Another update coming soon...

I am half-way through writing my part 2 update to the Carnival Day. It's taking some time... I have so much to share about that day. So hang on, it's coming soon. Here's a teaser for you. In the picture below you can see the putt-putt game. At the back is a tee-pee with face painting and to the left of that is the pie throw. If you click on it, the picture will expand and you can see everything more clearly. Rick and I slept in this Saturday morning and are enjoying our Saturday morning coffee ritual. Last Saturday we were both so ill, the coffee had no taste. But we're back... and life is good! The weather outside is beautiful! The cold snap left us, and it almost feels like Spring out there! We are fixing to (some good ole fashioned Texas-speak) head out and walk around the grounds at Canton's First Monday. I'll finish the Carnival Day update later on...

If you are new to my blog...

If you are new to my blog - Welcome! My recap of the Guatemalan experience is half-way complete. You might find it helpful to scroll down a few pages and begin with Day 1.

Day 7 - Guatemala Update PART 1

I have ALOT to talk about for this particular day... so I think it's going to have to be broken into two days. Part 1 and Part 2. Part 1: This was the day we had built up to all week long. The "You are Special" Carnival was today! There was lots to do before that could happen though:

• Vendors for pizza, popcorn, bouncehouse, and a music dj had to set up.
• A trip to the bank was needed in order to pay the above vendors.
• Our men, having completed the playground and grass project, had a few hours to construct some booths for the carnival.
• The Toddler's had yet to be introduced to their special playground.
• Duties for the booths needed to be assigned.
• Left over supplies from Rotations needed to be organized so that we could leave them with the Director for future use.

And I'm sure there were lots of other things that needed to be done that I'm unaware of.

Breakfast, for a change, was next door at McDonalds. After that, a trip to the bank - it was next door to the hotel also. Some of the men headed on to the Orphanage to get started on the sets for the Carnival and to do a final cleanup sweep of the Toddler Playground. The rest of us enjoyed our last morning walk to the Orphanage, excited about the day. We didn't notice the uninvited visitors that followed us. Upon arriving, there were bags to unload from the vans and lots of general busy-ness. What happened next, I didn't personally witness. It all happened so fast. I walked from the inside of the orphanage out into the front gated area where the Toddler Playground was and stepped into a crisis of shock, sobs, and general confusion. The gate was being pushed into the closed position. "What's happened?" I asked. Jouleen was being protectively whisked inside, with tears running down her cheeks, by Jason. Several of our translators were in tears and visibly shaken. Silence. "A gun was pulled on Jouleen and she was robbed," someone finally said to me. A cacophony of confused voices then broke through the silence . Everyone had their own eye-witness account and we pieced together what happened, as we tried to calm down and process the emotions. Apparently, we were followed from the bank. Jouleen had a substantial amount of money in order to pay our Carnival Vendors for the day. The gunmen must have seen this exchange, or been tipped off by someone in the bank. This, I learned, was not entirely uncommon. What actually happened, I will not try to describe. It is too emotionally charged, too powerful. And since I was not there, I cannot accurately recreate it. But I know that it involved Tod trying to grab the bag away from the assailants (to which the guns were then revealed.) I also believe that our bus driver was on top of the bus unloading bags, and he layed down flat so as to be unnoticed during the altercation. When the gate was locked, he was shut out... must have been scary for him also! Along with the money, Jouleen's passport and some personal effects were in the bag. This created a 1-day delay in her return to the States. As you can imagine, the festive atmosphere quickly turned to one of shock and fear. I now understood the barbed wire and the locked gate. As we processed it all, we realized we may have gotten "sloppy" in our safety precautions. More than anything, we were grateful and could not thank God ENOUGH for his protection over a potentially deadly situation. After a little while, Jouleen was taken to make the police report and to change hotel rooms (her hotel key had also been in the bag.) We tried to get back on task knowing full well that the "show must go on!" We were all ready for the welcome distraction of introducing the Toddler's to their very own playground area! The weeklong project was finished, the men were excited, and the toddlers were going stircrazy! Below is a cute video of the kids coming out into the area for the first time. They mobbed the playground, happy voices shrieking and laughing. At one point, I cracked up because almost everyone of the adults had a camera out, trying to catch the moment. Below is a video of the "battle of the slide." Look closely at the picture below. One little boy is tumbling backwards off the slide. I was sitting on the bench next to his mother... She was visiting him for the afternoon and laughed really hard at this picture when I showed her. I wonder what the circumstances were... Why was he in temporary custody of the orphanage? His mother clearly loved him - I hope they are reunited permanently soon. I also wish there was a way I could get her a copy of this picture. We played hard with the kids for over an hour. The little red wagon, pictured below, was a personal gift from our team-mate David West. He was so kind and gentle with the children... and wanted the kids to have their very own red wagon. It was an instant hit!

This playtime was a welcome distraction from the stress of the morning! And this was the main project that we had come for. To see the hard work made complete with the giggles and excitement... I just can't express the fullness that I felt. The little girl below wanted to jump into Rick's arms: over, and over, and over! Our day could have ended here and now, with the excitement on the playground. I felt like we had already lived a full day already! We ordered pizza for lunch and ate on the playground while deciding who would take what tasks at the Carnival. And on that note, I'll have to leave the rest for tomorrow's update.

Day 6 - Guatemala Update (for Jan 15)

Thursday - One regular day left with rotations this morning before our "You Are Special" Carnival on Friday. Also, this was my 35th birthday! I woke up feeling pretty bad, but still excited about the day. Rick and I were assigned to crafts for the day - we got to create Snowman Art with the kids. Like normal, story time was first. Guili wrapped up her week long mini-series of Joseph. It was fun watching her act out the story, from beginning to end throughout the week. And although we couldn't understand the Spanish, we definitely knew what was going on by her dramatic gesturing motions. Below, you can see how entranced the kids were with her story. For the Snowman art, we had foamy cutouts of Snowmen for the kids. Through our translator, we learned that the kids DID know what a snowman was. I was mildly surprised. We passed out the snowmen, along with all sorts of stick-on decorations for the eyes, nose, buttons, fingernails (yes, many of our snowmen had colored fingernails!) The younger kids enjoyed this project more than the older ones... it took the older boys about 5 minutes to finish theirs. We then broke out the modeling clay and coloring books for them. Many of the kids bequeathed Rick and I with their snowmen. I think we brought back about 40 of them. Our fridge isn't big enough to display all the art, but their intention was very sweet.

Meanwhile, the outside playground was almost all ready for the toddlers. We were looking forward to taking the little ones out to play.

And the grass for the inside atrium was already getting the rubber pellets rubbed in by renegade kids who escaped rotations! I think the older kids liked helping out with that. In the picture below, there is only one child working, but believe me, many more participated. It looks like they are raking fake grass, and that's exactly what they were doing. Spreading the rubber pellets around before they get hand rubbed into the blades.

Ted also dazzled the boys with what I call, the "Globetrotter spin."

Lunchtime took us to the mall (yes, a mall!) We ate at Subway, and because the veggies were imported, we were able to have lettuce and tomato on our sandwich. I was so hungry for a big salad! We enjoyed lunch and walking around the mall for a few minutes while the guys stocked up on balls and supplies for the Carnival for tomorrow. Free time after lunch with the kids found Rick and me in the movie room watching Over the Hedge. The kids were congenial and allowed English Subtitles... So I really enjoyed watching the movie. We got smart and put out chairs this time, so we weren't stuck on the cold, hard concrete. During the previous movie, I abused my body with kids piled into my lap on the hard floor. (OK, I know that sounds wimpy... I guess I'm getting old!)

Rick sat at the back of the classroom with Sylvia in his lap. I think they looked at every photo on his iphone during the movie. He later said that it was the most special time he had with her. Dinner on this birthday evening was a treat - at an awesome fondue restaurant. They gave us the entire top floor for our group. Melissa stood up at the beginning of dinner and made an announcement. She said, and I'll try to remember her wording... "Today is a very special day - We're celebrating Kristen's birthday! And because of that, we've brought something very special from the States with us to help us celebrate!" And with that, she whipped out my very own Birthday Banner!

Now, to bring you up to speed: Beginning when we Craig & I were kids, the four Besses' (including Mom & Dad) had our own birthday banner that would hang in the house in the weeks preceding our birthday. I fondly remember picking out the fabric color, lettering, and iron-on decal for my banner from Discount City, in Jacksonville. It must have been around 1980. And to this day, our birthday banners make their way from mom's special hiding place to a prominent place on the wall each year.

When Melissa pulled out my banner, I was dumbfounded! And yet, why should I have been surprised? Mother thinks of everything. The group sang happy birthday to me while I was served my first ever birthday flan :) And the birthday banner was hung on top of a painting on the wall of the restaurant. I got to look at it during the entire dinner and feel very loved and very special! I don't care how old you get, when your momma remembers your birthday, it's always special!

The day wrapped up, all of us exhausted, and ready for the next day's Carnival. We would have time in the morning to set up for the Carnival and take the Toddlers out to play on their new playground.

Here is a picture of Sylvia and her sister Lupe. Sylvia, on the left is 9 and Lupe is 12.

Beep...Beep...Beep

We interrupt this regularly scheduled program to bring you an important news update. ***Due to certain time constraints, there will not be a Guatemala Update today.*** Please tune in tomorrow- same time, same channel - for the continuation of "Days of Our Lives... Guatemala style."

Day 5 - Guatemala Update

Day 5. Wednesday. Hump Day. Halfway through the week with our new best friends. I woke up sick. My throat had closed up so tight, it was that feeling where you are going to choke because you can't swallow. So it was with a huge headache and hurting throat that I ventured downstairs for breakfast. One thing about our group... there wasn't a lack of medicine amongst us. Prescription, non-prescription, alternative... if there was anything I needed, someone was bound to have packed it. So I was well taken care of. Rick and I were assigned Bingo for the morning rotation. He had covered Bingo the previous day, so I relied on him to carry the weight. Carte (not sure how she spells it) was our translator for the morning, and it was so wonderful getting to know her better. We passed out bingo cards and chips, and Rick or I would read the word in Spanish. "Dog, Cow, House, Spoon, Knife...." Bingo is a great way to learn Spanish vocabulary. AND a great way for little kids to snicker at your mis-pronunciations! Prizes were awarded for each hand, and of course, each child won a prize. M&M's and sweet tarts are universally loved. The older boys were helpful - they enjoyed "running" the game. The older girls laughed the most at our attempt at pronouncing the words. The group with the younger kids were pretty active and hyper, while the special needs group had to have quite a bit of assistance with the game. But each group that rotated through was so sweet and fun to be with. Bingo was probably my favorite rotation group because it was pretty organized and the kids all seemed to love it. For lunch, we brought in Happy Meals for all 107 of the kids. They loved it! Even the boys who had eaten happy meals yesterday at McD were excited to get them again. A special treat after lunch was making banana splits for everyone. We bought tubs of ice cream, bananas, and toppings in town, and created an assembly line in the kitchen. It worked out perfect, with enough for the orphanage staff to have one too. And I think they loved it just as much as the kids did. For free time in the afternoon, I wandered out to the playground where Melissa and I broke out the yarn and beads for bracelet/necklace making. The children are so creative and can braid beautiful strands - it was fun watching them work on their creation. Many of the boys got into this also, making necklaces with beads and colors. This was an inexpensive craft that the kids loved!

We were trying to keep most of the kids outside, because the men were installing some artificial grass in the inside atrium area. This improvement was very exciting, and the kids loved tumbling on the finished product! Rick got involved in laying the grass for this area, and he really enjoyed some hands-on physical labor. Later on in the afternoon, we all got involved rubbing in the rubber pellets into the artificial grass on the Toddler's playground. No one could really explain WHAT the pellets do... we each came up with our own explanation. But it did seem to make a world of difference, lifting the blades of grass up, making it fuller, softer, and more lush. This artificial grass was top of the line, and it showed.

I skipped dinner that night, opting for bed at 6pm. My symptoms seemed worse, and I was beginning to worry that I would miss the next day's activities. My teammates came to the rescue with plenty of drugs to get me through the night. High of the day: Treating the kids to banana splits Low of the day: Feeling rotten

Day 4 - Guatemala Update

We slept really well last night. After a hearty breakfast (with black beans!) we headed over to start our day with the kids. Guili continued her story of Joseph, and then we began our rotation for the day.

Jeni and I were lucky enough to be handling the t-shirt art.

We had different colored t-shirts that the kids could pick from, and tons of fabric markers and paint. Through our translator, we told them that they could decorate their t-shirts in any way that they wanted. Some of the kids knew exactly what they wanted, and started immediately. Others needed some help, and Jeni and I would walk around the tables encouraging them. Sometimes they would motion that they wanted us to draw for them, so we would try and determine what they wanted. Did I mention how much we appreciated our translators? "Mariposa, mariposa..." one of the children kept saying to me. "Ahhhhh, a butterfly, they want you to draw a butterfly" Ana would tell me. My gift is certainly NOT drawing, and now there is a child in Guatemala wearing a bright yellow t-shirt adorned with a giant 6 winged, bat shaped, bug-eyed, orange and green butterfly. And you know what? I think he liked it! Another boy asked me to draw a corazon... which I learned to be a heart. "Grande," he said. Big. So I drew a big heart. Next he asked me to put my nombre (name) inside the heart. I did. After that, he took over and wrote his name below the heart. I think he might have had a crush on me! So, somewhere in Guatemala, there is a little boy wearing a blue tshirt with my name in a heart drawn above his name. My name may be written on his t-shirt heart.... but I wonder if he knows that his name is etched into my real heart? Below is a picture of the dining room where we did our t-shirt art. I took this picture as one of the children was setting the table for lunch. The red laundry basket held the sheets they use for tablecloths. Meanwhile, Rick was playing Vocabulary Bingo with Carrie and the kids. Since I joined in with him on Bingo the following day, I'll tell you about that tomorrow. But rest assured, the kids LOVED Rick trying to pronounce his spanish vocabulary. Lunch was a welcome break, and today we headed to another quaint Guatemalan cafe, called Wendy's. Ahhhhh, Frosty's were welcome in my tummy! During lunch, Guili told Rick and I the story she would acting out for the kids after lunch. Another Max Lucado story, "Tu Eres Especial." I knew the kids would love it! Following the storytime, Rick and I were fortunate to be assigned to the group taking the older boys to McDonalds. Each day, a different group of kids rode our bus to McDonalds to play on the playground and eat ice-cream. It was rare that the children saw anything outside the concrete walls of the Home. So watching them take in the sights on the drive was really special. The boy I sat with was unusually quiet, as he couldn't peel his eyes off of the street scenes. I was saddened, but also pleased to be a part of this special day. It was on this drive that Rick turned around and pointed out the window. A funeral march was proceeding through the street, and I quickly grabbed my camera. The black surburban hearse led the way for the 50ish mourners walking behind it on foot. I'm sure the boys didn't understand why I took a picture of this, but since funerals are my occupation, I couldn't resist trying to capture the moment. As you can see below, it didn't really turn out. But if you look closely, you can see the surburban with the crowd of marching mourners following. Upon arriving at McD, we quickly discovered that the playground was a bit juvenile for this group of older boys, but that didn't slow them down much. They took to swinging on the bars, the infrastructure of the playground. We made a human pyramid and took pictures with funny faces. The ice cream sundae's were devoured... and we couldn't help but go ahead and buy happy meals for them too. I think it was Melissa's idea...and money, that made it happen. And soon enough, the boys were in heaven! About this time one of the boys became very quiet and withdrawn. Via the translator, we discovered that he was sad because some of his friends (5 children, to be exact) had left that day to live with a family member. It broke my heart, all of our hearts, to see a crocadile tear run down his cheek as he kept his chin down to his chest. I hugged him and kissed his head, but it didn't stop the hurt. Later, I found out that Jaquiline, my special friend, was one of the children that had left. One observation...none of the other boys joked about it or gave him a hard time, like I would expect. Boys aren't supposed to cry, right? But his buddies understood the pain of separation and abandonment. They are all brothers, and time after time, Rick and I observed the boys watching out for each other. It was beautiful. It was encouraging. It gave me hope. After arriving back at the Home, with Happy Meal toys in hand, we said our goodbye's for the evening. The kids always hugged us goodbye and we would promise to see them manana. The playground was starting to take shape. Below, Grant does his stuff. Dinner that night was at an Italian restaurant. I enjoyed getting to know Penny better. She works for Red Dot and has a daughter that graduated in Taylor's class. Following dinner, we huddled up for our Team wrap-up and devotion. Tod gave us little spiral books that Robyn had made especially for these Red Dot trips. It features photographs of children from previous mission trips paired with Meditations from the Psalms. I was reading in bed later that night when I felt my throat closing up. It was followed by that sinking feeling that comes when you KNOW you are getting sick. It felt like a cold coming on.... probably courtesy of the runny noses and sloppy kisses that had been gifted to me over the past two days. I closed my eyes on the day that had been full of blessings, praying that the next morning would bring good health. High of the day: Laughing at McD while the boys made a human pyramid Low of the day: Seeing the pain in the face of the one left behind when his friends leaves the Home.

Day 3 - Guatemala Update

***If you are just now joining my Guatemalan experience, scroll down and begin with Day 1. Day 3 - Marked the first full day at the orphanage. We ate a good breakfast (that included black beans) and grabbed the bags that would go with us for the day. The van drove the bags everyday, and we chose to walk. It was only about a mile to the Home, and it was fun taking in the sites everyday on the walk. Each day began with story-time. Guili, our talented storyteller from Peru, has such an amazing gift of communication. The story each day was a continuation from the previous day. Joseph was our hero, and Guili acted out with energetic gusto how he was hated by his brothers, abandoned and sold into slavery, accused of terrible things, rose to the top of command, and finally forgave his family. It was a message of hope for these sweet children. (Special note: At the end of the week, one of the girls approached Guili and told her that she needed to forgive her mom, just like Joseph forgave his family. Guili had the pleasure of talking to her about that! If only one child was touched from our message of hope, my Montezuma's Revenge was definitely worth it!) Below is a picture of my cousin Melissa during story-time. During the story time, we would all pile onto the floor with the kids. They would snuggle in, fighting for our laps. Sylvia, Lupe and Kejla were always vying for Rick's lap. Here, Rick and Carrie and Penny enjoy storytime Me and two of the older boys during storytime. This Monday morning, after the Joseph story-time, we divided the kids into groups for the week. They were given colored bracelets to wear for the week designating their group. 30 minute rotations began between Recreation, Music, Art, Bingo and Crafts. The groups were: older Boys, older girls, younger boys & girls, special needs, and toddlers. Actually, the toddlers didn't rotate with the other groups, as they stayed pretty contained upstairs in their area. Rick and I teamed up with our new friend Jason for recreation. We had brought from the States LOTS of balls: soccer, football, kickball, basketball, etc. The big kids enjoyed organized kickball and soccer, while the little ones liked the parachute game. I didn't do very well conserving my energy during my time on the Rec team. After the first group of older boys, I was exhausted. But it was so much fun. We used our interpreters to go over the rules of the game, and then we played hard. Lunchtime came at noon, and we would line the children up to wash hands before leaving for our own lunch. We loaded on the vans and went to grab a bite at a quaint Guatemalan bistro called Pizza Hut. Upon returning to the Home, story time with Guili calmed the kids down. The theme of our week was "Tu Eres Especial" (You Are Special) and each afternoon Guili would tell a story related to being special. The Max Lucado Book "You Are Special" played a big role in the week. If you have never read the book, I highly recommend it. It's short, and has a great message. For the rest of the afternoon, we had free time with the kids. So while the construction team continued on their work, Rick and I got to watch a movie with the kids. It was in Spanish, so The Incredibles didn't really make sense to me. But the kids loved it. I sat on the floor with a pre-teen boy in my lap (he was one of our special needs kids.) Rick had his 3 girls next to him. Some of the girls got manicures during this time. We had packed hand lotion and fun colors of nail polish... the girls loved it! I wanted to help out with that, but someone sitting in my lap didn't want me to leave the room. Meanwhile, the construction team finished putting down the grass for the new play area. Upon finishing the movie (5 minutes before the end because the electricity went out), I learned that two of our teammates were leaving to go back home. Connie and her daughter-in-law Hollie were on the trip with us, and Connie's mother passed away... dear sweet Elizabeth Ryon. We were all greatly saddened. By the time I returned to the hotel, they were packed up & waiting on the 5 hour van ride back to Guatemala City. After hugs and tears, we sent them on their way home. A quick shower (cold) and dinner out (unbelievably, a Texas Style Mexican restaurant) was next on the agenda. By this time, my tummy was feeling a little, um, different. Club Soda seemed to help. Following dinner we had our team meeting / devotion. These were special times, as the construction team would update us on the progress, and the inside team would share experiences from the day as well. We redistributed tasks for the next day, as we were going to be short Connie & Hollie. High of the day: Wearing myself out with the kids at Recreation time Low of the day: Finding out about Connie's mom passing away, and saying goodbye to Connie and Hollie

Guatemala - Day 2 Update

Day 2 (Sunday) came early. We awoke at the crack of dawn from our fluffy hotel bed and boarded the bus to Xela. Actually, the town name is "Quetzaltenango." The locals have kindly shortened the town name to Xela (pronounced Shay-la) as Xela is a ancient Mayan word meaning"beneath the mountains." The town is nestled high in the mountains at almost 8,000 feet above sea level. The road trip from Guatemala City was long and scary. About 5 hours total. Tiny mountain road, under construction, with a bus driver that isn't afraid to pass in a no passing zone. We were reminded of our bus ride in Honduras... and I was glad that we didn't have seats with a view out the front window! We stopped for lunch at a road-side restaurant. Typical tourist stop, with a store and many "bargains." I quickly found a brightly woven purse that I couldn't live without! At lunch, we learned about black beans. They are a staple in the Guatemalan diet, and appeared at almost every meal. On this day, we experienced "bean broth" as an appetizer! The beans that were missing from the broth appeared next to our steak in a pureed mound. Yum :) Homemade blue-corn tortillas were my favorite part of the meal, as they were cooked on a fire heated stone underneath the staircase. We rolled into Xela around 3pm and went straight to the orphanage. Below is a picture of the front. The black wall is a sliding wall that locks. To enter or exit, you have to ask for someone with a key to open the door. Later on in the week, you'll hear about our being held up at gunpoint in front of those black doors. On this day, our goal was to meet and greet the 107 children. We spent 2 hours with them playing outside (on the playground Red Dot built last January .) They were incredibly sweet and excited, climbing all over us, running, playing, hugging. In the picture below, I'm sliding with Jaquilin. We bonded quickly. For the first 2 days, everywhere I went, Jaquilin went. She'd sit in my lap and hug on me all day long. So it was with mixed emotions that I learned later in the week that she had left to go live with relatives. I hope it is a safe and loving environment. We had 4 translators from Buckner that were with us at all times. This helped in communicating with the children. There's only so much you can do by motioning and acting! With the help of the translators, we were able to talk to the kids and really begin to learn about them and form a relationship. In this picture, Rick is with his three girls. Sylvia, Lupe and Kaitlin attached quickly, and rarely left his side. You can see that one of their barrettes has already found it's way into Rick's hair. The girls LOVED playing with him. Over the week, they all became extremely special to us. On the last day, we learned that Sylvia and Lupe were sisters. They have a baby sister at home with their mom. Why then, are they not with their mom? We don't know, but it probably has to do with abuse, alcohol, or abandonment. Our hearts broke for these little girls, who very clearly craved affection from a male source. Here, we are playing a hand-slapping game while singing Christmas Carols. It was all we could think of to sing! The kids sang in Spanish and we sang in English... Rudolph, Jingle Bells, etc. It was hilarious! As we were playing with the children, some of the men on the team were beginning to lay the foundation for the artificial grass in the front area. (Just beyond the black gate at the front.) We were quickly aware that the play area in the back was geared towards older kids, and the 20-ish toddlers needed their own play area. We finished the day with dinner at the hotel and a devotion/wrap-up session with the team. Tod reminded us why we were there: to serve the children and offer as much love as we could. We planned out the next day's activities and crashed into bed. Completely worn out. Hi's of the day: Playing with the children & being completely accepted and loved by them. Low's of the day: I don't think there was one. Maybe the bus ride? or the Bean Broth!

Guatemala - Day 1 Update

We are home. Call me Dorothy... but there is truly no place like home. Our goals were: Install a playground for the toddlers at Xela, provide VBS-type activities during the week to the children, and pour out as much love and encouragement we could possibly give to the children. I have no doubt we met our goals. Before Picture... ... And After! It is simply impossible to summarize this trip in one blog, so my goal will be to take you day by day throughout our trip. Today, I'll start with Day 1. Check back tomorrow for the next day's update where I'll take you through the highlights (and low-lights) of each day. Here's Day 1: Saturday Jan 10th Departure Day. It was crazy-busy that morning, tying up loose ends at the office and home. We didn't leave the office until 10pm the night before, and didn't get to bed until around 2am. It was our last night with the boys also, so we were trying to cram alot into those last hours. Morning came early, very early. We met up with the team from Red Dot at the airport early afternoon. Had time to grab a late lunch in the terminal before boarding the 3 hour flight to Guatemala City. This was the first time Rick and I really got to sit down with the team and start getting to know everyone. I remember thinking that we were about to become very close friends with this group, and by the time the trip was completed, we will have shared some very special memories together. The flight was uneventful, with the exception of being delayed on the runway. Upon landing in Guatemala City, we were greeted by Jouleen (our Buckner team leader), Jason (her hysterical boyfriend) and Guili (our talented storyteller/actress from Peru). It was mild chaos meeting them and towing our bags and finding our shuttle bus. We each had a personal suitcase, and then a Buckner suitcase loaded with supplies for the week. One funny thing that happened was during this chaotic scene. A Guatemalan gentleman approached Rick, introduced himself as being part of the Buckner team, and told him to follow him with some of our luggage. He had the pick-up truck parked nearby. Rick, along with another couple of guys from our group followed him and started loading. Everyone else had already boarded the shuttle van, and I was standing outside of it, waiting for Rick's return. All I knew was that he had disappeared with a strange man, and our bags... and hadn't come back. There was no way I was getting on the van without him! I felt mildly panicked... but no one else seemed worried. Finally, Rick showed back up. He said "I have no idea what I just did. I carried all my luggage and put it in the back of his truck. He said 'Gracias' and I walked back to the shuttle. I have NO IDEA if we will ever see our luggage again!" Jouleen reassured us that the gentleman Rick met did, in fact, work for Buckner and we had not been scammed. It was close to midnight before we were able to fall into bed at the hotel. Morning was going to come early, and we would head out on the 4 -5 hour drive to Xela. Check back tomorrow for Day 2.