Pacaya Volcano

Yesterday we gave our brains a rest from all our Spanish studies and decided to make our bodies work instead. We took a little shuttle to a local, active volcano called Pacaya. Apparently there was a problem with the road the shuttle usually travels by, so we were forced to take a bumpy back road. We traveled through a little town called Santa María de Jesus, then passed by miles and miles of nothing but coffee and corn fields, and finally came out via Pelín.

When we made it to the base of the volcano we are surrounded by a group of little kids, all trying to sell us bastones (walking sticks). It broke our hearts trying to decide which kid to buy from, but we had a lot of fun asking them their names and ages. We finally decided to buy two sticks from the oldest girl, a 12 year old named Flor de María.

And then the climb began. 3 miles straight up! It was tough, but we made it to the top, WITHOUT the aid of the local "taxis" (horses) whose owners followed behind us and heckled us. ¿Chica Rubia, no quieres un taxi? ¡Muy barrato!

At the top we were rewarded with a beautiful view of active lava. We got close enough to enjoy God's splendor and the warmth of the firey streams....but stayed back far enough to be safe. It was an awesome adventure. Today we are feeling a little sore, but excited to share about Pacaya with you.

All our love to everyone back home. We miss you!

Montezumas Revenge

Montezumas Revenge is a Mexican legend, but we also think it applies here. It refers to the conquering of the Aztecs by European invaders led by Hernán Cortés in 1520. The current emperor of the Aztecs at that time was Moctezuma II. He was killed by his own people, in a revolt against the Spanish invaders. The legend goes that anything bad that happens in Mexico to descendants from the invaders, or any non-Mexican for that matter, could be interpreted as a posthumous "revenge" of the emperor against his enemies. Today, Montezumas Revenge is used to refer to traveler's diarrhea caused by a bacterium strain present in food and water, to which Mexicans (and Guatemalans) are normally immune, but that causes disease in foreigners.

Prayer Request: Good Health!

Azotea Coffee Farm

On Tuesday we visited La Azotea Coffee Finca just outside of Antigua.








We got to learn how coffee is made, all the way from the seed to the coffee cup.







Guatemala's coffee is ranked 3rd best in the world for quality.

Ummm
....good!










Our visit to the farm was fun, but we were sad (and shocked!) to learn that for a 100lb bag of handpicked coffee, the average Guatemalan worker only earns 25-30Q (about $4).

Our Host Family

We love our host family here in Antigua! La Señora of the house is Maria del Carmen, and she lives with her son Manuel, his wife Ana Julia, and their two little niñas Ana Ines and Ana Jose. We are blessed to eat three meals a day with the family, practicing lots of Spanish and eating a wonderful assortment of foods. (We eat better here than we did in our own home!) We will live with the family for 6 more weeks as we continue to study Spanish here in beautiful Angitua.

Roberto is the family parrot. His jaula is outside our room, although he can be heard no matter where you are in the house. Roberto loves to whistle, speak, scream and sing in a mixture of Spanish and a native Mayan language. He has learned to say "Susana" (Jeannette's Spanish nickname), copying two-year-old Ana Ines.

Guatemala

We arrived safely in Guatemala. Thank you for your prayers. Kyle & Nell Still, OC Inter-national missionaries and friends of Brian from Calvary Bible Church Grass Valley, CA welcomed us with open arms. We spent the weekend with them and their two daughters (Elena 5, Kayla 7) in Guatemala City. Yesterday we came to Antigua and settled in with our host family. And today the “torture” began with 6 hours of one on one Spanish lessons. Actually, we are very excited to be here, learning the language of the people we’ve come to love.

Please pray that we will be able to absorb and learn as much Spanish as possible so that we can communicate effectively and build meaningful relationships. We will be in Antigua studying Spanish until mid-November.