Our First Mission in Guatemala

  For our first official task in Guatemala, we wrapped Christmas presents for the children at the two main orphanages we were dealing with, Luz de Maria and Fundaniños. Waking up at 8:00 is not my speciality, but I was eager to see what activities were planned for the day. Breakfast was surprisingly good, we had cold (but good) waffles and very good orange juice. The only bad part about breakfast was the milk. I thought any type of milk would be delicious, but when I went to eat my cereal, I was wrong. Anyways, I was put to the test early, translating to the waitress that my dad wanted hotter coffee. After breakfast, we gathered in a room with many toys and luggage we had donated. After wrapping presents for about an hour, we had a meeting about what would take place during the day. We gathered in a circle and met our tour guides, Joaqium, his mother Claudia, his father Bernardo, and his sister Beatrice or Tish. After they educated us about Guatemala, we were split into groups, one group to Fundaniños, a larger orphanage funded by a wealthy family, and a smaller group to Luz de Maria, a small orphanage in the city without any funding. We chose to go to Luz de Maria with a group of about nine people. As we loaded into the bus, we were all eager to see the city and visit the orphanage.