Meet the Brownios

For anyone that has read this post already, I have to make a correction.  Kelley's flight now gets in at 9:40am (United 0458) just in case y

Hey everybody get excited, Kelley's coming home soon.  How soon?  4 days to be exact, on her Birthday (Thursday Oct 30th).  Her flight is scheduled to arrive at 10:45am, United flight 6105 from LA.  if anyone has a chance to welcome her back, her family and I will be there around 10:30 that morning and we would love to see you there.  We really appreciate everyone's prayers while she has been away.  Kelley's doing great, today will be her last day in Antigua and she will get a ride to Guatemala city in the morning where she will be staying with the director of the Yalu nutrition center for the next 2 nights.  On Tuesday she gets the amazing opportunity to visit the Guatemalan World Vision operation and take a tour - Kelley would really love to work there, so maybe if we all prayed really hard, they would offer her a job on the spot!  She will be flying to LA on Wednesday night, get to LAX at 12:30, leave for Seattle at 8am (7hour layover, lame), and be back home at 10:30!


I am really excited to have her back safely, please continue to pray that the remaining 4 days go smoothly.  Thanks guys!

Every Mon, Wed, and Fri the feeding center or Nim Jay feeds almost 400 kids in Yalu. At 12:30 the kids line up outside the doors, eager to come in to eat and play soccer or on the playground. First they have to check-in, get weighed, then wash their hands. Then they come into the dining room and each child gets a multivitamin and a glass of Atol (Milk, oatmeal, incaparina(powder protein drink w/ lots of vits and mins), sugar, cinnamon...not bad!). Once they all are seated and have their drinks Dr. Ephraim prays and we pass out the food! The kids eat in about 30 seconds flat, sometimes help clean up :), then book it out to play. My favorite time is while they are eating. I love to go around to the tables and try to get the kids to talk to me. Most of them are still either terrified of me or so excited that I'm talking to them they can't stop giggling enough to answer! They are adorable!!  As you can see from below...Some of them have never seen a digital camera so they have LOVED having their picture taken, then being able to look at it! Every five minutes it seems someone is saying, "Tu quieres un foto?" "Do you want to take a photo?" Whether its a pig, a tree, or just a kid by themselves, they love photos! Its great :)

Nim Jay or "Big House" is the feeding center I have been working at for the past two weeks. Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays we serve almost 400 of the village ninos lunch. There is an office and a medical clinic room downstairs and a soccer pitch/basketball court and playground outside. It is a beautiful place!   

Here is my cute little Casita! I have really enjoyed living here...being on my own, trying to find interesting meals to make using just a microwave and a toaster oven, and entertaining myself in unusual ways (ie dancing by myself for exercise, writing my vows - scary! :)) 

Mi Sala (livingroom)

Mi Dormitorio (Bedroom)

Mi Cocina (Kitchen)

Mi Comedor (Diningroom)

Mi Bano (Bathroom)

Finally! Here are some pictures from the village I've been working at. There is such a contrast between the beautiful landscape and the ugliness of the poverty these people live in.

Most of the houses are made of either corn husks or cement blocks. As you can see in this picture there are animals EVERYWHERE! and going hand in hand with that, there is POOP everywhere. Usually its not a problem but when it rains, the road is like an ice-skating rink. And trust me, slipping around in the mud/poop in sandals is not fun! :)
There are anywhere from 6-10, possibly more, people living in each house. Almost every household has a little garden somewhere close by. They grow their own corn for tortillas and sometimes tomatoes or chilies. Such is life in the pueblos!

Hola mi amigos! Well I have survived my first week out in the pueblo of Yalu. It has been quite a week - one filled with heartbreaking poverty, hard lessons learned, and freezing cold showers:)
It is hard to describe just how the people of Yalu live. The houses are made of concrete bricks with tin roofing. The floors are either concrete or just plain dirt. The road is a mixture of dirt and poop from the hundreds of animals running around - dogs, pigs, horses, roosters, chickens, etc. Most families have anywhere from 5 to 10 people living in a one room house. Many don't have bathrooms within the house, although some have Mano con Mano built outside bathrooms. It is definitely a world away from Antigua, America, and pretty much anywhere else I have ever been.
Besides the emotional side of being witness to such great poverty, I have also been struggling with feeling like I am not being useful. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I help at the feeding center; cooking the meals, weighing the kids, go on home visits with the doctor, playing and chatting with whoever is not too terrified to look at me(which most of the kids are thus far :)). On Tuesdays and Thursday I walk about 3km to the next pueblo to help out in a medical clinic, weighing, taking temps, and blood pressure of patients. So although I am definitely keeping busy 'helping', I have a deeper desire to do something here that will accomplish more than just allowing them to run the way they always have. I feel like God has brought me here to give more of a long-term benefit to the village and the program. Unfortunately God has not revealed what that is to be yet but I am confident that he will. Regardless of that feeling, I most definitely cannot say that God hasn't taught me anything. I am learning much about the cycle of poverty, giving poverty a face and a personality as opposed to just an idea that I read about in a textbook or hear about on the news. God has impacted my heart through the people of Yalu and he has made a lasting impression on me that I hope will shape the rest of my life. My prayer in the two weeks I have remaining is that I can return the favor.
I am heading back tomorrow morning and will be doing my first 'nutrition counseling' session with a family in the village! Pray that I have the words to help them and am able to communicate them effectively. The language barrier has definitely been challenging. Especially because all of the villagers speak Katchikal, a mayan dialect, as their first language. I have been able to communicate effectively enough with most of the people, the workers at the feeding center, and the doctor on staff but my Spanish vocab is about 90% maxed out at this point. Time to teach myself some new words! Again, I will not have internet access so I hope you all have a fantastic week and will let you know that I am still alive next weekend! God bless you all - Miss you!


**By the way: Sorry about the lack of pictures! My stupid camera died yesterday and I didn't bring my charger to Antigua :( So unfortunately they will have to wait until next weekend...sad.

Calling all friends who pride themselves on their musical expertise and putting together a killer dance mix (mainly you Jamie Spiro:)). We need your help picking out music for the reception! Its your party too so in our opinion you should be able to help decide what you want to dance to!

Any suggestions for the reception or even the 'official' music (ceremony, first dance, etc) would be awesome!! Thanks guys! 

My Mom (Kelley would say Mi Madre) started sending some scanned photos of me in my boisterous youth and I am starting to load Kelley's photos on my computer.  So, I logically thought that our loyal followers (haha) would like to get an idea of just how cute we were as kids (not a lot has changed for Kelley).

My opinion, going purely off looks, I think we were meant for each other (both blonde bombshells, me a hunk, she a total babe!!).  Haha, anyway enjoy!

By the way, for all of you that are wondering, Kelley has reached the village safely and she has had a busy first few days.  I miss her a ton, but she's getting immersed in such an amazing experience.  Ok guys, more to come frome me.

Well I am officially done with school, Hooray! In the month I was there I got through two Grados (A & B, oh baby!), passed a very intense exam, and got my very own CSA certificate to prove it! School and Antigua has been lots of fun but its time for me to begin the work I was sent here for. Today (in 30 minutes to be exact) I will heading out to the pueblo of Yalu to begin working in the feeding center!! I am VERY excited to leave the 'tourist' role behind and start being useful. Unfortunately there isn't internet in the village however (a place w/ no internet...WHAT?!?!) so I will be a little out of the loop for the next week. Next weekend though I will be heading back to Antigua to travel with mis amigas so I will update you all then!
In the meantime there are three or four random youtube videos I found while googleing Mano Con Mano before I came. They are in Spanish but they give a great overview of what the feeding center is all about...
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mano+con+mano%2C+yalu&search_type=&aq=f


Hope you all have a fantastic week! I will be thinking about and praying for each one of you. God Bless!!

This last weekend I went to Lago Atilan with a group of people from school (photos to come). In the group were two guys from Kentucky who are traveling around the world for one year on a $15/day budget. One of the guys is a computer geek so they have a pretty impressive website where they blog, post pictures, and have a weekly video podcast of their trip.
And so...whether it was fate or just being at the right place at the right time, I will be featured in their next podcast - due out sometime next week! Check out their website (its amazing) and let me know if its true that the camera adds ten pounds :( haha...
Sam and Williams site:   http://www.twoguysaroundtheworld.com/