Cultural Effects

Posted on June 29, 2014 by adrienneorris

As we debriefed as a group, I always enjoy seeing things through the eyes of someone looking fresh at a culture. Even if it was the dogs that repulsed them or the sound of a marimba at night that they could have done with out. These are the things that I don’t see anymore. Things that I have forgotten about. Yet things that scream Guatemala. Embracing and living within a culture is difficult and there will always be things that are counter cultural. Being surrounded by friends though is like having a piece of home here… and so I cherish the days that we spent together and have tidbits to share from each of them …

Things we loved
Laughter of the children and seeing the smiles on their faces
Being greeted everywhere we went and others actually talking to us on the streets
Mountains – everywhere
Beauty of country
Puppies (3 of them living right next to our room)
Hosts
Family atmosphere
Seeing the vision and hospital
Respect for culture

Cultural difficulties
Language barrier
Being careful not to offend people
Sanitation/ lack of
Transportation/ difficulty of travel
Dogs – everywhere and not looking healthy
Cockroaches

I speak on behalf of everyone that this week gave a window into the life and ministry that is in full force in Guatemala. The favorite part of the week was being able to experience first hand the presence of God. Seeing the hospital ground and the school and seeing how the pieces all fit together. Thank you to all who have been a long on this journey.

Wednesday

Posted on June 26, 2014 by adrienneorris

Today was our rest day and we took advantage of the day to spend time together and see the town and surrounding areas. We checked out the Mayan ruins, took a prayer walk through town, got an ice cream cone, headed up the canal for a scenic view. This day was very enjoyable as we were able to learn about the area here and see more of the beauty in this place.

el ambiente

Posted on March 17, 2014 by adrienneorris

Now that I am teaching in Spanish… I am learning many new words – some useful and some that I may use in very special situations. El Ambiente is the environment. I watched a beautiful sunset the other night and wanted to share it… how often do you see the sun go down while a full moon is shining bright in the sky. Because of the reflection of the sun, the moon isn’t quite as bright in this picture, but none the less, quite impressive. The moon is all the way to the right in this panoramic view of the valley.

Shopping in market with April.

Science class with some MKs

A house in an aldea.

It’s the dry season so the making and baking of adobe is going strong!

A view of Canilla

The current construction

WHERE WILL YOU LIVE?

Posted on August 9, 2013 by adrienneorris

I find there is a pattern to the questions that I am asked…. with most people wanting to know what life is like there. I wish I could transport you there so that you could see the area in which I live. If you were to fly into our region, you would fly over many mountains and land on a dirt strip where there is a flat strip of land a few miles across.

This area that you see is the town of Canilla and the surrounding mountains.

The “home” that I live in is approximately 1 mile out of town which would be the lower right hand corner. It is just cut out of this picture, but here is a view that you can see the house as well as the dorm that is currently being built. The tree in the middle of the photo divides the new building on the left and the current buildings on the right. In the future, the hospital will be functioning on the right and the building on the left will be used for housing. In the background is the town of Canilla.

And this is the building in which I stay. Infact, that is me on the front porch. Also in this picture, you can see the water storage tank. This is an apartment that is built onto the end of the clinic.

This last photo was taken of the back field. This is the view of the back fields. Flat land is of an premium. It is not the norm in our area. Hopefully this helps to give you a greater visual of what my every day view holds.