Guatemala Blog (Eagle's Nest Orphanage) 2014

Friday, after we had finished teaching the kids and spending time with them, we took time to go zip lining. It took maybe 30 minutes to get up to the top, then about an hour and a half to get back down. But that is not the best part, at least not for me.

When we got back down, we all took a little time to get ice cream or smoothies or whatever else we wanted. Well, when everyone had finished getting their dessert, I walked over to the couch and saw an older couple. I wanted to say hi and didn’t know if I should or should not. Being in Guatemala, where everyone says hi to everyone, I decided that I should.

After saying hi to this couple (John and Margret, we learned later), we started a conversation, starting with where we were from and where they were from. We then talked about how we were here on a mission trip helping at Eagle’s Nest, and who we were here with. We started to talk about them and learned that they had been a traveling couple; they were backpacking hippies in their youth, but even as adults, they never stopped traveling. We talked about where they had been, how they got around while they were there, how they kept money for traveling, and much more. I then learned that before I had started a conversation with this couple, Ryan (one of the team members) had helped John up after he fell out of his chair. It was so amazing how one single “Hi” could lead to an amazing conversation with an amazing couple. It taught me that everyone has a story, and if we just take the time to say a single “Hi,” we never know what amazing stories we will hear and the amazing people we will meet.