We feasted on some traditional Guatemalan food such as tostada de guacamole, frijoles refritos (fried black beans) o salsa; chuchitos and chile rellenos. We also enjoyed jamaica (hibiscus) tea and fried plantains with cream and sugar for dessert. The food was so delicious and flavourful, everyone loved the feast we had. In Guatemala, it is so amazing how the SI staff and our host families are so generous with their food. Hospitality here is so important! In order to have this food, the SI kitchen staff worked for 5.5 hours to prepare the meal. It is crazy to see how much people are blessing us here.
After we wrapped up eating, some of the girls dressed in traditional Guatemalan attire and lead LIFT in a traditional dance. The traditional attire was beautiful and each outfit was from a specific area of Guatemala. For Guatemalans, the colours and patterns on the outfit represent the area that the woman is from. It that amazing and so creative. All of the LIFT girls who dressed up looked so pretty in these beautiful outfits.
Then, the SI staff lead us in some traditional games. It was so interesting to see, the games range from hitting a hacky sack the most (only with your foot, knee and head) to cracking confetti-filled eggs on people after they lose rock, paper, scissors.
The games brought out the competitive side of most LIFTers, but none more than the confetti egg game. The whole aim of the egg game is to get 3 of your team to the other team's side. In order to do this, you sprint and where you meet the other team you play rock, paper and scissors. The loser gets a confetti-filled egg crack on their head and goes back to their side. It is one of the most fun games I ever played.
Graciously, the SI staff taught us about traditional clothing, food, instruments, different people groups and languages in Guatemala. For example, Guatemala is referred to as the land of "eternal spring" and it only has 2 seasons, dry or wet. There are 25 languages spoken here, the main one is Spanish and the rest are tribal.
It was truly eye-opening to learn about Guatemala and helped me appreciate the uniqueness, creativity, beauty and wonder of the Guatemala culture. We are grateful to be here and learn from such wonderful people!
Please continue to pray for us as we spend time at our ministry sites each day, learning from and loving the people in front of us!
Charlotte
