My Guardian Angel in Guatemala

IMG_0236Last night I had a dream where I was saying goodbye to my grandpa. I gave him the biggest hug, and it felt so real. He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him back, I couldn’t fight the tears… they were streaming down my face just as they did when I woke up this morning and told my husband about my dream. My grandpa said, “Make sure you join the choir with that beautiful voice.” He is my guardian angel watching over me in this new land with my incredible husband. My grandpa died almost one year ago on July 20, 2015. I am so blessed to have had him for 22 years of my life and I will always remember his warm hugs and silly laugh. I miss you more than anything Grandpa! Thanks for reminding me your love for me and others every day; thank you for watching over me always. I love you!

 

There has been a lot going on these past two months. For one, I’ve been adjusting to this new lifestyle in Guatemala. It truly is a different world over here, and you will not fully understand until you live in a different country for some time.

The roads are crazy and whinedy, but they lead you to remarkable views and unknown nooks that I completely fall in love with every day. Coffee (cafecito) is dessert and that’s the best dessert for me (also add in the pan dulce and I’m a happy camper 🙂 ). You don’t need a prescription to get anything at the pharmacy, just drive to any pharmacy, ask for medicine and they will hand it to you over the counter. Pretty interesting. The climate is wonderful, although I do miss the feeling of freezing in an air conditioned building and then walking outside in the 100-degree weather to thaw my body with the Texas heat. (Edwin and I got to experience that once when we spent about 3 hours in Carl’s Jr. speaking with a friend… I was sooooo happy to feel the Guatemalan heat). The people are extremely friendly, and I cannot wait to speak to them once I learn their language! The culture is just different from my own and that difference shows up like every day in our household–you can call me and we can talk about that in person!

Besides adjusting to the culture, I’ve lived some great moments during my first two months of married life. We’ve explored different ecological parks here in Guatemala City and its surrounding towns. The coolest place we’ve visited was in Antigua. It is a restaurant on a mountain called Hobbitenango. It is an exact replica of the house from The Hobbit—it’s so cool with a refreshing hike and beautiful view.

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I lived my first Guatemalan BBQ (Churrasco) which includes carne asada (but not the carne asada like in a taco, but just meat on the grill), corn, rice, beans, platanos, salad, guacamole, salsa, tortillas, cerveza and great friends. MMM SO GOOD!

 

 

IMG_7711I experienced my first procession after a Catholic mass. The processions are a walk around the neighborhood with a sawdust carpet on the ground in our path. It’s pretty amazing praising God with the entire community. We actually live just down the street from one of the churches, so we are able to walk to mass on Sunday mornings or walk to adoration any day of the week.

 

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I met Ale Mendoza!!!!!!! I know like every single one of you will have NO idea who this guy is except for my sister Erica and my best friend Irène. But to fill y’all in, he is a Guatemalan singer with really good music and for those of yall who might remember, he was the singer of the last song at our wedding. Such good music! Yeah I met him and saw him in concert, and I run into his brother on the daily. (I’m just kidding, but I did see his brother at Taco Bell last night, haha!)

Here is the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jWjLIEOqQM

I also met an amazing family. The Quans. Susan is from Texas and Roberto is from Guatemala. They met at Texas A&M in the 80s, fell in love, lived long distance for two years, got married and moved to Guatemala. The story sounds pretty familiar, right? Haha! Yeah it’s pretty cool! They got married and moved here in 1989 and have lived here ever since. They have 4 kids and 2 of them live in Texas now, studying at UT and A&M. It’s such a small world and I am so blessed to have met them. We had lunch one Saturday, and it was really cool listening to their story, and everything Susan told me about her early years in Guatemala are exactly what I am going through! Like I said, I’m so blessed to have met them. Thanks to Susan, Edwin and I are going to a young adult event at a Catholic church tomorrow evening 🙂 Thank you Susan and Roberto! Mucho gusto!

I taught my very first English class, whew! It went so well! I was extremely nervous before hand, but once I got there my nerves calmed and I was able to be myself and teach my English skills to a group of university students. I know that it will definitely be a learning experience in my first semester of teaching. Please keep me in your prayers!

Edwin and I are volunteering for an organization that houses kids ages 8-18 and supports them in their schooling. They are children that are less fortunate whose family doesn’t have the resources to house them or send them to school. The organization is called Esperanza Juvenil—Check in out! (If anyone is interested in volunteering abroad, they are looking for people from the United States to help teach English 🙂 ) Today we had a meeting with the director to start hosting events on Saturdays to enlighten the children and teenagers with the Word of God–sort of like Catechism classes. We are pretty excited to get started with that this coming weekend.

Last week I started taking Spanish classes! (Finally, I know.) I have the class two hours a day from Monday-Friday, so I am hoping my Spanish will improve rapidly. ¡Hola!

IMG_7979I’ve also learned that cooking isn’t that bad… but haven’t realized the same about cleaning… I love being married!

People ask me if I miss Texas. I surprisingly don’t miss Texas, but I do miss my family more than any of them will ever know. Edwin and I cannot wait to give y’all a hug and kiss very soon 🙂 I am always praying and thinking of you all, siempre.

There are still some things to get accustomed to here in Guatemala. Slowly, but surely I will get there. I know my guardian angel will always be looking over me and Edwin—We love you Grandpa! God has blessed me so much and we cannot wait to see where God will take us next. Until next time, I will be hablando en español y disfrutando mi vida! Gracias a Dios 🙂

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My Ita and Grandpa- March 2015
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Erica, me, my mom, grandpa and Sabrina- January 2015 (Dad, Amanda and Uncle Larry in the back 🙂 )

 

18 thoughts on “My Guardian Angel in Guatemala”

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  11. Irène T.

    I love this and miss you so much homeslice!
    Haha you got the accent right 😂, love it.
    Sending my love to you and Edwin ❤

    1. HAHAH!!!!! Yeah unlike the “Professional” Magazine…. haha oh, Edwin and I are in it this time! And they got our story all messed up 🙁 I’ll send you the screen shot lol. Love you my homeslice! We miss you soon much!!!!! See you soon chica :*)

  12. Ingridcrowell

    Hi Darlene! I read you story so far about your happy adventures in Guatamala. Im so Very Happy to know that you & Eddy Are staying ther & living in Guatamala. It’ such a wonderful country Isn’t it? Glad to hear your are doing great & are very Happy together. God has special things planned for you both. If you see my Dad can you tell him “I love him & miss him very much. Thank you. 💕🇺🇸

    1. It is a wonderful and beautiful country! 🙂 Thank you so much Ingrid! We hope to see you soon. I’ll send the message to your dad:) Take care!!! Love you!

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