Ya empieza mi aventura

I have finally arrived in Guatemala!  My dream of working in Latin America has begun... I remember days in the college classroom when sometimes, instead of listening to my professor, my mind would wander off into a land where I would work in agriculture and be forced to speak Spanish all the time.  It is hard to believe those dreams are coming true.  God is good.

My flights went smoothly and I had a nice taxi ride to Semilla, a guest house and Biblical education center operated by the Anabaptist Churches in Central America.  I have been relaxing and taking in the beauty of my immediate area.  Semilla is a beautiful campus.  I love the Latin American architecture that brings the outdoors indoors by including balconies and spacious porticos on every floor.  I have also noticed the abundant birdlife in the area.  There are many of the same birds here as in Pennsylvania, such as the Turkey Vulture (of course), Savannah Sparrow and Mourning Dove.  

Then there are other birds that mirror their Pennsylvanian cousins, 
including the Blue-Gray Tanager and White-winged Dove.

I was happy to get a close look at a White-eared hummingbird that loves the Yellow-Red Clock Vine flowers in the courtyard.  This morning one of these hummingbirds hovered within a foot of me as it collected gnats off of the shrubbery.  Good riddance- I- love hummingbirds!  

I have also been enjoying the people I am learning to know here.  Yesterday afternoon after a nap, I wandered down the stairs into the first floor balcony and found some boys playing ping-pong.  They eagerly invited me to join them.  I did and it was fun, although I had to divide my concentration between watching the ball and processing all the Spanish phrases they rattled-off at me.  A couple times I had to ask Angel, the fastest speaker, to repeat his questions to me more slowly, which he did with a smile and slight roll of his eyes.

Then this afternoon, I was chauffeured to a shopping mall to purchase some necessities before leaving the city.  I enjoyed the trip and the neatness present in much of the city.  Multiple times I saw city workers sweeping the litter off the side walks and the mall had two workers caring for a rose garden.  There are recycling receptacles everywhere.  Though the city is interesting, I am eagerly looking forward to traveling into the countryside and seeing more agriculture.  That trip will begin tomorrow, Lord willing.  I will inform you all how it goes.