There is plenty of agriculture such as this in Guatemala.
And of course it's raining.
Mayan sherpherdess, guiding her flock
Sheep!
Mountains garbed in the snow-white robe of the clouds
Moooo!!!
Another cloudy view.
Guatemala had lots of trees!
I have been graced with an amazing day! As I speak, I sit perched upon a bed in San Miguel Acata'n- K'anjob'al country!
The way here was beautiful, rolling hills smothered in the misty veil of the clouds. Mountains stooped into wild villeys cultivated by agriculture. Ladies in traditional Mayan dress bent their backs against the elements, caring for the family's crops. Some drove sheep along the sides of the narrow roadway, others sat guarding their flock. Even small children seemed to have tasks, their little arms already employed in gardening, water fetching, and the like.
And so we bumped along the rickety road, windows open and chilly, mountain air flowing in. I snuggled into my jacket , my legs nearly freezing. Yet when laura offered to close the window, both Hannah and I proclaimed our verdict. No. The teeth of the atmosphere was part of the Mayan experience, and we weren't about to lose a single second of it.
At long last, San Miguel Acata'n rolled into view. Pulling up in front of a hotel by the name of Estrella de Belen, we entered. A smell immediately flled my nostrils, and, although I couldn't place locate the source, it dind't conjure up pleasing thoughts. God, however, reminded me I was a missionary and therefore helped me to suppress my complaints.
After a lunch of chicken and chips, we gathered laundry and some gifts and headed over to the iglesia, wehre the K'anjob'al OldTestament translator, Xunic, met us. He told us a bit aobut his work by using Arvid as a translator. Then, we got to learn some phrases and worship songs, some of which they expect to hear from us in church on Sunday.
We were assigned villages, and our gifts were divded. I am going to Coya with Hannah, Sam, and Raymond, which also happens to be where Arvid and Nancy lived while translating the New Testament.
At the end of this procedure, we became aware of three tiny presences, two of which stared at us through the doorway. We began to play with these wide-eyed little girls, who spoke only K'anjob'al. Kris-Ann chased them outside, and then all the way to their home, which was a building on the church grouds. We met the family and, before I ever even reached the door, the eldest ran up to me and threw her arms around me.
"Mi amiga," I cooed to her in Spanish . She smiled back at me.
"Tzet ab'i?" I inquired, reverting back to K'anjob'al.
"Maria," she said softly.
Later, having found out the names of the two littler ones, Dorcas and Ana, respectively, we took them back inside the church and introduced them to everyone. It wasn't long, however, until we had to go.
This night, I went to Abby's room wondering if they knew where I could get pure water (drinking from the tap is hazardous to our health). Nobody knew, but they invited me to stay and so I did. Before I knew it, they were teaching me to dance Jamaican and laughing at how I perfomed it! Rachel then came up and told us that we were being too loud.
Well, g2g!
In Christ,
Brittany
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