We don't feel like a fish out of water. We (collectively) feel like a fish formerly in a small pond (like the one in my front yard) poured into a Great Lake. Guatemala City is big. Not Chicago big, with tall buildings and too many traffic laws, signs, and parking things to comprehend and a skyline and whatnot, but like a million people living in a city without tall buildings (and 4 million in the metro area). Like a fish swimming the sea bottom looking for a place to bed down and call home, as we drive through the city we often wonder, "Could this be a place to live? Could these be the people we dig deep with? What do these people need (that we might be able to remedy in some way)? Is this "safe" (a very relative term, since Guatemalans have a sort of fear-based culture, but something we have to be pretty aware of)?
Justin & Jenny have been hosting us in their splendid home in Colonia Naranjo just north of Guatemala City. Our activities have mostly consisted of "getting settled" (getting phone service, looking at apartments/cars, meeting folks, setting up banking, retrieving luggage, etc.), meanwhile seeing the city, sharing stories, learning Spanish words and concepts. But as we do all these things, and realize how little we know the landscape, the history, the culture , the people, it's hard to not balk of the idea of being able to do something impactful here. On the other hand, new things can be fun, and our adventurous side is by no means understimulated at this point. A couple snippets:
1) We're in a neighborhood called Bethania on the sidelines of a Global Soccer Ministries Soccer Academy. There's about 50 kids age 6-15ish out on a gravel pitch in a couple different groups doing soccer drills. There's a collection of mothers and younger sisters gathered under the makeshift tin-roofed shelter with us. Some intently watching their children playing futbol, others just socializing. We want so badly to strike up conversation with the mothers (or the children) but we can't get far past "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon!) and a warm/nervous smile before hitting a roadblock. It's just not as easy as it used to be. Oh, that the gospel would cross languages even before we "master" the Spanish language.
2) We drive around the city on Sunday night. When the streets are skinny, you see "La Tienda Lopez", and "La Barberia Union" amongst bright-colored cinderblock walls lining the streets. On the main roads, or in the modern malls, you can feel very much like America. IHOP, Pizza Hut, Applebee's, Chili's, TacoBell, McDonalds (did you know Guatemala McDonalds started the whole McCafe thing? And they started the Happy Meal?), it's all here. You can shop and eat at pretty nice American-ish places, live in pretty American-style homes, with American-ish furniture and appliances. Not all things American are bad. In fact, American concepts of parking, telephone wire organization, traffic control/road planning, regulated capitalism, and food safety start to make a lot of sense when you what a city/culture looks like without them. That being said, as we form our lives and patterns; habits and cohorts, we need to be aware as we walk the line between comfort and risk; familiarity and adventure; American and Guatemalan.
Justin & Jenny have been hosting us in their splendid home in Colonia Naranjo just north of Guatemala City. Our activities have mostly consisted of "getting settled" (getting phone service, looking at apartments/cars, meeting folks, setting up banking, retrieving luggage, etc.), meanwhile seeing the city, sharing stories, learning Spanish words and concepts. But as we do all these things, and realize how little we know the landscape, the history, the culture , the people, it's hard to not balk of the idea of being able to do something impactful here. On the other hand, new things can be fun, and our adventurous side is by no means understimulated at this point. A couple snippets:
1) We're in a neighborhood called Bethania on the sidelines of a Global Soccer Ministries Soccer Academy. There's about 50 kids age 6-15ish out on a gravel pitch in a couple different groups doing soccer drills. There's a collection of mothers and younger sisters gathered under the makeshift tin-roofed shelter with us. Some intently watching their children playing futbol, others just socializing. We want so badly to strike up conversation with the mothers (or the children) but we can't get far past "Buenas tardes" (Good afternoon!) and a warm/nervous smile before hitting a roadblock. It's just not as easy as it used to be. Oh, that the gospel would cross languages even before we "master" the Spanish language.
2) We drive around the city on Sunday night. When the streets are skinny, you see "La Tienda Lopez", and "La Barberia Union" amongst bright-colored cinderblock walls lining the streets. On the main roads, or in the modern malls, you can feel very much like America. IHOP, Pizza Hut, Applebee's, Chili's, TacoBell, McDonalds (did you know Guatemala McDonalds started the whole McCafe thing? And they started the Happy Meal?), it's all here. You can shop and eat at pretty nice American-ish places, live in pretty American-style homes, with American-ish furniture and appliances. Not all things American are bad. In fact, American concepts of parking, telephone wire organization, traffic control/road planning, regulated capitalism, and food safety start to make a lot of sense when you what a city/culture looks like without them. That being said, as we form our lives and patterns; habits and cohorts, we need to be aware as we walk the line between comfort and risk; familiarity and adventure; American and Guatemalan.