June 17, 2006

Update 6-17-06

     This morning began very early. 

     With “international flights” out of Orlando before 0700, we all headed for the airport way before daylight.  And, of course the last minute packing last night made this a very short night.

     Nonetheless, we all made our planes on time, and all ended up here in the beautiful country of Guatemala.

     Chris Nee, a retired elementary school principal and Salud y Paz’s administrative assistant, met us at the airport in the bustling crowd outside the terminal.  She called Adolpho, and within minutes he had the team bus pulled up to the curb.  We got help stashing all the bags of supplies in the back of the bus, and then headed through the chaotic streets to get out of town.  Let’s just say that it’s not common to follow the rules and laws of driving around here.

     It seemed as though we were gaining altitude the entire trip, uphill mile after mile.  Larry’s altimeter watch reported that we were up to 8500 feet at times, and the temperature remained quite cool.  We stopped counting the number of times that Adolpho had to blast the air horn to get the bus through tight spots.  The very narrow miss of a sliding, braking, oncoming motorbike as Adolpho put the bus brakes to a serious test brought a huge collective gasp.  We missed them by inches.

     We stopped along the route to pick up Joe Leier, our “fix everything” man, and he related the story of how God called him to come and work as a missionary in Guatemala 5 years ago.  At his home, which was just a block off the main road on our way to Chichi, we piled his supplies on top of all of ours in the back of the bus.  There were boxes, briefcases, bags, tool suitcases, and a 3-foot satellite dish.

    With his background in radio and electronics, Joe’s plan is to keep all the monitors, sterilizers, OR lights, and other gadgets at the clinic all in good working order for us.  And, on Sunday morning, he will go to the Camanchaj clinic early to rig up a satellite connection to the Internet.  We hope to have our own wireless Internet access right there in Camanchaj.

     After many hairpin turns on the twisting road, and more than 4 hours on the bus, we finally saw a “Bienvenidos a Chichicastenango” sign.

     The Hotel Santo Tomas sits along a very narrow street in the heart of Chichi.  There were several Mayan women and young boys working the entrance to the hotel, trying to sell their colorful sashes and clothing items, or some “ special pens”.  We smiled at them, but, knowing that we would be visiting Central America’s largest outdoor indigenous market on Sunday morning just 3 blocks from the hotel, we declined their offers.

     We formed a “fireman’s line” to pass the bags from the back of the bus into the hotel lobby, and Chris had our room keys within a few minutes.

     This place is nice! (for a hotel in Guatemala). With a local band playing in the courtyard to steal attention from the street noise out front, we moved in to our rooms.

     It would be dinner in the hotel dining room, a brief team meeting to lay out the plan for Sunday, and then….sleep!

     After several months of planning and praying, many meetings and phone calls and emails, hours of collecting donated drugs and surgical supplies, and traveling for many hours, we are finally here.

Guatemala City Airport

The back of the bus from Guatemala City to Chichi.

. Food stop at a Guatemala 7/11

Two boys along the road to Chichi