Day One - July 7, 2007

7:22 a.m.

We're enroute to Atlanta from Milwaukee right now and experiencing quite a bit of turbulence.

Interesting note -- Chris Daughtry and his band are on our flight. I think most people are oblivious to this fact, but not me. Being the huge Idol fan I am and working for a FOX station, it's pretty much expected that I know these things.

Anyways, as we're sitting with all our luggage at the Delta counter at 4:15 this morning, we heard that Chris Daughtry was on our flight. He played at Summerfest last night so it makes sense that he'd be leaving early this morning. I told Heather we were going to get our picture with him, so I grabbed my camera and walked over to his posse and introduced myself. I said where I worked and that I loved his music. Then I asked if we could get a picture with him. What a sport he is! What celebrity lets you take a picture of them at 4 in the morning?

6:18 p.m.

We just finished eating our first Guatemalan meal. We had black bans, rice and a tasty fruit salad (pineapple, watermelon and cantalope). The meal was delicious!

Now, for a real update.

While we were waiting for our flight in Atlanta, we met a woman named Dawn. She was headed to Guatemala City to pick up her two adopted daughters, Madison and Brianna (Olga and Matilda). They welcomed her at the airport so we all got to meet the girls. They were so beautiful and excited to finally be going to America with their new mommy. (Dawn had already made a couple trips to Guatemala to meet the girls).

Manuel, Coca, Adrian and Hugo picked us up at the airport in the ministry's big blue van. They tied up our bags on the roof and we all piled in.

Once we were out of the airport, it was definitely a case of culture shock. The streets here are a night and day difference to cities in America.

Oh, we saw a Hooters billboard when we were leaving the airport. It said, "Bienvenides Guatemala" or, "Welcome to Guatemala" and had a sexy Hooters girl making a salute. It's quite funny to me to see how American culture can influence another.

Driving through Guatemala City was very eye-opening. We saw guards with big guns everywhere. There were street vendors walking through traffic selling roses and cell phone holders. Just bizzare mostly.

Once we got to the mission house, we picked bunks and started to settle in. Adrian went over some of the rules and guidelines to keep us safe here in Guatemala.

Then the boys took a group of us to the corner convenience store (tienda). Here, it's not Diet Coke, but Coke Light. I don't know why but it makes me smile. :)

After returning from the tienda, Tom, Chris, Heather Joanne and I went with the boys to the other mission house. We helped unload all the supplies and other in-kind donations for the ministry. It was amazing to see what everyone had donated to the mission. You can feel the love and support!

After unpacking all the supplies and donations, some of us played cards while others napped or played with Lillian and Pahola, Manuel's girls (who are absolutely adorable by the way!)

Let me just say one thing - it's so bizarre not to flush toilet paper. TP goes in a trashcan next to the toilet. I'm told it's because of poor plumbing here in Guatemala. I sure am glad that's not the case back home.

As I said before, we ate our dinner...then we shared some devotional time together.

I can already tell this will be a very special and spiritual week for me.

When I was going through my bags, I found a sweet card from my mom. It was very touching and almost made me cry. It was so awesome that she thought to do that. I am so loved. I am a lucky girl.

When I finally got a hold of my family using the cell phone provided our team, I had to give them a hard time for not answering when I first tried calling this afternoon. We were able to send text messages though, so that was very nice.