Here I am!

Still alive in Guatemala. My neck hurts for some odd reason, so I'm trying to find a comfortable position to sit in. So far, the only one I've come up with is resting my chin on the kitchen table with my arms out at the keyboard. Pitiful.

We have a week off this week from classes, because the munchkins are on vacation. So what are we doing in our spare time? As of now, nothing, but tomorrow we're going to start painting!!! Yaaay! Real physical activity! I thought it existed only in myth!

So lately, I have been a pretty grumpy character. Actually, not even a grumpy character, just a very overly-sensitive character. I can manage to keep on a pretty happy face when I'm around other people, but once I reach the privacy of mine and Katie's room, or the 3rd floor balcony, I come unglued.

"Why did this person say that? What did they mean by that? Why does this guy always pick on me? Why don't our plans always work out? Is this person mad at me? What did that person not answer my message?" The list goes on and on and on and on.. Strangers waiting up and down the Boulevard- just kidding.

Maybe I'm impatient. Maybe I'm easily angered. Maybe I take things a little too personally. Or maybe I take things a LOT too personally. But lately, I find myself asking God to "Please let that person see what a jerk they were to me." Yes, I know, I've actually said the word "jerk" to God.

And I really didn't know where I was even going with this blog. I was hoping it would just come out with a moral like it normally does. I was just typing because I haven't blogged in a while. I've vlogged a lot, which you should totally go see our videos because they're awesome. But no blogs. I don't know why. Maybe its because excitement is easier to express in a video than in text.

But some really cool things have happened. It hasn't been all bad. Last night, Katie and I got a chance to hang out with 2 awesome ladies at an Italian restaurant. And today, we're going to the mall. And we have a really awesome job, which is probably why we're not so good with having a break from it. And we have the best view this side of anywhere. And even if the power goes out, we can still cook, because we have a gas stove and matches. And the temperature is amazing. Even now, its only 75 degrees, whereas its 94 in Monroe.

So God is good. And I am not. God provides all, and I am not grateful enough. I am a poo-head. God has put us in a beautiful place with beautiful people and allowed us to help with His beautiful work. And all I can do is complain about my aching neck and being a little bored.

So what can I say? Business is great, people are terrific, life is wonderful.

A Lesson in the Silent Treatment

Well, in my now 3rd update from Guatemala, I'd like to talk about something that can be wonderful, helpful, or very very harmful: silence.

Silence in Guatemala is hard to come by. With roosters crowing, cars honking, children playing and screaming "Lero lero!", as well as the adorable little puppy named Roco that won't SHUT UP, silence can be a golden commodity. Now, as the pickiest sleeper ever, silence is very important to me.

Seriously, I must have complete darkness. And if I can't have complete darkness, I will pull the blankets over my head, but I don't like breathing my own carbon dioxide over and over, so I pull the blankets over my eyes, and leave a place for my nose and mouth. And I must have complete silence. So I use earplugs. Squishy pink earplugs. Yes, I sleep like a weirdo. So what?

Another cool thing about silence is you really get to learn a lot about people. Have you ever just shut up and let the other person talk? That is very rare for me. Its helpful to only understand spanish and be limited in speaking it. Learning people's stories has been very refreshing, rather than me jabbering on about how I haven't eaten in 5 hours and kind of want a cookie.

Now, the thing that will really get you in a bad way with silence is... the silent treatment. I am no stranger to the silent treatment. Having once been a middle-school pre-teen, I have a 3rd degree black belt in silent treatment. But there is something about the silent treatment that I really need to get rid of (besides all of it)...

I give God the silent treatment when I feel I've been treated unfairly. I guess I feel like God purposefully let something bad happen because he doesn't like me, so instead of taking him head-on (like silly boys do), I take the middle-school girl route, I pretend like it didn't phase me and stop talking to him. Yet, when things get good again, God and I are best pals. I am so often a middle-school Christian, fairweather and finicky. Ugggggh, conviction. The bitter taste of conviction. Should probably cut that out now.

Need to go brush my teeth now.

But yeah, lets be silent, in a good way. Hey, Ginger Spice, shut your pie hole and listen to other people, and don't leave God hanging!

Some pictures!

Hello again! I know that posting 2 days in a row is virtually unheard of from me, but I just wanted to share some pictures for those that aren't following me on facebook.

This is a picture of our already-messy room.

This is what we get to look at while we eat. Not bad, huh?

This is Katie with Heber, El Hombre en La Mesa. He's our security guard, who makes sure that the people outside knows there is a man here that will whip their tails if they try to come in uninvited.

This is our amazing view from the 3rd floor. Have I mentioned that Guatemala is beautiful?

Saludos desde Guatemala!

Hello everyone!

Greetings from Guatemala, the Land of Eternal Spring! Its very nice to leave 102 degree weather and have the pilot say that the temperature is now 78 degrees. B-e-a-utiful.

Its good to be back. Very good to be back. This time, I have my dear friend Katie coming with me. Its her first time out of the country, so its very refreshing to see her reactions to things that seem so new to her. I'm trying to determine what it is like to be here for the fourth time. The only thing I can come up with is that it seems like I've been here forever. Then again, after we got here to Christian Horizons (the group home, and where we're staying), I slept for 12 hours.

But being here in Guatemala is just like it has always been. Nothing has changed, except the Chavo is not here, which is sad. This is the first time I've been here without the Chavo, so my translator/driver/planner/confidante is missing. But now I get to play translator to Katie, who I'm sure is very worried at how this summer is going to turn out at this point. But it will all be fine.

As my dad asked last night, "How's it like to be back home?" My only response can be, "Its like I never left".

Guatemala is Guatemala.

My chapines friends are still awesome.

Spanish is still confusing, but a little better.

The Rojas are still awesome.

And God is still very, very good.

Summer Traditions and... Jimmy Buffett?

In Louisiana, there are four seasons. Summer, Bad Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. Ask anyone here. Its stays summer for a very long time here. But one of the best things that comes from having summer basically year-round are Summer Traditions. We get so excited here at the Ginger Spice residence that we start talking about our summer traditions in February!

But we all have our most favorite of traditions. Buffett night. Not buffet night, Buffett Night. So good, its got to be capitalized. That's right, everyone. Its THAT fun. On Buffett Nights, which we try to do on every chance we get, we cook out on the grill, eat outside on the deck, and listen to Jimmy Buffett. A Jimmy Buffett CD that we've had for "God only knows how long."

We all have our favorite songs. But it always starts out with "He Went to Paris." That song always starts a Buffett Night. We even have little things that we do during the songs, like games, or specific lines that we have to mouth dramatically to each other. We do odd fin motions in the song "Fins". Sometimes Mom and Dad dance to "Grapefruit, Juicy Fruit" whenever Jimmy says "Ladies choice, everybody dance!" Sometimes Dad and I sing the background lyrics to "A Pirate Looks at Forty" that are somewhat terrible and hilarious.

Mom's going to kill me for even mentioning this song, but we ALWAYS skip over the song "Why Don't We Get Drunk and Screw?" I didn't even know that song was on the CD until this year, because we always skipped over it. Now, we listen to the first 30 seconds, just long enough for Dad to sing this super-line "Barmaid, bring a PITCHER!" where he just kind of hops up and makes this silly face. He has to do that line now. Its too funny to skip.

And one of our favorite games happens when the song "Son of a Son of a Sailor" comes on. Its not necessarily a happy song. I don't even know the words (despite the fact that I've heard this song more times than I could even fathom in a single thought), but we all know a few certain moments in the song where you can hear a ship's bell ring. It happens at the very beginning, in the choruses (chori? Chorum?), only once during the bridge, and twice at the end. When it happens, you have to do some motion that acknowledge its presence. Usually we do a "ding ding" motion with our index fingers, or we tap each other's plates or arms. And if you miss one, we will make fun of you basically until the song ends. I'm not kidding, y'all, this happens every time the song comes on.

The last two songs on the CD are my favorite. The last song on the CD is now (in the last year) referred to as the "Guatemala song". Why? Because the whole song is about a volcano erupting, which happened last summer while I was there, but that's a story for another blog. But that is the clean-up song. The song that lets us know that Buffett Night is over. It would probably go on, but that's also usually when the mosquitos come out and try to eat us alive.

And sometimes, whenever there's company (like when El Chavo was here recently), we do something even crazier. We are all very proud of our tradition when it comes to Buffett Night, and we like to share it with others. But one time, things got a little crazy. We ate outside, and after we got done eating, Dad got out the BB gun. I'm not kidding. He, Chavo, and my brother shot at a target in our backyard until dark. Mom and I watched and laughed, and then we got bored and decided to dance on the back porch. And then Dad thought it would be a hilarious idea to test out the new electric fence... with his arm. Twice. We laughed ourselves into oblivion. We had not gotten that "redneck" in a long time. And it was an absolute blast, and truly an unforgettable night for all of us.

Buffett nights are the highlights of the summer. Its genuine family time that we all look forward to. Its good food, good family, and a great time together. I hope that all of you have a summer tradition that means as much to you as Buffett Nights mean to me.

What are your summer traditions?