A Trip to Zacapa

September is rapidly ending, and I realized that I hadn't posted a blog update in over a month! A lot has happened! I'll briefly summarize what we've been doing.

Last Wednesday the 18^th, we had a Guatemalan Fair at school. Basically it was like the school carnivals that I remember from Glenwood Elementary. There were booths where you could do different things. It was a fundraiser for student council to host our annual Spiritual Emphasis Week in the Spring. One of the games you could play was finding 5 M&Ms in a plate of whipped cream. Nikki and I played, but I don’t think we ever won. The game was free for us teachers, but the students had to pay Q5 (64 cents of the dollar) to play each game. The whipped cream wasn’t very tasty because it was literally whipped heavy cream without sugar. But it was fun!

After playing the "find the m&ms game

 Another part of the carnival was that anyone could put money into a pot. Once the amount reached a certain level, a teacher would get a whipped cream pie in the face. I think Nikki was worth Q500 (about $90). So she got “pied!” Her student seems to like it too much!

A week ago Friday, September 13 – Monday, September 16, Nikki, our friend Rafael, and I traveled to Zacapa where Nikki and I met in 2010 with Liberty University. We had a long weekend without school on Monday because of Guatemala’s Independence Day, so we decided to visit the other side of the country! It was a great trip because it was a long enough time to see our friends, but not too much time to suffer in the heat of Zacapa! We left on Friday after school and traveled to Guatemala City.

The map is a little misleading, but from Xela to Guatemala City it's about 3-4 hours. From Guatemala City to Zacapa, it's about 2 1/2 hours (all of this depending on traffic in Guatemala City).

We tried to use my phone as a GPS to get directions through Guatemala City, but as you can tell from the picture below, after the directions tell us to pass "Cumpleaños" ("birthday"), it told us basically to go in a circle on highway 9. Needless to say, we found our own way. And with the gas prices like they are here (divide that number by 7.8), we couldn't afford to do circles! 

Antigua, Guatemala is on the way to Guatemala City from Xela. Because of that, we offered to take a friend of ours to Antigua on our way to Guatemala City on Friday night. We accidentally took a correct, but much much longer, turn to get to Antigua, and we passed through this town called "Pastores." This town had cowboy boots GALORE! As you can see from the sign, apparently they specialize in making cowboy boots. So, whenever y'all want to come visit and pick up a pair of Guatemalan cowboy boots, I know exactly where to go! 

Friday night in Guatemala City, before going to sleep, we took the opportunity of eating at TGI Fridays. It was a much needed North American meal that consisted of hamburgers, fries, and coke, finished with some chocolate ice cream. Yum! 

On Friday night we stayed at the Liberty House of the Shalom Baptist Church. I took a look around to see how the place was doing, since I had stayed there before with Emmanuel's mission team. I found a couple gems that have been touting our presence for over 2 years now! This picture is mostly for my fellow team members, especially the ones who remember the "Quetzal bird!" It lives on in the Liberty House! 

We arrived in "Llano Verde" ("Green Plain") around 12:00pm on Saturday. It was nice and hot! We took advantage of the local "cucos" (frozen "ice cream" in a bag) to cool us off. Cucos are basically milk, sugar, and flavor (we chose coffee), then they are frozen in bags and you just chew off a corner of the bag and chill out! Very refreshing. 

 We got to see some of our friends as well. This is our friend Susie who lives in Llano Verde. She taught Nikki and I how to make tortillas and she taught Nikki how to work in the bakery. She's recovering from a big fall that she had about 9 months ago.

Ice cream. Always wanting something cold! As you can tell, either the heat or the cold is affecting our faces. Not good. 

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the hammocks. It was great! 

Nikki with her "sister" Elizabeth at the house where Nikki stayed in Llano Largo ("Long Plain")

We went to the river to swim on Sunday. It felt amazing in the hot air! The water was very refreshing. 

We took the opportunity to eat at Applebees on the way back to Xela on Monday! It was great! We got the cowboy burger, three cheese chicken penne, and buffalo wings, and shared it all! It was a good occasion.

 It rained really hard on the way back to Xela. We even had to pull over on the side of the road because I couldn't see to drive! But we made it safely.

These chickens had a rough ride. This was slightly disturbing.

Yesterday, I spent the day with my friend Luis from Totonicapan. He and I have known each other for 4 years now! He's 13 years old and doesn't have a father and his older brothers don't live at home anymore, so he wanted to visit Xela and spend some time with me, so that's what we did yesterday! I showed him where the soccer team plays, we toured the central park of Xela, and then went to see the movie Airplanes! It was a great day and I was blessed to spend some time with him, pouring into him.

Apparently 13 year old Guatemalan boys like to play those racing arcade games, too!

Please be praying for Luis. I have been praying for him that he will know the Lord Jesus as his Lord and Savior. 

On Friday in my 8th grade English class, I let my students make baked s'mores for our bake sale that we had after school. They had a lot of fun! 

They LOVE the s'mores! Happy to share an American tradition with them! 

That's all I have for now! Thanks for reading so long (or maybe you just looked at the pictures, which is okay, too)! Happy Sunday! 

Devin 

More Understanding = More Enjoyment

The first week back to school went well! The first day, as all of you know, is a mix of emotions of being excited to be back and being bored because we mostly talk about rules and procedures. I was really excited to see my students, and they were only a little bit excited to see me (oh the life of a middle school teacher).

I have my room looking pretty good, better than it did last year. I had these posters printed so that the students could read something inspirational while also providing some color for the room.

The first week went by fast! I was happy to be back, and I'm looking forward to getting into the meat of the class this week. Yesterday I just had another realization about what I'm supposed to teach, so the year just keeps getting easier because I know what I'm doing!

Yesterday Nikki and I got some shopping done and then ended up at a coffee shop doing some work for school. We both got some hot chocolate (which was really good!) and worked while the rain moved in and ended up soaking us on the walk home! It was a great afternoon. 

In my English classes we're reading (click on any of the pictures for more information):

6th Grade is enjoying this novel.

7th Grade will be on this adventure (as will I because I've never read it!)

8th Grade will listen to this book as I read it aloud

I'm really excited about these books! I've only read The Giver before. The other two will be new to me and I'm ready to start them this week. Let me know what you think about these books and if you have any suggestions of activities/lessons I can do with them! 

Until the next post...

The Beginning of the Second Year

It's time to start blogging again since I am back in Guatemala! Just saying that made me think that I should have posted this summer, too, but I'll catch you up here.

School finished at the end of May, and so on June 4 I traveled back to Oklahoma where I spent two weeks, actually preparing to come back to Guatemala for 10 days. Those two weeks passed by very quickly!

While in Guatemala with my church in Enid, we did our usual vbs, construction on a pastor's home, door-to-door evangelism, and we also added a sports camp. It was a great trip! The Lord revealed himself to a woman who I have been praying for about 4 years now. She and her daughter came to know the Lord! It was such a great time of joy to know that the Lord worked!

A couple of my students from Xela helped us during the trip. Originally they came to be translators, but they became so much more to the whole team. They were a part of the team and we valued them very much. Andres and Maria lived out their faith in a way that they never had before, and as their teacher, it was such a blessing to see! Loved it.

 (Left to Right) Andres, Brendon, Aaron, me. Loved spending time with these guys during the trip.

 Andres and Maria with some from the Kentucky team

 Andres translating a sermon for Jimmy at the church in Totonicapan!

 Andres and Maria with my sister Whitney! 

 Andres and Aaron sporting their jerseys. 

 Aaron, Brendon, and Andres in the market, apparently wearing trash bags as ponchos. 

 Some of the sports team! 

 Some of us went to La Vienesa to drink some hot drinks in the cold Toto weather!

Andres serving the kids at a school in Toto.

When I returned to Oklahoma in late June, I rested. I didn't do anything for the first two weeks, except for frequently visiting the home of Jared and Bekah McClellan. 

I taught swimming lessons during the last two weeks of July, and July 31 I came back to Guatemala to start the school year. 

I have been at the school every day since Tuesday now, getting my classroom ready and organizing and planning lessons so that we can start the year on Tuesday. It's been much much more relaxed than last year! I remember being so stressed out and overwhelmed by everything I had to do last year, and I pretty much have the same to do this year, but with a year of experience! It helps everything! And I'm just now figuring out what all I'm supposed to teach! So it should be a good year! 

 From a hike we went on a week ago. This is right outside of Xela.

 Xela down below from the side of "The Molar" mountain.

 Nikki taking in the sites.

 Random couple we found on the way.

My classroom in the works!

Classes start on Tuesday! I appreciate your prayers for me to focus on what my task is, sharing the Gospel, and for the students of Inter-American School to have soft hearts that are ready to hear! 

Devin

One Month Left!

With one month left, I'm running out of ideas for school! Every day I arrive at school with this feeling of, "Uh oh, my students are going to be bored!" Since Christmas we have been been in a non-fiction unit, studying informational articles and documentaries. It's been fun and we've learned a lot, but I fear that my students are getting bored. So to help with that we will be starting to read a few more books to finish out the end of the year! 

Also, with one month left of the school year, I'm getting antsy to return to Oklahoma for the summer! I will be in Oklahoma from June through the end of July (minus 10 days)! That is the majority of the summer, which hasn't happened in 4 years! I'm ready to be able to spend some quality time with my friends and family during the summer months. 

Meanwhile, here in Guatemala I have been trying to stay focused on my students and the real reason why I'm here. Speaking of the real reason I'm here, I learned of another salvation of one of my 7th graders! This week I talked to Natalia because of a journal entry she wrote in her Bible journal. In her journal she talked about a recent "change" in her life. She proceeded to explain how she has recently come to realize the importance of Scripture memory and how it has meant a lot more to her recently. She signed her journal entry, "Sincerely, officially saved." 
I began tearing up when I read this because even though I have been here since August and I have been praying for my students to come to know the Lord, I feel like I haven't been the most faithful servant. Through her salvation (and the salvation of Andres), I have been learning how faithful the Lord God is to save his people even in spite of his children's faithlessness. Our God is so much more faithful and gracious than we ever can imagine. 
Since learning of Andres' and Natalia's salvations, I have been more focused in prayer and more thankful to the Lord for his work in spite of my faithlessness. When telling her about my realizations of the faithfulness of the Lord, Nikki reminded me of 2 Timothy 2:13, 

"if we are faithless, he remains faithful..." 

I am also very thankful for this weekend to be in my apartment! This is the first Saturday,  for the past month, that I've been able to sleep in and rest! It's very nice, and I'm able to write here for you guys. Last weekend, Liz Mason and I went to Coatepeque (Co-ah-teh-peh-keh) to visit the home of our Spanish teacher. His name is Gato (yes, which means cat). Gato works here in Xela where I live, but his family lives in Coatepeque. He travels back and forth weekly to work and back to home. We went there to meet his family, see his church, and I was invited to teach (in Spanish!) his youth group. I taught about John 15 and the importance of abiding in the vine. It was a great experience and more practice for me to teach a group in Spanish. While we were there, Liz also gave an English class to help the youth in the church with their English. 

On Wednesday this week, our school had a Fine Arts Festival in the afternoon. Several students displayed their artwork, sang songs, wrote creative stories, created junk sculptures, made chalk drawings, and/or drew on a school mural. It was a great time of seeing the students perform and use their talents. 

As I wrap up this blog post, I ask for your prayers for Andres and Natalia, the new believers, and also for the rest of the 7th grade class that the Lord will open their hearts to believe. 

I'll leave you with pictures:

We had a family day at school about a week and a half ago. The PTA was in charge of it and they transformed our parking lot into a fair-type event! 

Clowns at the Family Day

This is what I ate for dessert at Family Day. These are called "buñuelos" (boon-wey-los). They are similar to funnel cake dough, fried, and soaked in honey. Yum! 

The magician at Family Day

This was my meal at Family Day. These are called "garnachas" (gar-nach-as). They are fried corn tortillas on the bottom with ground beef, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese on top. Many times you eat them with cabbage on the side. (Similar to a tostada at a Mexican restaurant in Oklahoma, minus the cabbage). 

I didn't eat this, but I wanted to show you anyway. Corn on the cob with ketchup, mayonaise, and mustard = "Elote loco" or "crazy corn." :)

When Liz and I were as we were leaving Xela on our way to Coatepeque, we saw some goats just grazing next to the city street. A second later we saw a woman milking one of these goats for a woman to buy. 

Me teaching the youth at Gato's church

Again.

Again.

Go here for a brief clip of me preaching in Spanish: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hhSO65643E&feature=youtu.be

Our friends that we met in Coatepeque. They are youth in the church there. The two in the middle fed us dinner and took us around the city. They were very nice! The guy on the left side fed us more garnachas for an evening snack. 

This is Gato (our Spanish teacher) and his family.

These are live crabs for sale in the market of Coatepeque. They were actually still moving in that basket. Since Coatepeque is very close to the ocean, there is lots of seafood there. 

A humongous pot that is used for making tamales.

Arcade games were everywhere in Coatepeque! 

A meat market in Coatepeque. I've started buying my beef and pork at these places! 

This is Walmart's meat market. That is a huge thing full of chicken.

One picture of my classroom and my sixth graders writing in their journals.

Down the hill to the middle school

This is a picture of two new classrooms they are building along with the older high school classrooms in the background.

Outside picture of the library (far left behind the two girls), the office (the background), and the first grade classroom (far right).

Outside of the 3rd grade and high school Bible classrooms

Picture of the view from the top of the hill

Number 12 is an example of Mr. Warfield's creative vocabulary quizzes. Can you figure out the word? 

:)

This is a class picture of 6th grade. I am their homeroom teacher, so I have a picture of them. 

Faculty and staff picture

7th grade did a skit for the Fine Arts Festival. Natalia, one of the recent believers, is on the left.

Andres, one of the recent believers, is on the right.

This is Rudy. Hilarious part of the skit! 

The hill from the bottom next to middle school. The stairs go up to the office, library, elementary school, and high school. 

The road to go up the hill. My friend Aaron and I have run this a few times. It's hard! 

Yesterday my sweet tea disappeared from the fridge...

My ice cream dessert at dinner last night. 

View down our street. The tallest building in the background on the left (yellow) is my apartment. 

Apartment building closer

Again

These are "chuchitos" (chu-chee-tos). Chuchitos are a common party food here in Guatemala. They are very similar to tamales that you would get in a Mexican restaurant in Oklahoma. The left one still has the corn husk on it. They are made of cornmeal and have chicken or pork inside. I bought some and had them for dinner one night this week. (P.S. chuchito means "little dog" in Guatemalan Spanish).

This is a view back in Xela of looking off of the balcony of our apartment building. 

A view from my apartment. The silos are from a beer distillery.  

The view down the street where our apartment is located.

Evening sunset

Evening lights of Xela from our apartment

Morning

Morning

Morning

Hope you liked ALL of the pics! God bless! 

Devin