Hello loved ones,
This is just a brief update because I have posted lots of pictures and info on the blog. So you will have to look there to see what has been happening in our lives.
One eventful day was our visit to “Copan Ruinas” in Honduras. It isn’t as dramatic as Tikal—or as hard to get to. I’ve explained a lot about it with the pictures. One very interesting story was the about the ball games. There are similar ball courts throughout Meso America. Games were played for three reasons: Religion, War or Entertainment. Lots of the information about them comes from Spanish histories written in the early 1500’s when they first invaded. If the game was played for religion it was to select a new god. Only the best athletes could compete. There were no more than seven players on a team. It is a game of lots of skill. When the game finally culminated in a victory, the captain of the WINNING team was willingly and happily sacrificed. His heart was taken from his chest while it was still beating and burned. His spirit went up with the essence of the smoke into the heavens and he was instantly transformed into a god.
If the game was played for war, only members of royalty could play. It was sort of like the time of the Israelites and the Philistines. Rather than have your people wiped out, you select the best of the warriors (and royalty) to challenge the best of the other people. The ball game was played and the king whose team lost (and frequently he was also one of the players) was sacrificed. His people then became subjects of the winning team. That is how the dynasty that ruled Copan for 400 years came to an end. The king lost his head after losing the ball game at Quirigua (where we visited with Christena and Nathan). They say he was a great king, but not a great ball player.
Sometimes they just played for entertainment and no one had to die. But the winning team did get to collect the goods from anyone who was watching the game. The spectators tried to run away as the game was ended, but the athletes chased them down and took all their jewels and booty they might have.
Our bus trip there was pretty interesting. You can only go as far as the border and then you have to show your passports, pay a fee and get a one day pass. You also exchange money at the border—and you have no idea if the people standing on the roadside are giving you a good deal or not. You then take a different bus into the country. We got off at an intersection on the highway and walked about ¼ mile to the ruins. When we were through for the day, we walked back, but we weren’t sure about where we’d see the bus. A lady told us we had to go into town. So we caught a taxi-moto (also called a tuk-tuk) and asked him to take us to catch a bus back to the border. He took us to a run-down house with a run down bus that said “Frontera” (border on it). We asked the ayudante (a young boy who is the assistant) what time it left and he just shrugged, like “I don’t know.” Or “No one knows.” He never smiled or offered us any info. Spencer tried to ask others, but he got nowhere. After about 20 minutes the driver showed up and we all scrambled for seats. The ayudante never smiled or offered any friendly overture or assistance. We were glad to get back to Guatemala and friendlier people. However, I know there are friendly Hondoreños, too—we just didn’t happen to meet up with them.
The rest of the week has been very busy. It was our last week of classes with the students at CUNORI. They have exams next week and no regular class schedules. The following two weeks are breaks and then we are gone from Chiquimula, serving in the temple and visiting other places in Guatemala. In some ways we were more than ready for it to be ending. We are getting tired. But it is actually very hard to say good-bye when you get right down to it. On Thursday afternoon our top two classes of students surprised us with a party half way through the class. The brought a cake, pop, plates, forks, napkins, cups and a couple of presents. We were very surprised and very touched. Spencer hates the parties. He wants to slip away like a thief in the night because it so hard to say good-bye.
We will be having some parties at the church classes too, but we are waiting for the Andersons so that it can be a welcome party for them. That might change the focus and make it a little easier—but I doubt it.
The Andersons have been in the MTC this week and will arrive in Chiquimula on Sunday afternoon. We have a busy week planned with them. It is hard to believe that we are winding down this fast.
I have been cooking a lot of chili and freezing it. We will be coming back to Chiquimula after Semana Santa. We want to be back here for General Conference. The Branch President announced that the branch will cover transportation again, and we are providing lunch. We hope that the turns out is as good as it was in October. It will give us one last chance to provide a service and to say goodbye to the members. This is a bittersweet time.
We are excited to be this close to seeing everyone! You are loved and missed. We have the greatest family in the world.
Love,
Mom/Jeanine
PS: We saw a great t-shirt that could have been just as true for Guatemala as Honduras. It said something like:
Rules of the Road in Honduras
Blind curves are the perfect place for passing; If you have any trash throw it out the window immediately; If you want to pass, just honk really loud and GO!; double lines means you can drive on either side of them; if there isn’t room inside your car, just hang out the windows or the doors; when in doubt drive faster; If you drive after dark, at least one headlight must be out—and the other one headed crooked; If you drive in town, the law of the jungle applies!
I think you get the idea. It was great and made us smile because it is sooooo true!