Back to the Real World...

We returned last Friday night after a great time of rest and relaxation with our family in Florida. We traveled to Florida to meet with RMI leadership and began to plan for the future of RMI in Guatemala. After these meetings, we spent just over 2 weeks with our family throughout Florida. It was a great time to just hang out! I think we literally drove all over the entire state. The time flew by and it is hard to adjust back to normal life again.

Here are some of our pictures!

Marissa and her cousin Amanda enjoying the parade at MGM

Marissa with her grandparents

and her cousins at a T-ball game

Marissa and her Titi Julie

just hanging out

Look for the rest of our pictures on our website in the next few days!

Happy Birthday to You!

Happy 32nd Birthday to Enrique!

I just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Birthday to my great husband.

I love you,

Your wife

Starting to Feel like Home

I had an interesting couple of weeks. Chrissie and I have been doing a lot of traveling in Guatemala lately. When we travel it seems that we are always running a lot of errands in the same places. Last week we took a couple of days to enjoy some time with friends who came from South Carolina. As we were walking in the lobby of our hotel, one of the hotel employees said, “Hello, Mr. Coreano.” Many of you may know I am a simple person. You can call me just about anything, but don’t call me late for a meal. Chrissie looks at me and says, “Do you know him?” And I said “He works at the front desk.” I thought to myself we come here way too often (mostly because this hotel is where teams spend their last night). Yesterday, we were walking through the local mall and I spotted a man walking towards us. I recognized him and we exchanged greetings. Chrissie looks at me and says, “Do you know him?” And I said, “Yes he is the manager of the Toyota dealership where we get the RMI trucks serviced.” Then today, I had to go and get the tire for the truck looked at and repaired. I took Marissa with me and the same man from the mall was there. He came over and greeted Marissa and myself. How interesting that Guatemala is starting to feel like my home. And why shouldn’t it as we are no longer strangers, but starting to become locals.

*Enrique

Building Relationships

We just returned to Xela after spending 3 days visiting with three different sister churches in the Comitancillo area. We began preparing one of the churches for their upcoming visit from their Sister Church in November. Then, we spent time following up with the 2 other churches who had already received their sister churches this past summer. It was a great opportunity for us to get to know the hearts and minds of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Overall, we believe the meetings were a huge success as we continue to build relationships here in Guatemala. We are already looking forward to the next time we can make a visit out to each of these unique bodies of believers.

Marissa and her friends in Chipel

Changing cultures

Well, we have been in Guatemala since April 2006. We have encountered many obstacles and as a result we have had to learn a new way of thinking. As we continue to change our thinking, we continue to adjust more and more to the culture here. Luckily for me, I have had the luxury of looking at many of these obstacles differently because of my Hispanic family background. This has helped me adjust much easier to life in Guatemala. All this adjustment has given us a different perspective on just about everything we use to take for granted like electricity, clean water, clean fruits & vegetables, and the list could go on and on. Really, we all have to adjust to different cultures whether you are living in a foreign country or just visiting the other side of town. Good thing that Jesus transcends all cultures!

*Enrique

A Day at the Zoo

Welcome to the La Aurora Zoo

We just returned to Xela after spending a great 3 days in Guatemala City with our good friends from South Carolina. They were in town to visit their daughter as they wait for their adoption to be finalized. One day during our visit we decided to go and check out the Guatemala City Zoo. The zoo was a lot of fun and very cheap (only $2.50 per adult admission)! We had a good time just hanging out and it was the first time that Marissa really got excited to see animals.

I know this won't be our last visit to the zoo!

In With The Old Out with the New

Why do we always find ourselves trying to keep up with the Jones? We always want the latest gadgets or technology. Well, sometimes older traditions and things are far better than we could imagine. Recently, I had the great privilege to take part in an ancient Mayan tradition. I got to visit a chux!

Chrissie & Marissa in the Chux

Let me tell you exactly what a chux is. It is basically a very tiny little mud hut, so tiny that you have to crawl into it. It is set up like a sauna with boards to lay down on. The way it works is that you get naked (don't worry I went in with my swimsuit on) and take in a bunch of freshly picked herbs. Once you get in, it is so dark you can't see your hands in front of your face. There is a pile of rocks with a fire burning beneath it in one corner and two buckets of water. One bucket is warm to throw on the rocks and the other is cold to use later. First, you beat your body with the herbs as you begin to sweat. Then you lay down and relax. Once you are ready to come out, you pour cold water over yourself and exit. It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. I felt refreshed and relaxed all at the same time.

If you ever have the opportunity to visit Guatemala, make sure you find the time to check out the chux!

*Enrique