el fin

Well, world, I'm back in the U S of A., and my year in Chacos has officially ended. It feels really nice to be able to go on a run without fear of abduction/ robbery/ getting chased by dogs/ being stared at, and it's really nice to not have to clorox fresh fruits and vegetables AND to be able to cook when/what/how much I want... but it's so quiet at night that I can't sleep without my fan going and ipod, and all the lawns are so manicured and perfect, and everyone speaks English, and it's SO hot! ((Copious amounts of Diet Dr. Pepper help nicely with that last one, though...))

There are many many things to get re-used to as I re-acclimate to my home, and get prepared for in San Antonio... But it feels nice to be home, and I'm thankful that I made it home sin novedades, or without troubles.

Thanks again for praying for me, supporting me, and following me through this year. It's been hard but beautiful and completely life-changing.
bendiciones, juli

Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do: God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and holds us responsible to act. -Proverbs 24:12

PS: Here are all of my photos from the year... https://picasaweb.google.com/julierinsmith

Farewell, Ciudad Vieja

Chacos leaving my street











my last night in Ciudad Vieja (with my host parents)

hoy en ocho

¨Hoy en ocho¨ is a very common Guatemalan phrase that means litterally ¨today in 8,¨ aka a week from today.

On Wednesday morning, my host dad said this to me at the breakfast table-
¨Hoy en 8, usted [yes, 6 months later and I am still addressed using formal usted -- I am very important, afterall] va a despertar en su propia cama¨ Or, ¨A week from today, you´ll wake up in your own bed.¨

So so so weird. Today is my last day in Ciudad Vieja with my host family, tomorrow we start our YAV closing retreat, and then I fly to DC Tuesday morning. Seriously unbelievable.

Thanks for your prayers and support, world. See you in less than ocho (primero Dios).
bendiciones, juli

¡ gracias !

Dear family and friends,

This past year in Guatemala has most certainly been the most challenging, stretching, growing experience that I have ever had. I changed contexts completely, from my college apartment in Oxford, OH to living my life in Spanish with large Guatemalan families in a developing country. I´ve had to live in challenging situations of family turbulence, gotten to know people that live with daily questions of how to make ends meet, as well as seen the very real effects of draughts and floods in areas with no infrastructure for repair.

This year I’ve also gotten to build incredible relationships through my host families and with my fellow YAVs. I´ve gotten to experience great joy in attending family weddings, quinceañeras, and Sunday afternoons when the whole family gathers for a meal. I´m so thankful for these parts of my experience here, because they´ve helped me to get a real glimpse of life in Guatemala and I feel fortunate to have gotten this year-long peek into such a different context, as well as to have a Guatemalan family to come back and visit in the future.

For all that I have experienced this year -the good, the bad, and the ugly- I am thankful. Though challenging, I know that God perfectly crafted this experience for this point in my life, and I am so thankful to all of my supporters for making it possible. Thank you for your donation, for praying for me, and for following my journey this year! This truly has been a partnership, and I could never have made it through the year without such a great support network, so thank you!

I have learned so much this year- about myself, about my faith, about Guatemala, about loving people, about serving, that it´s hard to know where to go from here. After a year of learning so much about Latin America and its people, I feel I want to still be in a highly Latino context, but that I want to be closer to home, and so I have decided to do another year of service through the Young Adult Volunteers program, this time in San Antonio, TX. I will be working with primarily Latin American women who are victims of violence through a coalition of organizations seeking to end domestic violence and abuse. I´m very excited to work with Latinos, especially women, from this side of the border, and to get to live intentionally in a house with other Christian young people who are YAVs. I feel that my time in Guatemala prepared me for this next experience, and I hope that you could continue to partner with me in this next chapter, as I continue to discover where the Lord is leading me.

Thank you again for your ongoing support as I finish this year in Guatemala, and for continuing the partnership into next year´s new adventure in San Antonio.

Bendiciones, juli
http://gamc.pcusa.org/give/E051475/

"I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now." - Philippians 1: 3-5

a trip to the circus

Oh yes, you read right, world -- I went to the circo this past weekend with my host brother and his 3 kids. Why yes, they do have circuses in Guatemala, but let me tell you-- It was no Barnum & Bailey...

So first off, I was somehow picturing a fair or a petting zoo or something, but no- This was the real deal. ´Big top tent´ and all. The show included but was not limited to... 2 little people, 2 strippers, several minors, 2 monkeys, 1 llama, 1 pony, and approximately 3 actual acrobats. Let me give you the play-by-play...

Act 1: Trampoline by 2 little boys and 2 little people (1 inexplicably dressed as a devil??), supervised by 2 random guys. Umm.. Impressive because I couldn´t do what they did... Buutt that´s not saying much.

Act 2: Clown named Hamburguesa. Annoying / creepy.

Act 3: Flying wrap-yourself-in-fabric man. This one was legitimately really cool... Especially because everytime the guy went up in the air, it was because a man, a boy, and a little person were pulling on the rope to make him fly. Yep.

Act 4: Clown again. This time my host brother´s kids went up as volunteers to leap frog with the clown.


Act 5: Man in steel wheel. This one was legitimately cool, too-- He spun around in all different directions

Act 6: Clown with unicycle. Uhhh... ?

--Intermission--

Act 7: Strippers. Yep, that´s good for the kiddos. Maybe I´m exaggerating, but they were essentially wearing underwear and ¨dancing¨ to Cintura Sola. I was uncomfortable.

Act 8: Really young and flexible girl. She was pretty impressive... and also like 8. I tried not to think of a life as a little girl in the circus.

Act 9: A very sad monkey came out on a leesh with Hamburguesa the clown. He didn´t really do much, but the kids loooved him.

Act 10: This time Hamburguesa came out with a pony. Again, just walked around a bit, but then he got some audience members (again, my host cousin) to ride the pony.






Act 11: The Grand Finale! Hamburguesa with a llama. Why a llama? Well why not?! Oh, and one more thing- The monkey was riding the llama. That´s not something you see every day. So very bizzarre.

And that was pretty much the whole show. It was a little bit of everything, to say the least. And I´m glad I could go... but I don´t know that I ever want to go to the circus, in Guatemala or elsewhere, again.

bendiciones, juli

Guatemalaisms

Si Dios quiere (if God wants)
Primero Dios (literally, ´God first,´ but understood as ´God´s plans first´)
A ver que dice Dios (we´ll see what God says)
Si Dios me presta la vida (if God lends me the life)

These are a few of the many super common Guatemalaisms that I have come to love this year. Why? Because I love the way that in making any plans (See you tomorrow, Let´s have lunch, I´ll be right back...), most Guatemalans will add in ¨See Dios quiere¨ or ¨Primero Dios¨ -- reminding me that, no matter what plans I feel I can make and commit to, God always has the last word.

For example, my fellow YAV, Katharine, got appendicitis about 5 weeks ago and had to have an emergency apendectomy here in Guatemala. Everything turned out pretty much fine after about 2weeks straight in bed healing. She had classes to teach and exams she´d planned to adminster, but nope! Didn´t happen, because God´s plans came first.

I feel that God has been constantly teaching and re-teaching me this year that my life is not my own, my plans are not my own, and that God is bigger than anything I can even imagine. Lots of stuff didn´t turn out the way I thought it should this year, but that´s okay, because God gave me different / even better adventures. As I finish my last 3 weeks here, and prepare to be thrust back into the US, to my parent´s house in Alexandria for 3.5 weeks, and then to start brand new adventures in San Antonio, I´m trying to adapt the ¨Primero Dios¨ mentality. I have things I want to do to round off this year, and things I want to do once I back to Alexandria-- but the Primero Dios mentality tells me that I can make plans, of course, but need to gracefully accept when they don´t quite turn out as I had expected, because God had something better in mind. Grace in flexibility - Yes, world, that´s a hard one for Juli to learn.

Hope you have a great weekend, world. See you stateside in about 2.5 weeks (primero Dios)
bendiciones, juli

Also, for more on Katharine´s all-star-ness, read her blog! http://www.katharinecurles.blogspot.com/

¨If you are appalled by what you see here, please don´t try to start a revolution for us- a revolution from which you can flee when the real bullets start flying. If you really want to help us, go back to your own country and work to change the policies of your government that explot our country and keep our people so poor.¨
- - Dom Hélder Câmara, archbishop of Recife, Brasil- probably the poorest part of South America

cooking lessons

So as my time here draws to a close, so does my exposure to the yummy (and yeah, sometimes not so yummy) foods my host mom makes. One of the things at the top of the List of Things Juli Misses About the US is cooking/ having choice in what I eat.. but there is something 'exciting' about coming to the lunch table and having no idea what food I might be served. From tripe (why yes, the very stomach lining same that was featured in a Chilean blog.!) to fried chicken - I've gotten to try it all here, for better or for worse.

Anyway, in light of this, I have been asking my host mom to teach me how to make some of my favorite dishes. First, she taught me the most typical Guatemalan food, Pepián, which took about 290982 hours to make. Then, she told me how to make beans (which we eat at least 2 meals a day every day, so it was important to learn her secrets). This past week, she taught me how to make one of my favorite things- Chuchitos, which are a lot like Mexican tamales (corn dough stuffed with tomato-based sauce and a chunk of meat, wrapped in corn husk or banana leaf). Yummy!!!
NOTE: By "taught," I mean that she rambled off very vague recipes and quantities, and then let me "help" cook them. :)

So faithful readers, I am going to impart this sacred chuchito knowledge on you.

First, cook tomato (2 lb of very red tomato), miltomate (10), and chile pepper (1 of your choice) in a pan. Let this mixture sit to cool and put it all in the blender. (No, we don't have a functioning fridge or a microwave, but of COURSE we have a blender! OOoh, Guatemala.) Blend it well, adding salt to taste- but don't let it get too watery. This is now called recado.

Now put the recado in a pan with about 2oz of lard (yeahhhhh this is when I got less excited about eating chuchitos all the time...), a pinch of sugar (this IS Guatemala, after all), a heaping tablespoon of consumé, and salt to taste. Stir this all together in the pan, and let it boil for about 30min.

To make the masa (dough), take 2lb of corn flour (or boiled, ground-up whole corn kernals if you have them sitting around) and add cold water until it becomes a doughy-paste, about 1/2lb of melted butter (or lard), and salt to taste. This is the masa.

Now the fun part; Assembling the chuchito. I have to admit- my chuchitos are never going to win any beauty awards, but they were yummy, and, well, let's be real- that's all that matters.

Now, take a golf-ball shaped ball of masa and mush it flat (or make a tortilla if you can), making a little bowl-home and scoop in the recado and a chunk of raw meat (chicken or pork or beef or whatever). Fold out a corn husk in front of you, and carefully put the masa bowl upside-down on the corn husk. Fold the sides of the husk in, the top toward the bottom, and tie a little corn-husk bow around the top to make it stay together. I wrote that all in 1 simple sentence, but believe me -- this is when the men are separated from the boys. Not easy, world.

Put all of your chuchitos (in our case, 78) into a huge pot, fill it until about 1in below the level of the chuchitos, and let it boil on your wood-fire stove with strong fire for about 1.5hr.

And there you have it, about 4 hours later-- you have a hot delicious treat!

Buen provecho, world!
bendiciones, juli

a volcanic ascent

Brodie is here!! Wahoo!!

Last weekend, we took advantage of a sunny morning to go 1.5 hours away to the Volcàn Pacaya to have a little hike. It`s been on my Guatemala Bucket List to hike a volcano, and I finally got to do it- It was amazing!





It took about 1.5 hours to summit (and, I`m not going to lie, it was a bit harder than expected) with a guide and our very motley crew. We had some Mennonites in Birkenstocks (who ended up going up on burros), some 60ish year old Swiss people, 3 very speedy Israeli girls, and a guy in a sports coat and loafers. What a team!








On the way up, we passed through lush greenery and saw amazing views of surroudning volcanoes, farmland, small towns, and God`s amazing creation. It was a bit steep, but such amazing views! Once we got to the top, it seriously seemed like we were on the moon! Totally barren, black volcanic rock everywhere with tons of steamy rocks everywhere- I felt very NASA-- It was so cool! Sadly, because this is the volcano that errupted last May, there isn`t much more lava to see, and tourists are no longer allowed to go right up to the crater (yeah, I think that`s a good call...), but it was still COMPLETELY worth it!




At the top, we went into a natural cave that was heated by VERY hot volcanic steam -it felt just like a sauna!-and, yes, we did use it to roast marshmallows!!! What a cool experience! Best of all, I got to do it with my best friend!

bendiciones, juli

future!

I'm going to San Antonio next year!! I'll be serving as a YAV again in this city, hopefully working with Latina women who are victims of domestic abuse/ rape.

I'm so excited to take this opportunity to continue to work with Latin American people, to learn about injustices in my own US context, and to work with women!

Please continue to pray with me as I finalize my job placement, fundraise again, and close my Guatemala chapter.

Thanks for your continued prayers and support, world!
bendiciones, juli

playing in God's creation

So I've been helping to facilitate a group of 4th year pharmacy students for the past 2 weeks from Texas Tech (and really enjoying it) and this Sunday, we took an especially special Sabbath day to relax and play.

My fellow YAV, Laura, had told me how cool it was when she went, but I tried not to get too excited, lest it not live up to the hype. Well, I got to go to Semuc-Champey with the TX Tech group, and seriously, world-- it's on my Top 10 Coolest Moments of Juli's Life list.

So we start by taking a very death-defying 30ish min pickup ride (as in, standing in the bed of the truck) from the hotel to the miiiiddle of nowhere. Surprise! We've arrived! So we pay and go on a "short hike" (which was pretty much completely straight up... Thank goodness for the Chacos, bc some people were wearing flipflops..) to the lookout place where you can see all of Semuc Champei ("Hidden Waters Under Rocks")-- the huge rushing river that goes underground for 900m and then pops out on the other end... where the river goes underground, there are maybe 15-20 turquoise limestone pools of different sizes, depths, and sizes. DANG, our God is great.

We soak in the view and catch our breath for a bit, then start the descent (keep in mind it is very much rainy season-- aka everything was VERY muddy and slippery) and after at least an hour total of hiking, we reached the water. Our guide took us to see where te gushing water goes underground (many people have died there; oh great thanks) and then we played in the 1st pool for a while... Which we thought was cool until...

We went down to the other pools and got to swim, dive, cliff jump, waterslide, and just play around in this amazing natural waterpark. The water was SO clear and beautiful, and it was miraculously sunny-- just SO beautiful!! After about an hour, we got to the very end of the pools where we could see te river shoot out again! We thought that was awesome, until...

Then, our guide took us into a little mini-cave, where we literally had to point our faces upwards in the like 3inches of air between rock ceiling and water-level... Once we (terrifiededly) got to the end of that, we swam underwater to the light to get out of the cave. I mean, SERIOUSLY?!?! So awesome!!

Then we made our way back to the first pool to meet up with the non-swimmers in the group and have a much-less-strenuous hike back to the entrance for our picnic lunch.

Man, God is amazing!!!
Bendiciones, juli

ps: photos definitely coming soon.

what does Guatemala sound like?

So I have no idea what the kids are listening to these days in the US... But in case you were wondering what life here sounds like, just put these songs on endless repeat, add in some dog barks and car horns and you've pretty much got my life soundtrack....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op3qnMzxFbI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWBjvNIJagg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zp1TbLFPp8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyrZ_sKGqiw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkhMyzWAgVY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3S4dBk4E1g

Ps: I didn't pre-watch those videos, so I sincerely apologize for any inappropriateness.
bendiciones, juli

a prayer from Thomas Merton

Another shout out to Brodie who sent me this in a letter not knowing that it fits PERFECTLY with my current state of future-planning...

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that my desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

things not to do when you´re sick in Guatemala

Well I've been sick for the past week and a half, world, and I've come to some conclusions based on my host mom's actions and reactions during my recovery.

NOTE: My host mom has been REALLY sweet in taking care of me, and I'm super thankful for her, but there are definitely some things about being sick in a different context that just don't translate...

- Do not help a friend move and therefore sweep a lot of dust and dog hair-- it will infect your throat
- Do not eat watermelon at night- it's "too heavy" to eat before bed
- Do not ever dream of drinking something cold while eating something hot
- Do not turn down salad and/or tamales (even if you're nauseous)
- Requesting just soup is strange
- Do not ever be barefoot even for a second
- Do not ever leave the house, ESPECIALLY if it's night time (even if it's 7:30pm, 70degrees outside and you're wearing a sweatshirt)
- Do not drink anything chilled, and God forbid anything that has ice in it
- DO NOT even dream of going out when it is raining, drizzling, misting, or looks like any of the above might happen. (Haven´t determined how this rule affects her views on showering while sick...)

I´ve been to 2 doctors now with extremely different diagnoses... and am hoping that this new medicine (an evil antibiotic) will knock out whatever my throat problem might be. Seriously can´t take it any more.

Here's to quick recoveries and opportunities for shared learning...
bendiciones, juli

bus etiquette

So many people might wonder how I make the 15-30min journey from Ciudad Vieja into town to go to work each day... Well I take the camioneta, aka chicken bus (which is a semi-offensive name, so I choose not to use it) aka school buses from the US that were probably deemed unfit to carry children... So they get sent here to carry me around. Once they get here, they get painted all colors of the rainbow and totally "pimped out" (as my dad called it) with Jesus slogans and decals of semi-naked ladies.

Though it might seem straight-forward, there's actually quite a lot of etiquette necessary when riding a camioneta.

First, to get on the bus. You stand on the side of the road at a "bus stop" (which you just have to know exists where it is, because there are no signs.) Sometimes you can flag one down any old place, but this has very mixed success, so I wouldn't recommend it. So you stand on the side of the road at a "bus stop," and once you see (or hear) (or smell) your bus coming, you stick your hand out and flop it up and down. Hopefully the bus will slow and pull over and call out where they're headed and you get on. Step one: success.

Once you're on, scan the bus for open seats. If you have a gigantic basket of anything (chickens, vegetables, whatever), you can either leave it at the front or give it to the ayudante to strap on to the top of the bus. Otherwise, proceed to a seat.

It's 3-to-a-seat on camionetas, so try to find somewhere to sit as near to the front as possible. It's likely that there are a TON of people, so one is ever mindful of their purse as they squeeeeeze through lots and lots of bodies to try to get a seat. If you find a seat- Yay! Keep in mind, though, that only people over 7yr pay-- so those under 7 do not count in the 3-to-a-seat rule. That means that a woman is quite likely to have a baby strapped to their back, and one sitting on their lap, and count as 1 person. Also, it isn't too uncommon to see a lady with a box of live chickens sitting on her lap (hence the name "chicken bus). Just try to act casual and sit where you can.

So if you found a seat, congrats! If not, better luck next time. Just do your best to hold on for dear life. Usually you're so wedged in between people that there's really not even a need to hold on!

After a few minutes, the ayudante ("helper") will come around to collect your money. Always best to pay in exact change, because he is not above giving you your change in 10 and 5cent coins.

Once you start approaching your destination (which again, is not marked by a "bus stop," you just have to know where the bus is going to stop), start making your way towards the front again, squeeeezing back through all the people (or, if you're feeling really adventurous, you can hop out the back emergency exit), and off you go! After a few bumpy roads, some sharp turns, very loud music, and multiple semi-illegal passings-on-blind-corners, you arrive to your destination!

Way to go, you rode a camioneta!

Buen Viaje!
bendiciones, juli

a franciscan benediction

"May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and explotation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done."

bendiciones, juli

Another trip to ¨The Coast¨ (and still no ocean)

So I have long-since learned that ¨the coast¨ means anywhere that is not in the mountains vaguely in the direction of the ocean… So last Sunday, when my host family said they were taking me to ¨the coast,¨ I figured there would be no ocean involved. That was correct.

We left at ¨5 en punto¨ (aka 5:40am) and drove 2 hours towards La Democracia, but not without stopping at a gas station to fill up and see their 2 ostriches- Of course! Only in Guatemala.

So we got to my family´s friends´ house, which is pretttttty much in the middle of nowhere where electricity and running water do not go. It was so pretty! There were sugar cane fields all around and SOOO many wild fruit trees (mangos, limes, nonnis, nances, bananas, coconuts, plantains, avocados, and more mangos…)

We ate breakfast there around 7:30 or 8 (eggs and beans, in case you were wondering), and then went for a bicycle ride to the nearby ¨river¨ to cool off. Note: Riding a semi-broken bike on roads made of sand with a belly full of beans when its 20148 degrees—not the best choice. Anyway, we got to the ¨river¨ (a creek) and it was deemed too dirty to get into, so we rode into town to get some air in the tired of Flor´s bike and then rode back home—hotter than ever. At this point, I got to take a beautiful though sweaty nap in a hammock, so I was a happy camper, though wishing they´d had a fridge for a cold beverage.

I woke up to lunch preparations, which meant 2 bleeding chickens were brought out from the back to be plucked and cooked. Yep. No, I did not help pluck; but yes, I did watch, because, as my fellow YAV Laura said- If I can´t watch the complete preparation of my food, I have no business eating it. Anyway, I didn´t throw up (though I thought I might) and lunch was made. Nothing like hot chicken soup when it´s a million degrees out. Yummy.

After lunch, we rested and chatted for a while, and then the young folk took another bike ride to the river, and this time didn´t really care how dirty it was – we were dying of heat, so we got in. Everything was going well until 9year old Emiliano started splashing… An all-out water war ensued, and we eventually rode our bikes back to the house, sopping wet. It felt SO good!

I don´t know if people just instinctively carry around a change of clothes, or if it was just for this particular occasion, but when we got back, everyone else pulled out their spare outfits. Wellllll, I did not get that memo, and so was loaned a pair of very bright, very mesh Hammer pants from my host sister Claudia (40ish years old). It was very nice of her, and I was glad to be able to get out of my sopping wet skirt for the ride home.

About that time, we piled back into the cars to go home, but wait! There was a parting gift! Not only did we go and pick literally over 100 mangos on the way home, but the friends also gave us a bag of limes, a bag of nonni fruits, about 30 plantains, 3 chickens, 2 ducks, and some other random stuff. Score!
All in all, it was such a sweet day to have rest and relaxation, and a little glimpse of why God has me here in Guatemala this year.

Bendiciones a todos, and a special shout-out to my mom; Happy Mother´s Day tomorrow!
juli

Smiths in Guatemala

So as I briefly posted, my parents and Erica visited Guatemala! We had a great trip-- My host sister picked up the 4 giants in her quite small car from the airport, and we stayed in Antigua for several days for Semana Santa and Easter (and walked approx 10 miles a day, and rode in a little tuk tuk when the feets got too tired). We got to see loads of beautiful alfombras and processions, and it was a really awesome display of God's glory. We also went to the longest Mass ever on Saturday night- which we were able to sit through 2.5 hours of, but seeing as my parents couldn't understand a word, we left at 10:30pm before communion.

Then, on Sunday, we rode in the back of my host dad's pickup truck to stay at my host family's house for the night in Ciudad Vieja, and had a marathon of eating! I pretty much made them fast all afternoon, and it's a good thing because when we got to my house around 3, there was a huge pot of pepián (very traditional Guatemalan dish for celebrations) with chicken AND pork, and then delicious cake that the Smiths brought. After eating, we wandered Ciudad Vieja for a while with my host parents, ending up at the park where we were made to eat more! The 4 of us shared two glasses of atól, the first sweet corn atól and the second savory white bean atól. We did not like the white kind... but it had to disappear, and so it did between the 4 of us. Then we went home to rest for a bit before we were summoned to eat again! We had delicious beans and tortillas for our second dinner at my host sister Claudia's house, and then finally went back to sleep. We awoke to a huge breakfast of eggs, beans, tortillas, and chuchitos (kind of like Mexican tamales)-- needless to say, we were treated like kings (and didn't need to eat all day Monday).

Monday, we headed in a shuttle to Lake Atitlán for several nights where we rode a ferry boat across the river. We stayed in San Marcos La Laguna, which just happened to be having their festival the nights we were there, so luckily, we got to hear the blaring music of some local talent each night! I can't say that they were good singers, but they sure were loud!

Wednesday we headed west to Xela for 2 nights, where they got to ride a public bus to meet my old host family, see the market, and eat a lot of Xelapan.

Finally, We came back to Antigua the night before their (very long) journey home (which unfortunately included a night in Miami!) and they left on Saturday.

It was a really really great chance to see them, to give them a glimpse into my life here, to eat a lot of food, and then (when they left) gorge on the American junk food that they brought me (which includes but is not limited to Chex Mix, Rice Krispie's Treats, Cadbury Eggs, and Reese's cups. Mmmmm, The United States.)

I hope that everyone else was able to have a wonderful Lenten season, and that you could reflect on what Jesus did for us on Good Friday- and then the ultimate victory of the resurrection on Sunday! Hallelujia!

Thanks for visiting, Smiths! Only a few more months until I'm back in the US of A!

bendiciones, juli

My parents and sister came to visit!

We rode in tuk tuk,
walked (and had to get our shoes shined),
road in a pickup truck,
in shuttles,
in lanchas (boats),
in microbuses,
and in camionetas (school buses).


What an adventure we had!!
For more, see my picasa album of the amazing alfombras and processions we saw for Holy week and Easter, and the trips we had to Lake Atitlan and Xela! :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/julierinsmith

bendiciones, juli

Cuaresma!

Happy Semana Santa, friends!








Cuaresma (Lent) in Guatemala is a very big deal. It´s esspecially exciting because I´m living with a Catholic family in a majority-Catholic country who takes me to all sorts of fun things! Each weekend, there are big processions of people in purple cloaks carrying a huge wooden float with a scene of Jesus and His cross over elaborate colored saw-dust alfombras (carpets) that line the streets. These wooden ¨andas¨(unfortunately, I don´t know what most of this stuff is called in English...) look SUPER heavy, and they carry them around for HOURS, slowly processing through towns (and changing the carriers). I think it represents Jesus carrying His cross. To me it does, anyway.


The processessions process over these alfombras, or carpets, made of sawdust. I´ve never seen such beauty come from sawdust! It´s dyed all colors of the rainbow, they make giant wooden stencils, and then they meticulously fill the spaces of the stencil with the sawdust, working for hours to make these beautiful alfombras. Truly works of art... Which are then stomped over in a matter of minutes by the purple people. Sad day.


I´ve also been able to go to ¨velaciones¨ with my host family. These are huge (stationary) scenes of Jesus´ life complete with narration and lights (and sometimes smoke effects!), and of course, the alfombras (which don´t get ruined, so they´re even more beautiful and elaborate and usually include a lot of produce). Each cathedral has a specific Gospel passage, and put up their scene in the altar for a few days, and in those days, hundreds of people come to see cthe scenes and pray, crowding the huge churches. It´s definitely not a place for those who are clausterphobic, but it is SUCH a neat chance to see, hear, taste, and feel the life of Jesus in a whole new way. Outside, it´s super alegre- with loads of yummy street food, people selling toys, and friends (my host family seriously knows EVERYONE). It´s such a wonderful way to celebrate Jesus´ life.

This lent has been an amazing chance to experience the life and death of Jesus following a completely different tradition, and I´m so glad to be in the heart of the action here in Antigua!

Have a great Semana Santa, dedicated readers!
bendiciones, juli

PS: More pictures here (from before my camera died)...
https://picasaweb.google.com/julierinsmith