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Published: August 29th 2008
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Just with some of the kids Hey Friends and Fam,
I have had yet again another busy few weeks. Within the last 5 days, both the Male director, Steve and the female director, Sheryl, left for the states to handle personal business. Steve will be gone for a month and a half, and Sheryl will be gone for 2 weeks. In the meantime, i guess i am the man of the house.
In the past week and a half, we have recieved two new babies. The first one to come, a baby girl named Fatima, came to us at around 2.5 months. The other one, a baby boy named Esteban, came to us at 7 days. I have never experienced this before, but it's hard to describe the feeling you get when you experience such a new human life. It's weird to think that for at least the immediate six months, i get to in a sense be the dominant male figure, a dad i guess, to these kids. Most of the other children come here with a history and past experiences of someone else in their life, and i get to be the guy to show them the love a dad is supposed to
Quiche
That guy who i translated for. From the last blog. show. But it's different with Esteban and Fatima.
And just yesterday, one of my co-workers who lives in house, went into labor. Another experience i have never had. Since the day i have arrived, the has been a big help to me, because she is the only other worker who knows english. And the entire time we have been anticipating the birth of her first child. Now the time has come, and today we are waiting to go and pick her up from the hospital, and i have been asked to be the one to hold the baby in the car on the way home. Apparently she is supposed to do it, dad isn't around, and our driver can't for obvious reasons. Even though it is such a small task, i take a lot of honor out of it.
Two weekends ago, we layed the cement for our basketball court (photos will go up hopefully next blog). It was cool to see an idea that i came up with, come to life. We were able to do it through donations that a group from Canada gave us while they came down, so that they could do something just
Lake Attitlan
The lake we visited for the groups day off like this. It was a youth group and they got the connection to come here through the group leader's father, who has lived here for the past 15-20 years. Bob is one of the coolest guys i have ever met, believe he is in his late seventies, and he was working harder than most, if not all of the teenagers that were here from Canada. It was a long day. I started the physical labor at 8am and I was the the last to leave at 7pm at night, after having to smooth out the soon to be dry concrete. But right before the group took off that evening, probably around 5:30-6pm, Bob and i got to talking while i was smoothing out the cement. I asked him about what he does in Guatemala, and he said his main project right now is to install solar energy panels for the impoverished people. After watching me, a 6'5" guy on my hands and knees atop a little 1'x2" board working, he called me a "Jack of all trades". He then invited me to come out to where he lives and learn the trade for a weekend or so. I told him
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Walking up to the guy's house in Quiche i definately wanted to, but just have to wait until mid-october at least, when Steve gets back.
My main objective while i am here is to obviously love and care for the children. But after that I am trying to learn as many different trades and education that i can, just for my own personaly knowledge down the road. Just being here alone i have to learn a new language, culture, childcare, etc.. But i am also trying to go outside the box and learn everything available.
When i told people that i would be taking a semester of school off to do this, many thought it was a bad idea. They said once people stop school, they hardly ever manage to go back. I however think i am opposite of that. Being here i am really learning the value of an education. I am not just talking about the education you get in a classroom, but the education you can get from life, as long as you are willing to learn. In the past five weeks i have read more books than i have in the past 5 years of my life. I am trying to bounce
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Walking the streets of Lake Attitlan around from as many different subjects and genres as i can to expand my knowledge to it's full potential. If you know me this may come as a shock to you, but i am really enjoying reading very much. I didn't start this idea however out of the want to learn, but more because i had nothing better to do. Rather read books, or go to bed at 6 o'clock at night.
The past few weeks were very tough on me mentally, because when you take yourself out of your comfort zone and experience brand new things and have so many different experiences, it is tough to not be able to share those moments with anyone, or even tell them about it later that day. Yes i am able to have conversations with my co-workers and other people in spanish, but the is a fine line between being able to have conversations and being able to tell about our experiences and stories. You cant explain things like feelings or mindset you had at the time.
Through this feeling of being "alone" at times (which is weird to say when i live in a house with 60+ other humans) does however teach you a lot about yourself.
I am feeling very grateful for every experience i am having while being here, as well with the knowledge i am obtaining. It valuable life skills that can't be measured, but i believe those are the best kind.
Much Love,
Brennan "Eduardo" Perry
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David Russell
non-member comment
A time of thankfulness and learning
Hey there Eduardo, Sounds like you are certainly having an adventure in this new environment, and I bet that at times it can get lonely. I don't really have any experience to compare to what you are going through but I did spend a summer in Spain between my first and second year in college. I lived with a family and did speak some Spanish, but not really enough to convey what I was feeling. I can totally relate to being with a bunch of people, but not really being able to tell any of them what is on your heart. I am enjoying following your experiences through this blog and hope you find the time every few weeks to post your thoughts. It sure sounds like God is truly blessing you with a number of new experiences that will stay with you for a lifetime as well as becoming a blessing to many other that you will end up touching in your life as you lead it. Take care and God bless, David