Off the map in Guatemala!
Day one......a day of travel (Friday, September 21, 2012)
Wow! And again, I say WOW! What an awesome experience I have had. When I say we were " Off the Map", I mean we were OFF THE MAP! The drive to Cobãn was amazing. We were up, up, up the mountain and then down, down, down the mountain. Then we would start up again and down again. In many places the road did not exist due to rock and mud slides. We traveled over rough, packed rocks and gravel from the slides themselves. Much of the time, we were only able to travel at 15 kilometers per hour and at times I felt that was too fast!
Would you believe we were charged 25Q to have the priviledge of traveling on this rock slide? Well we were!
There were 5 of us from HTI. Sheri, our driver and a full-time nurse working in the Chichicastengao area for the last 6 years; Gaspar, a trained healthcare provider who is from Xepocol, Guatemala and has been working with HTI for about 7 years; Josefina, a physician from Santa Cruz, Guatemala who worked with HTI for 4 years and now does private work; Sandra, a dentist who has been with HTI for 9 months; and myself. I have worked with all of them except Sandra before on many occasion when traveling with Memorial Church of Christ for short-term medical missions.
The view from the road was absolutely amazing of the mountains and the valleys. It was "rain forest-like" in many places with dense trees and ground growth. In other places you would see "golf-course like" greens and then in other places there would be many different crops growing. The villages were far-between.
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The clothing went from the "US-like" dress of jeans and t-shirts mixed with traditional straight, wrapped skirts for the women to no jeans and full, pleated skirts for women. I really liked the full, pleated skirts of many colors. They had threads with a metallic sheen woven into them making them shine. Due to all the colors in the skirt, you can wear any color top and it will bring out that color in the skirt. They were beautiful.
Once we arrived at Cobãn, we met up with an American, Jeff and his family, who have been working in this area for 10 years. Jeff lead up to our finally destination which was a "short" distance to the north. "Short" was a 45 minute drive on another "two-track", rough road. We started our day leaving Chichi at 9:30 and arriving at our final resting place for the weekend at around 6:30 pm. This concluded our "four-hour" drive!
WOW......I truly enjoyed my "Off the Map" excursion!
Many have asked me if I am every afraid when I go on trips to new places in other countries. I often explain with the following:
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,
Anywhere with Jesus, I am not alone,
Other friends may fail me, he is still my own,
Tho' His hand may lead me over drearest ways
Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise.
Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep,
When the darkest shodows 'round me creep,
Knowing I shall awaken nevermore to roam,
Anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Anywhere he leads me in this world below,
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade,
Anywhere without Jesus I am not afraid.
And He has Blessed me every time!!!!
Wow! And again, I say WOW! What an awesome experience I have had. When I say we were " Off the Map", I mean we were OFF THE MAP! The drive to Cobãn was amazing. We were up, up, up the mountain and then down, down, down the mountain. Then we would start up again and down again. In many places the road did not exist due to rock and mud slides. We traveled over rough, packed rocks and gravel from the slides themselves. Much of the time, we were only able to travel at 15 kilometers per hour and at times I felt that was too fast!
Would you believe we were charged 25Q to have the priviledge of traveling on this rock slide? Well we were!
There were 5 of us from HTI. Sheri, our driver and a full-time nurse working in the Chichicastengao area for the last 6 years; Gaspar, a trained healthcare provider who is from Xepocol, Guatemala and has been working with HTI for about 7 years; Josefina, a physician from Santa Cruz, Guatemala who worked with HTI for 4 years and now does private work; Sandra, a dentist who has been with HTI for 9 months; and myself. I have worked with all of them except Sandra before on many occasion when traveling with Memorial Church of Christ for short-term medical missions.
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| The young girl in the orange shirt and black sweater located between Sheri and I, is Sonia. She is not from HTI, but was my interpreter for the weekend. She had to speak 3 languages in order to assist me. She was a BIG help to me. |
The view from the road was absolutely amazing of the mountains and the valleys. It was "rain forest-like" in many places with dense trees and ground growth. In other places you would see "golf-course like" greens and then in other places there would be many different crops growing. The villages were far-between.
The clothing went from the "US-like" dress of jeans and t-shirts mixed with traditional straight, wrapped skirts for the women to no jeans and full, pleated skirts for women. I really liked the full, pleated skirts of many colors. They had threads with a metallic sheen woven into them making them shine. Due to all the colors in the skirt, you can wear any color top and it will bring out that color in the skirt. They were beautiful.
 |
| Notice the young lady here in Chichi wearing jeans.... |
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| Notice the lady in front of the tuk-tuk wearing the traditional skirt I am used to. By the way, the tuk-tuk is the 3 wheeled auto used for a taxi. |
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| Notice these ladies have on the full colorful skirts. Also this area has many houses built out of wood planks! This is the first time I have seen wood houses in Guatemala. Most are concrete or mud bricks. |
Once we arrived at Cobãn, we met up with an American, Jeff and his family, who have been working in this area for 10 years. Jeff lead up to our finally destination which was a "short" distance to the north. "Short" was a 45 minute drive on another "two-track", rough road. We started our day leaving Chichi at 9:30 and arriving at our final resting place for the weekend at around 6:30 pm. This concluded our "four-hour" drive!
WOW......I truly enjoyed my "Off the Map" excursion!
Many have asked me if I am every afraid when I go on trips to new places in other countries. I often explain with the following:
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go,
Anywhere with Jesus, I am not alone,
Other friends may fail me, he is still my own,
Tho' His hand may lead me over drearest ways
Anywhere with Jesus is a house of praise.
Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep,
When the darkest shodows 'round me creep,
Knowing I shall awaken nevermore to roam,
Anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home
Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go
Anywhere he leads me in this world below,
Anywhere without Him dearest joys would fade,
Anywhere without Jesus I am not afraid.
And He has Blessed me every time!!!!
Greetings from Wordwise Hymns. I posted an article on this fine hymn this morning, and your post caught my eye. Some amazing pictures! God bless you and keep you safe.
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