"What happens to someone when they cannot say what they have lived?"

I don't know where to begin.

I've only been in Guatemala for two days, but I can already feel the pain and see the beauty of this country in ways I never expected. We haven't been able to "see" a whole lot of the cities, just what we've driven past. Except in Guatemala City...! We did see the national palace, the national cathedral, and the congress building, all of which were fascinating! Especially the cathedral--I always find it interesting to walk through a place of worship as though it were a museum. But there is so much history in just that small area of the city! And it was very interesting to hear about how Guatemala's government works. We had a 4-hour van ride from Antigua to Quetzaltenango (Xela) today that allowed us to see some of the BEAUTIFUL landscape here in Guatemala, along with things such as roads that have literally fallen off cliffs and rivers running through the streets (from constant rain).  We've been spending most of our time visiting with various people that work with different groups and who have informed us about their own experiences in a post-war society.

I shouldn't spend much time on here blogging (I have an ear infection I'm attempting to heal), but I want to focus on the time we spent with two of our speakers. Both men gave me a new way of looking at the role of religion and post-war society in general. A few things they said that I'd like to share:

..."Alcohol is so popular in Guatemala because of all the pain...it's kinda why there are so many churches, too." ...I'm learning that the term "Church" means something way different here in Guatemala than in the states...or does it? The two men shared with us their experiences with the church during a time of conflict, extreme violence, and loss. So many Guatemalans in their time of need got just what they needed to make the pain go away for a little while--someone to say "God will help you" or tell them Christ will take care of their crisis. But what good are these words if there is no heart, no action, no recognition of a person's BEING-ness? There was (and is) a lack of recognizing that every person is a human being. Is the church a place to come and find hope? Or a place to tell you that Christ will take care of your crisis and you'll be fine? Is the church a place in which to find acceptance? Or to tell someone "blessed are those who are poor..." and make them feel content about living in poverty when they are struggling to survive?

..."What happens to someone when they cannot say what they have lived?" ...Post-war symptoms are common among many people who have been involved in a war. The most prevalent in Guatemala (according to one of our speakers) seems to be the inability to simply share and talk about what they have experienced. A woman loses 6 children due to violence, but has no one to listen to her mourn. Politicians won't listen. Those against the government won't listen. If no one is listening, then how will things change?

...There are two parts to Guatemala's society: those who stand around and say nothing, and those who will shoot someone within two minutes.


Heavy stuff, huh? And I've only been here two days.

We are spending the next three nights here in Quetzaltenango. Since we had a 4-hour trip here, we students had the chance to get to know each other a bit more and just hang out and enjoy the Guatemalan scenery (and winding mountain) roads together. I think we are at about 7700 feet elevation right now. It's a bit chillier...we were all in jackets tonight at supper. The food has been great! I've been eating a lot of chicken. :) We had a great meeting tonight sharing our hopes for the group and ways to make this semester a great experience for us all. We formed what I would call a "covenant" (like at camp!)--a list of promises or goals that we will try our best to maintain throughout the semester. Then a group of us played five or six rockin' rounds of Mafia! So fun. :) I died...multiple times. I was the bad guy once and the townspeople detected me right away...so I was a pretty short-lived Mafia member. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'll teach you how to play the game sometime. :)

I'm excited for when we will have a chance to explore Xela a bit more. It seems like a great city.

I ask you to keep in your prayers the speakers and other people who are willing to visit with us and for my understanding and exploration of what they have to share with us. As you can see from my ramblings above, I have a lot to digest already. I hope and pray that from these experiences that I continue to be fascinated, awed, dumbfounded, frustrated, moved, and even confused. Pray for our staff as they determine our host family placements (which begin next week!). Pray for our staff in general--SUPER great people. One of which hooked me up with a great doctor and helped me out at the pharmacy. :) Which leads me to...please pray for my ear infection. It is, in fact, an infection in my inner ear. It was pretty serious yesterday (I almost feel over at the congress building...no big deal. :P), but the pain has lessened and I haven't been dizzy much today. I have some meds, and I hope they heal me soon! Pray for our group as we continue to get to know each other and grow as a community.

Dios les bendigo a Uds.