Xela

My time in Xela (aka Quetzaltenango) flew by and went really well. I couldn't write about it until I got back though because I didn't want to worry my mom :)
Sunday we drove up. God kept us safe in our travels, despite 50 miles of mudslides! I will post pics soon. It was just incredible. We had to stop once for about 45 minutes because the road was closed, but then were able to continue with a total time of just over 3 hours. We passed by lots of pick-ups crammed with people, even standing on the bumpers, and we saw a bus that had been completely smushed and roads that were had caved in. The 4-lane highway was 2 lanes in many places, with us having to drive through the fog into oncoming traffic :O hoping that no more slides occured as we drove. We are truly powerless. Only God can control his creation.
Another thing that amazed me today were the stories that the people from this team shared. They have many years of experience and told stories of how often God has provided exactly what was needed. For example: A special prototype Mulholland wheelchair was made (only about 2 made in total) that somehow ended up here. It had a seat built for leg length discrepancies (staggered seat) and a custom-made molded backrest. They didn't think it would work for anyone, but then it fit one girl at the orphanage absolutely perfectly! Other examples were when at w/c distributions they only had one w/c left and it had only a left footrest and the last person to come through the door was a right leg amputee. Or when they had no w/c's left and a family brought in their blind daughter who had never walked. The PT worked with her and within an hour she was taking a few steps! If there had been w/c's available she probably would have never walked! God is truly sovereign!
We ate at the hotel for lunch and then I watched part of Langley CanRC's sermon at the lounge with Cindy, my roomie for the time. A man who called himself No-Stress Mike joined us and told us lots of stories. Very interesting character. He does alternative medicines and said he healed his wife of her stroke through acupuncture and "Chi" energy healing. He also talked about how he used to be in the US Army at Vietnam and he trains SWAT teams, drives around North and Central America with his dog on his motorcycle and knows how to shoot someone in one spot to cause muscle spasms, then shoot in another to relieve it. That night we also watched Slumdog Millionaire in my room (thanks Joel for putting all your stuff on my computer! It's really come in handy a few times :)
Monday we went to the orphanage. It was so beautiful, compared to Hermano Pedro. The children are kept clean and entertained and the staff are really eager to help us. It has also been abnormally sunny this whole time (Debbie the PT on our team attributes it to the prayers of her church back home for us). I worked with Saul and we felt really satisfied with the chairs that we set up, even though some of the children were quite deformed and difficult to seat. Debbie is very experienced and taught me a few tricks on how to assess a child before seating them. Chris has been speaking some Spanish to me to get me to practice, and I've also been trying to converse with Saul and Jorge who don't speak much English. I am definitely getting proficient at ordering food though. It's important! :) We heard on Tuesday that there was another mudslide cutting off the road between Chimaltenango and Xela so we were worried we wouldn't make it home, but by Thursday it was cleared enough - though still dangerous.
Tuesday was very much the same. We seated a couple of beautiful little girls with Down's Syndrome and another boy and then did lots of repairs. Later, Cindy and I went for a swim in the hotel's pool. I don't think it was heated, so it was cold, but felt good to get some exercise. I haven't been running at all since I got here, so I feel quite out of shape. Swimming made me out of breath, but it is also at a very high altitude, so that could have something to do with it. I also scrubbed my socks and underwear Tuesday and hung them out on Dick's balcony (with his permission). We have no airflow whatsoever in our room so it would never dry and I haven't been able to get to a laundromat in about a week and a half so it was needed. He was a good sport about it although he liked to tease. Picture a 60-something year old man who looks kind of like Santa Claus and you've got Dick. Great guy with a big heart, although he doesn't speak Spanish after living in Guatemala for 9 years.
Wednesday we did lots of wheelchair repairs and actually finished almost everything. Again, we could see God's hand at work. We couldn't do it on our own. Some of those kids were so twisted that we really didn't know what to do on our own. Something else that struck me was how Chris said he is completely unashamed to tell potential supporters (Christian or not) that God is the reason he does his work. The ultimate goal of the wheelchair shop is to glorify God and that is more important than money. I found those to be powerful and inspiring words. I am really learning so much here in Guatemala: about Spanish, wheelchairs, mechanicking, God, and people. Dick was talking about the Guatemalen culture at supper and said how abuse, especially physical is very common. He said he's heard men at church say, "I need to go home now and beat my wife and kids" - and by beat, they really mean tie them and whip them! Women have nowhere to go to escape. Even if they escaped their abusive husbands they would starve on the streets. There is very little in the way of social supports.
Thursday (today) we had a gorgeous drive back to Chimaltenango. We stopped at some Mayan ruins on the way (I can't remember the name of the place) and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant. We had grilled steaks, sausages and chicken, with guacamole, beans, potato wedges, and limes and nachos with different types of salsas and fresh corn tortillas made on the spot. Absolutely delicious and it came to an equivalent of about $8 per person! So much stuff is very cheap here. Dick says he's gone to the doctor for something 6x and paid about $7.50 in total. People are paid very little.
Now I am in Antigua (Chris dropped me off at my Guatemalen family again). The minibus picks me up tomorrow morning at 4am!!! to go to Rio Dulce where I will meet Alyson for our sailing trip. So excited, but wow - this trip is going fast!