Matthews Mission in Guatemala: May 2018

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Road rage, Guatemala style. Also, bichos everywhere

Thoughts of the AMA. Driving in Guatemala is interesting. For starters, no one ever dozes off at the wheel here, but more about that later. There are a number of large 4 and 6 lane boulevards going through the city which lead to the major highways going to the rest of the country. The city is located in a mountain valley with numerous large ravines crisscrossing in random directions. Since bridges are expensive to build, most neighborhoods built between these ravines only have a couple of ways in or out. It's like a tree with the major boulevards being the trunk and the branches being the neighborhoods. It's easy to get back to the trunk, but to go directly from one limb to another is often impossible. This system probably worked pretty well when Guatemala had say a half million people, or slightly over one million people like Salt Lake County, but right now Guatemala city has 2.9 million people in an area about the size of SL County. The result is monumental traffic jams during morning and evening rush hours, and, like in California, often at completely random times during the day. I'm just glad not every Guatemalan has a car. There aren't a lot of stop lights, so to enter traffic, drivers slowly start edging out into the lane of cars. In the US, this would result in honking, people determined to show that they have the right of way, rude one finger gestures, or road rage with one's paternity being questioned or fire arms being displayed. In Guatemala, people understand that they soon be at someone else's mercy in this department, and I usually don't have to wait more than two or three cars before someone lets me in. In Italy and Germany, people flash their lights to tell you to get out of their way. In Guatemala when they flash their lights, it tells you they are letting you in. Of course, most people are going ten or fifteen miles an hour or the traffic is completely stop and go, so if someone lets me in, it doesn't really retard their progress significantly. People change lanes abruptly without signaling. Stop signs and red lights are treated mostly like yield signs, they run them, but not mindlessly. Rather, they slow down, look carefully, then proceed. In 5.5 months here, I have yet to see anyone pulled over for a moving violation. Speeding is pretty much impossible here, if I get up to 40 miles an hour on the boulevard, I get nervous. If a driver does something completely egregious or dangerous, like starting to change lanes when you are already there, a couple of honks is all it takes to warn them off. The Guatemalans are a friendly, warm people, and have no sense of self righteousness when they are driving. They don't want to get in an accident and are very forgiving of sloppy, even semi dangerous driving. In a city where parking lot guards carry guns, [not a lot of smash and grab thefts down here], I have yet to see a driver wave a gun, make a rude gesture, or yell anything. It's kind of nice.

Bichos are bugs. Being warm and moist, lots of them live here. Big ones, little ones, tiny ones that you can't see, scorpions. I got a call at 2 am the other week with a question about how to treat a scorpion sting. If we leave any kind of food uncovered on the counter or in the food cupboard, hoards of little sugar ants congregate around it within 20 seconds. We've sprayed behind the fridge, and kitchen cabinets and the door jamb by the food cupboard, but they continue to come. We live on the 5th floor of a building with concrete walls and no sheet rock, just textured painted concrete walls. See photo below. We have no idea where the nests could be. As I write this, an ant is crawling around on the computer screen. Lately we've noticed small red very itchy bites on various body parts. We've walked in grass, briefly petted dogs, but nothing for a few days. The bites continued appearing for several days, so yesterday we washed the bed sheets in hot water, sprayed the mattress pad with permethrin, and sprayed insecticide on the car seats and floor. We hope that this helps matters.

We visited the dental clinic staffed by 4 missionary dentists. It's easy to find, just park by Grumpy.

Saturday night President Cluff of the Guatemala City Central Mission invited all the senior missionaries to his house for a nice meal and temple recommend interviews for those who needed them. Patsy passed! We get to do things with the senior missionaries from time to time, a monthly break the fast, a weekly movie night and some family home evenings together, but this was a fun unexpected occasion. Today we went to district conference in Cuilapa, about 2/3 of the way to El Salvador. It was a nice meeting.

On the work side, the days are fairly busy but with a lot of sameness. I struggle with keeping people healthy, helping decide when a missionary would be better served medically at home rather than in the mission, and try, with the mental health nurse, to help people with anxiety, depression, insomnia and other emotional issues. Counting our MTC time, nearly a third of our mission has slid by. I keep thinking - carpe diem, seize the opportunities of each day. To paraphrase a saying by Etienne de Grellet: "I will never pass this way again, if there is any good I can do or wrong I can right, let me do it today, for I will never pass this way again" Tomorrow a new crop of missionaries will have contracted parasites, will struggle with emotional issues and knee pain. There is a certain sameness about the days, but I need to remember to do the best for the patients of each day before looking forward to the opportunities of tomorrow.

Until next week. We hope all you readers are well.

Me and a pediatric patient in Cuilapa

I made him turn his face away to avoid any HIPAA issues

Fellow I met in Honduras

Vandalism on nose was done about 1100 years ago

after he lost the election

Remember, take the left turns slowly

Outside of the missionary staffed free dental clinic

I'm pretty sure the artwork is used with permission !

Remember, slow on the turns and

check the tire pressures every day

The sisters at an upscale shopping mall

The walls of our apartment

textured painted concrete

I'm still trying to figure out where the ants are living

I haven't dared pound in a nail to hang a picture yet

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Projects, assignments, volunteering, fun with Jake and Izzie....Thoughts of an AMA's wife

May 22, 2018
It's been three weeks since we've entered a new post on our blog. These past weeks have been very busy and productive. I continue to receive new projects. Besides screening the incoming missionary applications for TB tests and entering the results on EMED, I'm now helping Sister George (the mental health advisor) with some of her clerical work. Sister Olsen, the CCM nurse, is also having me help her with a few of her jobs. The Baby Kits project continues to keep me busy. In our branch, I play the hymns on the keyboard for Sacrament Meeting, and I was just asked to do singing time each week in Primary. I'm excited about this calling, but realize I will need to prepare and work harder on learning Spanish. The children are learning the song If the Savior Stood Beside Me, so I've started practicing it in Espanol. Morris will probably attend Primary with me for a few weeks and be my translator until I feel more comfortable with the language. However, the children are very loving and accepting and will be fun to work with and get to know better.
Morris recently had to take an Elder home to Honduras. We thought it would be a quick short flight there and back, but his original flight was cancelled so he ended up having 2 layovers (Nicaragua and El Salvador) and didn't return home until late at night.
Morris' medical assignment has also been changed. The new AMA, Terry Smith, doesn't speak Spanish, so it was decided that Morris should advise all the Spanish speaking Mission Presidents and Spanish speaking nurses. Terry will do the English ones. Morris now advises 3 presidents in Guatemala, 1 in Honduras, 2 in El Salvador, 1 in Nicaragua, and 1 in Costa Rica right now, and 2 in Costa Rica starting in July. Because of the political unrest in Nicaragua, about half of the missionaries are being transferred out, so he may not get many calls from Nicaragua in the near future!
A couple of weeks ago, we had a Dental Brigade come to volunteer in Guatemala. These volunteers are dentists, medical people, and other volunteers who come to help prospective missionaries get the necessary treatments and tests they need to fill out their mission applications. I think over 600 missionaries were able to complete their forms. They also receive haircuts, shaves, eye tests, and get their picture taken. It's a very valuable service! Morris and I went to the LDS church where the volunteers were set up and working so we could get an idea of what is done. One of the volunteers was Susan Lowe, a person Morris went to high school with. She asked if she could stay with us one night, and we were pleased to have her! She was involved in sterilizing all the dental and medical equipment that was being used.
I had the chance to go the Children's Cancer Center again. It is always a humbling experience! This time we helped the children make a little Mother's Day gift for their Mamas. We also gave them some crocheted or knitted hats that we had been making over the past few months. I made several hats, but I also had some hats from my friend back home, Mavis Clayton who is 98 years old and knits hats everyday. The last time I talked to her I think she had made over 500 hats. The children loved the hats and they were given out quickly! The Dental Brigade also does humanitarian service while they are in Guatemala, and they donated children's costumes to us to take to the Cancer Center. The children loved the costumes!
The Saturday before Mother's Day, we went with the Hills (CCM president and his wife), Sister George (AMHA), Sister Olsen (CCM nurse), and the Smiths to Cayala Mall for dinner. This is a very upscale mall in the northern part of Guatemala City. There are many stores and wonderful restaurants. We enjoyed our food and the wonderful company! Also, all the women who work at the area office were treated to a special Mother's Day lunch at a restaurant. It was fun to be with such accomplished and beautiful ladies.
The highlight of the past week was the visit of our niece Izzy and nephew Jake! We had such a great time with them and were so flattered that they would want to come visit us. We were able to go to the temple with them. Then they spent 2 days on their own in Tikal - camping, hiking, listening to the howler monkeys, seeing many birds and other interesting animals, and seeing the Mayan ruins of Tikal. We also took them to Antigua where we explored the ruins of an old cathedral [destroyed 5 times by earthquakes in 250 years] and had a Texas-style lunch. We especially enjoyed going with them to Lake Atitlan where we spent the night. National Geographic has labeled Lake Atitlan as the most beautiful lake in the world! It is incredibly beautiful and is surrounded by volcanoes. We stayed at Hotel Atitlan which has botanical gardens and is right on the lake. There are beautiful free-flying parrots that say Hola, butterflies, and many other birds. There is story told about Boyd K Packer staying at the home of the man who brought the church to Guatemala and lived by Lake Atitlan. One beautiful clear morning, President Packer told his friend that when they died and went to heaven, they would probably be disappointed after spending time at Lake Atitlan. It really is a paradise on earth!
There are many villages surrounding the lake and they have their own culture and appeal. We took a boat and went to San Juan (about a 40 min boat ride). Here we were able to hire a Tuk Tuk (a small enclosed 3 wheeled motorcycle-like vehicle) to drive us around the village. We stopped to see a demonstration on how the unique Guatemalan cloth is made. We also went to a bee keeping exhibit and a chocolate factory. It was fun to shop in the small village.
On Sunday we took Izzy and Jake to our small branch. Because they both can speak Spanish, they loved it! After church we met up with Sister Petrie who is a church member and volunteers at the Cuilapa Hospital. She took us to the Maternity ward to deliver baby kits, and we also went to the Pediatric ward to deliver toys, coloring books, blankets, and books. One of the boys in the Pediatric Unit had been in a car accident and had to have his leg amputated. There were many children there and they loved Izzie and Jake! That evening we had dinner at the CCM, and Izzy and Jake enjoyed visiting with the new missionaries.
Guatemala has started into the rainy season and it rains hard almost every evening. I actually enjoy the rain and how green the country is becoming! Guatemala is a beautiful and amazing place!