Day One continued....Sister Christie

We made our way from the airport to the Barcelo Hotel.
It had been highly recommended to us and arranged by Ninja's Dad.
As we entered the hotel I wished I could call him on the spot and give him a big telephone hug.
It was beautiful.
It was far above my expectations and I felt not only safe but pampered by it's luxuriousness.
Jack made a beeline straight for the nearest bed and flopped down.
"I don't think you understand what this feels like after two years." he sighed.
A big huge bed and carpet under his feet seemed like heaven.
We needed to change dollars to quetzales and so we walked around the corner to the local bank.
Trying to remember all the "don'ts" I was given I looked around nervously.
It was a little shocking to see the guards outside every business with a rifle in their hands.
I wished had made me feel more secure but it didn't.
We decided to head to a sisters house in Llano Largo before dark.
It was where Jack lived before his last transfer and he had left a lot of his belongings there when he had made the long journey to Peten. He was anxious for me to meet Sister Christie who had been one of the wonderful people who had cared for him.
We took the cab that waited outside the hotel figuring that it wasn't just flagging one down on the streets, another don't we were trying to obey.
Jack sat up front and began a conversation with the driver.
Todd and I just sat in silence, amazed at the ease and fluency of his conversation.
I pulled my video camera out because I just couldn't believe that he could speak the language so well after two years. I wanted to record it as if it were like a magic spell that would be lost when we returned back to the states.  I couldn't understand a word but I was bursting with pride. After a few minutes of taping, Jack turned my way and gave me a look.  I felt like I was caught with my hand in the cookie jar or something....like an eavesdropper. I put my camera down.

We reached Sister Christies home and we were greeted warmly. She was a beautiful woman with a quick smile, who hugged me with a tight squeeze. We held each other for quite a long time considering we were strangers to each other. But we shared something special....we both cared about Elder Winn. I could tell that they had a special relationship. I did not understand much of what was being said but I could tell by the tone that they had a fun teasing type banter. Comfortable and caring.  For a moment I felt a little jealous to see this but realized that I was much more grateful for people who had been a stand-in for me over the last two years. I was filled with love for this woman. When I thanked her for watching out for my son she said to Jack to tell me that she always made sure that he washed his hands before he ate. I laughed since this was not always something that I could get him to do when he was in my home. She served us choco bananas and chocolate covered bread on a stick. She talked about Jack and our family returning again to Guatemala and when we said that we would love to do that someday as a family, she asked, "When....what day?" That would not be the last time we would be asked that question on our trip.