Guatemala - Day 3

Sunday was a huge day.  We were going to church, lunch and a movie, and the girls from MST were going with us!  They had no idea, though, so it was a big surprise!  We got up and ready and headed back to Guatemala City.  

The church was a HUGE Christian mega church.  It felt a lot like church here in America, except for the size (our church is not a mega church!) and it was all in Spanish!  We each got headphones and listened to the service in English, so that was helpful.  I think my favorite part was the worship.  I recognized most of the songs and it was neat to be able to sing along in Spanish!

After church, we took the girls to lunch at Pizza Hut!  They were thrilled, these girls love pizza!

Yessica, Christi, Maryori and Mayra

While we waited for our food, I got Yessica to play tic-tac-toe with me.  She then showed me and Christi her own version of the game.  It was a special bonding moment and we had a blast!

Lots of hungry girls!

After lunch, we quickly headed to a nearby movie theater, and we saw Smurfs 2!  The girls had really been wanting to go see a movie, as they rarely get to go see one, so it was really fun!  It is actually called Los Pitufos 2 and let me tell you, it is not easy to watch a movie in a language you can't speak!

Me and Leslie

The whole gang

Then we took the long drive back to Chimaltenango from Guatemala City.

Lots of cows :)

Guy selling blankets at the gas station

Did I mention that Guatemala is absolutely beautiful?

I tried not to cringe, but yikes!  What got me the most was the amount of people squeezed onto a motorcycle!  Like the family of 4 that included a baby.  Eek!!

And back to MST we went.  We did a cute craft with the girls.

Me and Erin (and photo bomb by Mindy!)

The whole gang!

Then we headed back to Antigua and ate at a delicious Guatemalan restaurant!

Guatemala - Day 2

Saturday we woke up in beautiful Guatemala City.  After a delicious buffet breakfast at the hotel, we headed off to Antigua.

The view from our hotel room

Breakfast!

Tina, Emily, Abbi, Haley and Timothy.  Let me just say that there was NO lack of fun or laughing on this trip.  My team was amazing!

 Our first stop was Walmart to get food for our breakfasts and a few other items.  It was very similar to our Walmarts here, but also different in its own way.  Right before the front door was this hallway to the right that had a bunch of fast food restaurants.

 And the selection was crazy!  I think I counted 19 different blenders to choose from!

 And a ton of cereal

The Wilkins guys with a 3.3 Liter Pepsi, eek!!

Leanne, Erin and Christi

At the front of the store a lady was selling fresh tamales, yumm!!

 After Walmart we stopped off at a Costco-like store to get rice, beans, corn flour and a powdered drink mix for the ravine families

This is a public bus.  We kept seeing men climbing around/hanging out the doors of the public buses and finally figured out why.  There are 3 men that work on the bus at one time.  One is the driver, one hangs out and lets the driver know if there is someone he needs to stop for, and the third guy gets luggage onto the roof.  All while the bus is driving!

 Guatemala is absolutely beautiful.  Most of the homes we drove passed were tiny, made of whatever the people could use for walls and a roof.

There were guards and police everywhere.  Not quite as scary as Mexico was, but still...

We ate at a Mexican restaurant when we arrived in Antigua.  

Shalkar and Gina had a little trouble getting for their food, but it did finally come.  

We then checked into our hotel/guest home in Antigua.  It is a beautiful place, more pictures to come later of our home for the week. 

Christi and Erin in our room

We had all brought a TON of supplies, both for My Special Treasure and the baby home.  Some were supplies they had requested and some were for the crafts and activities we would be doing with the kids.  We got them all separated and organized and ready to go!

We then headed about 30 minutes Northwest of Antigua to Chimaltenango, where My Special Treasure is.  Mi Especial Tesoro was founded by Cesar and Carol, an amazing couple who love the Lord and have been called to do some amazing works in the lives of the children and families in their community.  There are 16 teen girls (including the two younger sisters of one of the teens) who live at MST right now.  Almost all of them have been removed from their home by the courts due to abuse and/or neglect.  At MST, they have a family, they learn about the God who loves them, and they have a mom and dad who love them dearly.  They get counseling and they go to school, and the oldest ones even have a job as assistant teachers at the ravine school (more on this later).

The welcome that they gave us was amazing.  A hug from every single girl for every member of the team.  It was an emotional moment for all of us.  We had prepared for months to meet these beautiful girls and we were finally able to hug them and see their faces in person. 

We then did introductions - the MST girls in English and us in Spanish!!

Maryori introducing herself.  They were all quite shy and there was a lot of giggling.  :)

Little Miss Karlita, the youngest girl at MST.  She is quite the diva. 

Pablo is the son of Cesar and Carol, and is such a sweet boy.  Can you imagine having 16 sisters, 14 of them teenagers?  Eek!!  He is one tough kid.  :)

Sweet Carol.  She might have the biggest heart of anyone I have ever met.  She is my hero. 

Papa Cesar.  What an amazing, Godly man.

Cesar shared the story of how MST came to be.  Before it was founded, he and Carol worked in another home, and Ingrid was one of the first kids they met.  They requested that she come live with them at MST.

After some time spent with the girls doing a craft, it was time for us to head back to Antigua.  We had to get a group shot before we left.  The first of MANY group shots of these girls.  :)

Guatemala - Day 1

Friday morning our team met at the airport, ready to head off.  We found out that our plane was delayed by over an hour!  We were a bit nervous, because our connection in Houston was going to be quick, but we also knew that God would handle the details. Our seats on the plane were mostly grouped together, so it was kind of fun to get to know each other a little more.

Shalkar, Timothy and Cindy WIlkins

Christi, Abbi and JoLee

Me and Gina

We made it!!

 We made our connection in Houston just fine and really had a quite uneventful trip to Guatemala City.  We were picked up by our Orphan Outreach team leaders and taken to the Barcelo Hotel.  It was pretty late and we were quite hungry, so we had dinner at the hotel restaurant.  This fountain was in the outdoor part where we ate. 

Emily and Abbi

 It was after 11pm when we finished, so we all headed off to our hotel rooms.  My roommates for the trip were Erin and Christi.  We were surprised when we opened the door to our room to find a two story room with a spiral staircase! 

Me and Erin trying out the staircase

There were two beds and a bathroom at the top of the stairs

And a living room and another bathroom downstairs!

Then it was off to bed, because we were heading to Antigua in the morning!