Week 7: Final week in Guatemala

Right now I'm spending my last couple hours in this country in the Guatemala City airport with the Glicks and the other interns. We leave at 8:40am (Guatemala time--we're 2 hours behind EDT) to fly to Dallas, TX for a few days of debriefing with all the Camino Global interns. It's so weird that we're leaving already. Didn't I just get here? This last week in Guatemala was surreal and bittersweet at the same time. Here's what my week looked like.

Last Saturday a new church team arrived at the Oasis. That evening we had a cookout with the team and all the girls, and some team members and some of the Oasis girls shared their testimonies. I got to interpret for some of them! Then on Sunday we went with the team to Antigua for church in the morning and sight-seeing/shopping in the afternoon. The team went to the bilingual church that I visited with a different team a few weeks ago, but this time Renae took me to a tiny Presbyterian church in Antigua that she had attended while she was in language school. We met up with everyone else after the service.

Goofing off with the girls before worship, testimonies and dinner on Saturday

Interpreting the team members' testimonies!

Cookout/barbecue dinner with the girls and the team

This week in the office I finished translating a large stack of the girls' personal letters to their sponsors. I also had library duty in the afternoons again this week. One morning Debora (a missionary here) drove Erica and me to Casa Ester (the transition home where the Oasis girls can apply to live after turning 18) so we could see it before we left. The team that was visiting this week was doing construction work, building new apartments on the property so we can house more girls there.

Construction work at Casa Ester

On Tuesday night I skyped my family because it was my Dad's birthday and because my family decided to go on vacation this week without me. :-( haha. Then on Thursday afternoon I skyped Elizabeth because some of the girls had been asking about when they would get to talk to her again.

Family Skype date on Tuesday. I love them :-)

Some girls and I skyped with Elizabeth on Thursday! Liz took this picture on her computer.

Dad dropped in on our Skype date to steal Liz away for dinner

To make the most of our last week, Erica, Renae and I had two spontaneous movie nights (Lauren had left on Monday morning), and we also made one last trip to the Helados (ice cream) shop with some of the missionaries. On Thursday evening Erica and I went around to each house to say goodbye to all of the girls, and then we had to pack up all our stuff. Friday around lunchtime Mike and Sandi came and picked us up. They arrived shortly after the girls got back from school. We weren't sure how the timing was going to work out with that, so that's why we said our goodbyes on Thursday night instead of waiting until Friday. But since the girls were back, we said some final goodbyes and then left. It wasn't too emotional for me because I didn't feel like I was actually leaving for good. I don't think it will really hit me until I'm back in the States. I love the girls so much and I made new friends with the missionaries, so I know I'm going to miss them. But hopefully this won't be the last time I visit the Oasis.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Farewell to Casa Azul (Blue House)

Farewell to Casa Roja (Red House)

Farewell to Casa Naranja (Orange House)

Farewell to Casa Lila (Purple House)

Farewell to Casa Dorada (Yellow House)

Farewell to Renae! She's been a wonderful roommate for the past 7 weeks.

I'm going to miss the precious Oasis girls.

Friday and Saturday we stayed at a guest house in Mixco (near Guatemala City) with the other Camino interns who served in different areas of Guatemala this summer. On Friday night Mike and Sandi took all the Guatemala interns to Kairos House, a place in Guatemala City for families whose children have cancer, where they can stay close to the hospital since they have to go there for frequent treatments. Mike and Sandi have been very involved with this ministry for a while. When we got there a church team was wrapping up their time there, singing songs with the families and sharing about what God had been teaching them this week. Turns out the team was from LCBC, a church in Lancaster County! It truly is a small world. :-) After the team left Mike showed us around and then we played out back with three precious kids who are staying there.

The LCBC team & some families staying at Kairos House

Rob, Erica, Daniel, Ofi, Julio, Katelyn, Lauren and Carys

On Saturday we spent the first half of the day in Antigua buying some final gifts and souvenirs at the artisan market. I bartered for the first time (!!) and was able to get a good deal on some gifts for my family, and I even had enough leftover Quetzales (the Guatemalan currency) to buy a special gift/souvenir for myself that I didn't think I would be able to afford. We spent the latter half of Saturday at the guest house packing up and getting ready for our flight this morning. Today we woke up at 3:45am and left for the airport around 4:15am. In a couple hours we'll be en route to the United States!

Adiós Guatemala, it's been real.

Camino Global's EMERGE 2013 Guatemala interns!
Rob, Carys, Erica, Lauren, me, Katelyn

Please pray for:

• Save travels as we fly to Dallas this morning and then home on Wednesday morning.
• A helpful time of debriefing and processing everything we've experienced this summer.
• Grace as we adjust back to American culture.
• Wisdom to know how to respond/react to the things we learned and experienced.

Click HERE to see more photos from the week!