Té, música, y una novela

sitting here in my room. with a hot cup of tea, great tunes, and a good book. Such an ideal, relaxing way to end a good week. I had a lot of "first's" this week. I had my first Guatemalan bus ride, which wasn't so bad ;), my first spanish movie, head cold (which is still slightly lingering i may add) some others. but anyways, its a a good week. I'm feeling somewhat more comfortable at alcance and at my home here.

Time seems to be flying past. I passed 5 weeks on thursday, and completely forgot, until my mother commented and told me haha. whoops.

anyways, just thought i'd do a little update. let you all know that i am doing good and am enjoying it here in Santa Catarina Pinula and at El Centro de Alcance.

I haven't felt like i've seen God move lately, but i think he's moving in me, and in others around me.

If you have a chance, i would encourage you to read Ephesians 4. It's a goodie.

Love Katie!

futbol

We'll I've spent quite a bit of time alone the past few days. I've been stuck inside doing nothing with an awful head cold since saturday afternoon. I'm feeling much better today so i'm hoping that tomorrow i'll head out to alcance tomorrow again.

I've spent my days reading, watching tv, and sleeping. Sounds super boring, i know, but i did finish off a great book, and i have been watching the amazing show "Whale Wars" on my computer, which is always great.

On friday, there was a big soccer tournament for many of the schools here. I was there from about 8 am to 2 pm and stupidly forgot my sunscreen and got nasty burnt on my face and arms. Lets just say i've already started to peel. Not nice. Other then that friday at the stadium was good, i'm not the biggest soccer fan but it was nice to see kids be so stoked about something. It kind of reminded me of when the elementary school / middle schools would have track meets and everyone would be so competitive and stoked.

Anyways, here's a few shots from the stadium. they're nothing special, just a little something to show you what i've been up to!

these guys wanted a photo taken ;) 

the kids. 

there are three soccer fields. 2 dirt and 1 grass. 

getting creative. 

the two boys on the left crack me up. The boy in red is Mario and is especially funny. 

i love the celebration in this picture. especially the girls on the left. 

Anyways, there's a few pictures for you.

Love Katie
A prayer request right now would be for me to feel %100 healthy again and that this head cold goes away rapidly. also, for the centre that necessities will be provided and that i can find my place there.

1 month. =)

Well, today is the day where I have been away from Canada for 1 month. It sounds pretty cheesy but for me it's a pretty big thing. This past month has challenged me in so many different ways, most of all for the better. but, if I were to do it all over again, I probably would. When I look back, I enjoyed my time in Antigua, and now I'm beginning to enjoy my time here in Santa Catarina Pinula. I think the biggest challenge that I am having is definitely going to be the language. Today was the first day where I actually had a conversation with a girl from the centre where I didn't feel lost.

When I say centre, I should really explain myself. My main ministry here in Guatemala is with a Centre called Alcance. It's not technically a 'school' but kids come here to do homework and yes, they do learn a lot of things. There is an english class, computer class and some other stuff. A lot of the kids who come aren't educated enough to be in the right grade, etc. It's a very small space for the amount of kids who come but it works fine.

Tomorrow there's a soccer tournament so Alcance is going to be closed, I'm hoping to bring my camera out because I want to show you all what its like. So keep posted because I'll be posting some pictures of the kids at Alcance hopefully!!

Here's a  short list of some funny things I miss from home :

•        Throwing toilet paper in the toilet - here you throw it all in a garbage can
•        Chinese food - I have yet to find a chinese food place
•        Not wearing shoes inside - here you wear your shows virtually everywhere!  
•        Driving - weirdly enough, i miss driving. 
•        My bed side alarm clock.

Anyways, there a short list. Silly things that I've been thinking about latley. haha

Well, I'll be posting back on a later date. 

Lots of Love 

Katie

Prayer requests at this moment would be that my Spanish gets better and that I have more confidence to speak it more. Thank you!! 

..

Today I leave Antigua. Although I didn't like it much when I first arrive it has surely grown on me. To be a hundred percent honest, I am actually sad to be leaving the guest house. This place has grown to be a little "home away from home". I like the peace that it has. If I don't feel like talking to anybody, I don't have to. If I don't want to do anything, I don't have to. If I want to go somewhere, it's always a maximum of a 20 minute walk away. It's all around me. Easy, comfortable. I have fun here, I do what I like doing.

I'm scared to start the next chapter. To be surrounded 24/7. We'll see what comes next...



Love Katie

weathered, jarcaranda, 3 weeks.

Hola!! Today I've been very trigger happy (with my camera that is.) i went out and shot some pretty neat photos if i say so myself. I really wanted to share one with you so here goes.

This woman sits on the streets and begs for money every single day. 

As you can see from her weathered skin. 

We have so much and are yet so hesitant to give. 

When I saw her I felt bad, but how bad did I actually feel? 

After this realization, I quickly went into a coffee shop,

 bought a piece of pie and then gave it to

her and then asked if I could take her photo. 

It probably sounds bad that I gave her food, but I guess from my upbringing I don't feel comfortable giving people money, I'd rather give food.

Here's a verse i've been reading constantly. 

³⁸ And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[a] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹ No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:38-39

Lots of Love Katie =) 

ps; i've been gone 3 weeks!! =) 

pps; i finished spanish school today, which is great, but i'm also really bummed because I was really enjoying it! =) 

This is my wonderful teacher Estela and I! 

(she's just a bit shorter then I. :) ) 

sunshine, sherbert, and santa semana.

Today i've had a pretty nice day. I did a few hours of spanish school this morning. Which turned out to be great. Most of the time by the end of my class i am so drained. it's really hard to concentrate on translating and learning new things for 4+ hours straight. Today was a little different though. Because today is the first day of Lent, i asked my spanish teacher about how guatemalans celebrate easter (because i've heard it is quite a big celebration). From there, my teacher ( Estela ) and i talked for just over an hour about God, beliefs and "semana santa" (aka Easter) which they call it here.

It's quite interesting how different they celebrate here in guatemala other then canada. On semana santa there are men who wear purple robes with all the extras. about 80 men carry this huge platform thing all throughout the town ( and city i believe ) To the right is a picture of a part of the festival of semana santa. Although in the photo it doesn't look very big, in my opinion this platform is massive! Also, after this there is live music being played. I guess you could say its sort of like a parade!

It's crazy, because already there is celebration. Yesterday there was fiestas where people take confetti, put it in broken eggs and smash it on other people. needless to say, there is confetti on the streets everywhere here in Antigua.

Everybody says that this is the big festival here because both Catholics and the Christians celebrate it = a lot of people. Also, tonnes of people file into the streets and vacation here. Estela told me that every hotel is full and it's occupied everywhere. I have to confess, i'm pretty excited to be here for easter, just to see what it's like!

My teacher is Catholic and we were talking about God, and how he is the ultimate God. She told me about this analogy about believers in God. It was about a tree, and on this tree there is a base which is God, the branches of the tree are all the believers, they all branch out in different ways and on different branches, equaling different congregations: christian, catholic, protestant, reformed, baptist, the list goes on and on, but the TRUTH of the matter is, there is only ONE GOD, and we are all brothers and sisters in HIM.

Reminds me of this verse a little :
       ⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5


anyways, overall it was a pretty decent day. After school i ate lunch at the guest house i'm staying, then afterwards i headed to the gorgeous Hotel Antigua. I then sat beside the pool, read, did homework and relaxed. Did i mention that i ate delicious orange sherbert and possibly got a little too "tanned" aka: red.

It's almost been three weeks since i left home, they've gone by incredibly fast. It's now weird that i'll be leaving Antigua on saturday to adventure some more.

Lots of Love
Katie

Some photos of Antigua.

Colourful wooden crosses. 

This is one of my favourites. 

I think this is one of the funniest fountains out there. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Do you think he's bored? 

The Wash basins. I walk past these almost everyday.

I thought this tree looked really cool, because of the different limbs. 

Ruins. 

I found it really hard to self portait.  

but, the cameras self timer worked great! 

History, Lightning Storms, 2 weeks.

Hello all! I am now officially into my 2nd week of being here in Guatemala. I've experienced a few new things, other then just the food. This week has been alright, at moments i've felt discouraged but help from a few friends, my parents and God has got me through.

For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13


This is a verse my mom passed onto me the other day when i was going through some frustrating times. Since then things have got a little better and i'm feeling a little more encouraged.

Last sunday i went out and took some photos around Antigua, i just put them on my computer and my oh my! i am excited to share a few! it really amazing to see how much history is being stored in this little city, every block, every building and more!

Also, tonight i witnessed a really cool lightning storm. It was off in the distance near the top of one of the volcanos here! It was really cool to witness and see how big and powerful storms are in reality. It was so far off and it was still so large!

If i could ask of anything, i'll ask for prayers of encouragement, patience, and strength. It's really hard to be away from family, friends, my comfortable 'box' .

Anyways, I'm off to Guatemala City for the weekend. To see familiar faces and meet a few new ones.

Love Katie