Tag: travel
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Chacho En Bogota: The Cows Are Off To Pasture
SuperVacas has ended. Ninety kids showed up on Friday. Monday there were about 50. It’s incredible how good news travels around the neighborhood. A lot of the kids were first-timers. It was an exhausting week because there were only 10 adult workers for the 90 kids that showed up, but everything got done and the…
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Chacho En Bogota: Blessed Indeed
Some 70 kids came to SuperVacas today, which means the good word is spreading ’round the barrio. The kids played ping-pong and soccer today – I pinged a little pong before they did and remembered how much I loved playing. My backhand, though, is much stronger than my forehand. The Encisos invited a boy from…
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Chacho En Bogota: Cows That Are Super
Today was Day 1 of, as Jorge would say, ¡¡¡SUPERVACAS!!!! It’s basically an AWANA-type day camp hosted by the church from 9am-12 every day this week. About 60 kids showed up today in total, so it was a lot of controlled chaos. It definitely brought me back to my days as a counselor at Lake…
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Chacho En Bogota: Flea Market
I played drums this morning for church – the first time I’ve done so while I’ve been here. It’s been a while since I’ve played and it felt pretty good. After church, a couple of people from the singles group, plus the Encisos and the adopting family, visited a flea market not far from our…
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Chacho En Bogota: Adorable Babies
It’s quite humbling to get schooled in a pick-up soccer game by a kid more than half your age. That happened to me yesterday when I brought a soccer ball out to the kids who live in the orphanage around the corner from the Encisos. I was doing pretty well, but this one kid –…
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Chacho En Bogota: Arm Wrestling
Last night, I’m doing laundry, getting ready for bed, when Jorge tells me to get my “party clothes” on because we’re going to a surprise birthday party. OK. We get there, gather with the other party attendees, climb silently up the stairs to his apartment and sing him Happy Birthday, en español, claro. We eat…
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Chacho En Bogota
Hola amigos cerca y lejos. I’ve officially been here for a month now, which means I’m almost a third through my time here. It’s a strange thought because it means eventually I’ll have to start thinking about what I’m doing to do when I get back to the States. I, like many people, will need…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 12
PEELING, PAINTING, AND PACKING Hello again! Day 46 of the trip. We’ve been in Guatemala City for the last week hanging out with Jeanette and Juan Carlos and enjoying the much cooler temperatures. Some good news: the sunburn on my back has finally gone away! There was some major peeling going on, but thanks to…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 11
SUNBURN, SWELTERING HEAT, AND SURF Hello hello! Sorry for the space between posts. We’ve been in Chiquimulilla for the last two weeks with no Internet connection, but now we’re back in Guatemala City with Jeanette and JuanCarlos and have lots to share! Denis and Alvira, our friends in Chiquimulilla, essentially became our Guatemalan aunt and…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 10.5
So yesterday Elise and I got the chance to visit As Green As It Gets, an independent Guatemala cooperative that works with local farmers to produce all kinds of products, coffee being it’s primary bread and butter. We talked with Franklin, the founder (who is originally from Wisconsin), and he gave us a tour of…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 10
SUBJUNCTIVE, SANTO DOMINGO, AND SPANGLISH So we’ve been in Antigua now for about two weeks. Today we walked over to Santo Domingo, a super super nice hotel and villa. We just walked right in and explored the ridiculously beautiful scenery. There were hanging gardens and fountains at every corner and tropical birds nesting. We wondered…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 9
HIKING, HOT SPOTS, AND HARDCORE PATRIOTISM Hey all, we’ve been in Antigua for the week helping Hector and wandering the town. We connected with Gerber, mom’s friend down here whom I will hopefully be accompanying to the jungle in northern Guatemala sometime during this trip. Yesterday we visited a school where Gerber’s sister is the…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 8.5
TIME, TUK TUKS, AND TACO BELL Since the last post was getting kind of long, I didn’t get a chance to add some other things we’ve discovered while living in Guatemala. First, the concept of time. Very different from that in the States. Americans are very gogogo–on the clock and always moving. But life in…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 8
ROJO, RUINS, AND REHAB Hello, readers, thanks for stopping by. We’ve had quite the eventful weekend. But first, some belated pictures from last week’s excursion to Chiquimullia with Denis and Alvira. Elise and I helped them with their presentation while mom and Jeanette talked to the village midwives. In more recent news, we went to…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 7
DRAMAS, DISEASE, AND (TERRENTIAL) DOWNPOUR Hey readers, sorry for the lack of updating. I have caught some form of sickness and was too weary. I’m still sick with some diarrhea and aching, but hopefully it will pass. We have had a pretty cool last few days. We’ve been working with a middle school/high school group…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 6
CUTE KIDS, CLOTHES, AND CANCIONES Hola, readers! We’ve had a pretty cool last few days. Yesterday we had lunch with Juan Carlos’ family after church. His brother, Alejandro, is the lead singer of the Guatemalan Christian band Vertical. Apparently they’re the Guatemalan equivalent of the Newsboys or something like that. We ate Domino’s pizza and…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 5
SUSHI, SHOPPING, AND SURPRISES Today we visited a local indoor market in the city. It was full of trinkets and clothes and fresh food and lots of people. Since it was indoors all the vendors are packed in like sardines, so claustrophobes may have a tough time. Still, it’s an adventure in itself to walk…
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Rockin’ Guat 2009: Episode 4
NICKNAMES, NOT UNDERSTANDING, AND REALLY NOT UNDERSTANDING Yesterday was day 2 in Guatemala City. We’ve mostly just stayed in our host family’s home preparing for last night’s event. Juan Carlos and Jeanette hosted an all-night praise and prayer session with about 10 of their neighbors and friends. Jeanette prepared a humble feast of authentic Guatemalan…