Another Summer... Another Country!

So I'm finally safe and sound in Guatemala! After a long day of flying, beginning with a 4am wake up call in Washington DC, we finally landed in Guatemala City... As soon as we boarded the bus the rain began and hasn't ceased since (definitely the opposite of the severe drought I experienced last summer in Kenya, but I guess it's good to get a taste of all extreme forms of weather)... The bus-ride which should have been 2 hours took closer to 4... Huge mudslides and drainage from rainfall have destroyed much of the mountainous roads... Leaving huge gaping holes in the roads large enough for several vehicles to have fallen through... But we made it to Panajachel on the famous Lake Atitlan by night-fall... I finally managed to sleep (being a little bit of an insomniac is probably not a positive trait for a world traveler) last night... Our little mountain bungalows were quaint, cozy and even had toilets (a real treat after Kenya!)... It rained all through the night, but we still managed to hike down to the Lake for a quick look... We'd planned to spend the whole day by Atitlan but with all the rain Lupe (our amazing host from the AMA recommended we get out of the valley before, as she so elegantly put it, "the mountains began to melt"... :-) Needless to say, it sounded like a good enough reason to me...

Yet another 2 hour bus ride and we're finally settled at the AMA house in Quetzaltenango (the second largest city in Guatemala)... The house is absolutely amazing and luxurious by my standards... Complete with wireless internet (hence my ability to post a quick update and photos), running water, electricity, and a telephone... It's heaven as far as I'm concerned... We took a quick walk around the city square before lunch and I'm looking forward to exploring the town and local churches in more detail over the next few days, since this will be our home base for the rest of the trips (Yay for no more mudslide ridden mountain roads!)...

I'm loving getting to know the women, both in our group and at the AMA house... Some of our hosts that work with AMA are absolutely inspirational... Such mature and wise visions for the women of this country, particularly the Mayan women... There is definitely a lot I can learn here, and I'm thankful to be on a trip abroad that for the first time, is not focused on providing something but rather just listening and learning... While philanthropic work abroad is important I'm learning that it can sometimes underscore the importance of learning something in return from the local people... These women have a lot to offer in terms of guidance and vision for the future...

Anyhow, I'll keep it short... After a quick siesta we're headed to the house of a local (and I mean that relatively since I think it's rather rural... haha) traditional Mayan bone-setter and chiropractor... It should be an interesting introduction into tradtional Mayan healthcare... Since I do have internet I'll most likely try to post a few more times... Our schedule is supposed to be full but since we're working around the never ending rain and mountain conditions I may have more down-time that I previously expected... Which is actually not a completely bad thing since I'm enjoying the reading/writing time to myself... Ha!

Love to all from Central America! -Mary