Prayers Needed for a Friend

Our friend and doctor here in Quiché, Heidi Bell, a medical missionary from Texas, is flying back to the U.S. to interview for jobs this coming week, so if you can all pray for her that God opens up a door for her and her family to continue practicing medicine somewhere, that would be great. Like us, they are no longer feeling called to stay here in Quiché so we are hoping that a great opportunity comes along. Fortunately their friend will be flying her and her new son Issac to the capitol to avoid the 4 hour trip by car, from where they will then go to Texas and ultimately North Carolina for the interview. The nice people at Continental Airlines are even charging Heidi and her husband Matt a few hundred dollars to take her 6 month old on her lap. Keep Heidi along with us in your prayers for the next few weeks.

Chajchaay - Ancient Mayan Ball Game

On Monday afternoon we had the pleasure of watching an ancient sporting event, in part sponsored by the European Union and Oxfam UK. Sometimes called Pelota Maya in the Spanish language or Chajchaay in the native dialect, this sport has been around for thousands of years. There are many variations of rules, number of team members, court size, etc. Therefore I can only really speak on what we observed and not the complete history of the sport.


This sporting event is usually an important element to their spiritual beliefs, so before the game was underway the Mayan spiritual leaders had to bless the court and the players with their incense and prayers. Prior to these acts many local youth performed dances and musical acts, as part of a more complete celebration. But, once all the formalities were taken care of we were underway with the game and commentating by none other than our Executive Director Matias Gutiérrez of Enlace Quiché.


The game we watched was played with 3 members on each team, one being the black jaguars and the other the red eagles. They all came out with body and face paint, sandals, and leather hip padding, and shorts. The players competed on a basketball court using only the lines, and additional hoops hung above the court in the center about 15-20 feet in the air. The ball used is solid rubber of about 3.5lbs, and players are only allowed to make contact with it using their hips, knees, and occasionally the arms/elbows. In order to win, one team must score 8 consecutive points, or get the rubber ball through one of the hoops for immediate end and win of the game. Points do not accumulate unless they are consecutive, i.e. if one team scores 5 and then the other scores 1, those previous 5 points are wiped out. In order to score points teams must get the ball across the end line of the opponent's side. Possession of the ball turns over to the other team if knocked out of bounds, but also during play contact of the ball must alternate between teams. As you can see, based on the scoring and play, these games can last an infinite amount of time. There are no time limits. Luckily for us, after about 45 minutes the jaguars got the ball into the suspended center ring and the game had an end. We were even fortunate to greet the players and touch the ball they use after the game finished.

On the Subject of Babies...

We thought we would post a picture of our friends' sweet little baby boy here on our Blog. Matt, Heidi, and Issac (the baby) are here in Quiché with Agape in Action, a Houston-based medical mission and run clinics throughout the area. Issac is about six months old and brings the number of American males here in Quiché to three. A Guatemalan and American citizen, Issac is at home here in Quiché as well as back in the U.S. We hope we have a baby as cute as this guy some day. Check out Matt and Heidi's Blog here! They are doing some great work here and have been there for us a lot when we need help or just a good dinner (thanks to Heidi).

Guatemalan Cooking

A few weeks ago our friend and co-worker Hilda came over to our house to teach Katie (our new roomie and volunteer) and I a little Guatemalan cooking. I haven't experienced much of the culinary flavors of Guatemala (partly because they aren't really known for their cuisine, and partly because there is a lot of meat in their cooking). However, rellenitos are one delicious item I had tried during an English class party. Hilda, having lots of experience in making these, decided she would give us a little lesson in how to prepare the rellenitos.


The ingredients are really quite simple. All you need are plantains, black beans, sugar, cinnamon, and oil. This may sound a little strange, but the savory-sweet combination makes these dynamite! So to prepare the plantains are steamed in their skins until they are hot enough me mashed together. The black beans should be cooked ahead of time and pureed, then reheated with a bit of cinnamon and sugar in them. When both things are ready the plantains are rolled into balls, then patted like tortillas. A little bit of beans are placed in the center of the "tortilla" and then rolled up and totally enclosed - looking like a twinkie or something. When all the little twinkie rolls are ready they are fried in oil until brown.

Now that I have learned the process surely many of you will benefit. I plan to make these more in the future here in Guatemala and in the United States. ¡Buen provecho!

Happy Valentine's Day

We just want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day today as we celebrate Día del Cariño as it is called here in Guatemala. For lunch, we went to the local crepe place for some delicious crepes and what turned out to be a filling meal after the owner surprised us with a third crepe as a gift for Día del Cariño.


At the office we had a chocolate exchange and cake, while playing a few games with everyone at the end of the day. Here in Guatemala the day is less romance-oriented and more focused on friendship. Drawing names for the chocolate exchange, Brittany was fortunate enough to have Toby choose her name (it really was random), so she lucked out with two Ritter Sport chocolate bars (DELICIOUS!). In addition to the chocolate exchange, Brittany was tasked with finding another activity to do as a group after a widely sucessful white elephant she led during the office Christmas party. Using her creative powers, and perhaps more importantly her googling powers, she put together a game of "Guess the Number of Chocolates" using an old coffee jar and loads of chocolate balls. That was about the extent of the festivities with a few other games tossed in and Toby keeping an eye out on one of the interns, Marcelina's, new baby for a large part of the party.

Our Boy Gets His First Kill...Almost

I have to share this story for a few reasons, the first being that I won't forget where I was this year during the Pro Bowl, the second being that I was so proud of our little cat Nieve, and the third because it was just so funny.


So there I was this Sunday watching the Pro Bowl (hat tip to the NFC and the Green Bay Packers coaching staff that took home the win, along with Brett Farve who got the most votes of any player, but turned down the opportunity to play) when all of a sudden there was a bird flying through our bedroom. Right behind it was of course our cat, Nieve. Feathers flying everywhere, I tried to catch the bird so I could get it out of our room and get back to the game of course, but Nieve had no intention of letting me. Pinning the bird in the corner of our bedroom window, Nieve beat me to it. I had almost reached the bird and Nieve when wanting to get some more fun out of his toy, he let it go, sending the bird flying out of room and on to the landing. Once again the race was on and once again, Nieve beat me to the punch, promptly snatching the bird and placing it in his jaws. Proud of his prize he brought it onto our bed to show Mommy and Daddy what a good boy he was. However, it seems that Nieve may be more of a catcher than killer as he just held the bird in his mouth. I imagine with some more time he would have made a good meal and a good mess out of the bird right there on our bed. Forcing Nieve's jaws open I got the bird out, not sure in what kind of shape it was in. Taking it outside I opened my hand and as sure as Old Faithful, the bird flew off. Proud of our little guy I would have let him eat it if it was injured or couldn't survive, but it looks like he will have to wait a bit for his first kill (other than the flies he catches and eats everyday). He continued to search the room, moewing like crazy for his bird, not knowing to where it had gone, but settled down after a dozen treats and a lot of praise. Everyday since Nieve has been spending hours on the roof, laying in wait for his next potential toy to come around.

One Year Mark!

Today we reach our one year mark of living in Guatemala!

Our time here has been very fruitful and we've grown a lot personally and professionally. Just looking back on previous blogs, it's pretty cool so see how much we have experienced in that amount of time. We'll definitely miss the community and all the friends we've made along the way. Unfortunately, now we're on the downhill side and heading towards finishing our projects and thinking about moving to the next adventure. Tsk tsk.


Since living here, Toby has been inspired and decided that he wants to pursue a law degree, so he can further impact the lives of others. This new motive has somewhat changed our original ideas and given us a more concrete timeframe for our work and travel plans. We anticipate working at Enlace Quiché until mid-May, we'll then head south to visit more of Central America. The plan is to see Honduras (we still need to visit the bay islands, after our September plans were delayed due to a hurricane), El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. Our anticipated arrival back to Portland is around July 1st (give or take a few). We'll spend the month of July in Oregon before packing up and moving to our new home (TBD).


Just a reminder that there is still time to come and visit here in Guatemala or rendezvous with us along our Central American travels. We hope to see some friendly faces in our neck of the woods, but we understand it's not possible for everyone. Regardless, we're excited to see all our friends and family when we return this summer. We miss you all!

Reflections on Malaysia

Due to requests from quite a few people asking about what things were like in Malaysia, I am writing this blog post to just sort of reflect on my experience there and what I observed.

Let me preface by saying that while there I didn’t really see a lot of Malaysia, the beautiful beaches I read about on the plane will have to wait as I only really saw the airport and then the capitol of Kuala Lumpur, or KL as it is called by just about everyone.

Let’s say that overall I was taken back and extremely impressed by what I saw. For a country that in many ways still developing, the government appears to have their stuff together and the future it seems will be good to KL, and likely much of Southeast Asia. First in Los Angeles I was blessed with the excellent service that I received throughout my trip. In economy class on Malaysia Airlines I was treated to my own movie screen (typically standard) with tons of shows to watch and many movies that I had only heard about in Guatemala, but also, excellent vegetarian and vegan meals, free beer and wine, and feather pillows. I also had the good fortune to meet a nice young Indian engineer who I had a great conversation with for about two hours.

Arriving at the KL international airport, I could see why it has been voted the best international airport in the world. Clean, bright, and highly connected with public transit, we deboarded the plane, onto a light rail train to the ticket and baggage area of KLIA. Once there and with my new Indian friend, we met a Sri Lankan woman headed to the same conference as myself and took a Mercedes taxi to our hotels (courtesy of Texas Instruments, my friend’s company… thanks guys).

My hotel was a 4 star place with a beautiful gym and pool I took advantage of as much as I could. My room, simple but elegant, had a down comforter, four pillows, and a nice shower. It was very comfortable, clean, and a great place to stay. Located in the heart of the town and within walking distance of the famous twin towers, KLCC Suria five floor shopping mall, and the KL Conference Center where I would have my conference, it was the perfect headquarter for exploring the town.

Not having a lot of free time I headed out to see the sights, and not letting a warm and tropical rain shower stop me, I went shopping for a few local things at the Central Market where vendors sell their wares. Much cheaper than the United States, I picked up a few really nice things to bring back for Brittany including a hand sequined purse for…a good price. I also hit the food court where they conveniently had meals displayed with pictures since they didn’t speak English. Surprisingly enough, this was the ONLY place where I couldn’t speak English (or Spanish) in the country.

The next day after partaking in the breakfast buffet at the hotel where I gorged on delicious food every morning, I headed to the convention center where I would be for the next three days while attending the conference. The place was great for a conference such as this. Every corridor had flat screen TVs displaying room schedules and any changes, every room had a laptop and projector set up, and security was present to make everyone feel safe. The coffee breaks and lunch that were included were awesome with tea breaks including 2-3 local dishes that at times could have been a lunch itself. Lunch was a huge buffet in the dining hall with numerous waiters, cloth napkins, and TONS of delicious food. One night we even had a more formal five course meal with entertainment that was splendid as well.

From day one I was very pleased by the culture of service. Everywhere the staff members of businesses open doors, say “Welcome Back”, bow slightly, and get you anything you need. Although I heard one snooty woman say how much better the service was in Thailand, I was impressed and grateful.

One drawback of the town for me was that it really wasn’t designed for walking. Built around a system of advanced public transit, a simple walk to the famous KL Radio Tower became quite an adventure. Looming in the not so distance skyline I walked towards the tower one night in the humid air and what I thought might be a quick jaunt, turned into a 2 hour hike. The streets were built with numerous one ways and a surprisingly high number of circular routes which made it impossible to walk in a straight line. Once reaching the tower I looked and a map and found that there was only one road to the tower around a bigger circular road and I turned right instead of left, forcing me to walk entirely around the large circle. That being said, the public transit is pretty nice with bus systems, a monorail, and light rail, all connecting various parts of the city. The city planners also had the insight to put the airport outside of the town (unlike Guatemala) and one has to take a 20 minute train ride to get there. The train was very modern with CNN on flat screens and bathrooms inside as well.

Overall the town was very modern with all the latest shops, highly connected with internet and some amazing Asian food to top it off. I think Malaysia has the potential to be a big player in the global economy with the current mindset of the government embracing development and advancement.

Perhaps the neatest thing that I experienced in KL was that I wasn’t a foreigner, at least I didn’t feel like it. The town was such a mixing pot of culture with Thai, Malay, American, English, Australian, Indian, and Vietnamese cultures all widely visible. I would walk through the mall and hear 10 languages being spoken. I could speak English wherever I went as well. It was a pretty cool feeling being in another country, but not really feeling out of place.

Cunén Office Excursion

Two weeks ago, Toby and I got to play hooky as part of an office excursion to another city in the Department of Quiché - Cunén. The majority of the staff members, including our Executive Director, were invited to celebrate the inauguration of Domingo Camajá Santay as new town mayor. Domingo previously worked at Enlace Quiché, so it’s quite the achievement advancing to mayor. We all wanted to show our support.

After 1.5 hours on a microbus we arrived in Cunén and searched for the celebration. Many onlookers were crowded outside a locked gate, hoping to get a free lunch. Our group was of course greeted by Domingo and waved in for immediate lunch service, like we were the special guests. The lunch was typical Guatemalan fare of rice, a salad-ish dish, a huge hunk of meat, and millions of corn tortillas, washed down with warm soda.

After eating, Domingo offered us a pick-up and guide to take us to the grutas of Cunén, just outside of town. We all piled into the back of the truck and headed out to visit this beautiful spot. Once there, it was a little bit of a hike down to the caves and waterfall, and unfortunately all the girls were in traje and heels. We made it down there safe; after taking lots of photos, our fearless leader and director encouraged us to walk through the slippery falls. We all linked arms and waded through the waters till we couldn’t go any further. Although we weren’t at the office, this trip was still very productive. It provided an opportunity to bond with one another and builds morale. Often we are sitting at our desks working on individual projects, so this was a breath of fresh air.