Wendy's and the G Factor

We have come up with a term since living in Guatemala that we use to distinguish things that are different in this culture. We call it the G Factor. These are things that we find hard to understand in our way of thinking - they probably make perfect sense to those that live here so this is no way is to make fun or ridicule, just our way of identifying differences. I
am sure we would have plenty of U Factors (US differences if one was not from there) in the US as well .

So anyway, now that I have tried to protect myself from anyone thinking we are writing this to make fun or ridicule, here is what we experienced today. Lisa was on call last night and actually had a pretty hard call, but more on that later. She was getting off at 1pm so I made an effort to return from Chichi in time to pick her up and go to lunch and then home so she could rest. We went to Wendy's, one of the perks of living in the city. Picture this - we are pulling into the parking lot and 2 armed men get out of a car and take their posts as they watch a Toyota Land Cruiser, which is bullet-proof, back into the parking space. These men also have the wires in the ears, etc. Then 2 other men get out of another vehicle while the doors of the Land Cruiser open and a family gets out - mid 50's husband and wife and there daughter and grand children. Then they walk them to the door of Wendy's so they can enjoy some lunch. Once in Wendy's they are stationed around the restaurant and at each entrance. This is what we call the G Factor - not something we would see in the US, especially someone with that importance going to Wendy's for lunch. If we ever need that kind of surveillance we will have to rethink our lives, not sure we could handle that!

So back to what is going on. Lisa started a new rotation in the children's clinic and it is pretty sweet. Mainly well children checkups, break at 10am, done at noon. This gives her time to study after the afternoon class so she is pretty pleased. She also started a new rotation when she is on call and it is being the pediatrician for Labor and Delivery. Sounds like a great job, but last night they had 28 births and she was the pediatrician. So she heard nurses and other physicians calling "Pedriata" all night and was non-stop. Did not even get a chance to sit and rest. The good news is she made it through it, all baby's alive and well and she got off at 1pm.

I went to Chichi yesterday to meet up with the mobile clinics and the group from Pepperdine University that is visiting to experience another culture, get a glimpse at medical missions, support us by ministering to our patients in prayer, taking time with the children and just being with our patients and churches that we work with. This time of fellowship is a great experience to be a part of. Yesterday evening after clinic they went to play soccer with the HTI staff and all had a great time. The star of the show was our health promoter Juan who scored at least 6 goals, so we named him "El Conejo" since he would just not stop. Conejo is rabbit, like the energizer bunny. Another one from the Pepperdine group was a high scorer as well.

I met up with the group in Pacaja Xesic where the patient load started out slow and ended up with 20 or so medical patients and 20 or so dental patients. It was also Anja's (one of the members of the Pepperdine group) birthday, so after an excellent lunch of grilled steak, beans and guacamole we had some fun with the pinata with the hosts from the church and the patients that were still around. I also had the opportunity to speak with Anastascio Alvarez one of the church leaders and we had a good conversation about the clinic and the church. Also, I got to spend some time with a local teacher who expressed his gratitude for the service that we provide to his community. All in all a great day and we continue to pray that our patients will continue to receive healing both physically and spiritually.

Today the teams have mobile clinics in Mactzul 6 and San Jorge Sacapulas and we are expecting good turn outs of patients. Both of these locations have started to announce via radio which helps spread the word better. I went to Mactzul 6 in the morning and spent some time with Pedro Calel who lost his 16 year old son last month. He and his wife are doing better than they expected and he knows it is due to all of the prayers that have been offered on their behalf. I also got to talk to his other son some and you could tell he was still sad - he is about 12 or 13. We got him involved with the students and it started to perk him up. Please continue to pray for this family.

As always, please check Sheri's blog for more news on the clinics and photos! www.sheriinguate.blogspot.com