Gringo Guests

In late May I received an email from Stephanie Lantz, a young lady from southwest Iowa who had been teaching for the last year in Quetzeltenango at the Inter-American School.  She had gotten my contact information from mutual friends, Scott and Lynda Hardee, and needed some help.

She had had her passport stolen, and though she had a new one, it did not have the entrance stamp indicating when she had come into Guatemala.  The school where she had been teaching had told her she could get this at the airport.  Was this correct?  She was due to return to the US the following Sunday and was justifiably concerned.

As with many things having to do with immigration here in Guatemala, there are varying opinions.  I'm pretty familiar with the ins and outs of visas here, having had my passport stolen and experienced the multiple steps to get everything in order.  When in doubt, go to the immigration office.  This was my advice.

She was nervous about this, having been told horror stories about immigration.  I agreed to meet her there, and, within twenty minutes we had everything she needed to leave Guatemala legally.  Since she would be leaving in just a few days, I invited her to stay with us at Casa de Esperanza.

What a treat it was to have her.  They guys loved having a pretty young blond woman around for a few days, especially when she would accompany them on their walks around town.  She graciously bought us pizza one night and we had a movie night at home.

The next night she introduced them to buffalo wings!  It was hard to tell if they enjoyed her or the food more. We loved having her with us, though.

Shortly after Stephanie left, Grant Kopplin joined us for two weeks.  Grant will be starting his senior year at Yale, and had been working at a clinic in Xela for a month, as well as studying Spanish.  I knew Grant years ago when I was responsible for the preschool ministry at our church, but had pretty much lost contact with him after his family moved to Tulsa.  When he decided he wanted to come to Guatemala, his mom was hesitant, but said she would feel more confident if he would contact us.

While he was here, he was able to come and help me at school in Santa Maria a few days.  He was so willing to do "whatever" and I took full advantage of his height as he redid my word wall for me.

He also spent some time working with the kids in the classroom.  He especially fell in love with Karen, and she thought he was pretty special, too.

Grant got to experience what happens when the batteries on Fidel's chair run out.
Unfortunately, it was on the way up to Cerro de la Cruz, a high hill overlooking Antigua.
He did make it up under Grant-power.

Grant had said he wanted to be useful while he was here, and he was.  I'm not sure if it was exactly what he had anticipated, but I believe his greatest contribution was just being friends and hanging out with the guys in the house.  They love company, love showing off Antigua, and benefit from having contact with people outside their everyday environment.

Thank you, Stephanie and Grant, for making our guys feel important and valued in a country that still often looks right past them.  You made a difference in their lives, and I hope we touched yours.