Mi Casa Es Tu Casa

Well, I’ve arrived in Guatemala and have been living in the country now for over 70 hours and I absolutely LOVE it! My home stay family is awesome! I live with three other girls from Spring Arbor University (SAU). We actually have a small apartment with two rooms, a bathroom, a small living room area and small kitchen (that we don’t use except to store our empty suitcases) that is separate from our mother’s house. That said, there are three homes really close together in our area including our host mother’s.

*Picture below from left to right: our apartment, a daughter’s home, and our host mother’s home.

Upon our arrival we went to La Unión where we were greeted by and introduced to our host mothers. Then, they walked us and our massive amount of luggage down the cobblestone streets to our new homes for 100 days! I live with 3 other girls: Jennifer, Aleia and Jenna. I share a room with Jennifer and the other two girls share the other room. It’s a cute little set up (as you’ll see in the following pictures)! The first picture is actually a sign (one of many) that were in our apartment that the kids and our mom used as decorations to welcome us.

Over the past few days, we have been touring lots of really neat places all over Antigua. It has been an amazing experience! Our visits have included convents, churches, a cathedral, and many ruins. This place is full of such beauty and history. I’m glad I have a whole semester to take it in and not just three weeks! Below are some pictures of sights we have seen and there are more on facebook as well (hopefully)…
**Pictures of different sights we’ve seen.

Things are definitely different here, but a good kind of different. I’m thrilled about the opportunity God has given me to be here! I know it was the right decision, that God was directing my path as Japan didn’t work out. It was because he wanted me here. As Jenna’s Dove wrapper said “You are exactly where you are supposed to be.” I truly believe this is where I was meant to be!

Tomorrow we are going to church with Paul and Bev (our leaders) and eating lunch at their house. They are also taking us out to dinner. Should be an interesting experience! :) Monday, we all start our Spanish classes and I am ready! It's been fun chatting with our host mom during meals and practicing my Spanish, but I'm very excited to start the one-on-one stuff!

~Kylie