Down time? What's that?? ;)

Well, work teams are over, visitors are gone, and life is slowing down, right?  WRONG!  I’m not sure there is such thing as a real “down time” here in Guate, maybe a time that’s a little boring and slow, but not actual down time! 

The one thing you must understand is that everything takes longer in Guate.  Something that you may think will only take an hour or two ends up taking four or five.  Whether it’s traffic (which is a VERY normal occurrence in Guate…), or just a grumpy person, everything is bound to take longer.  That being said, here are a few highlights from the past week+. 

Drivers Licenses- This past Tuesday, my mom, Buddy and I went to get our drivers licenses.  We’ve been driving on our US licenses, but since we have our DPIs (ID cards), we’re supposed to have licenses as well.  So, one of our friends (he’s a Guatemalan with connections) took us down to a license place and we got everything underway.  The first step was to take a “written” test.  Now, the test was a tough one, we had to look at the different traffic signs that they had on a sheet of paper and tell the instructor what they meant.  Hard!  Ok, maybe not…  Next comes the actual drivers test.  We had to drive around a few blocks down in Guate City, not too bad!  Oh, and we also had to parallel park, thankfully the instructor was a lot more forgiving then those in the states usually are!!  We all passed both of those tests, and then we had to have an eye exam.  Thankfully, the eye doctor was right next door, gotta love it! 

We finally got all the preliminary paperwork done, and then we had to go and get our actual licenses, simple, right?  We get to the mall and, before we can even go into the license place, we have to pay for everything.  Ok, that’s not too hard.  Once we get inside the first lady checks our paperwork, groups it together like it should be and sends us to the next person.  He once again checks the papers and sends us to yet another guy!  He (again) checks the papers and sends us to get our fingerprints taken (all 10 fingers…) and fill out paperwork describing what we look like.  Why?  I have absolutely no idea!  Finally we go to one final lady who (yet again) checks our papers and takes the picture for the license.  Once that was all done, we had our licenses in our hands within 5 min!  It was quite the process, yes, but hey, it’s done!!  =) 

Oso is thrilled that I'm all but "Chapina," really.

Guate licenses are cooler!  

 Birthday Party & Small Group-  Yesterday evening, Risa and I went to a birthday party for one of the ladies at our church.  It was fun to just get out and celebrate with people that we have come to love.  There was lots of laughing, carrying on, and weird looks from those around us!!  ;)  Tuesday evening I went with Susan to a bible study/ small group down in the city.  We didn't actually end up studying, but we did talk quite a bit!  Sometimes it takes fellowship time to make you realize how much you actually miss it!!  I’m looking forward to our times together in the future! 

Orphanage Visits-  Of course, we visited a few orphanages and hung out with the kids there, which is always SO much fun!  There is nothing like walking into an orphanage and hearing the kids calling your name (or something similar to it!) and wanting you to go play with them! 

Love these kids!!

So beautiful!

Heartbreaker  :)

:)

How can you not love that face??

In addition to all that other stuff, we had our first, second service at church.  It'll take a little getting used to, but I think it'll be a good move!!  My dad and I have also had our normal day at the clinic.  Abby and my dad have been getting the clinic at Casa Bernabe set up and ready to roll.  I’ve gotten to spend some quality time catching up with and hanging out with a good friend, and we’ve all had lots of family time!  =) 

Risa in her cooking garb...  

Second service!!

Just because he's cute...   :)

What’s planned for the next few weeks?  Good question!  One thing you very quickly learn here in Guate is to go with the flow and just takes life as it comes!  So, I guess that’s just what we’ll do!!  J