When we first arrived in Guatemala on April 14th, we spent a week with John and Donna Reynolds of Cross Commission Ministries in San Cristobal Verapaz. This is the ministry that Arryn is working with and they are an amazing family. We didn't want to overstay our welcome, so we started looking for an apartment in Coban, right away, but couldn't find anything. So, we moved into a hostel about 10 minutes outside of Coban in a village called Chicuxab (Chee-cuw-shawb). We enjoyed two weeks there in an incredible setting and in a very unique and beautiful home.
This past Friday evening, we moved into our own little house - una casita! We made the connection through the hostel where we were staying - it is their niece's home. We are actually living in a little house behind their big house. It is two years old and was built for her mom. She didn't want to live alone after her husband passed away, as so they built this little house in the back part of their yard. The owners are super nice - he is a doctor, she is a lawyer and they have 2 boys and a girl, all under the age of 8. They also have 2 dogs and a cat!
We didn't have any of our own furniture, so they provided some dishes, a stove (no oven), a bed, a table with four chairs and a couple of little cupboards for storage. Now we are trying to determine what we need and what can wait until we eventually relocate to another part of the country. It is pretty incredible what you can learn to live without and what becomes really important when you don't have a lot. I guess it is all part of the learning and growing process. More than once this weekend, I thought it would be great to be able to transport some of our stuff from home.
Oh well. Most of our things are kind of laying around at this point, but we are happy to have a place to call home for the time we are studying Spanish. We have completed 2 weeks of classes and we are learning a lot. It is tough going sometimes, but we are really thankful we have good, experienced teachers who seem to know how to work with us. It seems everything we do, all day, is in Spanish, and so, by the time we get to 8pm, we are exhausted and ready for bed! It is a lot of work for our brains to live in another language.
Today we had a real special treat. The guys that Rocky worked with for the past two years wanted to come and see where we were living. Pancho, Cesar, and Javier took the bus at 7am this morning and arrived at our doorstep around 8am for coffee and sweet bread. We visited for about 2 hours - great Spanish practice - and it was awesome for Rocky to be able to reconnect with these guys. Arryn and Hector came over for the afternoon and then we went to church in Tactic together. Now I have to get to my homework because my teacher is expecting me to have it done for tomorrow! Oh boy! Anyway, blessings! Karren
When we first arrived in Guatemala on April 14th, we spent a week with John and Donna Reynolds of Cross Commission Ministries in San Cristobal Verapaz. This is the ministry that Arryn is working with and they are an amazing family. We didn't want to overstay our welcome, so we started looking for an apartment in Coban, right away, but couldn't find anything. So, we moved into a hostel about 10 minutes outside of Coban in a village called Chicuxab (Chee-cuw-shawb). We enjoyed two weeks there in an incredible setting and in a very unique and beautiful home. 
This past Friday evening, we moved into our own little house - una casita! We made the connection through the hostel where we were staying - it is their niece's home. We are actually living in a little house behind their big house. It is two years old and was built for her mom. She didn't want to live alone after her husband passed away, as so they built this little house in the back part of their yard. The owners are super nice - he is a doctor, she is a lawyer and they have 2 boys and a girl, all under the age of 8. They also have 2 dogs and a cat! 
We didn't have any of our own furniture, so they provided some dishes, a stove (no oven), a bed, a table with four chairs and a couple of little cupboards for storage. Now we are trying to determine what we need and what can wait until we eventually relocate to another part of the country. It is pretty incredible what you can learn to live without and what becomes really important when you don't have a lot. I guess it is all part of the learning and growing process. More than once this weekend, I thought it would be great to be able to transport some of our stuff from home. 
Oh well. Most of our things are kind of laying around at this point, but we are happy to have a place to call home for the time we are studying Spanish. We have completed 2 weeks of classes and we are learning a lot. It is tough going sometimes, but we are really thankful we have good, experienced teachers who seem to know how to work with us. It seems everything we do, all day, is in Spanish, and so, by the time we get to 8pm, we are exhausted and ready for bed! It is a lot of work for our brains to live in another language. 
Today we had a real special treat. The guys that Rocky worked with for the past two years wanted to come and see where we were living. Pancho, Cesar, and Javier took the bus at 7am this morning and arrived at our doorstep around 8am for coffee and sweet bread. We visited for about 2 hours - great Spanish practice - and it was awesome for Rocky to be able to reconnect with these guys. Arryn and Hector came over for the afternoon and then we went to church in Tactic together. Now I have to get to my homework because my teacher is expecting me to have it done for tomorrow! Oh boy! Anyway, blessings! Karren
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