Welcome to Tactic!
Today we arrived in Tactic after a very windy bus ride that baked all of us from the inside out. The intense heart surprised us all, but luckily, we got a wonderful lunch half-way through the ride: Mexican fried chicken, sweet potato French fries, and fruit popsicles, for dessert.
After we arrived in Tactic with our bags, everyone got settled into their rooms. Some discovered the joys of the “Guatemalan” showerhead, complete with a breaker box inside the shower. Along with the electrical set-up, the short, cold, stream of water proved to be just bearable. The boys who were staying in the hotel tried to convince the rest of the team that it was “nice”, but all of us, who were staying in the hacienda, considered ourselves fortunate. After a hot shower, we went to a church nearby and had a delicious supper. We came back from supper with full stomachs and tired eyes. Everyone settled into their beds around 11:30 in preparation for the first full day of work the following day. Unfortunately, we were only able to sleep until the birds woke up at 4:00 a.m. and chirped like foghorns. In Guatemala, once the birds are up, everyone gets up!
Karlynn
Today we arrived in Tactic after a very windy bus ride that baked all of us from the inside out. The intense heart surprised us all, but luckily, we got a wonderful lunch half-way through the ride: Mexican fried chicken, sweet potato French fries, and fruit popsicles, for dessert.
After we arrived in Tactic with our bags, everyone got settled into their rooms. Some discovered the joys of the “Guatemalan” showerhead, complete with a breaker box inside the shower. Along with the electrical set-up, the short, cold, stream of water proved to be just bearable. The boys who were staying in the hotel tried to convince the rest of the team that it was “nice”, but all of us, who were staying in the hacienda, considered ourselves fortunate. After a hot shower, we went to a church nearby and had a delicious supper. We came back from supper with full stomachs and tired eyes. Everyone settled into their beds around 11:30 in preparation for the first full day of work the following day. Unfortunately, we were only able to sleep until the birds woke up at 4:00 a.m. and chirped like foghorns. In Guatemala, once the birds are up, everyone gets up!
Karlynn
Today we went on a brief tour of Guatemala before we departed for Tactic. We visited a catholic cathedral and the Federal building and learned a myriad of interesting facts about Guatemalan culture, and its most popular religion. It was hard to see the people relying so heavily on the idols in the church rather than relying on God himself. Les told us about how Guatemalan Catholicism is very different than pure Catholicism, because the Guatemalan’s mix many Mayan beliefs with catholic beliefs. The Mayans believed strongly in a “black” God, so in the Catholic Cathedral, there was a statue of a “black” Jesus that people touched in order to gain strength from it.
After our short tour around Guatemala City, it was time to get in the vans and travel to Tactic. Unfortunately, the weather was outrageously hot and the 4 hour drive through the winding mountain roads became a dehydrating expedition that never seemed to end. The weather reached a high of 38 degrees Celsius during our journey to Tactic.
As the journey prolonged, the temperature began to drop and the scenery started to become greener. In between several lush, green mountains, was the small village of Tactic. Sadly, the village itself is not as beautiful as its surroundings. Countless amounts of hungry, hurting people, and old, rundown houses passed by us as we drove to our hotels. Many of us were shocked at the difference in culture and lifestyle.
We had a delicious dinner at one of the schools close by, and following that, we heard testimonies from three of the men working at Impact Ministries. These testimonies were hard to hear, because of the pain that they had to go through in their lives, but they inspired us to show God’s love and make a difference in the lives of the Guatemalan people, as well as our own lives.
Good night!
Phil
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