¡Feliz Día de la Independencia!

It has been an exciting couple of weeks.  Here is a brief summary with pictures to show the highlights.

Today is September 16.  Yesterday, September 15, marked Guatemalan Independence Day.  In honor of that, today is a much appreciated day off from school for IAS students and staff.

 Seen below, the Guatemalan flag commemorates the date on which Guatemala declared independence from Spain.  The national bird, the Resplendent Quetzal, is also featured along with the coat of arms.  The Quetzal is also the national currency.

This past weekend was marked by abundant celebration throughout the city and country.  Guatemalan Independence Day is very much like U.S. Independence Day.  Guatemala declared its independence from Spain 192 years ago and celebrates it much like we do.  There are concerts, street festivals, hot air balloons, street vendors serving traditional Guatemalan foods, and of course, lots of fireworks!

In celebration of the holiday, Xela hosts a fair on the edge of the city.  Again, it is very similar to any fair in the U.S.  There are abundant vendors and silly games, tons of tasty treats, and a number of second hand carnival-style rides.  The rides always give a slight semblance of precariousness (as is the case at many fairs).  Last year, I accompanied a few teachers and we were able to take in the festivities (although we avoided the fair food as it is notoriously dangerous for us gringos).  

Here is an excellent shot of the fair taken from the Ferris Wheel.  

Not only did Xela host the fair in celebration of independence, IAS held its own Independence Fair last Wednesday.  Put on by the student council, the fair featured lots of games and food treats.  Also, as the students met fund-raising plateaus, they had to opportunity to hit teachers with a pie in the face.  I was not one of the daring teachers who received a pie in the face.  I did however partake in the pie eating contest and lost to a 6th grader.

Mr. Broekhuis is defeated in the pie eating contest.

Miss Mashburn (high school science) receives a pie in the face courtesy of Student Council Vice President Rodolfo Juarez.

A week and a half ago there was an earthquake!  It was Friday evening and I was watching the Yankees lose to the Red Sox (a sadly common event the last two weeks).  All of a sudden, the whole building started shaking.  I found cover and prayerfully waited it out.  Needless to say it was a scary experience.  There were some aftershocks in the days that followed but life has return to normal since.  Some earthquakes are to be expected in this area but they are always surprising and never cease be nerve-wracking.  I am thankful for a steady home and a steadier God in these unsteady events.

While I escaped the earthquake unscathed, these ceramic swans were not so lucky.  They were a gift from my dear friend Luke Moran and will be missed.

A couple of weeks ago we had some very strong rain in the afternoon that cleared up by sunset.  It was a confusing day with a very beautiful finish.  

The building to the left in this photo is a small mall that contains the supermarket I do my grocery shopping at.  It is not uncommon for the street to be underwater during/after strong rain storms.  

This picture was taken approximately 2 hours after the picture above.  While the clouds often brings great amounts of rain, they also tend to bring dazzling evening skies and sunsets.  

September is past the half-way point and we are already down to less than three months left in the semester. Classes are going great and God is doing great things at IAS.  This week students in my Pop Gospel elective will be giving presentations on the gospel story.  I am very excited to see them.  Please pray that God would be working through this class to reveal himself to the students in exciting and powerful ways through His gospel.  Thank you always for your prayers.  God bless.

Un Nuevo Mes y Un Nuevo Hogar

We are now three weeks into the school year.  Things are going wonderfully.  It has been easy to get back into a routine and it is hard to believe I have been back in Guatemala for an entire month already.  Time goes quickly.  Classes are going great and I am loving being back teaching.  The students are doing great so far and many will be taking their first unit tests this week.

Last time I posted I mentioned that I am teaching an elective on the gospel in pop culture.  This class has been an interesting and fun experience for me so far.  On the first day of class students answered the question "What is the gospel?"  It was interesting to see the students' responses and get a sense of what comes to mind when we think of the word gospel.  This year I really want to focus on what the gospel means and focus on sharing that with the students at our school.  I feel like it is extremely crucial for this to be the focus at our school and in our lives as Christians.  This is one of the main focuses of the Pop Gospel elective.  Two weeks ago we watched The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and discussed the parallels of Lewis' story and the gospel/Bible.  Students had some good insights and noted creative parallels.  This past week we started a unit on just what the gospel actually is.  We are reading Trevin Wax's Counterfeit Gospels for some guidance.  After we spend time really cementing what the gospel actually is, we'll spend time examining how we as Christians can encounter the gospel in the world around us and how we can be smarter and more responsible consumers of culture.  Another book that I am reading to help think about and plan the course is Gray Matters by Brett McCracken.  My hope for the course is that the students would leave with a firm and clear understanding of just what the good news is and to be more mature consumers.

Life in Xela: 

While I spend many nights at home reading or watching the Yankees/Friends/The Office, sometimes its nice to get out and have fun.  I was especially excited last night to be able to go watch a basketball game.  Collin Broekhuis, a good friend of mine here in Xela and the P.E. teacher at I.A.S., plays for the Xela team and they had a game in town last night.  It was awesome to get to see him and watch some basketball. Unfortunately, Xela lost in a heart-breaker after playing to a tie in the first three quarters.  

Xela is in white and Barberona is in green.  Collin is not pictured in this photo.

Housing Update:

Yesterday, I moved into my new apartment.  I spent the month of August living in a boarding house with an undetermined number of roommates.  There were four rooms in my apartment but I didn't spend too much time there and I was never quite sure how many other people I was living with.  For the last week and a half I thought I was living alone but there were sporadic signs of other inhabitants.  One morning about 9 days ago, a woman with her arm in a brace came in at 6 a.m. and took a shower.  I left for work while she was in the bathroom and never saw her again.  I still don't know who she was or why she was using the shower.  Another more pleasing experience happened this past Tuesday.  When I returned home from work in the afternoon, the bathroom had been cleaned and the garbage taken out!  This was less of a mystery as I presume the building hires a maid service.  It was a delightful surprise nonetheless.  

Yesterday, I moved into my new apartment.  It is very exciting to be in a new apartment and to know that I am the only person living there and there won't be any strangers coming in to use the shower.  My new apartment is in a 4-story building that also houses a Spanish school on the first floor.  I lived in this building last year and really liked my experience.  I like the new apartment that I am in now and am thankful for God's provision which allows me to afford such a cool place.  Here are some pictures of the new place!

My Bedroom

A panorama of the whole apartment.

The kitchen

The breakfast nook

The living room

The bathroom

My front balcony

Xela from the balcony

Prayer:

This week I am delivering chapel for the high school students.  Chapel is always an interesting added stress. It is such an incredible blessing to be able to spend a 45 minute period focused on God, who He is, and how we can better live for him.  But it is also time consuming and challenging to prepare for.  Pray that God would give me some inspiration and help me in preparation and delivery for this Wednesday and that it would be a time during which the students are open and eager to learn about Him.  

Thanks for reading.  God bless.