First 3 Days in Guatemala--Nov 6 to 8

After talking with Rosemarie and Nelson and learning about the amount of work that still needed to be accomplished before VBS, we decided to go back to Guatemala three days before the campaign began.  Wednesday morning, November 6, found us at the Pullmantur office buying a one-way ticket for the same afternoon.  We spent the remainder of the morning packing and paying bills so we could be gone.

The bus left at 1:30 p.m. and arrived about 7:30--the afternoon route took a little more time due to the fact that there was more traffic in and around the border and in Guatemala City.  Javier and Claudia picked us up.  We started working as soon as we got to the house.  My workspot was upstairs at the sewing machine!  Stephen spent his time, cutting and gluing.  There was always a house full of church members helping, as well.  Somehow, Rosemarie managed to find time to feed everyone at lunchtime.

During these last 3 days the VBS enrollment continued to rise . . . so we continued to make more name tags, sashes and buttons.  

Bus with Wifi

Well, you know you are going to be late getting back when both of the movies are over and the bus is still at the border.  We left Guatemala  City a little late and then the traffic at the landslide area took another half hour or so.  Not too bad, we thought.  Then we got to the border and the line of trucks was incredibly long. 

We did not have to get off the bus to wait in the immigration line,but it really doesn't make any difference if the traffic line is this long.  We were there for at least an hour, but have finally started  moving.  All this time (and on the trip over) I had my Internet turned off because the bus info said that free wifi was only for the first class passengers.  While sitting at the border I accidentally turned it on  and saw that the wifi was free and open. Silly me!  Nevermind that typing on these rough roads is quite difficult, at least I can check Facebook, and everyone knows how important that is.

I Like Change!

If you have known me for very long, you know that, as a rule, I like change.  If you read my last blog post, you know that I like to change up the things I eat and the things I cook.  Well, the same thing goes for the things I do.  So, the good news is that I live in a place where it really isn't hard to change things up.  You see, things rarely go as planned here and as our friend, Dave, says, "when anywhere in Central America we must acknowledge the 11th commandment:  Thou shalt be flexible!"

It's almost VBS time!  Public schools all over Central America will be winding up their year by the end of October.  I'm sure that there are countdowns written on many white boards in classrooms across this country.  We are having VBS (goes by the initials EBDV, in Spanish) at the church in Guatemala City on November 11-15.  Last year, Stephen and I drove over a few days early to help with last minute preparations.  A couple of months ago, Pastor Nelson Rivas and his wife, Rosemarie, invited us to spend October 23-28 at their home in Guatemala in order to help with VBS preparations. Of course, we said we would love to come and that we would drive over on the morning of October 23.

A little over two weeks ago, a tractor trailer carrying a very heavy load of vegetables (almost 3 times over the weight limit)  caused extensive damage to the bridge between the border of El Salvador and Guatemala.  It was a miracle that the bridge didn't completely fall, plunging that truck, other cars and people to their deaths.  

Obviously, the border was closed and all traffic re-routed to one of the two other borders between the countries.  Trucks were asked to use the more southern border near the ocean, while car traffic was routed to the more northern border.  Since we have never driven the northern route through San Cristóbal, everyone thought it best not to take off on our own.  So, 11th Commandment time--on Sunday, we bought bus tickets to leave at 6:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.  First time on a commercial bus, not the church's school bus!  I have to admit that the bus looks pretty fancy--our tickets are for the 2nd level.

 If only the roads were going to be as smooth as the interstate highways in the states and not the pocked marked, sink hole, narrow and congested roads that are normal here.

Current news reports announce that one lane of the damaged bridge was reopened to car traffic yesterday; they are allowing one car at a time to cross. 

Full repairs are another 1-2 weeks away.  Since normal traffic on the bridge is more than 5,000 vehicles, the lines will be horrendous. Not to mention my confidence level about bridge repairs is not very high. We're very happy that we opted for our first bus ride!  Hopefully, everything will be back to normal when we travel (on the church bus) to Guatemala for VBS in November. 

My next blog post will be on the other side of the border and, hopefully, I will be able to report that the trip was painless!  In any event, we'll have a great time of fellowship with the Rivas family while we're cutting, pasting, painting, printing and preparing for VBS!

Appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies!