Well...

All of a sudden I feel very philosphical and deep. I have had to learn so much about relationships while I have been down here. And friendship suddenly makes so much since. I always used time as an excuse to not get close and not enter into a relationship, but that is just ignorance. I mean yeah time is a factor but it is stupid to not open up to someone simply because you only have a certain amount of time with them. I realized here how incredibly esscential friendship is. Without friendship we drift through life not expriencing the joy of having someone that knows everything about you yet still excepts you and loves you like a brother or sister in Christ. yeah i know that this is one of the purposes of a spouse, yet for those of us who are single for whatever reason friendship fills that void. That is the one thing that I have missed most about being down here; the utter lack of someone to talk to, someone to be my friend. Yeah I made friends in the house, yet they are a differnt type of friend. Right now as I type this I miss my friends so much. And the most simple things will trigger homesickness. For instance i was listening to a song last night and it made me want to be singing it in my car with David like we did so many times last summer. Or there is just looking at the LA trip pictures and wishing I could of gone. This homesickness and nostalgia is not a sign of weakness or a sign that satan is trying to attack me, it is a sign that I am human, that I miss something that I took for granted. So I guess i am saying go for that friendship, the time you share with that friend will teach you so much and you will grow so much, wither that friendship last a week, a month, a year you will grow, you will change, you will be scared, hopefully all in a good way. Trust me I know, I have learned that.

Well now on to some more news, I will try not to go off on a tangent.

On Saturday I had lunch with my friend Dana. I shared with him my story from before becoming a Christian to now. It was a powerfully spritual experience, it always is when I share my testimony. And then on Sunday we sayed our goodbyes. On sunday he left for a two week outreach trip to a town completley wiped out in December. So by the time he gets back I will be in Zacapa. But we definently felt that it is in Gods plan for both of us to see eachother again and work together somehow for the kingdom of God.

On Sunday I had my first substantial portion of beef, it was a double quarter pounder with cheese for McDonalds. And for those few moment (second) I was devoring that burger I was in heaven. Also I found out I have lost 10lbs since I have been down here. So that is good because I could definently loose a lot more weight.

I guess sunday was just a sad day in general. I had to say goodbye to Dana and two of the guys that live in our house. I thought that saying goodbye to people back home was hard... But when i say goodbye to these people there is a very good chance that i will NEVER see them again. And true thier is not nearly as much emotional attachment to these people as there is to my friend and family back home, but there still is that bond. It is wierd after spending a month everyday, eating all of our meals together that they aren´t there anymore, yet life goes on, it has too.

On Tuesday I got to go and visit my compassion child. His name is Brayan. We spent the day at the zoo. He is so smart, and so full of questions. My translator told me that she was only going to translate if i could absolutely not get it. So most of the time she would translate the question and I would answer in Spanish. It was so fullfilling to get to vist brayan. Now when I write that check every month to support him I know for a fact that it goes to a person, not a picture. it made my sponsorship real.

Wensday I took and passed my Grade B test. So i will start a Grade C on Thursday. So I will have a few days of Studying and will get a book that I can study for the rest of the summer.

Well that is all the news I can think of.

In Christ
Justin

Plantanos (plan-TA-nos)

Yes, today was the first day I had plantanos in Guatemala . And for those of you who dont know what that implies here it goes. Plantanos are a banna like fruit they can be cooked two ways, boiled they are simmilar to a patato, or fried they are like a fried banna a little sweeter similar texture. Well most people cant stand the things but personaally I love them. But again that is just me.

I guess I might as well tell you about my diet down here. Probably 75% my diet is carbs. Bread, pasta and Rice. 34% probably fruit and vegetables and 1% meat. That is really hard only getting a little meat. Since I LOVE MEAT it is really hard. Right now I am craving a really big thick burger with a lot of cheese and some chocolate. Maybe this weekend I will go get a burger somewhere. The food is really good, the only thing that I havent liked is Pacaya wich is a really bitter vegtable. But i have liked everything else.

School is going really well. I am taking 6 hours right now. I go from 8-12, then 2-4 with a 30 minute break at 10. It is so hard. Most of the days when i get done I jsut want to ram my head into a brick wall. My brain is slowly turning to mush. Dont get me wrong I love it and I am learning a lot. I can just physicially feel my brain ache from so much knowledge. I mean I have the same amount of time as people in high school, but i am just learning spanish. But I love it and wish I coudl do it for another month.

Well I need to be going, Love you all, Miss you all.
Until We see eachother again, pray for me and the people of Guatemala
Your Brother in Christ
Justin

Field trips, bootleg movie theater, goodbyes

New Pictures in my Photo Album
http://photobucket.com/albums/f172/thinkingman14/

Well it has been an exciting, sad, and funny past few days.

Ill start with friday. On friday I went on two fieldtrips with my teacher. The first one was to Jocatenango (hoe-k-te-nan-go) which is a town to the north of Antigua. We road in a chicken bus there and back. A chicken bus is an old school bus that takes people all over the country. Most of the seats are three people accross. It is quite an expierence to ride on one. At Jocatenango we saw an ornately made Alfombra which is a ceremonial carpet usually made from colored saw dust. This church also had the scene from John 21 with the miraculous catch of fish. It was quite the sight to see.
Then we went back to the school and watched a student and his teacher make a small alfombra on top of a table. I helped them make it for a while. Then my teacher and hiked up to La crus. La crus is a giant stone cross that overlooks the city. It is about a 30 minute walk up steps built into the hillside. But it is well worth the trek. We were so blessed to have e crystal clear day. We could see most of the town. It was amazing.

Friday night I went to go see a movie. We thought we would be goin to see Kingdom of Heaven in a proper movie theater. Nope. It ended up to be a small room with no airconditioning or ventalation and the seats were musty couches. And to top it all of the movie was a boot legged copy! In fact during the movie a banner came accross the TV that said This copy of this movie is for award consideration only, not for sale or public viewing I am not joking about this. So the entire room started busting up laughing. Then about 3/4 of the way through the movie the tape messes up so we ended up leaving. But it was an experience none the less.

Friday was a day of goodbyes. The americans that were here to volunteer for a week in Guatemala City left. I didnt know them that well so it wasnt that hard. But Renata and Katie who I had gotten pretty close to left too. That was a little hard but oh well. We will be keeping in touch throught email though.

All is well. Hope all is well there too. I would love to hear from you guys send me and e-mail jt.friel@gmail.com or leave me a comment.

-Justin

Salsa dancing and our funny house(youth hostel)

Well tuesday night I went salsa dancing. Well rather I attempted to go salsa dancing. When I agreed to go I thought it would be a salsa class. But NO it was in a crowded noisy bar with and even more crowded dance floor. But I decided what they hay might as well try and live a little. So I got out there and tried to dance. BIG MISTAKE. I was so bad at it, but it was still a lot of fun laughing at how bad of a dancer I was. So we left after about 10 minutes.
I also passed grade A in spanish class yesterday so I start grade B today. I will finish Grade B by the 24th. But I decided to go ahead and stay in Antigua throught the 31st so that I could finish the next grade. So I get to stay another week in Antigua which is a reward in and of itself.
I have been feeling quite homesick lately. But after talking to David last night I started viewing this place as my home for right now. It has essentially become my home, I am comfortable here, I have a routine and I know whats going on essentially. So by putting my faith in the lord I really have started to get over my homesickness.
Now onto some really funny stuff. I thought it would be a good idea for a sitcom about the house I am staying at. The house is two stories with a total of 7 bedrooms and two baths. So their are a total of 9 students living in 6 bedrroms. The three americans (LD, Nuper, and Jake) are here doing volunteer work in the city. So they are stayin in one room for the week. Marios, Rod, Kallun, and I have our own rooms. So Renata and Katie are saying a room. Our house mom, margarita, even rented out her son Jorge´s room. The house could best be described as a medium security fort. There is a metal door that is triple locked and reinforced at all times. The wall surrounded the house has a broken class top, with two rows of ELECTRIFIED RAZOR WIRE. Yes she installed razor wire with electricity going through it. So to say the least we are very safe. Now beyond Margarita basically running a hotel/studebt hostel she has some very funny people working for her. Isabel is a maid how stand at about 5 feet and jogs everywhere. She is that funniest, happiest little maid and always has a smile on her face. Every mornign she sweeps my room and makes the bed. Usally I just go to the bathroom real quick and she already has it all done. We always know when she is coming down the stairs because she where slip on shoes that bang on the stairs on the way down. So it often sounds like a horse is coming down the stairs. And when she comes into complex, I mean house at the bright hour of 6 she greets all of us who are still most often asleep with a bright cheerful Buenas Dias (good morning). And then there is Amilo the ´´gardner´´ is really creepy. He is missing most of his teeth and just kinda suffles everywhere. He does the oddest things. In the morning he waters all of the garden wiht and obscene amount of water. And then he suffels around cleaning odd things. Yesterday he dusted my door with a paint brush. And Margarita usally uses him to hang up the laundry and run odd errands. So there really never is a dull moment in the house. Like when one of the birds escaped and after we had all ran around trying to catch it Margarita unleashe a torrnent of scream at Amilo for leaving the door open. So it is very exciting to say the least.
More later
-Justin

Volcanoe, Carpets

I was in the internet cafe and just thought I would tell everyone that I got to see a volcanoe erupt last night. Unfourtanetly it was really cloudy towards the top of the volcanoe so all we could see was the river of lava coming down. But still it was an amazing sight to see.

Also yesterday we got to see the people making alfrombas, they are carpets usually made out of colored sawdust, or sand, or flowers. They are ceremonial rugs that the processions of Jesus and the other sacred figures are cared through the streets destroying the rugs. We didn´t get to see the actuall procession, but we did get to see them making the rugs. I wil get pictures up on photobucket as soon as I remeber to bring my camera and transfer cord with me to the internet cafe.
-Justin

Long time no blog

I know it has been forever and a Day since I last blooged (okay its only been 5 days but still...). I have week of Guatemala and language school under my belt. Language school is going so good! I am learning so much. I finished with grade a early Firday afternoonl. I officiallt start grade B next week. I should be close to finishing grade B by the end of my studies. I am becoming more confident in my speaking ability while talking witht he Guatemalans.
I am starting to get a little homesick, but its all okay. I have some great friends now that are living in the same house as me. So it really helps to have someone I can talk to when I go home for the night.
I spent the day yesterday walking around Antigua. We spent a few hours in the market buying stuff. I bought a pair of Puma soccer cleats for 120Q about 20 dollars. I am pretty sure they are conterfiet but hey they were cheap. I also bought a hand woven duffele bag and side bag from these mayan women. I also but some souveniers for some people at the ruins of San Fransisco. They are hand made by mayan women. I found out thought that almost all of the name brand stuff down in the market are conterfiet. So you have to instead of buying just by the name you must buy which ever one is the best quality of conterfiet.
I am not in that much of a blogging mood so I guess I will call it quites. Fill free to write me with any questions you might have. I will also have some pictures up on photobucket soon.
Your Brother in Christ
Justin

1st Day of school, Guatemla Update #2

Hey Everyone,

I started Language School yesterday. It was Intense to the max! I can´t believe that thought it would be a good idea to take 5 hours of intensive spanish lessons in one day. It going to be hard, but it is going to be well worth it. I am loving antigua more and more every day. I have only been here for four days and it already feels like a week. My first weekend went really well I really like my house family and my house mates are really cool. Please pray that Language school will go ok, and that I will not get too frustrated.

I guess now would be a good time to give you guys some of my contact information.

My address is:
Justin Friel
Apartado 21
Zacapa, Zacapa Guatemala
Central America

Things that would be nice in a care pacage are candy (I like skittles and peanut M&M´s) and nuts like trail mix and peanuts) It is going to be very expensive to send stuff down here and it will also take probably about a week to get here. The address above is were I will be working once I am down with language school.

My Phone Number is
011-502-5470-3270. You MUST dial all the numbers, you will hear a strange beeping, that is the ring down here. Also you will not be able to call on you cell phones unless you get an international long distance plan. For cingular I know it is $5/month and 25 cents a minute. Otherwise you will need to go buy a phone card and call from a land line. Please only call between 8-12pm and 7:30-10pm I am on the same time zone as central, until dayight savings begins, then I will be a hour behind central.

I will write again soon, maybe around thursday.

Your Brother in Christ
-Justin

Solo Tú Amor me ha sostenido, Gracias Jesús.-Only your love sustains me, Thank You Jesus

Check out my blogs
www.myspace.com/thinkingman14
http://justinfriel.blogspot.com

Blisters, Exploring, PDA

I don´t think that i will ever be able to fit in around here. I went to this huge open air market (mercado) yesterday and I was teh tallest person in there! It is so wierd being the minority. I don´t want to sound bad but being the minority and the one that people look down upoun is wierd. I also think that I will ever be able to get use to the Latin American pace of life. They literally stroll everwhere. Even when I am just walking the streets I still take uge strides and walk so much faster than the people around me. Usaully I quietly say escuse me (con permiso) and walk around them, but still.

Today was a day i spent mainly alone. My host family left early this morning for churhc. On sundays we are not provide food we are on our own. So this morning I went down the street to the tienda (a small store) where there is a fruit vendo and I got some fresh Pineapple (piña) and mango for breakfast. Then I went back to the house and read for a few hours. Then I left at around 1130 (once y media) for lunch. I had lunch at a place called the Rainbow cafe for a really good quesidilla, Lemon Ice tea (te frio), refired beans. Then I spent the next couple of hours just walking around the city. I have a nice big blister to prove it. Tonight for dinner I went to a cafe around the central park near where I go for the internet.

something else that is differnt in the Latin culture is thier affection for eachother and how much they so it. tonight while going through central park every bench was full of a couple making out. things are really differnt. But i am enjoying every minute of it.
More Later
In Christ
-Justin

Ruins, Casa, Antigua

I have been in Guatemala less only and I already love it! I spent the morning and most of the afternoon exploring the city. I toured through a restored 17th century home this morning (check photo bucket soon for pics). This house was amazing. It took them 20+ years to restore it to the condition it once was! The pluming in this house was so effective. On top of the roof the water was collected into cysterns were it was then piped into the house to be used in the kitchen, the bathtub the laundry and to water the garden! The bathtub was heated from the kitchen then pumped into several pipes in the tub. It was +a 17th century jazuzi. The house also had an area for them to keep messenger pidgedons and a beutiful view of the city.

I also spent about an hour exploring the ruins of this old monastary. (pictures on photobucket soon) This place is awash with ruins. In fact there are some jsut down the street from were I live.

My house mom, margarita is a very nice woman! She spent 10 years living in New York City before moving back here. We think that she moved to escape the civilwar/revolution that was taking place. She has two story house with a patio that was a wonderful view of the city. She and her friend are cooking for us and a very good at it. Breakfast consitent of fresh fruit, a toast and of corse coffe. Lunch is usally a bigger meal with meat. And dinner is usally just rice and vegetabels. i have a room by myself. It is very nice. I have a dresser and a armor to hang my clothes in and the goo thing is that is lock so i can keep all of my stuff in it. Currently there are 2 enlgish speaking house mates. Marios is from Germany and Rod is from the UK. Both are going to the same language school as me. Magarita has a son Jorge (George) he is 15 so him and I are getting to be quite good friends. He took me around Antigua this morning and helped me buy a phone and exchange money at the bank.

Right now i am sitting in an Internet cafe by the central park. It caust only $1.50 USD for an hour. So it is going to be very easy to keep in touch since these cafes are every where.

So that is all that I can think of, I will write more later.

Your Brother in Christ

-Justin

Guatemala Update 1

I arrived Safely in Guatemala yesterday around 1. I met my director at the airport and then he took me to Antigua were the spanish school is. I am really glad that I got here on a weekend because that way I can take time to get use to the city. Anitgua is an Amazingly beutiful city. Today i went to a restored casa (house) from the 15th centuiry with some of my house mates. I just got down exploring the ruins of iglesia de san fransisco (the Church of Saint Francis) I am sitting in an internet cafe typing this. The internet caust about USD$1.50 for an hour! So it is going to be really easy to use email to keep all of you up to date. I will more soon

Well I am getting ready to leave for Guatemala. I will be gone for the next 4 months and I am so amazed that it was already come. I equate it to a roller coaster. I have been standing in line for the last 6 months. For that last week I have been inside the train being strapped in now I am getting ready to start clinking up the hill before the first big plunge. I can't wait though. I am going to miss you all so much but I can't wait to see you guys again. Well I better be going. I will try and blog when I get into Guatemla.
-Friel