Mayan Families

It was a hot day!  We walked about 30 min. to our destination with our umbrellas to block the sun.  I have to admit, I did feel pretty wimpy as we were walking along the river, where men, women, and children of all ages spend their days and lives shoveling rocks in the hot sun.  It's not too hard to feel humbled around here.  

This dog has been "rescued" by Mayan Families.  It's an organization that focuses on helping families in extreme poverty (along with the dog rescue division).  Lucy Jensen told us about this organization because she volunteers there each week.  One of the things we wanted to experience while in Guatemala, was a service project.  So we were happy to find out about Mayan Families!  Many families cook inside their homes, and they do not have any sort of ventilation system to carry the smoke out of their small homes.  So they cook inside, and breathe in all that smoke.  Many people have lung problems because of this condition.  One of the projects Mayan Families does is to take donations, and set up building of these ventilation systems.  So, we decided to help out!  We purchased a "chimney" for a mere $170.  This week we will go build the chimney for a family in the area.  More pictures on that to come...

We had a hurried lunch at a nice Italian place. We ended up taking our food to go so we wouldn't miss the bus to our next adventure!  The waiter was so nice- he let us take 2 forks (they didn't have plastic forks) so we could eat on our way. 

A whole bunch of Pana pictures!

This is the Jensen's home.  It's a traditional Guatemalan style home which is very cool.  You get to each room of the house by walking outside!  They have a great view of these waterfalls from their home.

Devon and Alex washing dinner dishes in the outside "pila."

Avocado tree!

Back to our house- this is our grounds-keeper's dog...the one that looks so much like Keta!

Jeremy's dog Carter- hanging out while we are all having dinner inside.

Devon and friends playing 7-up

Great view from our living room window!

This is the other dog that belongs to our groundskeeper.  Sometimes these dogs get into our trash can, and Emily encourages them to scram fast, so Kitario doesn't beat them with a stick!

Dinner party! This was the Lybberts last night in Pana.  We sure miss you guys!  Colin will be seeing the Lybberts today.  He and Greg are on their way to Antigua as I am writing this post (Antigua is about 3 hours away).  Colin will be doing some cold calls.  We're hoping he finds lots of people interested in the oils over there!  

Devon crashing after 5am seminary.

This dog likes to visit us sometimes.  Emily has taken all of these great dog photos!

These women are making tortillas.  We can always tell when we are approaching a tortilla "tienda" because you can hear clapping!

A fun day at Lake Atitlan. 

Devon and Jensen boys looking at scripture stories, and smelling essential oils!  They were trying to decide which one to put into the diffuser.   

Alisa, Rachel, and Lucy- what beautiful friends!  We have  no paper plates, so we've had lots of fun chatting and bonding in the kitchen while doing dinner dishes.  

The little branch we are attending in Pana was asked to have the primary participate in a stake primary activity.  We decided to sing and sign "I am a Child of God."  We only had a few practices, but the kids caught on super fast, and they did a great job at the performance!

Here is Calvin "fishing."  There were several of these dead fish floating in the lake, so he would scoop them up on a stick, and fling them out as far as he could.  The triplets thought it was hilarious!  Actually Tameeka had claimed a dead fish on the sand that she had made sort of a "home" for in a washed up shoe (without touching it of course).  Later when she discovered that Calvin had flung her fish off to sea, she shed many a tear.  

Jungle boy! All he needs now is a machete.   

Calvin and Devon's great adventures!

Calvin and Devon took the camera and went on a walk one morning.  First, they found a graveyard.  Colorful, isn't it?!

This is a tuk-tuk.  It costs 5 quetzals (around 70 cents US I think) to ride anywhere in town.  Every morning, we have a tuk-tuk come at 4:50, and the boys and I head over to the church building for seminary.  The boys' seminary teacher is a very nice woman, and the lessons are all in Spanish!  There are about 3 other boys who attend. Seminary is held Mon.-Thurs. (not Friday like in the states- not sure why).  Calvin and Devon understand some things, but there's a lot they don't understand.  This has motivated them to take their Spanish language study very seriously, and when we're not out and about doing things, they are studying Spanish on our computer program! After their seminary class is over, we walk 30 minutes home.  Things are hoppin' around town even at 6am!  There are ladies with orange juice stands, mango stands, and panaderias (bakeries) that are open.   This morning after seminary, we stopped off at a stand and bought some fresh mangos and a pina (pineapple).  Delicioso!

This is a view of Lake Atitlan from the home we are renting.  Some of these mountains are volcanoes!

Secret hide-out

Girl's day out!

Girls day out! Rachel, Alisa, Lucy, and I spent several hours shopping.  We were all pretty exhausted by the time we were done!  Rachel and Alisa got some great deals at some "Pacas" which are shops along the street with discounted clothing.  By "discounted" I mean like $1 for a shirt or even less.  Lucy helped me buy some groceries and other moving-in things like kitchen supplies, hangers, etc.  Hopefully next week we can do some more shopping and get fun stuff like jewelry,  a few Guatemalan blankets, and traditional outfits!  

Guatemala!

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in Panajachel.  Breakfast every morning was black beans, scrambled eggs, bread, watermelon, and fried bananas. Calvin liked putting the beans and eggs on bread.  I'd never thought about eating beans for breakfast, but it was very filling!

While eating breakfast, Colin noticed that a couple in the pool were signing to each other.  Of course, I had to go say hi! Ana communicated with Guatemalan sign, and her husband Oliver (from NY, and a retired engineer) used American Sign.  Ana's signs were very different from ASL so I had to have Oliver interpret for me a few times.  They were such a nice couple, and I'm so glad we went over to say hello! 

We exchanged numbers and who knows....maybe we'll see each other again!

Happy 14th Birthday, Devon!

Devon's birthday was a jam packed, fun filled day!  It started out with some house-hunting.

When we first got here, I kept wondering where all the residential areas were.  We soon learned that all the homes are behind walls.  It is so interesting and kind of reminds me of "The Secret Garden!"  People put bits of broken glass or prison wires on the tops of the walls to prevent break-ins.  The crime rate is super low here, so their home-made security systems must work well!

These men shovel rocks all day long.

"suicide showers".  That's what makes hot water possible.  Not to worry- it's too high for anyone to touch!

We had a great dinner at the Dennings with a group of friends.  The salsa, guacamole, fruit, and salads were incredible!  Makes such a difference when everything is so fresh!

Making delicious mud cakes. 

After dinner at the Dennings, we went to one more house.  We looked at 6 houses total.  This is the one we chose!

It even came with a dog that looks like Keta!  The groundkeeper lives next to us, and he has this dog, plus a black lab.  Here's some pics of the inside of our house:

This is Lake Atitlan- right across the "street" from our front yard!  

Back to the Dennings (my pictures are out of order)...this was the cake we got at the Panaderia for Devon.  Isn't it gorgeous?!  It tasted great too:)

Happy Birthday, Devon!  We love you so much!