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Arizona, Mexico, Guatemala Cross-Cultural
Journals- Week 1 - Week 2 - Week 3 - Week 4 - Week 5 and 6 - Week 7 - Weeks 8-10 - Weeks 11-12 - Weeks 13-14
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EMU's Guatemala Cross Cultural Home Page
Return Trip to Guatemala
May 16, 2010 - Moriah Steiner
After leaving Guatemala two years ago we had already made the decision and the promise to our host families that we would return after our graduation.
Graduation has now come and gone and here we are already finishing up our two weeks in Guatemala! Our flight left early in the morning on May 4th and
we arrived at CASAS to find that really, not that much has changed. We spent the day relaxing and attempting to contact our host family in the city. The
numbers that CASAS had were no longer in service so we knew that the next day would be a true suprise! May 5th we headed to La Brigada, once again riding
the familiar R40 chicken bus. Arriving in La Brigada we walked down the familiar street towards our familyīs libreria. We were a bit nervous, as they had
no idea we were coming. We excitedly walked into the store and could hear the voice of our sister Ruth. She then saw us in the mirror and we could hear the
surprise and excitement in her voice. We were welcomed in by Ruth and our dad Valerio. Mom was out buying supplies for the store and our brother Daniel works
all day. We sat and talked for awhile, looked at the photo booklet we brought for them, and felt like we had never left. We also visited with Mary Dunnīs host
family, whose mom, Rosario, is the sister of our mom, Nora. Ruth made us a wonderful lunch and then we headed back to CASAS for the evening. The next day we
headed back out to see our mom. She was so excited to see us and gave us great big hugs. She thought Dustin had gotten a little bigger from the last time we
were here, but everyone else seems to think he is skinnier! That afternoon we did some shopping in Zone 1 and it was back to CASAS for another night.
The 7th
we traveled to Antigua to do some shopping, and relax. On the 8th we then took on the volcano Pacaya! We had missed hiking this the first trip, so we thought
now would be a great opportunity to see what it is all about. It was a beautiful, clear day and we had a great view of the neighboring volcanoes.The hike up
was beautiful and then we finally got to see some lava! The lava followed a steady, slow path down the volcano, and after awhile we were ready to head back down.
The group we were with was relaxing and eating snacks, so we just sat awhile longer. Then things started to get interesting! The lava started to spill over
from itīs steady path and was really amazing and beautiful to see. We are glad we stayed!
We stayed the night in Antigua and then headed to Santiago the next
morning to visit our second host family. The four hour ride was long and hot, but to see our familieīs faces and joy when we got there was well worth while!
Our little brother Jonathan had only been 11 months old when we left and now he is so big! Our other siblings, Lily, Esther, and Juan Abel all look about the
same and are just as cute and sweet as ever! Our family has now moved into a new town, Chukmuk, which is safer from mud slides than in their old town of
Tzanchaj. Here again it felt like nothing had changed, and we played cards with the kids and talked with the family that night before heading off to bed.
The next day we went to the market in Santiago with our mom, Concepcion, and Juan Abel and Jonathan. Esther had off school because of Motherīs day, but had
to go to work, and Lily now has a tienda that she runs at the house. In the afternoon we visted Tzanchaj, relaxed at the house, played soccer, and then
cards again in the evening! We now remember that all the kids are little cheaters when it comes to playing cards, but theyīre so cute that you canīt help but
forgive them! The next day we went to ANADESA in the morning and talked with the director Juan Ramirez about all the future plans of ANADESA. They have big
plans to expand and grow and we can see already that they are really working in the community. They have done very well for only being around for a short time.
They want to buy a big plot of land ($20,000 US) where they will build five large classrooms, a nice courtyard to play soccer and basketball, bathrooms for guests
and additional craft rooms. They are trying to raise money now so if any one feels led to donate or even vist just ask us and we can give you more info! After
that we traveled in to Santiago to do some shopping and then it was back home for another afternoon of relaxing. We also went swimming in Lake Atitlan
(so beautiful!) with our siblings and some of the neighborhood kids. Our little brother Juan Abel was a little nervous about getting into the water,
but with some help from Dustin, he was hanging onto the edge of the dock, kicking away. Dustin also helped another little boy Juan Abel's age, named Edwin. He
is a little smaller than Juan Abel and is missing his front teeth, only left with two little "fangs". We wanted to bring him home with us, but decided pictures
would suffice. That evening we played more cards with the kids, but Juan Abel was feeling sick (Jonathan had also been sick) so he didn't get to play as much.
This was dissapointing because playing cards with Juan Abel is so much fun because he loves it so much and gets so excited!
The next morning, May 12th, it was
once again time to leave. We took some more picture and said goodbye. We traveled back to Antigua for the night and did a bit more shopping and ate out for
my birthday! The following morning we traveled to Semuc Champey. We left at 8 and after a so called "seven" hour ride, we arrived at six that evening. We were
worn out, had TONS of bed bug bites from Santiago, Dustin didn't feel too great at supper, and it was hot and humid! Though the trip didn't start off that great,
the next day got a little better. Dustin felt sick in the morning, but was able to do the cave tour. They didn't give us much detail ahead of time, so we didn't
know that we would be swimming in the caves, while holding a candle above our head. The water was cold, but we climbed ladders, and ropes, and went down rock slides,
and over all it was a pretty cool experience. It was definitely something new for me, and I felt pretty brave after finishing it! At the end we finished the tour
by peacefully tubing down the river in the sun. By the end of the tour Dustin was feeling weak and worn out. We rested for awhile before decided to head into
the park. It was a hot afternoon and the steep climb to the overlook of the limestone pools was tiring, but very rewarding. After seeing the beauty from up high
we were ready to head down and experience the pools for ourselves. The cool water felt wonderful on all our bug bites, and it was nice to relax and float around
in the clear water. We also met some interesting people from all over the world in Semuc. Some from the U.S., England, Canada, Germany, Australia and Spain.
Many people have been traveling already for several months and are just going from area to area, staying at hostels, volunteering, and experiencing what they
can before they run out of money.
The next morning, May 15th, we left at five in the morning to head back to CASAS. It was another long ride, but an improvement
from the first trip. In the city we ate at Wendy's (to get frostys of course!) when we got back as a much needed reward, since we both had headaches after riding with fumes
from buses and behind a lady with overwhelming perfume! We then ended up riding another bus from Zone 1, expecting to end up at CASAS, but instead it went around the
city and stopped at the University where we had to get another bus. What should have taken only a half an hour took an extra 45 minutes! We were tired and
a little cranky, but got safely back to CASAS and took warm showers and put on clean clothes, only moderatley itching those annoying bug bites! Dustin was
still feeling a little sick, so we had a light supper of crackers, 7UP and yogurt! After a good night's sleep we plan on relaxing, packing, and taking warm showers!
Tomorrow we will finish up a little shopping in Zone 1 and head to La Brigada for our sister, Ruth's, 19th birthday. May 18th at one in the afternoon we will
then head home! We plan on arriving around 9:30 in the Dulles airport and will head back to Virginia for the night. The next morning it's then back to home
sweet home in Ohio!
Journal Week 1
January 20, 2008 - Dustin & Moriah Steiner
This week has been an intensive week for everybody in our group. Some people
have definitely been stretched and placed outside of their comfort zone. We
flew through Dallas FW then to Tuscon on Thursday the 10th. It was a pretty long
day of flying, because we had a lot of turbulence, so some people were feeling
pretty sick. While in Tuscon, we stayed at a beautiful hotel next to the airport.
The night we got here most people relaxed in the outdoor jacuzzi and heated pool.
That night we had a meal that was provided by Shalom Mennonite Church. After the
meal we had our first encounter with some of the issues going on a long the border.
We heard many stories from people that have lived in the area for many years, worked
with the health care system, etc. The next morning we left for Douglas, AZ. On the way
we stopped in Nogales. Nogales is a border town that has a wall splitting the Mexico
side from the Arizona side. We walked through to Mexico where we spent much of the afternoon.
When we got to Douglas, we met up with a group called Frontera de Cristo. We were
then taken across the border into Mexico to a bordering town called Agua Prieta.
Much the same as Nogales, Douglas and Agua Prieta was basically split down the middle
with a wall. In AP, we stayed at a community center called Nueva Esperanza, or New Hope
Community Center. This is where we stayed for the remainder of the week until we returned
to Tuscon before leaving to Guatemala. While in Mexico we had a very busy and full week.
we spent much of our time exploring both sides of the border issue, and we also had time
to explore the new culture we had entered into. At the beginning of the trip it was very easy,
to demonize the Border Patrol and blame them for the deaths at the border. As we got to talk to
the Border Patrol officers it was easy to see not all these men are evil. They are doing a job
to uphold the law and they are often the people who end up saving the lives of many immigrants.
In Mexico there is also much poverty to be seen,
but also great beauty. We visited the wall at the border several times, and each time there
was something new to be seen. There was hope and discouragement on this journey. It was discouraging
to see the complexity of the issue and that the poor economic system is hurting the people so
much that they would risk their lives to cross the border. Hope was also seen in the people
as they continued to praise God and find the joy in their lives. It can be very confusing at
times and as our journey continues confusion will continue to grow. Through this confusion
though their will be amazing memories and relationships made.
Journal Week 2
January 30, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
Guatemala is beautiful! As evidence from some of our pictures there is an
abundance of greenery and flowers. It feels great to just be able to sit
outside in the sun in a T-shirt. Besides the nice weather and scenery
there are other great things about Guatemala, especially the people. Our
host family consists of a our mom Nora, dad Valerio, our brother Daniel,
and our sister Ruth. Daniel just turned 19 and Ruth is 16. Our family
owns a libreria, or a small book store. They are amazing and so generous in
all they do for us. They of course feed us very well and I'm sure we will
never go hungry!!
We have also started our Spanish classes. They begin at 8:30 and end around
12:30 with a thirty minute break in the middle. It can sometimes be
overwhelming to always be concentrating so hard. You have to listen
carefully and pay close attention to what the teacher is saying, and then
it takes even more mental effort to think of an appropriate response.
We're not quite "fluent" yet, but we've definitely learned a lot in just
one week. We could go on and on about the many differences here in
Guatemala, including pouring water into the toilet to flush, or washes
your underwear in the same place you just brushed your teeth. The buses
are also something that is always an adventure. Many mornings you're
packed against other people with barely room to move, practically hanging
out the doors. There are also many tiny shops or tiendas in the area
where we live. The other day we took a walk down our road to buy some pan
dulce, or sweet bread. We asked for 6 pieces, or two quetzales worth, but
instead ended up with 6 quetzales worth and eighteen pieces of assorted
pan dulce. We still figured we'd have no problem getting rid of them in a
few days! A lot of things feel very new, but it feels great to have these
experiences. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming and tiresome, but
we're excited to keep entering further into the new culture!
Journal Week 3
February 07, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
It's going on week three in Guatemala and we're still plugging away at
learning Spanish. It can be difficult at times, but we're definitely
learning. We have also been able to get to know our family more as time
has gone on. It is great to just be able to have fun conversations with them
around the dinner table. On Fat Tuesday our family celebrated in a unique
way. They fill hollow, colored eggs with confetti and sparkly paper and
then it's a free for all (trying to smash them on the others heads)!
Our sister Ruth and her cousins asked us if we
wanted to play, so we joined in the fun of smashing the eggs over
everyone's heads and dumping confetti down everyone's shirts. It was fun,
but it took some time to get all of the confetti out of our hair.
This last weekend we went to Chichicastenago and got to experience the
market and the Catholic church there. The church was interesting though we
couldn't really understand anything. It was great to just be able to look
around and see the diversity of the people. The market was crowded and
had LOTS of things to buy. When we got back to Guatemala city that night
we were even able to watch the Super Bowl! It was a good weekend, but very
tiring!
Today some of the students and teacher's couldn't make it to CASAS because
the buses weren't running. There have been some assassinations of bus
drivers in a certain area due to gangs in the area. From what we
understand, the bus drivers need to pay the gangs in order to drive
through their communities. There is also some political unrest as there
have been changes made in the government, and now some of the bus drivers
are on strike. Our buses are in another area and we still made it to
school just fine and expect to tomorrow as well.
Update from the last Journal:
Everything is going fine and the other group was able to make it to CASAS the following day. There is nothing to worry about, we are not in any danger. To respond to some of what some of you may have been hearing, we are not going anywhere. It is not really a threat to us and they are not relocating us to El Salvador. Sadly, we as white Americans are much more safe in a lot of ways than the people that always live here. If anything happens to us, there are very harsh consequences on those who do anything. The only thing that our group noticed that was different, the day of and the day after the assasinations, was that the buses were running slower in our area and some buses had policemen on them. We are ALL SAFE!!
TopJournal Week 4
February 15th, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
This week concludes our fourth week of Spanish classes and next week on
the 19th we will have our mid-term exams!! We're already half way through
classes and for the most part time has flown by. On Wenesday we
celebrated our six month anniversary and Valentine's day together. We
went to the mall together to eat and when we got back home Dustin suprised
me with flowers and chocolates. Our host mom and sister had helped pull
together the suprise by getting these things for him and then hiding them
in the libreria. There were more than willing to help us out! On Thursday
we had our Valentine's day celebration here at CASAS and we all made cards
that were then judged. It was lots of fun and I ended up winning a huge
box of chocolates (Dustin should have won some as well!)This week we also
visisted the Migrant Center here in the city, along with the U.S. embassy.
Both were very intersting and we jokely could say that at the U.S.
embassy we had crossed back into the U.S. for an hour. Life here has
begun to seem fairly routine. We've gotten in a comfortable day to day
routine of getting on the bus, having spanish classes, and returning home
to be with our families.
Journal Week 5 and 6
February 28, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
The past couple of weeks have been pretty busy for us all here. Last week
we had our exams to finish off our first half of Spanish classes! No
worries, Dustin and I both passed with A's! We then had a free weekend
and we got to relax and spend some time with our family. On Sunday we
went to a church in the market with our family and had quite the
experience. Church services here are long...very long. So about and hour
and a half in there was a call to those to come forward who wanted to
accept Christ into their lives. So everything was panning out how it
usually does, and those that wanted to accept Christ were going forward.
The leader of the church then started pointing out people and calling them
forward. At that point we were a little confused because it felt like he
was forcing people to go up. He then pointed to Dustin and me (we just
happened to be sitting in the front row!) The ushers then came to us and
were trying to get us to go up. We kept trying to explain (In Spanish)
that we had already accepted Christ into our lives. They were very
persistent but eventually stopped asking us to go up. We were left a
little confused, but now have one more eventful story to share!
As evidence of our pictures, we also got to visit the zoo one day for class.
The surroundings were beautiful and it was funny to see some of our "every
day animals" like raccoons sitting in their cages.
As most of you who are reading this know, yesterday in the neighborhood
that Dustin and I live in a man was killed. We were on our way to the bus
stop when we heard the shots. We were very scared at the moment, as well
as all the others in the area. We made it to CASAS safely and later
learned this man had been targeted for his great wealth. Our host
families told us that this has never happened in the whole time they have
been hosting students. It was scary at the moment, but upon returning we
felt very safe and secure with our families.
Journal Week 7
March 05, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
This weekend we got to relax and take a break from long lectures and and
Spanish classes. We visited the ruins in Tikal. They were so beautiful
and absolutely amazing. We had the chance to climb up some steep ladders
(as seen in the pictures) and encountered some amazing views from the
stop. As a side note; all those out there that know my fear of heights
should be proud of me for climbing up that thing! After our visit to
Tikal we arrived at our hotel-Gringo Perdido, or Lost Foreigner pretty
much. It was right next to the lake and had rooms with mosquito netting
and all! For Saturday and Sunday we had the opportunity to relax, catch up
on some work, take long walks, horse-back ride, bike, and do lots of
swimming. We even were able to get some tans...or at this point I should
probably say sun burns! It was great to get away from our normal routine,
but also a little unsettlingly. Most of us realized that while we had the
opportunity to get away from everyday life, most people in Guatemala would
never have the opportunity to take a day off and get on a plane to fly to
Tikal. It's a fact that we always seem to encounter here on our trip, and
is something we often grapple with without ever coming up with a good
answer.
Journal Weeks 8-10
March 23, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
There's been a lot of change and moving around these past few weeks! We
finally finished up our Spanish classes, which was exciting, but this also
meant we had to say good bye to living with our host families. Our last
week we just tried to enjoy hanging out with our family and playing with
all the little kids that are somehow related, but we're still not quite
sure how! It was sad to leave, but it was also comforting to know that we
still get another chance to visit with them before heading back to the
U.S.
We also finally got to go on our long anticipate free travel trip to
Sipicate. On Friday afternoon after a four hour bus trip we arrived at
our bungalow right on the black sand beach of the Pacific Ocean. Our time
there consisted of five days of nothing but relaxing. The waves were
pretty hard to swim, but it was fun just to mess around, swim in the
pools, lay on the beach, and just sit on the porch and watch the waves
come in. It was all the relaxing that we all needed, but it also gave us
time to think about home and start becoming more homesick!
After Sipicate we headed on to Antigua for Semana Santa, or Holy Week.
Here we were able to witness the typical Holy Week traditions. We saw the
beautiful alfombras on the streets made painstakingly from colored
sawdust and flowers, as well as the huge floats of Christ, Mary, and other
Easter characters carried by the people of Antigua. It was very
interesting to witness how Easter is celebrated here in Guatemala. It was
also evident that much more emphasis is placed on Good Friday and the
suffering of Jesus rather than the resurrection. It allowed for a new
view point and for us to focus on a part of Easter we usually seem to
gloss over more in the U.S.
In Antigua we also got to be a bit touristy and visit all the beautiful
art and jade shops...I even got a pair of real jade earrings. The art
work was a bit out of our price range, but it was still fun to imagine
someday being able to return and perhaps purchase the beautiful pictures
of Guatemala captured through these paintings.
We are now back at CASAS and tomorrow we head out to do our two week
community service in Santiago.
Journal Week 11 and 12
April 06, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
Our time in Santiago doing service has just concluded and we're quickly
winding down to the end of our trip. While on service we worked with the
group ANADESA, which is centered in the town of Panabaj. In 2005 a
mudslide unexpectedly came through the town and many people lost their
lives. ANADESA was formed shortly after as a women's cooperative to help the people of the town
bring in more of an income and have the necessities they need. It has
many different programs with children and women, and it's main program
consists of the women of the community making beautiful pieces of beaded
jewelery and other crafts. In our time their, we each stayed with host
families. Our family consisted of our father Jose, mother Concepcion, our
sister Lilian who is 16, our sister Esther who is 11, our brother Juan
Abel who is 6, and the little baby Jonathan who just turned 10 months old.
They were great and so much fun to live with. In the mornings I would
work with Concepcion making tortillas, washing dishes and clothes, and
sometimes going into the market. Dustin would go to work with Jose, often
going to worksites to move cement blocks, or up the mountain to cut down
coffee trees with a machete. In the evenings Dustin would play soccer
with the kids and then we taught them some card games we would all play
together. It was so much fun and so hard to leave them.
With ANADESA we also got to work and play with the kids of the community
some afternoons. They were great to be around and play with, though their
energy levels far surpasses ours half the time! The girls of EMU also got
to work with a woman's group on Thursday afternoon, and we each presented
on a different topic in Spanish, which was then translated to Sutuile,
which is their native tongue.
Over all our service time was wonderful and very memorable. We formed
some great relationships with our family and we hope to someday go back
and be able to see them once again.
Journal Weeks 13-14
April 17, 2008 - Moriah Steiner
Our last journal entry from Guatemala!! These last few weeks have been
filled with ending details along with relaxation. After our community
service we were at CASAS for a few days giving presentations and such, and
then we headed to Copan for a few days to finish presentations and have
some time to relax. We then traveled on to Roatan for some beach time!
Here we were able to lay in the sun, ride a scooter, go kayaking,
snorkeling, and over all just have a relaxing last week. We're now at
CASAS packing up and excited to get on the plane and head home!! Thanks
for all your prayers over these months, we miss you and all and can't wait
to see you!
Latest pictures of Semana Santa