I can't believe that I have already been in Guatemala for two weeks! Now that the wild weather has started to calm down a little bit, I have been able to stop thinking about when I will shower, and start thinking about the Guatemalan culture and what makes it different from home. This is what I've come up with.

1. Beans. Every day here includes some type of beans: fried beans, mashed beans, bean soup, beans with eggs, beans without eggs, bean cereal, etc. I think one day we had bean porridge for breakfast.

2. Tortillas. We have tortillas with EVERY meal. They are homemade and so good.

3. The way the girls snap here is just like the Okie snap, except maybe (MAYBE) louder. I heard one girl snap clear across campus yesterday morning. They do it whenever they laugh at a joke or try to get someone's attention.

4. Birthday celebrations are very different here. This morning was my Tia Marisol's birthday. We started blowing up balloons during breakfast while my Tia was in the shower. I thought we were going to be hanging them up in her room for her. Instead, we hid them under her bed covers. Then, when she came out of the shower, the girls pushed her onto the bed so the balloons all popped. Then there was a massive balloon popping contest. I left with my ears ringing and thoroughly confused.

5. The typical greeting here is a kiss- on the left and right cheek. It makes for a very awkward hello if you go the wrong way first.

6. In this culture, now is much more important than later. If I am late to school, and run into my Tia who I haven't seen since yesterday, it is expected that I stop and talk and and see how she is doing. The society is very relationally based, something I have really appreciated about being here.


Ever since the storm passed over, we have had beautiful weather here. The sun here is STRONG. It is not that warm, since we are at 7000 feet, but you still get burned. So I have a really nice sweatshirt tan line going right now.

The first Saturday of every month is a Visiting Saturday, which means that any family who have permission from the court can come visit for two hours. It was hard watching girls look forward to seeing their parents, only to have to say goodbye in two hours. It was also hard to see the girls who got dressed up and waited for parents who never came.

We went to Galelia last Sunday, the church in town. It was a wonderful service- three hours long! The worship was beautiful. It was neat to know that, though I am in an entirely different culture, I am still worshipping the same God with them.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and emails. I love hearing from you!