The Little Yellow School Bus

With gas being at an all time high we thought why not do what the locals do and so we acquired a tuk-tuk. We were able to sell a van that some wonderful people in the states donated. Tuk-tuks are used in most majority world countries. They are in India and Vietnam. They're just little scooters. But this one is much bigger than the others around here. A local mission helped us to get it. We can coast down to the end of town and though it can only go up to 10-25 rpm's uphill, it's going to save us on gas money.



This is Will giving it a test ride in Panajachel. It's rather loud, but it's diesel and that costs less here. The kid's love it! The locals, well, some just smile, the guys wave (they don't see women driving tuk-tuks around). Some people wave us down for rides. We thought we could get 5 kids in back and 1 in front, but we stuffed 14 in it, just like a telephone booth!!

New "Kids" on the Block

This is Margarita. She is one of our latest additions to our family. She came from a hardware store in Chimaltenango. She was sitting outside minding her own business with her sibling and here she is. Will and I thought that a cat was needed with all the field mice we have around here. They seek shelter during the rainy season and seem to be attracted to living under the adobe roof tiles. She came to us somewhat ferrel but after running away for a few weeks (or Allie wouldn't let her come back)she appeared to become domesticated overnight. She follows Will and I around like a dog and needs to be scratched like most cats. She's keeping the sunroom free of geickos, insects and sad to say some type of bird that I only discovered feathers and maybe it's head (hard to recognize some things after a fight). Will also throws her on top of the roof and yahoo! we don't hear the patter of itsy bitsy feet anymore!

As you can see Jojo is not thrilled with her. First Izzy, our Rottweiler came to live with us, then Allie, now Margarita. Life was much simplier for him then. But they all know who is the alpha, I think......






Meet the 'Familia Cabra' (goat family :) We have TONS of monte or brush here, TONS. We have workers that have to cut this brush down underneath the avocado trees or the trees suffer. The goats love to eat this stuff and we love to see them eat it. We call the mama goat 'mamacita' and the little boy is Billy, hehe, that's pretty original huh? And his sister 'Coco'. Will got to see them butt their heads last week, just like kids......Now Jojo isn't the only dog having a fit over the new additions. Allie is keeping her eye on them.....a little too much if you ask me. But the week we got them Izzy and Ally broke into their pen (which originally was Allie and Izzy's so who can blame them for the confusion?) and Izzy had Coco pinned with his mouth around her neck before Juan got a hold of her. Izzy needs to go to jail. She is just a breed that will hunt other mammals. So, she is now tied up during the day while the goats are grazing. Here's a picture of Allie and Izzy. Izzy is doing one of three things that she does well, eat....sleep....and look for prey....




So after Izzy's little escapde, the worker's quickly built a new, secure house for them. You can easily picture this as a vacation home near a lake somewhere....The goat family is now content in their secure shelter and even enjoy having guests over for a quick bite :)

Happy Belated Resurrection Day

Happy Belated Easter to one and all! It's hard to believe that another celebration has come and gone! Will and I celebrated Easter with Juan and his family, Diego, and Veronica and her children. We all headed to Antigua to watch the processions like last year. We were grateful that there was cloud cover as last year we baked in the sun and there is not a bit of shade normally by the time they start the processions. I believe it was the first time Juan and his family had been to Antigua and they seemed to enjoy it. Last year we had gone to see the processions on Good Friday, this time on Thursday so there were different processions from other churches. The streets were swamped. But like all celebrations here and I suppose whereever there are people, there are vendors EVERYWHERE! You would think every vendor from china had made their way to Antigua! All the stuff that you don't want your kids to see because it becomes a battle to keep it about the celebration of the Resurreciton of Jesus and not about toys and trinkets. Will and I attended the night time mass at San Lucas....a beautiful mass. We all had our customary candles lit and midway during the service the lights went on and people came out to adorn the altar and the church with beautiful lillies and other flower arrangements as part of the dawning of a new day. That was Saturday, Sunday was a quiet and reflective day. We had our chapel dedication on Easter Monday. Father Greg and about 4 other priests came and held a mass. We had our children and their mothers here along with the construction crew and their families. About 40 or 50 people total. We had a reception afterward and all in all it was a day of celebration with our community. I was glad for the opportunity to show the mothers how we teach the children with the props from Godly Play. They were able to see from the baptism of Jesus through his resurrection all the little figurines that we had glady received from a church in Connecticut! It really helps to seal the lessons in the children when they can see something tangible. We want to thank all of you that donated in helping us construct this Chapel of Peace. We thank Fr. Dave for helping us with the sign and hanging other things before the dedication. We miss you all and wish that you could have been here......

Boys will be Boys

This is our class time at the cistern: Diego, me and kiddos! The next pic is Will and some of my little ones after picking our sunflowers. For Valentines Day, our lesson was about Mr. Lovebug and his lack of love for his classmates. I surprised the kids with their own puppet. Will took the boys on an ATV ride. The boys love the machines...anything that makes LOTS of noise :)

This is a pic of my caballeritos (little gentlemen). They were on the letter "B" and we made masks. The next one is reading time with Guillermo (William in Spanish). The kids enjoy reading with Will and he quizes them on colors or the names of different things on the pages which seconds as a Spanish lesson for Will!

As I said, boys will be boys! Here is our guardian Juan, the lenadore (treecutter) also Juan, our two visiting college friends Peter and Alex and the little guys. Juan fell a huge pine tree that was threatening to land on the big workshop and the house where Veronica and her kids live. Lots of noise that day. Treecutting in the back and power-washing old brick patios with years of moss in the front. I couldn't hold the boys attention with all that racket!

This last picture is of a stove (plancha) that we put in for one of the boy's families. Will happened to be picking the kids up and noticed that their stove was actually half a burn barrell with a fire inside. The walls were black with soot and this becomes respiratory problems sooner or later. This is a picture of a typical stove that most families have here. No one can afford a stove or the electricity to run it. So this is what they cook on and heat their homes with. The wood is loaded on the left side.

Mid-Summer Activities

I don't seem to be getting any better with this cut and pasting of pictures! Anyway......Here we are mid-summer and already thinking of the rainy season and some of the preparation to plant a few things. The second pic is me painting some of the kid's shelves for their books. To think our furniture for our escuelita came from the Opal House property. We still have more at the carpenter's that is being made into chapel side tables. And we want to build some cabinets for Veronica's kitchen. We have 'visitors' that come into her house and leave their 'calling cards'. We are trying to show her that there is definitely a connection between the food she leaves out on the counters and her little friends that know where they can get an easy meal! The first picture is at San Lucas, actually from our coffee harvest from last year. This year we didn't do so bad about 125 lbs. We have more than 500 more plants to get into the ground this year. We want to work on that aspect of the farm. The other two pictures are of the grand opening of the San Lucas' Women's Center. This is a place where the women of the parish can meet, weave, I've heard bake bread (we sampled some....mmmmm)and I believe receive educational talks and things of that nature. Chonu, Fr. Greg's assistant had tears in her eyes as she shared what the center means to her and the parish. It's a very beautiful building, big kitchen and medicinal herb gardens surround it. It's just one example of the solidarity that we have witnessed in the parish. We are grateful to be a part of that community. One of the pictures that I can't seem to find in our camera, is of me and the beginning of a preschool. I have 4 little 4 yr. old boys who are a treasure to me. I have them for a few hours, 3 times a week. I read to them, and am helping them become familiar with the alphabet, we do little crafts and ofcourse...PLAY :) The first week, Will and I took them out 'avocado hunting'. One of the boy's big brother was out of school early and climbed the tree to shake them down, while the little guys ran here and there collecting them. We got quite a basket full and brought them home to their moms. We picked sunflowers and ate little apples off of a struggling apple tree. Our great discovery this season is that we have 2.....count them 2! Peach trees. Now I don't know plants and trees like country people do but the flowering of a particular tree caught my attention one morning when I was running. And I see lots of peaches for the future. Will and Juan cleaned and watered them and hopefully with some care we will have our first taste of them soon. The boys were thrilled when they found a bird's nest as they hunted. This is the part of being on this land that is starting to bring the seeds of a dream in the future. God willing, maybe we can have a holistic preschool where the tending of animals and having gardens for the children to take care of are part of the curriculum. I'm going to be receiving my first little critter (baby chick) here soon. A family who wanted to say thank you to Will for helping with some minor surgery is giving us one of their pollitos. They already gave us a freshly killed chicken which Veronica made into one of their Guatemalan dishes called pepian. The chicken was a little tough but it was a really delicious dish. I don't think I have the guts to watch this baby chick grow and kill it, so I told Will this one will be a pet. Unless of course, our Rottweiler, Izzy gets a little hungry for another kill. She just kills chickens but doesn't eat them. She's probably waiting for someone to cook them for her.

So, it has been a beautiful summer. We have made new friends and God continues to bring visitors to us and we are grateful. Even with our continuing struggle to become fluent we can carry on conversations now. Diego continues to be a blessing to us. Will is teaching him to drive and so one day we will release one more young person onto the streets of Agua Escondida. At least he won't be driving a chicken bus.....

Every Dentist's Nightmare

This entry is Will's as he had first hand experience of taking our kids to the dentist today!
Wow-fourteen children, ages 4-13, all for their very first dental visit at the San Lucas dental clinic, the same hospital/clinic where Diane and I volunteer. All 14 needed anesthesia, with seven having mulitple abcesses needing both needles and extractions of one or more teeth, most needing 2 or more. ALL 14 need more work as the 2 dentists and 3 technicians could not complete all of the necessary procedures. Many children had two or three abcessess on one side of their mouth, and will need to come back for needed work on the other side of their mouth, so at least they can use one side to chew properly. Angelica, our special 5 year old who has such a bad diet of coke and chips and no fruits or vegetables, has a history of complete bowel impaction with fissuring and bleeding not long ago(we immediately took her to the visiting pediatrician at San Lucas who diagnosed fecal impaction and dehydration) has equally bad teeth(Surprise!) She had so many abcesses in her teeth that the local anesthesia could hardly work and I held her hand as she cried and cried during her procedures-she couldn't have had a higher dose of anesthesia safely! My heart and soul goes out to those sweet children(all students of Diane and mine) who are suffering from Coca Cola diets and single parent syndrome, moms who are abandoned and overwhelmed and just placate kids with sweets, processed chips and Coke. No wonder Guatemala is the most malnourished country in all of the Americas.(G8 data 2009). Not one of these kids had ever had hot water for a shower(before our mission), much less floss for their teeth. May God give us the strength to always love unconditionally, come alongside those around us and be Christ to our neighbors. I'll blog about part two of the dental nightmare visits soon. Love, Will

Reflection.....

The most important events make no stir on their first taking place, nor indeed in their effects directly. They seem hedged about by secrecy. It is concussion, or the rushing together of air to fill a vacuum, which makes a noise. The great events to which all things consent, and for which they have prepared the way, produce no explosion, for they are gradual, and create no vacuum which requires to be suddenly filled; as a birth takes place in silence, and is whispered about the neighborhood. Corn grows in the night. ~ Henry David Thoreau