In June 2000, the summer after my sophomore year, I went on a two-week short term missions trip with my Christian fellowship. This was a joint-fellowship trip, involving people from both chapters of InterVarsity on my campus, the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HRCF) (multi-ethnic chapter) and the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF) (ethnic-specific chapter). In order to build unity across our two sister fellowships, our chapter staffworkers encouraged freshmen and sophomores to go. We ended up with a team of 15 students and 3 staffworkers going.

After an exhausting day of travelling -- from Boston to Los Angeles, and then from Los Angeles to Guatemala City, then from Guatemala City to the quaint little town of Antigua -- we finally arrived at the Students International (SI) house. Not to be stopped for long, though! That very afternoon the Harvard team hit the streets of Antigua. We exchanged our dollars into quetzales in the center of town. Surrounding the main plaza was the catholic church. After checking the area out a bit, it was back to the SI house for orientation.

Mornings are gorgeous in Guatemala. We had plenty of opportunities to appreciate them because we had quiet time at 6:00 every weekday morning. Favorite haunts of people were the rooftop of the SI house.

The second day, Wednesday, June 14, was our first day at our ministry sites. I was placed at the Economic Development site in a small town of 13,000 called Magdalena Milpas Altas, about a 15-minute drive up the mountain from Antigua. Along with Jane Kim and I, Christine (from Florida Atlantic University) was placed at our ministry site, where we all demonstrated our prowess at grinding chicken feet -- i mean feed. =) First day on site we were paid a visit by Grace Eng (former Harvard staffworker and my freshman Bible study leader) and our new friend, Dan the camera man. They came down to Guatemala with InterVarsity's 2100 Productions, the multimedia dimension of IV. On my first day at the site they interviewed my site leader, Fernando.

We got out from our sites around 3 or 4 every day, and then would come back to the SI house. I got out extra early my first day, and came back to find Susie and Faith getting splashed on out back in the pool where they were helping out with physical therapy.

After a day or two, Jane and I got the hang of this grinding business at our site. Though occasionally Fernando would just end up mixing it himself. =)

One of the cool things about going as joint fellowships was just hanging out with one another in the afternoons and evenings. Of course, we did get kind of silly after awhile... Jill and Faith were pretty tame, doing a little bit of swing. But they weren't half as entertaining as Johnny and Jane, who did an interactive interpretive dance to the tune of Aladdin's "A Whole New World." Too bad I didn't catch that one on film. =)

The first Saturday we were there, June 17, SI took us on a daytrip to Panajachel, where there is a lake formed from the crater of a volcano, called Lake Atitlan. The bus ride was 4 hours long. Seeing the countryside along the way was pretty cool. We had lunch in a quaint little, albeit touristy, restaurant along the lake. The view of the volcano was incredible. We spent most of the afternoon walking along Atitlan. Driving back from Atitlan was great as well. Gorgeous waterfalls lined the side of the windy road up the mountain. Looking back down at Atitlan as we drove away was an incredible view as well. The volcano looked even more majestic from a distance. Back along flatter surface, we could see little villages in the distance, all of which were brightly colored, clustered houses.

During the evenings we'd often have free time. Monday of the second week we were there, June 19, all of the Harvard team women (minus Amy) went out to dessert at Doña Luisa's. There was this fascinating mural behind us entitled "Mujeres de Guatemala."

More adventures on site the second week. Tuesday, June 20, we threw a big 20th birthday bash for Angelica, one of the daughters of the Zamora family, from whose backyard we operated our ministry site. Feliz Cumpleaños a tí!

Can't help but to admire the view from the rooftop of the SI house, where you can see a volcán de agua. Other great things about the SI house was the gorgeous waterfall in the courtyard.

Thursday, June 22, was Juanita's last day at the site. The family was great. So warm and open and loving. They freely welcomed us into their home for two weeks!

One of the big things we did in the afternoons during our free time was to go to the market. Walking through town was always a plus, too -- catching the sunset in the main plaza or catching another one of the numerous celebrations. Every day is a holiday in Guatemala! So proclameth our fearless team leader, Debbie Edgar.

Spanish Songs!

Worship and missions. The two go hand-in-hand! We went for missions, but we also got a good dose of the former as well. Cantos en español.