Numerology

After a brief break from the internet, we are now back in action having safely arrived in Santa Maria Tzeja, Guatemala on Friday. Over the last few weeks, there has been a lot of activity wrapping up life in Atlanta, preparing to move, and visiting friends and family. It would be challenging to describe all that has happened these last few weeks without a very lengthy blog post so instead, we will try to encapsulate everything using numbers.

Miles added to the car – 1765
States visited – 9
Number of hugs from friends and family – 311
Amount of PBR consumed at the Marpepp wedding – ~24 cases+
Average hours slept per night over the last three weeks – 4.5
New Facebook friends added – 35
Miles left until Atlanta when the alternator died – 31
Random strangers who helped with some aspect of the journey – 7
Food grilled at Adios Atlanta cookout – 0
Vaccinations injected – 10
Times bumped up to first class – 2
Hours of travel to get to Santa Maria Tzeja from Atlanta – 25
Average number of passengers that can ride inside and/or on top of Guatemalan microbuses – 29
Total weight of two checked bags – 97 lbs
Conversion of dollars to Quetzales – $1 = 8Q

English classes resumed on Saturday in the neighboring village, Santa Maria Dolores and the classes in Tzeja resumed on Monday. Sunday, Edd continued as the goalie with the Tzeja soccer team in the local semi-finals, losing 3-0 (ouch). Several community groups have expressed an interest in working with me to start projects, so I will start discussing opportunities with different groups today.

It is sometimes hard to believe that most of my life fit into 5 bags and that I now live in a wooden cabin with no light or running water but it also is wonderfully simple and very beautiful. The journey to get here has been long but also fun, and only made possible with the support and love from family and friends. Above is a picture of the front of the house/dorm and you can find more pictures of our trip to Coban and places in SMT here. Enjoy!