Life in Guatemala

We begin our day at 6:30 with a delicious breakfast made by my host mom, Isabel.  This can range from beans and sweet bread to hot dogs and scrabbled eggs.  This is always served with tea, which is a favorite of Liz, my new roommate.  Then its a short hike up to the top of the hill where the school in located.  We start by going up a goat trail behind our house.  This is not a normal trail.  It is mostly filled with trash and there are wild chicken that run around up there.  It's quite interesting to say the least. The trail leads to a paved road that takes us to the school for morning devotions with the kids.  After devotion time we are either planning for an ESL program, which is a pilot program for Global Shore for Pre-Kindergarden, Kindergarden, and Grade 1, or building a house.  Yes folks, I am helping to build a house, which should be completed by the end of the summer.  In the afternoons, we are either running the ESL program (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) or continuing to work on the house.  Everyday from 4-6 we have one-on-one Spanish lessons with a native Guatemalan speaker.  My teacher's name is Haydee (pronounce ay-de) .  She only speaks Spanish so it's pretty much full immersion.  At first I was a little worried that we would not be able to communicate at all but it has worked out really well.  I love her.  She is hilarious.  On Monday nights we have team time and Wednesdays in church.  Those days are pretty jam packed with events.  Saturdays are a little bit more relaxed.  We spend the morning with the Jacobo, eating delicious food and drinking delicious coffee and learning more about God.  The afternoons are fairly slack.  We are helping with a VBS run by a women in the town every Saturday afternoon.  The children here are great and I being able to have this opportunity to grow.  Love you all!

Guate!!!!!!!!! We're here!!!!!!!!!!

So here I am in good 'ole Guatemala.  It is such a different culture here.  I quite enjoy the food difference here. Beans, tortillas, plantains, and spaghetti with salsa (surprisingly delicious).  It's a good thing Liz and I live halfway up the hill so we can work off all these delicious carbs.  We are also really lucky to have a warm shower, also known as a suicide shower.  This name was given to the fact that there is electricity and water in the same general vicinity.  However, I survived my first shower here none-the-less.  the children at the school are really loving and I think I've fallin' in love with them already.  They are the sweetest things ever, words cannot describe it fully.  yeah we've been here for a few days and my body is still trying to get adjusted to all the new sights and sounds and my heart is trying to get used to the poverty here.  More later when I can stay on a singular topic. 

Asparagus, How I Loathe Thee

There are so many things I could say about asparagus.  There are so many different types.  Long tall thin ones, short fat juicy ones, medium normal-sized ones, ect. ect.  The list could go on and on.  I close my eyes and all I can see is are green veggies moving through the slots from left to right.  All day I work with these little green monster, either dropping them one by one in their designated slots or bunching the families alike asparagus together and throwing them on a conveyor belt moving at breakneck speeds of 2 km/hr.  for hours on end this is my life, day in and day out.  Oh, and if we're are ever so lucky as to get to work until 9 pm then it is truly all I do.  Earlier this week I became sick, and not just sick of asparagus but so exhausted that i could not physically hold my own body weight upright.  For the morning portion of Wednesday, I was propped up, the slot machine only means of remaining on my feet.  I leaned on Liz as we walked to the Ark for yet another delicious lunch special and barely made it to the sofa where I conveniently collapse and did not move until our lunch hour was almost over.  At that point I had not eaten a single bite of the steak Shirley had prepared for us and decided to ask the dreaded question.  "Christoph, can I have the afternoon off?"  Thank goodness he said yes because I most certainly needed it.  I spent the next 5 hours sleeping.  I was completely knocked out and boy did it feel good afterward, and I slept well that whole night.  (Mom, I was seriously that tired.)  Yeah, for the most part I'm just done with seeing that much asparagus for a very long time.  Only a little bit left.  We leave for Guatemala on July 6th!!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!!! Can not wait!!!!!

God is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Good

We have yet to work a full work week yet and we got off early today.  A bunch of us went down to the beach to play in the epic sand mountains (or hill for those from Colorado).  It was so much fun to actually play in the sun instead of only watching it set after a long day of work.  Tomorrow its off to Toronto to hang out with my new fam and watch a Toronto Blue Jays game for Braydencito's birthday. 


This week as been absolutely incredible.  I'm pretty sure God has designated these past few days specifically to me, or at least that's what it feels like.  We learned about the power of worship last night and the Holy Spirit is working wonders.  He has been speaking to me through others and I can feel him ready to burst inside my chest at many points throughout the day.  Man! God is just so amazing!  I wish my words could do him justice but they just can't measure up.  It's just so great!!!  This seems quite I'm sure but you just have to experience God's awesome powers. 

Finally a Break

We got the day off today and got off early on Friday.  Apparently we're working much faster than they expected us to.  This allowed our team to visit a lady named Glena Pearl.  Now let me tell you a little something about Glena, she is totally and completely in love with God.  It is absolutely insane the amount that she loves God.  As Christoph would say, I could spend a year sitting at her feet and just learning.  Anyways, our team went to Glena's house for team time.  It was incredible.  Her daughter was there to lead us in worship and we could all feel God's presence.  It's actually difficult to put into words everything that happened.  But through that night I realized that I do not know anything about spiritual gifts.  Thus I'm looking more into what the Bible's teachings on spiritual gifts.  I just wish everyone could be here to experience how incredible God is, because He definitely is so incredibly awesome and He loves every single one of us. 


With our extra day off we have been gallivanting to a great used book store in which I am spending a lot of money there.  I bought four books today and believe I am in need of an extra suitcase by the end of the summer.  So many amazing books.  And the old gentleman that works in there is so sweet.  I just wish there were something like that near Trinity although that might deplete my wallet very quickly. 


Oh and then there is this guy.  His name is Colin and he has a beard (but we try not to hold that against him...sometimes).  Even though he's from Calgary and only wears shades of grey we still listen to his odd sense of humor, especially his 'jokes' about America.  We tell him he's crazy but he doesn't remember it 10 minutes later so it's all good.  

And the Work Continues

Work Day Four:  Status update
According to my mother, I have some sort of sprain in my shoulder and my fingers have swelled to the size of a sharpie.  These are m only grievances.  Apart form the minor setbacks my body has put in my way, I am liking the overall atmosphere of the packing house.  Working with Liz is quite enjoyable and the strange, eclectic mix of music genres blaring through the speakers overhead.  To keep our minds mentally stimulated, we have decided to memorize a few verses a day.  Today's focus was on Romans 12.  Now, menial labor has never been my first choice of jobs but today God struck me with a verse.  I few words that seemed to hit me right upside the head.  Do not be proud, but be willing to do menial tasks. (Romans 12:16)  I am not above the task of bunching asparagus.  If I am set with a task then I am to do it.  There is nothing that I'm 'too good' for.  This is the small life lesson for the day.  Just do it (as Nike would say), because you really can't argue with God.

Here is a picture of our team (aren't we just so adorable).

Top: Kat, Julliana, Jacobo, Christoph, Liz, Brayden, Katita

Middle: Dave, Jenn, Me, Josh

Bottom: Colin, Adam, Karla, Leah

Thoroughly Modern Work

Today was out first experience in packing the asparagus.  I was on bunching duty with my bunching buddy Liz.  In my opinion, this is the best job there is.  You get to press a button all day!!!  So fun, right?  Oh and did I mention our epic attire?  Oh yes, this job would not be complete without a hairnet.  There is a clack clack clickity of the machine shooting out the asparagus that sounds like a million type writers going at once.  If I closed my eyes, I could imagine some writer furiously writing a novel of epic proportions.   
Never ever thought I'd be working on an assembly line, yet here I am, thanks to one Mr. Henry Ford.  I am one of the fourteen that are not Mexican Mennonite (mind you, this is just guesstimation).  The differences between us are astounding.  This group of people and I live such different lives, but in this one instance, we are the same. 
Well folks, I better hit the hay.  My guess is there is another fourteen hour day up for us tomorrow.  

Perwinkling in the Lord

These past few week have been full of random jobs.  The asparagus have been taking its sweet time sprouting.  These jobs have included checking cherry lines, cutting firewood, and cleaning out the warehouse.  The best job I've had thus far has been pariwinkling.  This is just a fancy name for perging weeds from the garden full of periwinkles just outside of the warehouse.  Throughout the process of weeding I was thinking about how incredibly spiritual the process of weeding is.  Weeding is more difficult then it seems and takes more time then the eye perceives.  We must allow God to weed out the sin in our lives.  I learned that we might lose apart of ourselves throughout this growth.  This must happen to continue on the path God has set in place for us.  It has been absolutely incredible having the smallest reminders of how much God does for us and how he loves us. 

Matthew 13: 24-30
²⁴ Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. ²⁶ When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
   ²⁷ “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
   ²⁸ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
   “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
   ²⁹ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"

I'm Finally Here!!!

Sorry its taken me so long to get on here.  Apparently, there's no internet in the middle of no where (well at least there is no internet where we're living).  Go figure.  So, I've been here for a week and a lot has been happening.  Last week was devoted to getting to know the pastor and his wife that we will be working with in Guatemala.  It was incredible hearing what Jacobo had to say about God and our spiritual lives. 
Definately a week of growth and getting to know the team. 
The team has been amazing.  We've all seemed to have meshed fairly well.  It seems like we've known each other for a long time.  I have to keep reminding myself that it's only been a week (craziness).  There are 10 of us in the program and 2 fearless leaders, Christoph and Kat.  I love all of them oh so much.  It's so great.  
I wish I could fully express how great everything has been but its so difficult to put into words.  

On saturday it was Jacobo's birthday so the team decided to kidnap him and take him out for ice cream.  Here's what happened (hopefully this will work):

Side note: To all of you are trying to facebook me, I will probably not respond because I am rarely on the interwebs but I love you anyways.  

   

The Time is Getting Closer...

So, I'm heading off to Ontario in 3 days.  The summer sneaked up on me.  It's crazy where the time has gone.  I have almost completed my second year of university (only one more take-home exam to finish).   I'm so excited to get to know the other members of my team.  All I know its going to be one amazing summer.  Thank you to all that have supported me, both financially and through your prayers.
I realized that many have not heard of the program that I'm doing so here's a link for Global Shore Organization:  http://www.globalshore.org/

Just Me

Hey All,
I'm Shelby and here you are at my blog.  Welcome.  I'm not much of a writer but I love adventure.  Take me anywhere around the world and I will be tickled with excitement.  There will be more to come but this is to keep ya'll updated on the happenings of my summer so I hope you stick around.  It should be great fun.