Juhlin Missionaries to Guatemala
The whole banking scene here is interesting. It may cost us $50 American to process a Canadian cheque in American Funds. So we have no need for an American Funds account from a Canadian Bank. It seems the main way to access money will be through a bank card taking out small amounts over time. Visa will become important for us because we have online banking.
We dressed for work yesterday at the WCVTC, however repairs were needed to our vehicle so we could not make it to the site. Many visitors have been coming at different hours so our hosts are run off their feet. They.ve had to do pickups from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
On Wednesday, we worked at the site, painting and planting. Yesterday I said to Sheila "look at all the bite marks on my arms, I wonder what that is from? Sheila looked at hers and had 2 bites. Well actually, they were not bites . We had potted 4 palm trees the day before and discovered that they have a needle like component around the base of the leaves/branches which did a number on our arms.
One good thing is the dental system here. It's all pay as you go, but it's not as expensive as in Canada. When I had to get a tooth capped in Canada, we had coverage, and still had to pay over $400. Here, when Sheila got her broken tooth capped, the total cost was $385, and some of that will be repaid through our dental plan at head office. AND they take Visa! The dental office and equipment was as modern as anything up north, and the doctor was American trained, so spoke excellent English. We've heard that Guatemalans living in Canada/USA will often get their teeth fixed while home for a visit, because it's so much cheaper.
Today (Friday) we are going to Antigua with the visitors from Canada. We'll check out our language school and pay our deposit and find out where our homestay will be. Then on Sunday, we'll make the move to start school on Monday.
Friday, January 12, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Juhlin Missionaries to Guatemala
On Monday morning I could not sleep so began my devotional and listening to Spanish tapes. Had opportunity to listen to the morning and this is what happen.
6:07 First bird starts singing and it sounds like a shrill hear meeeee hear meeeee hear meeee.
Dogs start Barking
At 6 :12 a noisey volloy of fire crackers lets loose for about 30 seconds. It seems like an eternity. Letting off firecrackers is how they celebrate birthdays down here.
A few more single fire crackers go off.
SOund of big trucks
owe eeee oweeee oweeee
then the pigeons are cooing in the background.
a group of birds show up in the big tree and they sound like a bunch of bamboo sticks being smartly snapped together.
Horns are interspered
eeah eeah ee aa
Well that is my rendition of waking up here.
We looked at vehicles today.
Money movement is a problem. Seems the GOv. burned the old money and the new money has not arrived from canada yet so banking is difficult. For example if we want cash for say 806 canadian dollars (5000Quetsels) We could go to a money exchange write a cheque from an account here in guatemala ( say from a close friend) The go to a bank to get the actual cash. INstead of receiving 5000 Q we might get 2000Q and get this an IOU for the other 3000Q. It's a banking crisis.
Caught myself saying the security systems here are stupid since there is no way anything is secure! Have to watch my thought life on several fronts!
This place is much more dangerous than one thinks and the vigilence required to move around the city is significant. For example before we open the gate we have to peek aroung the corner to see if there are any suspicious characters. Many stories of assults robberies and theft.
We are off now to try and secure a vehicle and set up plans for all the guests arriving for the open ceremonies on Saturday.
I meet Luis my friend who now works for the protected areas program. He will be assisting in the Trees for Global Renewal Program.
Salut
On Monday morning I could not sleep so began my devotional and listening to Spanish tapes. Had opportunity to listen to the morning and this is what happen.
6:07 First bird starts singing and it sounds like a shrill hear meeeee hear meeeee hear meeee.
Dogs start Barking
At 6 :12 a noisey volloy of fire crackers lets loose for about 30 seconds. It seems like an eternity. Letting off firecrackers is how they celebrate birthdays down here.
A few more single fire crackers go off.
SOund of big trucks
owe eeee oweeee oweeee
then the pigeons are cooing in the background.
a group of birds show up in the big tree and they sound like a bunch of bamboo sticks being smartly snapped together.
Horns are interspered
eeah eeah ee aa
Well that is my rendition of waking up here.
We looked at vehicles today.
Money movement is a problem. Seems the GOv. burned the old money and the new money has not arrived from canada yet so banking is difficult. For example if we want cash for say 806 canadian dollars (5000Quetsels) We could go to a money exchange write a cheque from an account here in guatemala ( say from a close friend) The go to a bank to get the actual cash. INstead of receiving 5000 Q we might get 2000Q and get this an IOU for the other 3000Q. It's a banking crisis.
Caught myself saying the security systems here are stupid since there is no way anything is secure! Have to watch my thought life on several fronts!
This place is much more dangerous than one thinks and the vigilence required to move around the city is significant. For example before we open the gate we have to peek aroung the corner to see if there are any suspicious characters. Many stories of assults robberies and theft.
We are off now to try and secure a vehicle and set up plans for all the guests arriving for the open ceremonies on Saturday.
I meet Luis my friend who now works for the protected areas program. He will be assisting in the Trees for Global Renewal Program.
Salut
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Hi
We attended the Union Church today. It is one of two churches that are held in English. Many good points in the sermon , the two I remember are:
When the 3000 people were saved in one day they all stayed in the community and needed jobs and food to get established. What I seemed to surmize was that the selling of all possessions was a result of the need of the moment and therefore should not be accepted as standard practice for all christians everywhere. Good thing eh. Who wants to depart with their stuff!
The second point was an interesting quote which I cannot quote correctly but went someting like this. Eating is fundamental to building good fellowship. If you are with a group of people that never want to eat a meal with you you probably have shallow relations. Well all I can say is this is probably correct but if the Pastor who spoke could read this he would probably cry at my take on the matter. We all hear the words but we ourselves get different messages, some of which are intended and some that are not.
Tonight the little group of PAOC Missionaries here are meeting to have a welcoming party for us so I am looking forward to a new audience for my poetry. ha ha ha ha ha
Have been watching some TV (idiot box) with english words and Spanish sub titles. Might help in learning sentence structure!
Tomorrow Sheila will have to find a Dentist since a tooth fell apart on her while eating dried out ribs at the Dallas airport.
We will also be going to the Canadian Embassy and pick up other needed forms so we can stay for a time.
Vehicle search is still on. If anyone wants to buy our Ford Sable give our son Adam a call for details.
Well time to prepare for fellowship over a meal.
Have a good evening.
Tim
We attended the Union Church today. It is one of two churches that are held in English. Many good points in the sermon , the two I remember are:
When the 3000 people were saved in one day they all stayed in the community and needed jobs and food to get established. What I seemed to surmize was that the selling of all possessions was a result of the need of the moment and therefore should not be accepted as standard practice for all christians everywhere. Good thing eh. Who wants to depart with their stuff!
The second point was an interesting quote which I cannot quote correctly but went someting like this. Eating is fundamental to building good fellowship. If you are with a group of people that never want to eat a meal with you you probably have shallow relations. Well all I can say is this is probably correct but if the Pastor who spoke could read this he would probably cry at my take on the matter. We all hear the words but we ourselves get different messages, some of which are intended and some that are not.
Tonight the little group of PAOC Missionaries here are meeting to have a welcoming party for us so I am looking forward to a new audience for my poetry. ha ha ha ha ha
Have been watching some TV (idiot box) with english words and Spanish sub titles. Might help in learning sentence structure!
Tomorrow Sheila will have to find a Dentist since a tooth fell apart on her while eating dried out ribs at the Dallas airport.
We will also be going to the Canadian Embassy and pick up other needed forms so we can stay for a time.
Vehicle search is still on. If anyone wants to buy our Ford Sable give our son Adam a call for details.
Well time to prepare for fellowship over a meal.
Have a good evening.
Tim
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Good Evening
Just had some corn bread to die for. I always wondered why people like that, now I know. The receipe used is different than Sheila's.
Today we ventured onto the streets with the Ford Expedition a rather large vehicle. Seems big but with all the crazy drivers I like having the mass! I will tell you one thing the motorbike operators are suicidal!
Anyway we headed out with good directions made an early wrong turn and quickly arrived at a sign saying we were leaving Guatemala City. Looking down I realized that the vehicle had 1/8 tank of gas so drove until finding a station , picked up 200 Q of gas 21.66 for regular per gal. then started back for home. We started over found our mistake and arrive at the William Cornelius in a mere 1.5 hours . Not bad for a 20 minute trip!! Boys I think you might like driving here, vehicles have the right of way and everyone looks at you funny if you stop to let them cross. I did this for 3 pedestrians on my right and 8 heavily armed soldiers on my left. Big guns and little people!! You can ride a little on the wild side and it is normal.
The William Cornelius Vocational Training Center will be open for business on Jan. 15. and they will start with 30 students. The place is a buzz of activity in preparation for the big service to be held next Saturday. We will post pictures before heading off to language training.
Saw an old man walking. He had sewn the back end of his pants so many times I was amazed. He picked up some sort of a large bag with a harness and walked off with the load on his back.
Some people are paid by missionaries a wage equivalent to $10 per day, and they work 6 days per week. They are happy??? I ask it as a question because it seems to me that they accept it because it has always been that way. Me a big gringo would like to change the wage so that a better standard of living is available to all however the problem is systemic. If we were to start tomorrow paying someone say the equivalent of $5.50 per hour guess what would happen? Word would get out and that individual's family would be in jeopardy (I am not talking the game) with someone assaulting them or holding them for ransom. Systemic problems such as this do not go away easily and it is my belief must be dealt with by changing the culture one person at a time. It is our hope that we can improve lives and begin the needed changes.
It is surprising that when required to speak spanish I am almost unable to speak what I do know. Like learning the guitar I could for a long time strum the strings on cord but as soon as called upon to do so in public I became a fumbling ninnie. Well I am looking for breakthroughs and am keeping up my language cd learning.
Have a great Sunday and I will try to connect tomorrow night.
Oh I bet your wondering what a Quetzel is worth? 7.75Q = 1 USA dollar. and 1.21 canadian dollars = 1 us dollar(6.61Q=1 Canadian $). Have fun converting the prices.
Tim Juhlin
Just had some corn bread to die for. I always wondered why people like that, now I know. The receipe used is different than Sheila's.
Today we ventured onto the streets with the Ford Expedition a rather large vehicle. Seems big but with all the crazy drivers I like having the mass! I will tell you one thing the motorbike operators are suicidal!
Anyway we headed out with good directions made an early wrong turn and quickly arrived at a sign saying we were leaving Guatemala City. Looking down I realized that the vehicle had 1/8 tank of gas so drove until finding a station , picked up 200 Q of gas 21.66 for regular per gal. then started back for home. We started over found our mistake and arrive at the William Cornelius in a mere 1.5 hours . Not bad for a 20 minute trip!! Boys I think you might like driving here, vehicles have the right of way and everyone looks at you funny if you stop to let them cross. I did this for 3 pedestrians on my right and 8 heavily armed soldiers on my left. Big guns and little people!! You can ride a little on the wild side and it is normal.
The William Cornelius Vocational Training Center will be open for business on Jan. 15. and they will start with 30 students. The place is a buzz of activity in preparation for the big service to be held next Saturday. We will post pictures before heading off to language training.
Saw an old man walking. He had sewn the back end of his pants so many times I was amazed. He picked up some sort of a large bag with a harness and walked off with the load on his back.
Some people are paid by missionaries a wage equivalent to $10 per day, and they work 6 days per week. They are happy??? I ask it as a question because it seems to me that they accept it because it has always been that way. Me a big gringo would like to change the wage so that a better standard of living is available to all however the problem is systemic. If we were to start tomorrow paying someone say the equivalent of $5.50 per hour guess what would happen? Word would get out and that individual's family would be in jeopardy (I am not talking the game) with someone assaulting them or holding them for ransom. Systemic problems such as this do not go away easily and it is my belief must be dealt with by changing the culture one person at a time. It is our hope that we can improve lives and begin the needed changes.
It is surprising that when required to speak spanish I am almost unable to speak what I do know. Like learning the guitar I could for a long time strum the strings on cord but as soon as called upon to do so in public I became a fumbling ninnie. Well I am looking for breakthroughs and am keeping up my language cd learning.
Have a great Sunday and I will try to connect tomorrow night.
Oh I bet your wondering what a Quetzel is worth? 7.75Q = 1 USA dollar. and 1.21 canadian dollars = 1 us dollar(6.61Q=1 Canadian $). Have fun converting the prices.
Tim Juhlin
Friday, January 05, 2007
It is one oclock and we are back from purchase of phones. Both bought for 850Q. Goshinmons just has a couple of phones stolen and apparently they are the most desired theaft item down here. Oh that price also included 100 minutes of time on each phone.
Now shopping for food. We went to a huge store called Hiper Paiz which is now owned by walmart! All the workers have walmart name tags. Things look similiar until you read closer.... oh there is the oat meal quaker man, I recognize that. Wow look at the shrimp at 23.50 Quetsel per libra(pound). Some are huge.
Pert Shampoo 400 ml at 31.45 Q
We are told not to shop for bargins in markets because the chance of being robbed is too great. Check out this store at www.hiperpaiz.com.gt
Next we head over to the cosco of Guatemala called Price Smart. Looks the same again. At the little food center near the check out I see a bucket of 15 pieces of cooked chicken (pollo) for 110 Q. and a hot dog 100% corn de Rio at Q 16.
Here are some other shopping prices:
Colgate 6 pk /100ml tooth paste at 107.95 Q
Salmon 57.95 per kg
Cooked roticery( no time to spell this correctly) chicken just like home 2.25 lbs for 39.95Q
Scott toilet paper 16 rolls 55.45Q
tic tacs for 3.95Q
coca cola 4 -3 liter bottles for 53.45Q
Traffic is something and I am not sure that if I leave here I could find my way back. No left turns!
Once back to our home base I listened to Cary talk to a worker about a pepper plant living up on the roof and I had a sickening feeling that I could not learn the language!!! will just have to continue and see how I do. I was feeling good about what I know to date, but the reality of normal conversation here (i.e. moving 5 times faster than I would like) is shocking.
I am able to blog this because my laptop to working well here on the goshimons wireless system.
Will blog again tonight if time.
Tim
Now shopping for food. We went to a huge store called Hiper Paiz which is now owned by walmart! All the workers have walmart name tags. Things look similiar until you read closer.... oh there is the oat meal quaker man, I recognize that. Wow look at the shrimp at 23.50 Quetsel per libra(pound). Some are huge.
Pert Shampoo 400 ml at 31.45 Q
We are told not to shop for bargins in markets because the chance of being robbed is too great. Check out this store at www.hiperpaiz.com.gt
Next we head over to the cosco of Guatemala called Price Smart. Looks the same again. At the little food center near the check out I see a bucket of 15 pieces of cooked chicken (pollo) for 110 Q. and a hot dog 100% corn de Rio at Q 16.
Here are some other shopping prices:
Colgate 6 pk /100ml tooth paste at 107.95 Q
Salmon 57.95 per kg
Cooked roticery( no time to spell this correctly) chicken just like home 2.25 lbs for 39.95Q
Scott toilet paper 16 rolls 55.45Q
tic tacs for 3.95Q
coca cola 4 -3 liter bottles for 53.45Q
Traffic is something and I am not sure that if I leave here I could find my way back. No left turns!
Once back to our home base I listened to Cary talk to a worker about a pepper plant living up on the roof and I had a sickening feeling that I could not learn the language!!! will just have to continue and see how I do. I was feeling good about what I know to date, but the reality of normal conversation here (i.e. moving 5 times faster than I would like) is shocking.
I am able to blog this because my laptop to working well here on the goshimons wireless system.
Will blog again tonight if time.
Tim
Hi Well we are in Guatemala!
Before giving current information I want to go back to the night before leaving. I started to make an entry however was too tired to complete it.
What I wanted to say then was that becomming a missionary is a little like dying. And indeed dying to self is mandatory in this process. But anyway it is a little like dying because:
-You review your will
-Deal with banking matters
-last good byes and people cry and you cry with them
-People say nice things about you and stretch the truth emphasising your virtues and ignoring your faults.
Of course when you die you cannot cry with the people. But enough of this.
So it is January 5, 2007 and I wake up just after six and hear pigeons and other strange bird sounds. Sheila awakes and I say: Honey this is not kansis! We are here we did it!
Looked at the devotional in the washroom here and was surprised that the first verse I read was the last verse that I spoke on at the Crowsnest Christian Centre on Dec. 31, 2006. Must be a God moment!
Anyway we may end up at the William Cornelius site today or may begin looking for a vehicle.
It is more humid here and about 66 degrees (19 C). It should be about 21 midday.
Not affected by culture so far although all my walking and language listening is paying off. I understand a fair bit, and suppose that I am a high beginner on the language scale.
Oh, Sheila broke a tooth on the way down so we will be seeking out a dentist. Had not planned on this kind of activity.
Must run . Bye for Now
Tim
Before giving current information I want to go back to the night before leaving. I started to make an entry however was too tired to complete it.
What I wanted to say then was that becomming a missionary is a little like dying. And indeed dying to self is mandatory in this process. But anyway it is a little like dying because:
-You review your will
-Deal with banking matters
-last good byes and people cry and you cry with them
-People say nice things about you and stretch the truth emphasising your virtues and ignoring your faults.
Of course when you die you cannot cry with the people. But enough of this.
So it is January 5, 2007 and I wake up just after six and hear pigeons and other strange bird sounds. Sheila awakes and I say: Honey this is not kansis! We are here we did it!
Looked at the devotional in the washroom here and was surprised that the first verse I read was the last verse that I spoke on at the Crowsnest Christian Centre on Dec. 31, 2006. Must be a God moment!
Anyway we may end up at the William Cornelius site today or may begin looking for a vehicle.
It is more humid here and about 66 degrees (19 C). It should be about 21 midday.
Not affected by culture so far although all my walking and language listening is paying off. I understand a fair bit, and suppose that I am a high beginner on the language scale.
Oh, Sheila broke a tooth on the way down so we will be seeking out a dentist. Had not planned on this kind of activity.
Must run . Bye for Now
Tim
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