Where to begin?!?

After flying through the night sunday - we arrived sleepy but safely in guatemala city where bill & linda picked us up. a four hour drive took us north through vibrant green landscapes up into the highlands of alta verapaz and into san cristobal - our home till the end of november. we were immediately introduced to Doña Roselia and her family with whom we are living. they are wonderfully warm and welcoming. we have 2 simple rooms - one with a bed and the other has shelves and a chair for a sitting room. we enjoy doña roselia´s cooking each meal -- most of which is traditional guatemalan style - fresh corn tortillas, eggs, black beans, rice, and more. the kellog´s cornflakes for breakfast break that trend however.
So we dove right into working with the mission! Tuesday morning we joined the ASOSAP staff in their usual weekly meeting. With the staff being made up of 6 guatemalans and with us 6 north americans- it´s a mix of english and spanish. this week brad went to one of the villages with Cristobal and they dropped off some materials for water tanks. then brad got pulled to go to the coast with Bill to pick up several stoves that are going to another village - that took a day and a half. In the meanwhile, i, jenn was busy going out to 2 different villages to give what they call charlas. i will be working with the other women on staff to develop curriculum and help present these lessons to the women of the villages. we visit each village twice a month. one lesson will be a Bible lesson and the other is a health education lesson.
the people are Mayan Pokomchi - i have been very impressed with them as a people. they come across as very warm-hearted and friendly. the respond quickly to a greeting with great big smiles and twinkling eyes. i spent an afternoon playing games with about 40 of the children right near the ASOSAP office while their mothers were in a Bible study led by one of the Pokomchi women. the children are precious! - they laughed and enjoy the games and winning treats and were very good at listening and following directions. they also were respectful admist all their fun. they are a real joy!
so we are doing well and have adjusted smoothly! we are heading to one of the farthest village where ASOSAP works for the 15th and will be spending the night. it is guatemala´s independence day and quite a brillant celebration. actually the village, Pompon Grande is the one pictured in the website linked to below (& on the sidebar).