Putting it all into perspective....

We have been home for a week, I find myself thinking about how richly we have been blessed in this country and how much we take for granted. I will be stuggling with that for awhile and how I will be changing my own behavior. Life is so fragile and so many do not have access to basic services like health care and clean drinking water.

Thank you to everyone for the support and the prayers. It touches our hearts to have such a wonderful family, supportive friends, and the opportunity to go to Guatemala. May God bless you all!

Love, Dave and Elayne

Friday...and now for something different

We got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Our tour van came and picked us up and we headed for Lake Attilan. It was a two hour ride that lasted three. But the ride was well worth it when we caught the first glimpse of the lake, it was the most beautiful blue you can imagine. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then took a ride across the lake. Our plan was to go to some of the villiages but we were only able to go to one. The area is known for it's artists....so.....again....we went shopping! The difficult thing was being choosy, we didn't have the suitcase space for alot, but we were able to get some cool stuff....

The views were spectacular....the lake is in a volcano crater, there are active volcanos around the lake. We were happy that today was not the day for them to erupt. The lake was choppy but well worth the trip.

We caught our ride and headed back to Antigua for our last night and to pack to be ready to go....

The rest of the trip

On our final Wednesday, we packed up our things, and said goodbye to Reu and our new friends. We headed for Antigua, a city near Guatemala City. Antigua has language schools so there is great diversity in the city. There are people from all over the world there that are students.

Antigua is also known for it's incredible Artisen markets....We had a shoping list of what we wanted to pick up....but after walking through the market, our list grew. We wanted to look for rainsticks, something for Kolton and Kamryn, table runners, a tortilla squisher, a lemonaide press....to name afew. It did not take long to figure out that the tortilla squisher and press were not going to be practical given we were flying home and not taking the bus back.

However, during a conversation about how they made black beans, we decided that we needed a bean pot. Esturado came to the rescue and through his amazing ability to network, found a woman who knew a guy in her village who made the pots. So we put in our order. The pots were delivered on Saturday morning just before we had to leave for the airport. I wrapped it in the table runners and pillow covers that we bought and put the pot in my backpack.

It is actually a small miracle that the bean pot and the 5 foot rainstick all made it home safely. Both ended up being carry ons for the flight home. But they did. The rainstick found a home in Elayne's office. And we are waiting for a day when we can tend a fire all day to try out the bean pot.

Thursday we said good-bye to Diane, Theresa, and Katheryn as they left for the airport. Due to an emergency at home, Gabriel went home as well.

After the good byes we went back to the markets to see what we see. The markets were an experience. You could get just about anything. It was strange to my eyes to see beef and other meats hanging and ready for your purchase. I passed.... There were all kinds of fruits and vegtables that were being hauled in huge baskets on top of their heads.

But the artisen market was a feast for the eyes with the colors and things that were available. Like everthing else, there were no listed prices, you had to tell what you wanted to pay and go from there. Bargining was not only the way it was done, but it was expected. I had fun with it, but I don't do math, so there were challenges with converting dollars into Q's. It was to much fun!

We decided to do something different on Friday....

Addmitting that the computer is smarter than I am....

Ok, the pictures below are from the day that we went to the Myan ruins. It was a great day! The weather was great, the kids were amazing....The groups split into two groups, Dave and I went with the girls. I could not figure out how to get the pictures with the day that it happened. Ergo...the computer is smarter than I am....So I guess as I post the pictures they might be out of order, sorry!

Day at the Myan Ruins

Tuesday....

I am not sure were exactly we went, but it was a beach along the Pacific Ocean. It was hot....and part of the adventure was riding in the back of a pick up truck for the hour drive. If we were home I would have had a complete meltdown because it is just dangerous to ride in the back of an open pickup. But there we were bouncing down the road. The scenery was spactacular. There were plantations of bananas, Mangos, sugar cane, citrinella, and trees that looked like parasols. Never did figure out what they were.

We stopped at a small resturant and had Chop suey. Yumm! Then on to the beach. We found a cabanna, ordered cold beverages. Some when swimming. Some took naps in the hassocks, I waded in the water for awhile and then enjoyed good conversation.

It was a 'volcanic' beach which meant that the sand was black. The waves were high, great for anyone who wanted to surf. The water had a strong undertow, so everyone had to be very careful. I noticed that as I stood in the water, the sand would be pulled away from under my feet, so it was difficult to just stand in the water. The water was warm and soothing though.

We stayed at the beach most of the afternoon and then headed back. On the way back....not a big suprise....it started raining and storming. We were drenched by the time we got back to Reu. We went to the hotel, changed clothes and then headed to the Dardon's for supper. After supper we had our nightly devos and then headed back to the hotel for bed.

This day we also worked on sorting the boxes of school and medical supplies that we had brought from Iowa and Illinois. Most of the supplies will be stored, but some of it will be taken to the jungle school, coffee plantation, and the farm family that we will see on Wednesday when we head to Antigua.

Supplies are much needed, but it is difficult and expensive to get them to Guatemala. I was shocked to find out that many children are not able to go to school because they have no shoes and uniforms. We were taking to a guy from Flordia that we met in Mexico on the way down, that was 15 when he got his first pair of shoes, we later learned that this is not unusual.

There is a public education system in Guatemala, and it is open to all children. But many families need their children help with the family business, what ever that happens to be, and many families are too poor to afford shoes and the required uniform.

More later....

We are home safe and sound!

We left Antigua for the airport in Guatemala City on Saturday afternoon to be there in time for our 8:20 flight to Chicago OHare. there were six of us flying out that day, so we went through check in as a group. Our passports were checked, and the appropriate forms were filled out. Then we waited.....We got a bite to eat and played Phase 10. Later we made our way through security and waited at our gate. The plane started boarding at 8:00pm and took off 20 minutes later. We had a good flight, abit of turblence, but no big deal. The flight was full, but most of the people slept or watched 'Twillight". We arrived in Chicago at about 1:30. We had to go through customs and have our passports checked. Only one of the bags was searched, and that one had wet hacky sacks in it. After all the appropriate stamps and checks were done....we were free! Diane Dardon met us and we started making our way across Illinois to Iowa. We arrived in Iowa City at 7:30 Sunday morning where we met Andrea Schmitt, Gary's wife who drove us to Manchester, Iowa. That was where we left the big red truck that took us the rest of the way home. We stayed in Highlandville Sunday night. Kris, Becky, and the kids brought Mabes Pizza and we celebrated Father's Day and their 6th wedding anniversary.
We are happy to be home, and anxious to tell the stories of our adventures. Over the next few days we will be posting the rest of the days and some pictures.

Friday June 12 2009
At the border….Thursday night we were driving through one of the check areas and three men flagged us down. Estarado talked to them and discovered that they were looking for jobs to help people get across the border. We were hoping to make it across that night, but it was soon evident the border would be closed by the time we got there. Our new friends took us to a hotel that had a place to park the bus. We were able to park the bus there, but the hotel was not going to work for us. There was no air or even fans. It really would have been a miserable night. They took us to another hotel that had air and much better accommodations than the night before. We went to get something to eat, but we were told there was no more food service for the night, even though others were being served. ….humm, you figure it out.

We woke early on Friday morning and retrieved the bus and got into the line. We had to wait until the border opened. The men we hired came and got our passports and worked on the paperwork. There was some concern about the engine number and VIN number not matching, but we all prayed that everything would work out. Again we prayed for a green light at the border. Our passports were returned with Guatemala stamps in them!

When the line started moving we were relieved when we went through the Mexican border with no problems. Speaking for all of us, I think we had enough of Mexico and were glad to get into Guatemala. Until we were flagged and were detained. The Guatemalan authorities demanded that extra taxes be paid on the contents of the bus. The bus itself was cleared and ready to go. But the things on the bus…school supplies, books, hospital supplies, x-ray machines, and pipes was going to be accessed additional taxes.

It was hard to tell if it was a Guatemalan tax or the official was trying to make a buck. But they gave Estarado an incredibly difficult time and threatened to detain him for as long as it took. The whole day was spent in negotiations. The biggest controversy was over the x-ray machine. The government officials thought it had to be worth over $10,000 dollars and told Estarado that he would have to unload the machine so they could see it, and they possibly would sell it. (more than likely they would pocket the money). This was unacceptable to Estarado who would rather see the machine destroyed than to have them get ahold of it.

At this point we borrowed a phone and started making phone calls to anyone who we thought might be able to get their attention. We called congressmen’s offices and the NEIA Synod office. We knew that no one probably could do anything, but having someone with more authority than they had would make them think about what they were doing.

At some point a threat was made to destroy the machine or at the minimum take the thing apart. Which our guys did. By this time we had gained the attention off everyone in the parking lot. Most of them knew that we were there bringing relief aid to the Guatemalan people and were very supportive of us.

When the officials finally saw the machine….we put it back together by then….they didn’t want it and eventually some young men were given the machine to take away. There were even other officials that were offering to take it out for us and meet us outside where we could get it back.

At around 6:00 we were released from the detention lot and started the journey up the mountain to Reu. We arrived in Reu at about 10:00 and had the supper that Flo had prepared for us. We checked into our hotel and had a well deserved nights sleep.

June 15, 2009
We are in Guatemala and it is Monday, actually it is Tuesday, ok now it is Wednesday, but we didn’t get this posted for a variety of reasons, but mostly the uncertainty and undependability of the internet connection. It is available but power outages are frequent. So back to Monday…wow what a day! We began with a breakfast of freshly made pastries and instructions to hurry up. We all climbed into the trucks and headed for the Jungle School. We left the hotel and headed for the country. We dropped off the guys to get the bus and the rest of us went to the school. We found the 5th and 6th graders ready to go on a field trip and for a ride on the bus. Many of them were going on a bus for the first time. The 47 kids were so excited to be going on their first field trip!

We drove about 45 miles to visit Mayan ruins. The tour was conducted in Spanish, but Ruben, one of the teachers tried to explain in broken English what we were seeing. There were two teachers and the Superintendent that went along. All three teachers were very kind and compassionate and you could tell that they cared deeply for the children. There was a small zoo with wild boars, a white tailed deer, raccoons, and monkeys. The monkeys were my favorite.

First Lutheran from Manchester provided the lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches and freshly squeezed lemonade. We were told that this was not a typical lunch for the children. They came back for seconds and some for thirds!

On the way home the kids had become comfortable with us and started talking. Most of the words we did not know, but when we found words that we knew in common such as numbers, colors, and letters we all laughed and clapped.

When we returned to their neighborhood, the kids were not ready to go home yet. But as they left, family by family we waved out of the windows and said Adios Amigos! What a day!

We went back to the hotel for rest and prepared for the evening meal and the evening devotions. All of our evening meals were served at the Dardon family home. Everything was handmade and authentic Guatemalan. As you may have heard the food is delicious.

My new favorite thing is Panchos…it is like a taco sandwich made out of chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo. Yumm!

The Mexican adventure continued…..Tuesday- June 9th: We awoke before the sunrise to get an early start. We opted to wait to have breakfast, so those that wanted coffee….got coffee. Estarado checked in with his new friends to gather information about the best routes and a possibility of a place to stop later in the evening. We all piled in the bus, Dave was going to drive, a plan in hand and headed south. Today was going to be a difficult day, we had many miles to go…

We drove into Tampico thinking that it would be a piece of cake. Tampico is a tourist town. However, apparently they have a ‘rule’ that if you are passing through you should be taking a bypass road. We missed the turn and continued into the city. About two blocks into town people started waving and banging on the bus when we went by. We were stopped by the local police who said that we were driving in the wrong lane. He demanded to see our papers and Dave’s driver’s license…..since Dave was driving. The guy came on the bus and asked us each where we were from….of course we said Iowa. Since none of us spoke Spanish Estarado spoke for us.

The police officer wanted money, but he wanted too much money. Another police officer came, demanded money, and began mentioning that he could put all of us in jail for 5 days. We told him we did not have the amounts of money he was talking about (over $2100).

There were long negations followed by Estarado trying to fill us in on what was happening. After about an hour of this the police said to follow them. We followed them through the very narrow streets of the town. My imagination went wild, but mostly I was trying to figure out how to let someone know where we were. We had been out of phone contact since we crossed the border on Monday afternoon.

We wound around the city and turned to go down a road that had a cemetery on both sides of the road. As we came over a hill we saw the cemetery, a parking lot of confiscated cars, trucks, and buses, and at the bottom of the hill….a prison. The police officer came back in the bus and pointed out the choices. I was scared out of my mind…All I could think about is that no one knew where we were, and we had no way to contact anyone. The guys all had different reactions.

The bottom line was that the officers wanted a bribe and if we didn’t pay it, we were going to jail. Estarado got him down as low as he thought he could go. We ended up paying $450.00 American money to stay out of jail. The police then escorted us out of town.

We later learned that this is a common occurrence in this town. After that our nerves were on edge if we saw any kind of police or Mexican Army I echoed Sue Mercer’s prayer to be invisible to anyone who would cause us harm.

The trip that day continued fairly uneventful except for Gary eating Ken’s breakfast later that morning (ya, that was funny. LOL). At least until Friday when we reached the border, but more on that later.

These are a few thoughts about the trip through Mexico. There were very few women traveling on the road. But there were a lot of Guatemalans. Some were American citizens. They had bought or were transporting cars that had been in wreaks. They could buy them at a reasonable price and get them fixed in Guatemala, and then sell them for a profit. They filled the cars with anything they could sell. Shoes were a very popular item. We could have sold the shoes right off of our feet. Some of our shoes seemed to have disappeared.

We drove by small towns on the Gulf of Mexico. The scenery was very beautiful, but it was evident that the area had been affected by hurricanes in the past few years. It was too bad there was a lot of litter along the roads. Finding restrooms was also an adventure….If you want to know ask me, I will fill you in.

All along the sides of the roads were fruit stands. This time of year there were bananas, mangos, pineapples, and melons. They smelled wonderful.

We drove into the Serria Madre Mountians and cut across Southern Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. Very beautiful. As we came down out of the mountains we came into a place where miles and miles were being developed into wind farms. They were building more wind generators as we drove through.

Wednesday night we stayed at an interesting hotel. One positive was that our showers were warm, but other than that it set a new bar for an adventure! It was an “auto hotel” There was a garage on the first floor for you to park in. You went up steps to find the anti luxury of your dreams. The electrical wiring was coming out of the walls and every wall was painted a different color with the bed spread yet another color. The bed frames were cement….Yes you read this right, they were cement. The mattress was one of those foam ones that you find in campers. I guess it goes to prove that if you are tired, you will sleep anywhere…..and it was better than sleeping in a Mexican jail.

Crossing the Rio Grande

US Border Crossing

Ok, back to Monday and crossing the border. We crossed the border with no problems. Fortunately we had the GPS along and it was up and working. Estarado told us which way to go, but it was not how the GPS told us to go. We had our first turn around at that point. (we were headed for Baja). We headed for Mexico Highway #101. We had just found it when we had our first encounter with the Mexican Police. They pulled the bus over because they said that we had ran a red light. However, there were many cars that went around the corner at the same time. The police officer wanted money. Right or wrong the bribe was paid and we went merrily on our way.

We were advised that it was not a good idea to drive through the night. Partly because of the condition of the roads. But mostly because of increased chance of being stopped by the police and army. We drove to Mira Mar, a small town just north of Tampico, Mexico. Found a hotel, had something to eat, and went to bed. The food was really good, but we had no idea what we ordered, since the entire menu was in Spanish. We were all very tired and all slept well. I was relieved that we were sleeping in a bed.

Trip up the mountian to visit a coffee plantation

Above: Coffee Beans....when they are ripe they will be red. There are two beans in each pod.

Above: The Coffee Plantation To the upper right: the ride up the mountian....

Below and to the right: Macademia Nuts, ready for eatting!

This morning while we were eating pastries for breakfast, Diane came in and said we have to go to see the Carpets, they were making carpets in the square just down the street from the hotel. We went to find the young children making “carpets” out of flowers, leaves, fruits, and colored sawdust.

They were beautiful and the children making them were smiling and happy. One of the groups was not finished and invited us to help them finish. In afew minutes the processional would be coming by to celebrate the festival of Corpus Christie or the Body of Christ. (we have pictures that will be added soon). We had to leave before the procession.

We drove out of town and up a steep mountain. Through many small villages to go to a coffee plantation. The roads were unbelievable. Though recently they were paved so we were able to drive most of the way up the mountain. The road had been washed out in two places. This is one of the plantations that

We saw coffee plants and many varieties of bananas. Big ones, small ones, red, green, and yellow bananas and plantains. Plantains are my new favorite thing. They look like a banana on steroids, they are sliced and fried and seasoned with something I have not figured out yet. Then crème fresh is poured on the top. Yummy!

The coffee is not ready for harvest yet. The berries are on the tree. Each berry contains two coffee beans. This is the time for Macadamia Nuts….another favorite thing! The nuts are harvested from trees, shucked, broken and sorted and then roasted. We were able to sample the roasted nuts, and they were a treat!

I came back to the hotel for the afternoon while Dave went into the jungle to go swimming.

More later…

Getting Ready to Cross the Border....

Since the paperwork was not going to be done until around 10:00am we had the morning to “sleep in”. Yeah Right….we slept in until 7:30….Ugg! Elayne could have slept longer…but Dave was ready to go…he always is! We went to the paperwork place where Estarado had finished everything. He was told that everything was in order, except that the diesel fuel that they had brought would need to be used before crossing the border. At exactly 10:00 the FedEx truck came with a package for Ken….it contained his passport.

We just have to tell you about one thing from the night before. It did not take long to discover that the Styrofoam cooler that we brought…..wait for it…..had a hole in it. So late Monday afternoon we discovered that the floor was wet. We checked to make sure that what was wet was sealed and was not destroying anything. So when we got to Pharr and found our hotel, the guys decided to try to straiten up the bus. They thought it would be a good idea to drain the cooler. But rather than taking the time to take the cooler out and dump it out. They propped it at the top of the stairs of the bus so the water would drain out. In theory, not a bad idea. In reality the cans started falling out one by one the minute they left the bus. The result was that the cans landed on the bottom step so the door could not open. Elayne could not stop laughing at the wisdom. We wiggled the door around and started pulling out the cans and soon the door opened enough to get the rest out.

We went and had breakfast with two guys that Estarado had met while doing paperwork. They gave us some tips about how to cross Mexico. We were all praying for a green light at the border. If we got a red light, it meant there was something wrong and there was a strong possibility that we would have to unload the entire bus.

We drove for about 45 minutes to the border crossing. There was a line that everyone had to wait in. There were many people around, so Estarado made friends. Most of the people spoke Spanish, afew spoke English.

I had heard about the wall that was being considered, but I had no idea that they were actually building it. The day we were there, they were working on it.

The American authorities came, checked papers and sent the whole group on their way. We drove through the maze and finally crossed the river into Mexico. At that point we had to go through Mexican security, including having the bus scanned and fill out our Visa papers. We got a green light by the way!

Leaving Manchester Sunday Afternoon....

We left Decorah and drove to Manchester to meet our group and get on the bus...There are six of us going. Estrardo Dardo'n organized the trip. He lives in Illinois and with two kids and his lovely wife Diane. Estrardo grew up in Reu and his family continues to live there, (here :)

Gary Schmitt and Ken Hart are both from Manchester. Gary is married to Andrea and they have two children. He works for LSI and is taking classes. Prior to working at LSI he was a mechanic. His skills as a mechanic came in very handy on this trip!

Ken Hart is a K-6 Guidance Counselor in the school in Manchester. Ken entertained us all with his amazing sense of humor and compassion.

And finally, Gabriel. Gabriel is a high school student from Lake Mills.

And us, but you already know us!

Anyway that is our little group. We finished packing the bus, prayed, and loaded up. I was so touched by Sue's request to keep the bus safe from "door to door". Gary was the first driver. We were all very excited to get on the road and Gary must have forgotten to close the door, because the first corner we went around things flew out the door. After retrieving the waterbottle, we were on our way, with strict instructions to make sure the door is closed from now on.

We stopped for breakfast in Dallas. Biscuits and Gravy, yumm! Our waitress was a women named Brenda, which under most circumstances would have been routine....but when Brenda found out what we were doing....after telling us we were crazy....she told us she would keep us in her prayers, and would we pray for her too. She was going to be the director for her churches VBS program that night and was really nervous. She had never been the director before.

We drove all that night and arrived in Pharr, Texas at 4:30 Monday afternoon. At that point there was paperwork that needed to be done....and.....we still can't believe it....Ken forgot his passport....After three checks along the way to make sure everyone had their passports!

Unbeknown to us, Ken did call back to Manchester and had someone find the passport and overnight it to Texas. It was to arrive by 10:00am.

We had our first taste of Mexican food, the menu was in Spanish, but we ordered and it was good!

Elayne was so happy, we could sleep in a bed Dave was happy to be able to take a warm shower!

...and so it was the first day.,

We made it to Reu, Guatemala!

After 5 days of intense driving and adventures, we arrived Friday night at 10:30 pm. During the time we were on the road we did not have access to the internet, so we were not able to post any blogs. We also were without any phones....which added to the adventure. Over the next few days we will be posting the stories and pictures of our adventures....
Love Ya, Miss Ya,
Dave and Elayne

Greetings....
We have been at the Northeastern Iowa Synod this week end. It has been fun to reconnect with friends that we have known for along time and made some new ones. We continue to thank God for the ministries that are happening in congregations as well as in the Church at large. Soli Deo Gloria!

We have left the CFL and are on the way to the 'big red truck' to make our way to Manchester, IA to meet the big yellow school bus and finish loading. More on that later. We expect to be on the road for the ride south at 1:00 this after noon...

Later...
Dave and Elayne

So, here it is...Friday....we are packing the truck and doing all the last minute things to close up the house for two weeks. We turned off the air, made sure the windows are closed, the doors are locked, the water faucets are off, the oven is off, the bathrooms were checked (you know....yikes when you come home and well you know) and the Freezer doors are shut (we had a very bad experience with that once, yuck).

Any way those things are done. We are on our way to Decorah to attend Synod Assembly. Also while in Decorah we will be picking up luggage from some of the people who were deported. Not to get into the politics of the whole thing, but I was shocked to find out that when someone is deported, they can only take one suitcase with them. The rest of their belongs have to stay. It just makes me sad. Anyway we will be delivering their belongings to them in Guatemala.

Be sure to leave your name, we would love to see who is reading this and follow along. Also, we would like to keep you in our prayers.

Love Ya, Miss Ya
Elayne

Gathering the items

The items for the Guatemala trip are coming together. A member of First Lutheran in Manchester is heading to Lake Mills tomorrow to pick up an X-Ray machine, hospital beds and other medical supplies.

Pastor Dave and Elayne will be collecting other items in Decorah this weekend.

We still have room on the bus for many other items like: toys, kids’ shoes, school supplies, vitamins, simple medications.

We will be continuing to build the school that Pastor Dave worked on last year during his sabbatical so monetary donations are always appreciated.

Please keep us in your prayers. Your support greatly appreciated.


Pastor Dave and Elayne

Getting Ready to Go!

Today is Tuesday. We are getting the last minute things done at the office that one must do before leaving for two weeks. Last minute instructions, get letters ready to send out for the July Mission Trip. Then tonight, I will finish laundry and pack the suitcases so they will be ready for Sunday when we leave for Guatemala on a Mission Trip....our mode of transportation....a big yellow school bus. This will be a trip that we will never forget!

This is where you can find info about where we have been and what we have been doing.
Dave and Elayne