The Food. The Generosity. The Christ-Followers.

Well, it's taken me far too long to wrap up these posts on Guatemala. . . I guess life has a funny way of getting us off track. But I'm back aboard the blog posting train! And we're gonna wrap up these last few posts on the greatest trip of my life.

The food.

Unbelievable.

It's like a fiesta in your mouth. (<--That was weird. . .) But really. I've never tasted such incredibly delicious and tasty food! EVER! Their cows and chickens didn't have whatever crap our cows and chickens have injected in them.

As I walked through the village each day, I saw chickens. I saw cows. The cows definitely didn't look like ours. . . They were skinny; and I mean SKINNY. You could see their hip bones (is that the correct term for a cow?). They looked unhealthy, buut they tasted great! They just grazed on the grass and whatever plants and such cows eat :)

Ready for our FIRST Guatemalan meal!!

STEAK! YUMMY!!
The green stuff is hot sauce. . . Boys will be boys I guess

This here is Seth - the model - with his steak
Always ready for a photo-op

A Guatemalan friend of mine, Hugo, told me that some crazy Americans he met once called Guatemalan cows fashion cows. Why? Because they're so dang skinny!

This is HUGO. Not a great pic. What can I say?
I'm no photographer

The chicken was also amaaaazing! SO.SO.SO.GOOD.

Chicken Caesar Salad. A classic.

Best soup in the whole world.
Not an exaggeration!

My lovely Morgan with her chicken salad!

This right here was tasty too!
 Pretty much a chicken enchiladain a bowl. SO GOOD.

The coffee = soo tasty!!

SO.DELISH. Cappuccino

Silly boys with their coffee.
But seriously, it's to die for!

Annd Seth is a barista. .  .
So he insisted on this shot.

The fruit. . . Like nothing I've tasted before. SO delicious! Juicy! Flavorful! Everything fruit SHOULD be. I don't think I can ever eat a pineapple here (at home) again. It just won't be the same.

SO FRESH AND SO GOOOOOD.
Pineapple. Cantaloupe. Watermelon. Papaya. Jell-O.
Yeah the Jell-O is random. . .

BANANAS!!

I don't even know. . . Chiles maybe?

OH.MY.WORD.
The orange juice is unbelievably good!

The avocados were unreal. SO fresh and SO good.

I thought I would gain a ton of weight on the trip the way I was eating. Funny things is I actually LOST 6 pounds!! (I didn't realize I had that weight to lose in the first place. . . hmm). Organic really DOES make a difference!

Chicken Alfredo! YUM!

Chinese food. In Guatemala. Yeah.

Ryan LOOOVES his hot sauce

Coca-Cola. A taste of home. And salad, YAY!

Oh I love bread.

Quesifritos.
Translation: Fried Cheese.
Also known as: Cheetos

Banana-Nutella Crepes.

BREAD! BREAD! BREAD!

This makes me gag a little.
A FIVE POUND BAG of mayo.
*cue gags now*

And milk. . . In bags. . . On a shelf. . . Not chilled. . .

Enough about me rambling on about the food. Now something a little more serious. . . Potatoes.

So the people in the village are poorer than you could even imagine. My heart BROKE for these people. Yet, they were the most generous, giving people I have ever met. So sincere and genuine with their gifts. Most of what they do is grow corn and potatoes. EVERYONE grows corn and potatoes.

The generosity.

So one day when my team was stopping our beautiful masonry work to have lunch, a man ran to his house and came back with a basket of cooked potatoes. Kinda like french fries. But the wedges. (Know what I mean? Kinda look like apple slices). Anyways, he offered the basket to our team. We were all taken aback at his generosity. These people are starving. Not in the way we use the word. . . When it's 20 minutes past our usual lunch time and we say "UGH I'M STARVING!!!" No. They are literally starving. They live each day not knowing if they will eat that day. Or the next. Or the next. Yet they offered this heaping basket of potatoes to us. Rich Americans who eat all day every day. And still aren't content. And then we complain about looking fat. A complaint these people only dream about.

Breaks my heart.

Where they live

But here's the thing. We can't really eat their food. You see, our bodies are used to such clean living conditions. We can't drink their water. They can't wash their hands. . . Catch my drift? But we ate them to show our appreciation. Pretty sure a couple people didn't feel too good after, but what can you do?

So then our team has a little meeting and decides, "HEY! Let's buy them a huge bag of potatoes!" (In retrospect this wasn't a great idea because they grow their own potatoes. . . don't know what we were thinking.) So we did. And we presented it to the people who gave us the potatoes. . . Next day rolls around. They cooked all those potatoes for us!! WHAT?! It's kinda funny to think about because they totally didn't get what we were trying to do. Or did they? They have such servant hearts, it blows my mind. They are the definition of what a cheerful giver is. These people are the woman in the story Jesus tells about how she gives two coins and her offering is the greatest because she gave ALL she had. These people gave us their ALL.

In church on Sunday, they washed our feet.
Like Jesus washed the disciples' feet.

Servant hearts.

Lisa, being the wonderful godly woman that
she is, grabbed a bucket and a towel and washed
their feet. It was such a beautiful thing.

And Mrs. Pellish was right at her side washing with her.

And Frank gave the jacket off his back.
AMAZING people on my team.

The Christ-followers.

It's so humbling. Makes me cry just thinking about it. STILL. And maybe that's because I'm just an emotional girl. Or maybe that's because I get it. I get what Jesus is asking us to do. I understand that these people who have NOTHING are so much stronger in their faith than I am. They TRULY depend on Him. For EVERYTHING. I want to be like that. Jesus tells the rich man to give EVERYTHING and follow Him. The people of the poorest village I have ever seen do this daily. Daily.

These people showed me and taught me so much in the week I shared with them. And it's so easy to just go back to my everyday life like the trip never even happened. It's so easy to go back to the way things were before and let the impact of the trip fade away. But my prayer is that daily I give EVERYTHING and follow Him. He gave everything for me. I owe Him my everything.

XOXO