An overdo update!

I am so sorry…. Where did the time go?

 I was told it might happen, but thought I would never be the kind of person to leave my friends and family in the dark for months. What could be a legitimate excuse for something like that?  But sure enough it has been what… three months? Allow me explain my absence with a metaphor because those are fun.

I have an abundance of awesome people in my life two of which just came and left Central America.  Hannah and Rachel who I met at University lived my life in Perquín for a week then we did a little traveling in Guatemala.

On the boat for Atitlan!  

Hannah is one smart cookie and decided to bring her slack line, which was a huge hit! For those of you who might not know what a slack line is I will explain. It is essentially a long belt tied around two objects and then tightened to the point that you can walk on top of it…IF you have a good sense of balance. I do not and will often trip over absolutely nothing. It’s almost as if tiny invisible people are trying to make my life miserable. I tried to slack line but found myself continually falling to one side or the other.

The slack line was as big of a hit in Guatemala as it was in Perquiín

So the metaphor is this.  Walking on that line was impossible for me and when I knew I was going to fall I needed to quickly choose which side.  At the beginning of my SALT journey, similar to trying to walk on a belt, I tried to balance home life and Perquín. It was an exhausting and impossible effort. You cannot be in two places at once and I found when I failed to balance the two I fell on the side more familiar to me.  Calling home, writing letters, looking at pictures, BLOGGING, there was nothing wrong with it at the time other then I was not truly present in Perquín and that was where I needed to be!

 

I actually have no proof of me trying to slack line although I am sure it's not hard for any of you to believe I can't do it. But here is me helping little Franklin. 

 But there has been a shift and I have found myself more content on the Perquín side of the slackline. When I am upset I have people here in Perquín I can describe my frustrations to, when I want to talk there’s always someone there, and when I am bored looking for something to do it does not take me long to fill up my time. I feel at home and comfortable with my host family and coworkers. I have become less dependent on familiar things that remind me of Canada and have become more present and engaged in Perquín life.

My birthday came and went. My companeros through me a surprise party! Were missing a few people in this picture but the cake is there. It was a pretty beautiful cake. 

The journey to get to this point was hard and at times lonely.  Leaving everything you know for a year is a challenging but incredibly rewarding and enriching experience. Having made it to the homestretch and looking back on my journey and how it has enhanced my life, spiritually, educationally, mentally, etc., I would most certainly encourage anyone to highly consider a long-term mission.

Seeing Hannah and Rach have many of the same frustrations as I had when I first arrived in Perquín made me realize just how much I have learned this year. And what beautiful friends I have!

SO here are some of the cool things that have been happening in Perquín

I AM HELPFUL!

Technically I have always been helpful in one way or another. Drawings for the kids NEED to be drawn and homework NEEDS to be assigned. I have definitely seen that over the year I have gotten faster at my work, and am able to enforce rules, which takes a little pressure of the teachers. One of the teachers was unable to come to El Centro for a whole week and I took over her class. I taught the class lessons, prepared material, lead stories, ect. It was a bit of an epiphany for me on how far I have come since October. I arrived a stranger who did not know a thing. Since October I have found a place in El Centro and feel needed and loved.

Daily duties… giving the children there leche. 

I can make jokes!!

I did not take me long to accept that I would NOT be leaving Perquín fluent in Spanish.  I struggled and continue to struggle with the fact that I feel like such a different person in this language. I can’t seem to express a lot of things I want to in the moment. In result I am not a very funny person and with my look of concentration while trying to understand things I can be perceived as quite serious. “Poco a poco” or “little by little” is what I am constantly told. I can’t say every thought that comes into my head nor understand every part of a conversation but I have come to a point where I feel my personality is starting to shine through the cracks of the ceramic pot labeled language barrier.

 One night Mitchel and Ronald were showing me pictures from Semmana Santa when we came upon a picture of a cow. I said oh look what a nice picture of Ronald to which he replied “that’s not me it’s my brother” “and as quick as I would in English I said “Ronald why didn’t you tell me you have a twin brother”. It is that sort of back and forth interaction that I miss in my own language. So when it happens in Spanish it’s a great encouragement.

 

One of the funniest things I can say is when Michel asks me what I ate for lunch and I reply…food obviously.  We always get a kick out of that one. But this is likely what I ate…a typical meal of platanos with frijoles liquado. 

I make decisions!

There comes a point where you become less dependent on your host families plans and have actual invitations to do things. I must say for the first 4 months I never thought I would get to a point where I was not following my host family around like a lost puppy. But sure enough I no longer count on the plans of my host family to fill up my time.

 Life in Perquín is still not without its challenges… although can life exist without challenges? God has given me strength to overcome the hurdles of the adjustment period, and will not leave me now that things have gotten easier. It is incredible to look back and see him working through the highs and lows, through the experience’s I have had, and the people I have met this past year. We have a pretty awesome God don’t you agree?

After working with these little bundles of joy for nearly 8 months I must say I agree….