Explosives and Playing in Dirt

Perhaps you've come to expect this kind of news from me, but I'm having so very much fun!  Yesterday we had an early morning and went to morning devotions with the children at the school and it was so inspiring to watch these kids that come from such hard situations sing and dance with so much joy.  What a special thing to be part of.

Myself and Braden walked around the site and measured buildings and other infrastructure yesterday which was fun.  I also had the opportunity to calculate volumes for the water storage tank and rainwater collection tanks.

Last night, it was Braden's birthday so our hosts here got him a cake.  And then. . . they brought out the fire crackers. It is tradition to blow off fire crackers on someone's birthday here.  They are these kind that you hold and light and then throw and they explode.  I am telling you . . . if you want to see a room full of guys giggle like a bunch of school girls, just bring out the explosives.  Our Guatemalan host was so excited to bring them out, he could hardly contain the surprise during dinner, and then told us there was to be absolutely no dishes done until the firecrackers were finished.  He was just so pleased.

This property is guarded by guys with machine guns.  Not to worry, they keep us safe.  But we asked our host if we should alert the guys with machine guns that we would be setting off fire crackers so they didn't think it was gun shots, and he smiled, patted us on the back and said "My friend, it is no problem."

Today we met with the ministry to get some more details and suggestions on what the design should look like.  Angie (the other civil) and I also dug holes for perc tests and took a look at some preliminary soil conditions which was fun, and I'm pretty sure the local's think we're off our rockers for digging holes and pouring water into them.

Anyway, that is all for now.  Tomorrow we will be continuing design, and also visiting one of Impact's School's and clinic's.

Until next time,

Jaimee

The surveyors hard at work

They have an amazing agricultural program on this site

Patrick walks the land before he starts his surveyor

The beautiful view

I love the children here!

They are so genuine and full of joy.

They wanted to hug us all!

Braden's Birthday cake

Hugo tells us no dishes before fire crackers!

He can hardly wait!

Demonstrating what to do

The guys inspect their fire crackers

Braden throws a fire cracker

It's about more than a white picket fence

Side Note:  I'm not sure if the volcanic eruption that occurred here has been in the news, but it is a ways off from where I am.  I am fine, and the air was clear here, so we didn't notice the eruption.  The airport has now re-opened, so there will be no worries about me getting home.

Well I'm back.  And here I am once again right in the middle of all things happy.  Greg, our team leader was talking last night about how eMi projects are his happy place.  They are definitely mine as well.  I was sitting around the table last night with my teammates and realizing, that all these deepest parts of me, the parts that are such a great struggle to put into words and explain to people back home, are deeply understood by everyone here, because their hearts break for the same things as mine.  As my project leader Greg said last night, life is about more than getting a house with a picket fence.  It is so wonderful to be around a group of people who live that out.

Wait until you hear about this.  I have officially been here 1.5 days and have already had ice cream!  Isn't that the happiest thing you have heard all day.  I love Guatemala.  Although there are definitely things that seem foreign to me, I have been noticing just how much more North American influence there is here compared to some of the more far off places I've traveled.  I am trying to pick up a bit of Spanish, but am realizing that I wish I could communicate with the locals more.

We went to church this morning, which was rockin' and great, I know fully understand why the Latin people back home think our church services resemble something like a funeral.  Because we got to do some wild dancing this morning.

The biggest cultural adjustment has been not being able to throw toilet paper in the toilet.  People, you would not realize how ingrained this concept is in a North American's brain, until one has to fish it out of the toilet bowl.  And they even have signs plastered all over the bathroom, which you think would help, but who in their right mind reads the signs on the bathroom wall?  I have resorted to doing a chant whilst doing my buisness.  The chant consists of "Not in the toilet, not in the toilet" 

This team has been different for me from all my others, in the huge Canadian influence on it.  It is more than half Canadians, and the structural engineer is originally from Southern Manitoba, and one of the surveyors grew up in Rivers until he was 6 years old.  And I was sitting with the electrical engineer last night, who is from Denver, CO, and he asked me if I had ever heard of Portage la Prairie, MB.  I was like, are you kidding, of course I've heard of it, how the heck have you heard of it.  And he said he's been there because he helped design the potato processing facility there.  And I found out the director of this organization, that lives in Guatemala with his family now, lived in Brandon for 10 years as a school principal.  Crazy hey?  And a group of high school students from Winnipeg are showing up here on Tuesday, so there are going to be crazy Manitobans here all over the place!

It's been much colder here than I've expected.  I only brought one fleece and a jacket, which I keep warm in, so I guess I'll be wearing the same thing all week and just changing the t-shirt underneath. My teammates are all in the same situation, so I don't think any of us will mind each other wearing the same thing all the time:) Today it was nice and warm in the sun which was nice.

I have been learning to embrace all the unexpected blessings that come from being here.  Most of you know, I was supposed to be in Cambodia, and clearly I'm not.  Some of my teammates here were supposed to be on the Cambodia team as well, and we were all disappointed not to go.  Listening to some of the work my teammates have previously been involved with in Cambodia, the heaviness of working with organizations that help trafficked children, and the heart that they have, renews my enthusiasm to hopefully get there someday to do a project, but I am also trying to focus on being fully present with the people in front of me here, rather than dwelling on what might have been.  The things we did today, hearing the vision of this ministry, and seeing the changed lives that have been a direct result of their work here has reminded me the many reasons I have to stand in awe and thanks that I actually have the opportunity to be here.  I am so thankful, and am being consistently reminded of just how much joy can come out of roads unexpected.

That's all for now.  Until next time,

Jaimee