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(OT) Back from Guatemala & a cat mention!
28 Feb 2006 04:09:33 -0800 rec.pets.cats.anecdotes
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theresa...
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I just got back from 10 days in Guatemala. Two years ago, my church
decided to sponsor a church in Guatemala and this was our first mission Monique Y. Mudama...
trip there. polonca12000...
What an awesome trip, and what a beautiful country! The people are very friendly and very open to God. The missionaries we were with said since they've been there (2 + yrs), 80 churches have been built. They run a facility called the Chapel Factory. They get the rebar (steel) and roofs ready for new churches. They have 8 full time nationals working with them and depend on teams to come from the states to help build the churches. We were sponsoring a church in San Cristobal, which is currently meeting under a tomato tent. They had purchased land, we provided money to build a security fence around the land so they could start building. The purpose of this trip was to help them lay blocks for the walls. When we arrived, the missionaries informed us that the church was not ready for us. They were really worried that we would be upset, but we knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't be able to work on this building (permits, etc.) They did have another opportunity for us. Another church, also in San Cristobal but in the city of Quetzeltenango (sp?), which is 4.5 hrs from Guatemala City. They had a building but needed a roof, which they had been praying for for 2 years. The people approached the missionaries a couple days before we arrived, so they asked us if we would be willing to help them. And of course we said yes. This was really cool: prior to our trip, one of the guys on the team had looked up San Cristobal on the internet and began praying for them. As it turned out, the San Cristobal he had been praying for was the one we helped put a roof on! The people had been fasting for 2 weeks, I believe, prior to our coming. This was such a cool experience. The people were so grateful and the pastor's mother, wife, daughters, etc. fixed us an excellent lunch for the day we were there. The guys on the team got a roof on the building in about 8 hours or so. The women worked in a lot behind the church, picking up trashing and leveling the ground so the children could play back there. We also did some activities with the children. While there, we got to visit Antigua. Unfortunately, we didn't spend as much time there as I would have liked. We mostly visited the jade factory and shopped at the marketplace. That was fine but I would have loved to have roamed the streets and look at all the old churches and buildings that are there. We did get to buy Antigua coffee, Starbucks best seller, for $3.50 / lb. I wish I had bought more than 3 pounds! On Saturday, we flew to Flores and took a tour bus to Tikal to visit the ruins. That was a great day, very interesting. Now for the cat moment: Our first evening at the compound, a beautiful gray/silver striped cat came across my path. The missionary said she had never seen it before, so I told her it was my animal magnetism : ) Each evening the kitty came around. The next night we were eating in our dining area, had the door open. The kitty peeked its head around the corner but did not come in. I didn't see it the last few days of the trip. The morning that we were leaving, a couple from the team came to my room and said they had a surprise for me. With them was the kitty. She had showed up the evening before, meowing outside their door. They gave her some tuna and left the door open, thinking she'd want to leave. But she stayed, she spent the night on the husband's chest. Boy, was I jealous! It must have been someone's pet, the kitty was very clean and very friendly. For those of you who remember my bad experience boarding my dogs last year when I went to help the Katrina animals, I had a great one this time. A new one opened up last December. A guy and his mom had built a home on 10 acres a few years ago, he used to be in construction. He built a very nice kennel on the land. The building looks like a house, large windows and big kennels. He put a lot of thought into the best way to set it up. I didn't see the cat area but he explained that somehow the inside air is circulated outside, so the cats can breathe fresh air and not stale air. When I dropped the dogs off, he said there was 1 cat there for 1 month. The owner was an 81 yr old man, and he was going on his honeymoon! The dogs were not stressed at this kennel, and he said they were his favorites so far. They didn't chew up the bedding or potty in the kennels. He would let the dogs wander the building / his office while he was there, and there was a run he let them out in at least 3 times a day. I can tell they got a lot of attention, even the chow mix didn't seem to miss me. I've always been told that he gets sad/mopey when I am gone. Going back to my awful kenneling experience last Oct., I mentioned a little bit about it to him. How my dogs were stressed and when I mentioned it to the owner, she commented "I was wondering why someone would abandon their dogs." He didn't want to speak badly about anyone but he did mention a groomer in the area had worked for this lady for 2 years and told him "She is evil." Hope everyone is well. Purrs, Theresa Suz...
polonca12000...
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