Quist World Tour

In the last few days we have hiked along cliffs, seen so many waterfalls that sometimes we just drive on by, and seen the youngest island in the world, formed from 1963-1967 by underwater volcanic eruptions. Just to update, everyone but myself has now tried fermented, rotten shark, also known as Hákarl. We stopped at a farm that is the largest producer of fermented, rotten shark in the country (and likely the world). They no longer fish for shark, but get the Greenland’s sharks that are accidentally caught by commercial fishing boats. They process about 70 huge sharks a year. and by the way, they no longer bury it in dirt for 3 months—they just lay it in a piled up crate. Then hang it in an open shed-like structure, and voila! A unique and protein-packed treat that gets fed to kindergarteners at the schools. I wonder if they have a kindergarten dropout problem. Yesterday we toured the Golden Circle, which is a sampler plate of many of the things Iceland has to offer. It also includ...

Water, water everywhere. After spending a bit over a week with our youth group at Rehoboth Christian School near Gallup, New Mexico, where June is hot and dry, and where our group went through 15 gallons of drinking water a day, Iceland is an abrupt change and a shock to the senses. Yesterday we arrived at the international airport near Reykjavik, greeted by rain and 50 degree temps. We picked up our rental car and drove around the Reykjanes peninsula. We stopped in at Viking World, a small museum that has a replica of a Viking ship. That very replica ship sailed to North America in 2000. Through fog and mist we toured the coast, seeing a million arctic terns circling above us, wildflowers everywhere, and a moonscape of lava rock covered in lichen and moss. We walked on a bridge that spans the edges of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. We visited a hot spring in a geothermal field venting steam in a tall spray. And after we checked into our guesthouse in Grindavik...

When I worked at World Missions, our communications guy told missionaries to avoid two cliches when creating their slide show presentations—pictures of sunsets and the words “land of contrasts.” I understand the temptation, because Guatemala is, indeed, a land of contrasts. There is a wealth of beauty and great deal of poverty. We have eaten wonderful food of all kinds; about 47% of children under 5 here are malnourished. We have seen and/or stayed in gorgeous hotels, houses and neighborhoods in awe-inspiring environments; the percentage of people in poverty is 59%. There are colorful markets filled with traditional arts and crafts, fine jewelers offering Guatemalan Jade, and sparkling modern malls that put our local mall to shame; the percentage of people in extreme poverty is around 25%. A land of contrasts. Yesterday, we visited Lake Atitlan. This stunning body of water is surrounded by volcanoes and other hills. Colorful towns and resorts are scattered around the lake, ov...

On ruins, great guides, volcanoes and horse-riding. When you last heard, Allison and I were in Antigua, Guatemala, looking forward to seeing our friends. Mom and three young adult daughters graciously drove to Antigua to pick us up, introduce us to a local jewelry store and candy store, and take us to a lovely restaurant on a hill outside Antigua before driving us to their adorable home in Guatemala City. While they have a number of gates and locks for security reasons, this house is so cozy, a home full of love. We were there for approximately 2 hours before we all went to bed, because mom was also willing to take us to the airport for our domestic flight to the other side of th country first thing in the morning—we left the house at 5am. This is only half an hour early for her, because for her job, she can either leave at 5:30, giving her time to exercise, eat her breakfast and get ready (all at her office)at the office, or she could leave any later and spend all of that time in ...

When Allison told people she and I were going to Guatemala for spring break, almost everyone she talked to made the assumption that we were going as part of a mission trip. At first it made her laugh, because she’d never suggested that to be the case. We were looking forward to a fun and adventurous vacation that was decidedly not a service project! When it kept happening, though, she started to think more deeply about it. She didn’t tell me about it until we were on our way to Chicago, and when she did, she told me about her surprise that no one seemed to think you might just go there for vacation. Guatemala has old ruins, cities of thriving culture, vibrant cloudforests, beautiful lakes, and volcanoes, to name a few attractions. Beyond that, we’ve been looking forward to seeing our former exchange student Natalia, as well as her mother and sister who visited us at the end of Natalia’s time with us. Why wouldn’t we want to vacation here?! After a taxi ride from the Guatemala Cit...