'learning'

three foreign countries in two days.. 54 hours total, 36 of which were spent in a car or bus.. nearly no english the whole time!

this is just a glimpse of what this past weekend looked like for me.. i decided to entitle this post, 'learning,' because i feel like i learned a lot of interesting things on this trip that i thought i would share with you..

layo called me on wednesday last week and asked if i could go on this trip to represent our team, in the development of a spring break-like trip for university students to go to honduras.. it was very short notice, but we have learned to fly by the seat of our pants here.. so i got the bus ticket the next day, and left on friday afternoon..

there were several legs to the journey, and i really wasnt clear at any point exactly what was happening.. so i took a charter bus to guatemala city, and was supposed to meet a man named chino.. i had his number, but my phone didnt have service once we crossed the border.. so when i got to the hotel, i waited to be approached by someone.. he walked up and said my name, and i asked him his name and he said chino, so he must have been who i was supposed to go with! so we hopped in the car and went to a local hostel that was owned by some friends of his.. it was about ten at night.. i slept until two in the morning, and then was picked up by a younger student named juancho, and his girlfriend noemi.. and we were off!

this is my room at the hostel the first night.. not too shabby..

the next leg of the journey, i was mostly sleeping.. i was exhausted.. but we drove for about seven hours from guatemala city up to the north eastern border into honduras right up by the caribbean sea, crossed the border, and drove to a city called san pedro sula.. here we met a man named joaquin, a staff guy in honduras, who is part of planning this spring break trip.. i thought i was going on this trip to meet him, but once we met him, i learned that i was incorrect.. we jumped into his car and drove for another three hours to a tiny little town somewhere to the east, near santa bárbara.. we had finally arrived! we met with a group of about ten pastors from nearby towns and villages.. chino presented his ideas for what this trip would look like, and juancho and i also added our ideas of what it should look like.. about forty five minutes after our arrival, we prayed and finished! lots of driving for a very short little meeting, but a very important little meeting.. we immediately began our return trip right after the meeting..

entering honduras

the caribbean, from honduras..

the church where we met with the pastors

i learned first hand on this trip that the border between honduras and guatemala closes at 6pm.. i learned this because we tried to cross at about 7.30pm and the guards with M16 rifles and black tactical gear did not seem like the types who made exceptions.. luckily, there was a tiny little hostel right on the border that cost 250 lempira for the night (about 13 bucks).. we definitely got what we paid for.. i also learned a new spanish slang word, shuco, which means 'dirty' or 'filthy' haha.. i learned that sometimes frogs can be inside the pipes, and may hop out when you turn the water on.. i learned this just after learning that at some hostels, a pipe coming out of the wall suffices for a shower.. shower heads are altogether unnecessary, arent they?

the hostel i stayed at on the border.. encouraging name, right?

we awoke a shade before sunrise and got back on the road, driving from six in the morning until about one in the afternoon.. i learned on this leg of the journey that noemi had a brother who owned a gas station, and that typical guatemalan breakfast was not too different than their salvadorean neighbors: egg patties, refried beans with sour cream, and slices of bread.. we ate breakfast quickly, then got back on the road.. when we got back into guatemala city, and dropped chino off at his home, and at this point i learned that it was noemi's moms birthday! i got to meet her family and hang out at her house for about an hour, which was a very interesting time.. then i learned that they have taco bell in guatemala! i had not had taco bell since ive been here, so i got a supreme burrito for lunch, and brought back some bean and cheese burritos for the boys.. then it was off to the bus station to complete my journey..

taco bell in guatemala!

some other things i learned on this journey: i really like my team.. i really missed them, and realized that i can take them for granted sometimes.. i missed their community and their jokes, and their english.. it was tough to be on the road with three people who didnt know me and didnt speak much of my language.. i also was learned, or perhaps reminded, of how much i like music.. i had plenty of time in the car to put my headphones in, close my eyes, and listen to music that ive been wanting to listen to for months.. i also was reminded of how much i love my girlfriend.. i thought about ali non stop.. she brought many, many smiles to my face this weekend, just thinking about her and praying for her..

so i learned a lot.. some of it was great to learn, other things i would have been ok to live my whole life without learning.. but i was reminded that life here is a total adventure.. ministry here is a strange new experience every day.. the Lord is a God who loves adventure, and rarely does the exact same thing twice.. He is never changing, but His ways of doing things are always fresh; He makes every day new and exciting for us.. He doesnt have to do things this way, but He loves us and created us with a love and desire for excitement and adventure.. and despite all the moments this weekend of just.. confusion, or apprehension, or exhaustion.. i got to go on a very interesting adventure and experience some really cool things.. thank you to all of you who rpay regularly for my safety, the Lord definitely kept me safe! (and taught me a lot..)