Christmas in Guatemala, sort of

Not gonna lie, December was kind of a tough month for me. On December 10 I set off to El Salvador with 6 others for a youth conference through Ebenezer Ministries. Ebenezer isn't exactly a denomination, more like a group of sister churches. The main one is in Guatemala City, but they have churches in Chile, Unites States, and of course Mexico (the church I go to here in Monterrey is an Ebenezer church). The trip down was supposed to take 2 days, but ended up taking 4 because of car trouble. I recorded a video diary of that trip, hopefully I'll figure out how to post that, but here's a few highlights: spending 2 sleepless nights in the van, getting my foot run over because the driver thought I was already in the car, witnessing the tow truck which was helping us break down, not brushing my teeth for about three days, waiting for hours to cross the border.

The four days at the conference were pretty cool. The resort we were staying at was beautiful, right on the beach. By the way, December in El Salvador feels like July in California. I had to really focus to understand the messages, but it wasn't too hard. They're Pentecostal, so worship was a bit different than what I've experienced. However, once I was familiar with most of the songs, it was really fun to dance and jump around!

After the conference five of us stayed in Guatemala City until January 6th for winter vacation. For about half of the time we were staying in Jose Carlos' sisters house, the other half in a lake house a little bit outside of town which is owned by the Apostle (the pastor of the main church).

Sometime during the first few days in Guatemala was when I found out that Ebenezer doesn't celebrate Christmas. I already knew that it wasn't such a big deal to most of the people I know here, but I didn't know that some of those people are against the holiday. So this, coupled with the fact that this was my first Christmas without any family made me a bit homesick. I've always bragged that during the four months that I studied abroad in Spain I was never homesick, so I figured that six months was going to be my next record. Not so much. However, being homesick only once in two months isn't so bad. The funny thing is, during the last week or so in Guatemala I started feeling homesick for Monterrey, especially for my 'hermana' Taly. She had gone with us to the conference but then went back to Mexico.

Another reason that I was having a tough time was because for a month, I was adjusting to life and culture in Mexico; then I had to adjust to life in Guatemala. I think it was a bit too much for me. Also, a month is a long time to live out of a suitcase and have to go along with whatever the group is doing everyday. All that to say, I was beyond ready to be back in Monterrey.

However, despite the challenges, I did enjoy my time in Guatemala and received many blessings. One of which was connecting with the church where Juan Pablo goes (Jose Carlos' brother). They celebrate Christmas and I was able to go to their Christmas Eve service. Also, I meet some American missionaries that work with Orphan Resources there. They invited me to go with them to visit an orphanage on the 24th to pass out Christmas presents. That was probably the biggest blessing I received. To meet the workers, orphans, and watch them as they opened their presents was beautiful. Not to mention being able to hang out with Americans for the first time in almost two months. Even despite the fact that they weren't from California, I mean, no ones' perfect!

Now I'm back in 'mi casa', ready to start work! This weekend we have our general assembly, during which I will be translating for staff coming from Youth for Christ headquarters in Colorado. Next week we start futbol practices again. Despite feeling like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation, I'm super excited to see all my chicos again and get back into routine.