it all so much - we gave them sweets and chocolates and then fed them some cereal aswell. Taking them back home was quite an upsetting experience. All the kids lived on a big rubbish pile where the waste and refuge from the market place goes. It was really sad to see these people and these kids living in these conditions which made me feel even more privalleged to be able to help them out, even in such a small way.
Life is going really well in general. There are so many bits and pieces that i will have missed out on because i cant remember. We have had so much fun, so many laughs all the time and it has just been incredible. I wish i had time to write about it all (thats not true actualy because typing gets pretty boring after a while) but just trust me that we are having th emost amazing experince out here.
Devotions have been amazing aswell - we are still going with Revelation - we are doing chapter 15 tonight so are on track to get it finished.
Hope you guys are all well - if any other steppers reading this have actually got this far then hello and much love and prayers.
God Bless,
Joel
Monday, 1 June 2009
Guatemala continued...
Hey everyone.
Time seems to be flying for us here in Guatemala. It seems like we have barely arrived, yet we have now spent 3 weeks here!
On our working days we have continued to paint the interior of the house and the balcones outside (grates covering windows and doors). We have now also begun work on the roof that we are building outside (Meaning we have taken it down and are now going to put up the new structure).
On Monday morning we went to a different campus (the medicine and pyscology one) to promote the small bible studies they do every week. We did a couple of dramas - the Sticky Chair drama and one called Study, ´Eat, Play, Sleep.... Die´. They both went down really well and we managed to attract a decent crowd to talk to afterwards (although that might also be because we are white... We had a free afternoon which was put to very good use - watching Gladiator on my Ipod :)
One of the guys in the house, Eduardo, is an architect and had to finish a project by Monday. A few of us had been helping him out by making little models and other bits and pieces. Kossy, Rachel and Luke ended up staying up all of Sunday night to help him out. Despite this they came on Monday to do the dramas, but were running solely on Coffee (Rachel was hilariously hyper). Unfortunately he didn´t manage to finish the project but got an extension and handed it in a couple of days later.
On Wednesday we managed to get away at 12 to the Uni campus and watched the final in a big auditorium. Everyone here supports Barcelona so it was quite a rowdy crowd. I was wearing my England shirt so got quite a bit of abuse after the game but it was all good. Barca were fantastic so there´s nothing to hold against them...
Friday we went to the Museam of the University which was mildly interesting. In the afternoon we continued with our English lessons, which we also did on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was good fun - we played basketball and football with some of the guys. The girls came along to play basketball (Helen even scored a basket!!) but went back when we went to the football pitch. It was all great fun as usual but by the end of it i had screwed up my knee quite badly. That evening/night was quite painful - walking was difficult and bending hurt alot. IT´s much better now though.
Yesterday (Sunday) was incredible. For the first 2 weeks we have been going to a Church called El Camino, which is good, but very American (it even had a fair few Americans in it). This week we were invited to a different Church where we could have some participation. We practised 5 songs and a drama that we did, and I also gave my testimony (In Spanish!!!!) The Church had a proper upright piano, rather thatn a keyboard - which was amazing to play after 3ish months! The dramas and songs went really well - as did my testimony. I didnt struggle with the language or pronunciation which was amazing. After a break in the service (when they served sandwiches!!) we were asked if we wanted to do more stuff, so we sung a couple more songs, Guy did an instrumental of ´Lord i lift your name on high´on the sax and we did another couple of dramas. It was a fantastic service and I really enjoyed it (especially the piano!!).
In the afternoon we were invited to a guy called Victor Hugos house. His son plays piano at the Royal Conservatory or something similar and is basically incredible. We went to have a bit of a jam basically. Guy took his guitar and played with the Guys son (whose name i cant remember). Me and Guy then spent ages playing the piano which again was so much fun. At one point, he asked us all to come outside for a photo. He told us to stand by his Eucalyptus tree, some crouching to get everyone in. Most of the group, completely mistranslating this, thought he wanted us all in the tree and started to climb it very enthusiastically. When Helen corrected the mistranslation, there was a quick scurry for the ground (Luke basically dropped out of the tree) and we all looked rather embarrased for the photo.
Time is flying here and I cant believe we are almost halfway through this project. We have been having an amazing series of devotions studying the book of Revelation. It´s quite tricky but we have managed to have some awesome discussions about it all.
Thanks so much for all the prayers - our music man neighbour is still playing his music loud and proud at all hours so please continue to pray for him.
God Bless
Joel
Time seems to be flying for us here in Guatemala. It seems like we have barely arrived, yet we have now spent 3 weeks here!
On our working days we have continued to paint the interior of the house and the balcones outside (grates covering windows and doors). We have now also begun work on the roof that we are building outside (Meaning we have taken it down and are now going to put up the new structure).
On Monday morning we went to a different campus (the medicine and pyscology one) to promote the small bible studies they do every week. We did a couple of dramas - the Sticky Chair drama and one called Study, ´Eat, Play, Sleep.... Die´. They both went down really well and we managed to attract a decent crowd to talk to afterwards (although that might also be because we are white... We had a free afternoon which was put to very good use - watching Gladiator on my Ipod :)
One of the guys in the house, Eduardo, is an architect and had to finish a project by Monday. A few of us had been helping him out by making little models and other bits and pieces. Kossy, Rachel and Luke ended up staying up all of Sunday night to help him out. Despite this they came on Monday to do the dramas, but were running solely on Coffee (Rachel was hilariously hyper). Unfortunately he didn´t manage to finish the project but got an extension and handed it in a couple of days later.
On Wednesday we managed to get away at 12 to the Uni campus and watched the final in a big auditorium. Everyone here supports Barcelona so it was quite a rowdy crowd. I was wearing my England shirt so got quite a bit of abuse after the game but it was all good. Barca were fantastic so there´s nothing to hold against them...
Friday we went to the Museam of the University which was mildly interesting. In the afternoon we continued with our English lessons, which we also did on Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was good fun - we played basketball and football with some of the guys. The girls came along to play basketball (Helen even scored a basket!!) but went back when we went to the football pitch. It was all great fun as usual but by the end of it i had screwed up my knee quite badly. That evening/night was quite painful - walking was difficult and bending hurt alot. IT´s much better now though.
Yesterday (Sunday) was incredible. For the first 2 weeks we have been going to a Church called El Camino, which is good, but very American (it even had a fair few Americans in it). This week we were invited to a different Church where we could have some participation. We practised 5 songs and a drama that we did, and I also gave my testimony (In Spanish!!!!) The Church had a proper upright piano, rather thatn a keyboard - which was amazing to play after 3ish months! The dramas and songs went really well - as did my testimony. I didnt struggle with the language or pronunciation which was amazing. After a break in the service (when they served sandwiches!!) we were asked if we wanted to do more stuff, so we sung a couple more songs, Guy did an instrumental of ´Lord i lift your name on high´on the sax and we did another couple of dramas. It was a fantastic service and I really enjoyed it (especially the piano!!).
In the afternoon we were invited to a guy called Victor Hugos house. His son plays piano at the Royal Conservatory or something similar and is basically incredible. We went to have a bit of a jam basically. Guy took his guitar and played with the Guys son (whose name i cant remember). Me and Guy then spent ages playing the piano which again was so much fun. At one point, he asked us all to come outside for a photo. He told us to stand by his Eucalyptus tree, some crouching to get everyone in. Most of the group, completely mistranslating this, thought he wanted us all in the tree and started to climb it very enthusiastically. When Helen corrected the mistranslation, there was a quick scurry for the ground (Luke basically dropped out of the tree) and we all looked rather embarrased for the photo.
Time is flying here and I cant believe we are almost halfway through this project. We have been having an amazing series of devotions studying the book of Revelation. It´s quite tricky but we have managed to have some awesome discussions about it all.
Thanks so much for all the prayers - our music man neighbour is still playing his music loud and proud at all hours so please continue to pray for him.
God Bless
Joel
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Guatemala!
Buenas from Guatemala City!
We´ve been here nearly 2 weeks now. We arrived in Guatemala city, driven by an extremely irritable mini bus driver who liked to mutter gringo insults under his breath. Now you might think that this is a bit harsh, and it is, because we could never have done anything to aggrevate him at all... Well... When we were about 20 mins into the journey, Guy and i realised that we had left something at the hotel. Not just an item of clothing or some possesion, it was a very part of ourselves. I am talking of course about our cowboy hats. So.. after about a minute of discussion - we decided to return for them (massive amount of credit goes to Faye who helped sway the minds of other less convinced team members that we should go back.) So when we arrived once again at the hotel i jumped out and ran in. Slyly, I had put my passport in my pocket so that when I came out again - I hid the cowboy hats as best as I could while proclaiming I had what I went in for and waved my passport about in front of me. Despite the laughter/disbelief from the team, the driver was still not amused... When we arrived in Guatemala City, the driver asked us for directions to the address we had given him. Our response - completely blank faces. So after another 30 mins of driving around the city we eventually saw Suzanne waving crazilly from infront of a house. We quickly unloaded the van and said goodbye to the driver (after he tried to scam some more money out of us for apparently having too many bags!)
We are now living in a student house with 6 other Guatemalan students near the University - Norberto, Julio César, Aldo, Sergio, Eder, Eduardo. Ouselves included there are 17 people in the house which is most definitely cosy. The lads we are living with are awesome and already feel like family - nothing like paint fights for breaking the ice! The house we´re living in is the headquarters of GEU, the Guatemalan Christian students union, it’s a space for all the students to use as well as providing living space for 6 students who wouldn´t otherwise be able to afford accommodation. The house is pretty old and a bit of a mess so our first project is renovation inside and outside, building a new outside roof ( which we´re pro´s at now) and sorting out the garden. Work on the house takes up 3 days of our week (tues-thur), Friday we´ll be helping the students with any outreach programs they have running in the morning and giving English lessons in the afternoon, Saturday we have another English lesson in the morning and sports outreach in the afternoon and Sunday is various church stuff.
Work on the house is going well, we have alreday repainted the main living area and the front courtyard which definately bright up the place. Unfortunately, some bright spark decided to pebble dash all the ceilings inside which makes painting them an absolute time consuming, arm aching nightmare. But despite that, we buckled down and the ceiling is now nice and white which brightens the room alot! Another task we are doing is sanding and repainting balcones, which are basically big metal grates which cover all the doors and windows. Scraping them of rust and sanding them so they are smooth is no easy task and takes alot of will power to stop yourself from going crazy... Painting them, however, is just as frustrating. Not the painting but the paint itself. We are using this black anti corrosive paint which when you get it on your skin, refuses to come off unless it is scrubbed with white spirit. It also means that cleaning the brushes and pots is not at all fun. Anyway - we are looking forward to getting started on the roof on tuesday and will continue with the painting and sanding nonetheless.
We have recently had the pleasure of a visit from Andy Lawrence (the Step Coordinator) It was good fun having him along for a few days, sharing stories and generally having a laugh. He very kindly shouted us all to a meal out at a nice restaurant (no idea where). Guy and I sufficiently topped up our protein intake by sharing a huge platter of meat (various steaks, sausages and chicken). For a couple of the nights, as there wasn´t enough room, all the lads came and slept over in the living room so Andy wasn´t on his own (he is scared of the dark...) Guy made him feel very comfortable by sharing a double lilo with him and holding his hand while he slept (well maybe not holding hands but they shared the lilo...) He and Suzanne led a devo on Wednesday evening, before going to bed and seeing him off at 6 on Thursday morning.
Devotions are going really well. Since we arrived here we had a mini series on Acts, before starting a series on Revelation on Thursday. It is going really well so far and im excited about the discussions we are going to have as we go further. We have just about reached the tricky stuff in chapters 4 and 5 but there is plenty more to come!!
We have 1 huge prayer point. Behind our garden there is another house occupied by someone who delights to play music ridiculously loud at very unearthly times of the night. He has positioned his speakers so that they are facing out of his windows at the back, basically at our house. Music sometimes starts at about 3-4am and continues for hours. It is also played most of the time during the day. This is obviously incredibly annoying. I have been woken up pretty much everynight by it and it is having a really bad effect on the team as a whole (health and attitudes). Last night in particular I got hardly any sleep, came downstairs ready to give an English lesson, only to be sent back to bed by Helen and Claire. Apparently my face was quite green and i couldn´t keep my eyes open. I feel much better now after sleeping most of the morning but this really cant go on. Please please please pray that this stops, im not sure what state we will be in if we have to put up with it for another 6 weeks.
There is probably more I could write but cant remember because i left my diary at home. If you guys fancy sending any post (maybe with chocolates...) then the address is:
Joel Pambakian
c/o GEU
11 Avenida 30-23,
zona 12,
colonia santa rosa II
Ciudad de GUatemala
GUATEMALA
Dios te bendiga…
Joel
We´ve been here nearly 2 weeks now. We arrived in Guatemala city, driven by an extremely irritable mini bus driver who liked to mutter gringo insults under his breath. Now you might think that this is a bit harsh, and it is, because we could never have done anything to aggrevate him at all... Well... When we were about 20 mins into the journey, Guy and i realised that we had left something at the hotel. Not just an item of clothing or some possesion, it was a very part of ourselves. I am talking of course about our cowboy hats. So.. after about a minute of discussion - we decided to return for them (massive amount of credit goes to Faye who helped sway the minds of other less convinced team members that we should go back.) So when we arrived once again at the hotel i jumped out and ran in. Slyly, I had put my passport in my pocket so that when I came out again - I hid the cowboy hats as best as I could while proclaiming I had what I went in for and waved my passport about in front of me. Despite the laughter/disbelief from the team, the driver was still not amused... When we arrived in Guatemala City, the driver asked us for directions to the address we had given him. Our response - completely blank faces. So after another 30 mins of driving around the city we eventually saw Suzanne waving crazilly from infront of a house. We quickly unloaded the van and said goodbye to the driver (after he tried to scam some more money out of us for apparently having too many bags!)
We are now living in a student house with 6 other Guatemalan students near the University - Norberto, Julio César, Aldo, Sergio, Eder, Eduardo. Ouselves included there are 17 people in the house which is most definitely cosy. The lads we are living with are awesome and already feel like family - nothing like paint fights for breaking the ice! The house we´re living in is the headquarters of GEU, the Guatemalan Christian students union, it’s a space for all the students to use as well as providing living space for 6 students who wouldn´t otherwise be able to afford accommodation. The house is pretty old and a bit of a mess so our first project is renovation inside and outside, building a new outside roof ( which we´re pro´s at now) and sorting out the garden. Work on the house takes up 3 days of our week (tues-thur), Friday we´ll be helping the students with any outreach programs they have running in the morning and giving English lessons in the afternoon, Saturday we have another English lesson in the morning and sports outreach in the afternoon and Sunday is various church stuff.
Work on the house is going well, we have alreday repainted the main living area and the front courtyard which definately bright up the place. Unfortunately, some bright spark decided to pebble dash all the ceilings inside which makes painting them an absolute time consuming, arm aching nightmare. But despite that, we buckled down and the ceiling is now nice and white which brightens the room alot! Another task we are doing is sanding and repainting balcones, which are basically big metal grates which cover all the doors and windows. Scraping them of rust and sanding them so they are smooth is no easy task and takes alot of will power to stop yourself from going crazy... Painting them, however, is just as frustrating. Not the painting but the paint itself. We are using this black anti corrosive paint which when you get it on your skin, refuses to come off unless it is scrubbed with white spirit. It also means that cleaning the brushes and pots is not at all fun. Anyway - we are looking forward to getting started on the roof on tuesday and will continue with the painting and sanding nonetheless.
We have recently had the pleasure of a visit from Andy Lawrence (the Step Coordinator) It was good fun having him along for a few days, sharing stories and generally having a laugh. He very kindly shouted us all to a meal out at a nice restaurant (no idea where). Guy and I sufficiently topped up our protein intake by sharing a huge platter of meat (various steaks, sausages and chicken). For a couple of the nights, as there wasn´t enough room, all the lads came and slept over in the living room so Andy wasn´t on his own (he is scared of the dark...) Guy made him feel very comfortable by sharing a double lilo with him and holding his hand while he slept (well maybe not holding hands but they shared the lilo...) He and Suzanne led a devo on Wednesday evening, before going to bed and seeing him off at 6 on Thursday morning.
Devotions are going really well. Since we arrived here we had a mini series on Acts, before starting a series on Revelation on Thursday. It is going really well so far and im excited about the discussions we are going to have as we go further. We have just about reached the tricky stuff in chapters 4 and 5 but there is plenty more to come!!
We have 1 huge prayer point. Behind our garden there is another house occupied by someone who delights to play music ridiculously loud at very unearthly times of the night. He has positioned his speakers so that they are facing out of his windows at the back, basically at our house. Music sometimes starts at about 3-4am and continues for hours. It is also played most of the time during the day. This is obviously incredibly annoying. I have been woken up pretty much everynight by it and it is having a really bad effect on the team as a whole (health and attitudes). Last night in particular I got hardly any sleep, came downstairs ready to give an English lesson, only to be sent back to bed by Helen and Claire. Apparently my face was quite green and i couldn´t keep my eyes open. I feel much better now after sleeping most of the morning but this really cant go on. Please please please pray that this stops, im not sure what state we will be in if we have to put up with it for another 6 weeks.
There is probably more I could write but cant remember because i left my diary at home. If you guys fancy sending any post (maybe with chocolates...) then the address is:
Joel Pambakian
c/o GEU
11 Avenida 30-23,
zona 12,
colonia santa rosa II
Ciudad de GUatemala
GUATEMALA
Dios te bendiga…
Joel
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