Mama Musings - Week 1

Our first week out of the country has gone really well.  We originally debated having our first stop be a beach as we knew we would be exhausted wrapping up everything in the States trying to leave, and we thought the adjustment of being out of the country (other than Mexico) for many of the kids, might take some time.  Antigua, Guatemala is very touristy and so there is a mix of everything here, yet it is quiet.  Overall it is friendly, we feel safe, and it's been a great first destination.  It has been good to hit the ground running with scheduled days of volunteering and Spanish lessons, but the energy it takes to do these things while still adjusting to so much has left us with little time to establish some basic routines we feel are important.

We are also realizing how each location we visit will be impacted by the details of our accommodations.  This realization will help us with expectations for future stays.  For the most part, we come back to our host location for meals and bedtime.  There is not a common area, which makes it a bit awkward to just be here reading, studying, or hanging out.  As mentioned previously in the blog, meals are prepared for us which is helpful from my perspective as it's been awesome to not have to think about meal preparation this week.  But this also has its pros and cons and we will need to balance food choices with our budget, ability to experience the culture, personal taste, and time.

The kids have done well adjusting.  Only one has had some minor health issues we think might be due to altitude.  Studying Spanish for 4 hours a day is really long, but they've been troopers.  We've walked all over the city every day and they haven't complained once!

Leaving our comfort zone is one of our purposes in this adventure.  Ironically, as we neared leaving the States, all of the time I'd spent in preparing each of us to be comfortable while away from home dawned on me.  I know it is all perspective and living out of a back pack for a year is definitely stretching our comfort zone.  But as a mom, I realized I spend so much time trying to keep my family comfortable, my guests comfortable, and imagining the needs of others so that I'm able to meet them to keep everyone 'comfortable'.  These days we are living abroad cannot be predicted, and really neither can life back home.  It is from being brushed up against, stretched, and challenged that we grow stronger and our only constant comfort is God's many promises in His word.  However, we have:
-had sufficient clothes and medicines when needed.  The temperature here is in the 70's day and night, so we haven't needed cool weather clothes.  I washed everything in the tub the other night, but think it might be a better use of time/drying space to do smaller loads more frequently as it can take days for some things to dry.
- learned the shower is truly cold when you can tell the difference from the shampoo water running down our back verses the spout water (because the shampoo water was heated by our head the few seconds it was in our hair)!
- experienced the importance of having SIM cards as soon as possible when entering a new country, having ID bands on the kids, and having some ability to contact people back home to pray ASAP.
- realized the importance of talking to locals about our in-country travel plans to confirm what we thought would work, actually would.
- been in awe at Dad's Spanish skills and provisions for many details of this first week
- had enough to eat - although it is in much smaller portions, there is less snacking, and includes much less sugar and meat.
- been flexible when our volunteer assignment wasn't something we desired to do that day.
- survived with little personal space and no 'couple time.'
- been humbled when my Spanish teacher was shocked that I didn't have cats on my roof as well as neighbor's animals keeping me up with lots of noise at night when I am trying to sleep at home back in the States.

Highlights from Week 1:
Dad - successful logistics
Mom - good family transition & watching kids serve homeless pizza when they themselves were hungry
Cthe Selfie - serving veggies to the poor, playing with the babies & hiking Picayo
CtheBrave - hiking Picayo volcano
G - climbing Picayo volcano - views & lava rocks
SJ - oranges & snacks on the volcano

What is Missed Most:
Dad - own bed
Mom - our church & prayer community
Cthe Selfie - walking outside to go on the X-star & friends
CtheBrave - bed & friends
G - our church
SJ - bed

With so many tourists in Antigua, it has been difficult to find traditional foods as we walk around and look at restaurants.  However, a highlight snack we had while hiking the Picayo volcano were these oranges with a unique blend of spices.  I've included the recipe below.

Naranjas de Guatemala recipe:
1 Orange
1 Tbsp Pepita (pumpkin seed) powder (grind seeds to a powder but not a paste)
1/2 tsp Sea Salt
1/2 tsp Chile Pepper Powder

(Optional:  If you have a spiral apple corer/peeler, use this to spiral peel an orange.)
Cut an orange in half.
Sprinkle each half with pepita powder, sea salt, and Chile pepper powder to taste.

Use your teeth to scoop the pulp and seasonings out of the orange and enjoy!