Guatemala Part Two

This is a picture of where we were the second day of clinics.  It was a little different because we did not have a building to be in this time.  The people sat all day on these benches underneath a tarp.  Dee and I worked together on vitals.  I was getting pretty good at getting vitals.  The only trouble I had was calling the people's names.  I have no spanish background at all so it was hard for me to not sound completely American when reading the names.  One of the woman there came and stood by me and read the names for me and she was extremely helpful.  Whenever I read the names the ladies in the front row got a big kick out of it.  I felt like I had a pretty good comedy routine down.  :) This is a picture of the woman that helped me out all morning.  She LOVED getting her picture taken.

After we got all the vitals taken we had lunch.  Lunch was provided by the village people that we were helping that day.  It was so sweet of them to feed us.  They prepare a ton of food and comes from there own stock of food.  It was hard to not appreciate and enjoy it but the food was definitely different then what I was used to eating.  I did my best to eat what was set in front of me.  These people are just so gracious and hospitable.  They are truly inspiring.  In a way that makes you wonder what you could truly do without.  So much of what we have is just excess.  It is not necessary for our everyday lives.  They have such a sense of community and caring for one another.  I look for that in my own life and hope that it is there.  We really need to start being there for each other and knowing the needs of our brothers and sisters.

After lunch we had some down time to help clean up around the clinic area.  There was just enormous amounts of trash everywhere. 

This couple was so sweet to me.  It is very unusual to see a man hold a baby.  This man held this baby all day unless the mom was feeding the baby.  Just a very different thing to see while I was down there.  Most babies are carried by their mothers or sisters and are carried on their backs. 

After the clinic was finished seeing patients and the dentists had seen all of their patients it is time to pack up and get on the bus again.  Again, I just LOVED the bus rides.  It was so great to see the country of Guatemala and all of the people.  Some times on the way home we would see the people we were just helping walking home.  How amazing to wait all day for a doctor or dentist and then to walk from miles and miles away to see them.  

These people also carry everything either on their head or on their back.  Just amazing the strength and endurance these people have to get around.  While taking blood pressure and pulses I had noticed some of the pulses were incredibly low.  I can only hope that it is because they are in such good shape.

Speaking of working hard.  Some of the guys that came with us definitely worked hard.  They were helping many of the churches in these villages build church buildings.  They carried big cement cinder blocks around all day.  They also did a lot of painting.  Amazing work and I was so blessed to have been able to witness such servant hearts.  This is Nicholas who carried cement blocks all day.  He also helped do some cement building the first day.  

We headed back to the hotel and after day two I was WIPED.  We got back to the hotel later than the other group and not too much earlier than when dinner started so not a whole lot of down time.  I tried to journal everyday but as the days got so busy the journal got forgotten more and more.  We had chicken that night I believe.  (Fried chicken was a pretty popular meal)  We then went to our nightly devo and meeting.  Brandon talked about Being Inspired.  He talked about how would we continuely be inspired and inspire those around us.  It is so easy to see God when you are out in a situation that has no technology distractions, or family/kid distractions.  It was so easy to focus your mind without anyone there to tell you different.  One thing he said that got to me was 'It is time for us to get out of HIS way'.  SO TRUE and definitely something I need to focus on in my life.  We focus so much on time and not having enough or always feeling rushed.  I find myself already becoming so impatient with life.  I hope that this is a way that I can continue to inspire myself and those of you around me.