Day 13, June 18th, 2009

Image from Ester's kitchen


A bit blurry, but this is Ester working at her hearth


The fire with the stove above it


A street in Coya


The outskirts in Coya


Above and below- pics of Stiquisislaj (sticky-see-slah), a village we dropped some of our group members off at.

Stuck in the mud!

My picture of Hannah taking a picture :)!

These roads- I survived! Lol, thank God!

This didn't exactly end up being such a steep drop...when we couldn't see the bottom of it, we were like "Uh-oh!" however.

Buenas tardes from Coya, Guatemala! As I speak, Hannah and I are sitting in our beds, talking and writing. We are lodged here in the iglesia, right across the courtyard from Raymond and Sam.

When we left San Miguel at about 8:45, we were told that it would only be an hour and fifteen minute drive in total, so we began to snake our way up into the mountains. Beautiful landscape once more surrounded us, rolling by with breathtaking grace. Windows open and cold air flooding in, we cut and swerved about the corners, perilously approaching the cliff many times. The vehicle rattled its complaint with every jostling bump. And, as we were maneuvering through some mud, we came to a stop.

A little boy hopped out and began to place rocks beneath our tires to induce traction. Miguel, our driver, shoved his foot upon the gas. We lurched, but then reversed into our original position.

After about ten minutes of stationary transportation, Miguel relayed through Arvid to get everyone out save those in the back. Thus, while the boy, Arvid, Xunic, and Miguel tried to sort out our situation, which happened to be that we were stuck in a puddle of mud. Meanwhile, we snapped photos and absorbed the opportunity of experiencing Guatemala firsthand.

Thankfully, the situation didn't last long. Soon enough, we were squished back into a cozy clump and took off at a moderate speed. A couple times we found oursleves having to back towards the cliff, but God delivered us safely to our villages, and we thank Him for it.

As soon as we arrived, we were taken down to the church and met a lady named Ester. She is our cook, and a wonderful one at that. Her kitchen is quite cute- old, white-washed walls with a stove heated by a fire, which resides beneath the stovetop. This fire is one of the only heaters in the place, and Ester was hospitable enough to let us warm oursleves by the newborn flames while she fixed our dinner.

Part of that dinner consisted of tortillas, which she makes by filling a bowl with ground corn, wetting it, and kneading it to form a paste. Then she picks up a clump of it in her hand rolls it into a ball. Turning it between her thumbs, she forms the circular shape before tossing it quickly back and forth betwixt her palms to flatten it. Lastly, she throws it on the stove, rinses her hands in water, and moves on to her next tortilla.

She allowed Hannah and I to help her make them, but we weren't nearly as dexterous at it as she is.

Fortunately for us, God has gifted her with a patient soul, and she sat with us for at least three hours today, teaching us her language and also a few songs to sing in church tomorrow.

Hannah, Sam, Raymond, and I are actually staying on the church grounds. The boys are across the courtyard and near the bathroom (which we are thankful for because it is not an outhouse!), while we are in what seems to be a storage room next to the kitchen. It is bare in here, save for a cluster of things up against the wall, a clothesline with some wash on it, and two beds standing on a concrete floor. Church is at ten tomorrow, and we, Lord willing, will meet up with some of our team for a day at church and the market, which also occurs upon the morrow.

In Christ,

Brittany N. Goodrich