I can't believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged anything. Where has the time gone? Oh...it's gone to maintenance at the mission house, to Spanish lessons (I'm teaching English to the pastor's family in return), to trying to navigate the crazy streets of Guatemala City...
We do have some progress on our visas, that is if we can find someone to take our fingerprints down here. You see, in order to get a resident visa, you have to have a "certified" background check from your residence in the US. That's all well and good, but the Idaho State Police won't do that without fingerprints. So...once we find out where we can do the fingerprints, we'll do them, and get them sent back to the States with a team. Mailing from here isn't an option unless you FedEx, and that's really expensive. Then we have to order "certified" copies of our birth certificates and our marriage license. All of that must be sent to the Guatemalan consulate in San Francisco. They will "certify" that all the documents are real, and then send the documents to the Guatemalan Consulate here. Then, we fill out an application, prove our income (it has to be $1,000 a month) and turn that in too. Oh...did I mention that it is almost impossible to do this without a lawyer being involved? So...there goes a huge chunk of money.
We finally have helmets, vests and insurance. Now we can ride the bike (if you can find a time when it isn't raining!) to places close around here. Guatemala City traffic is terrifying. Not only is the traffic moving quickly, no one uses signals, and it's usually bumper to bumper. The riders don't follow many rules here...if the same moves were tried in the States, they'd be run over or locked up. They split lanes (ride between two cars), ride on both shoulders, weave in and out between cars, and generally do what the heck they want to. The bikes usually are 125's or 200's...the KLR650 that the mission has for us to ride is huge compared to the bikes here. You wouldn't believe what they pack on those bikes either, and ride down the highway! I've seen everything from a 40 gal propane tank to chickens in a crate, to eggs (yes, eggs) to 4 people on one bike. Oh...and this man, to get through traffic, was riding on the sidewalk when he couldn't get past the cars. From front to back on the bike were a 4-5 year old girl, Dad, a 2-3 year old girl, and Mom. All on a 125. Dad did have a helmet on...but no one else did.
The law says that in the city, there should be no more than one person on a bike. This keeps (supposedly) bandits from riding up beside you, the passenger jumping off and holding you up while the rider keeps going. The law also says that in reflective tape, stickers, embroidery, you must have your license plate number on your helmet and your vest. So, we had to do that too. No, we didn't put stickers on our leather. They sell little nylon vests especially for this.
If the rain would stop, we'd go down to the market. I'm learning all the names of things in the store. Then I come home and cook them. Of course, Bill gets to be my guinea pig. :)
Please pray about our financial support. Without it, we don't stay on the field. Thank you to those of you who do support us. We are currently driving the mission house truck (96 Chevy) and gas mileage isn't great. Gas is between $4.50 and $4.75 a gallon here. We're approximately 35km from the city, and about 20km from San Cristobal, the town where we do a lot of our things.
Here's a map of what we drive...nothing like mountain roads... :)
Isn't that just a lovely road? Now, add in all sorts of traffic, the rain, etc...
I'm not complaining. We love it here. We're settled in, and we're learning new things every day. We pray that the Lord provides us with opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus with all whom we meet.
God Bless Y'all!
Lisa
