This is the first morning I didn’t have a scheduled place to be. I slept in and started my day very slowly. That was just what I needed. Now it’s time to get a bit caught up. The wi-fi router stopped working last night, but seems great now. We’ll see how long it lasts. I made my images small, so I should be able to upload. We’ll see how that goes. My focus is on organizing my photo gallery. Below you will find links to the entire collection and links to each gallery.

This afternoon, we will get photos printed of the family we met yesterday. We will ask Sharon to deliver them to the family. We also want to make arrangements to send them food and the water filter. We are also considering traveling across the lake this afternoon and spending the night in one of the villages that is known for beautiful birds. We will decide later. For now, we sit with our feet up, Maria knitting, me organizing photos and trying to get caught up.

Here are links to the collections I have made so far (all are accessible from the first link):

The Entire Collection: http://photos.cmoye.net/guatemala

Birds: http://photos.cmoye.net/guatemala_birds

Flowers: http://photos.cmoye.net/guatemala_flowers

Atitlan Nature Reserve (Butterflies, Hummingbirds, Waterfalls, Flowers): http://photos.cmoye.net/guatemala_nature

Mayan People and Culture: http://photos.cmoye.net/maya

Street Scenes/Travel /Panajachel (still being organized): http://photos.cmoye.net/pana

8:00 a.m:

We had a great breakfast at “home”, pineapple, strawberries, fresh tortillas (still warm, Maria ran up the street and got them) with frijoles negros (black beans), queso (cheese), and fresh avocado. Yum!!

We will be leaving shortly to volunteer at Mayan Families. Maria will be doing physicals on preschool children and perhaps senior citizens. I will be taking photos I think. We’ll see. As long as I don’t have to stand much, I’m up for whatever.

8:30 p.m. Maria and I met Samantha and Elissa at Mayan Families. We boarded a truck loaded with food and other supplies and headed to the preschool that Mayan Families supports in San Jorge. Maria volunteered to do physical exams for each child. I took photos that I will share with Mayan Families.

Open up and say, “Ahh…..”

Before leaving, I was given a booklet with photos of preschool children who needed sponsors. So many faces, how does one choose? Sharon (who founded Mayan Families along with her husband) encouraged me to consider sponsoring a boy named Anderson, who we were told, was from the family most desperately in need of assistance. Anderson’s father injured his arm and is unable to work. His mother makes beaded jewelry and other items, but does not earn enough to feed the family. I was relieved that they made it easy, and went off looking forward to meeting Anderson.

The first thing that struck me about the preschool was that there were twenty-nine students in the class with one teacher. There were ladies there that managed bathroom breaks, but the teacher does not have an actual assistant. It was dimly lit. These people never saw me before, but allowed me to enter and photograph their children. The teacher was smiling and actually seemed to enjoy her job. The children were calm and very well behaved. No screaming, no fighting. Their routine totally disrupted, they continued to behave really well. Imagine these things happening in the US!

The students were from indigenous families. Some spoke spanish, some spoke Kakchiquel. The teacher was fluent in both. None of them spoke English. The two people who accompanied us both spoke Spanish. One also spoke English, the other also spoke Kakchiquel. Perfect. In spite of being very poor, these children were clean and well groomed. Guess what else, none of them were overweight. I’m guessing they actually get exercise. What if American children worked and played instead of sitting around all day.

Not long after arriving, I met Anderson. I was excited to meet him. He was very nice. Very calm and compliant. Quite healthy too. When we finished with this class, we went upstairs. There we met Martin, a young man who is apparently malnourished, possibly with a parasite. Maria really thought he might be the one. As I pondered this, Martin kept smiling at me from across the room. He stole my heart. I looked at his form, his birthday is August 25, same birthday as my son, Steven. There, but for the grace of God go I. My little boy never had the concerns this young man has. He has tons of personality, a fun and lively kid. I decided not to sponsor Anderson, but chose Martin instead.

Before entering the preschool, we told Anderson’s mother we would return to speak with the father when we left the school. He was standing outside when we were leaving. We could have changed our minds, but I had the opportunity to see how a Mayan family really lives. I knew going in that would mean a commitment to help Anderson’s family as well. Ismael, Anderson’s father took us into their home and gave us the tour. They live in two rooms. No, not two bedrooms, two ROOMS. One is a bedroom with two beds for eight people. The other is a kitchen. As you see in the photos, life for them was difficult before Ismael found himself unable to work. He bravely admitted to a previous drinking problem that hurt his family. In addition to the recent problem with his arm that may take months to heal, he has appendicitis. They performed surgery to remove it, but were unable to do so because his appendix is attached to his liver and gall bladder. For now he has to wait. They are doing more tests, and may try again on December 18.  Maria and I agreed after hearing their story to buy them a water filter and food. That frees me from a long term commitment. It is possible that by the end of the year Anderson’s father may be back to work, so I am comfortable with that for now. I also plan to share their story with my Facebook friends, maybe someone else can sponsor Anderson or his sister. Anderson’s has five sisters, Eleda, age fifteen dropped out of school after 7th grade because they were unable to afford school supplies. Miriam, age 17, left home and got married because she was tired of starving. Then she got pregnant, had a baby and is still starving apparently. Not sure if she is back home with the others or not. Angelina is 11 years old, Aura is 9, Danira Estrella is 6 and Anderson is 5.

I am very grateful to be able to help, but so sad to know that some people have to live as they do. Our donation will mean they will not starve for a few weeks, and may possibly save Martin’s life, preventing him from being malnourished again since my support for him is long-term. Yet, it feels like picking up sand from the beach.

As I was photographing them and preparing to write their story, I was reminded of Gordon Parks and Flavio de Silva. I was doing something very similar, although on a much smaller scale. I found myself on the very of tears for so many reasons. When we went outside, the tears broke loose.

Sara from Mayan Families emailed me the link to sponsor Martin, so that is done. Here’s a photo of me and my apatronicado, Martin.

We had lunch at a lovely restaurant before heading home. What a culture clash!  I almost felt guilty eating it.

We were exhausted in every way after when we got home, and spent the rest of the day relaxing.

The neighbor’s rooster is making me crave fried chicken.

Greetings from the coffee shop  Maria had to run an errand in town, so I have a few minutes to update. She had a friend try to see why our internet wasn’t working right. The friend things the stick we bought is bad. Oh well. Good thing there are other options.

Pass needed to use restrooms in hotel. If you bought breakfast there you got a pass for the day.

Breakfast at Hotel St. Thomas: Frijoles, huevos y platanoa (beans, eggs and plantains).

This morning we went to took a shuttle to the market at Chichicastenango (about an hour away). It’s the largest indigenous market in this hemisphere.  First we had breakfast at Hotel St. Thomas so that we could a bathroom pass. While there we saw macaws, toucans and very elusive hummingbird. Then we headed to the market. I thought I was on a movie set. Squealing pigs, chickens, tiny vendors begging for sales, a mayan/catholic church where a tour guide taught us much about the mayan religion. I bought some cool things even though I didn’t intend to. I’ m such a  sucker for small, needy, indigenous people begging me to buy pretty things (especially musical things).

After we returned to Panajachel, I rested in the hammock for a few minutes, then we headed to Solomon’s Porch for the English speaking church service. It was actually bilingual and the message was great. It was based on 1 Corinthians 13: 13. It was  the second in a three part series. Today’s focus was on esperanza (hope). The live band from last night played before and after the sermon. The last song was “Just a Closer Walk with Thee”, the song I had my uncle sing at my dad’s funeral. Good choice. I recorded the service so I can practice my Spanish when I am home, and to be reminded of hope. I made a tiny friend during the service. We played picaboo and patty cake during the sermon.

After the service, there was a woman selling homemade quiche (pollo con queso y brócoli: chicken with cheese and broccoli). Mmmmm muy delicioso!

There is a service for children happening in the back room of the cafe right now. There is a real Christian presence here and lots of people who sincerely want to make a difference in the world. There is a medical group here working with the church group this week. They were at the service today. Maria is trying to figure out how we can either observe or help out.

You would think I would be miserable and sore right now as I have walked much more than usual. I am doing quite well. Some pain, but not enough to stop me from doing most things. Perhaps I am blocking it. Maybe it’s the adrenaline, or the coyote cream I bought from an indigenous man (wish I knew what he said was in it), or maybe its the amazing climate (they call this winter as it’s cooler now than in January)  Cool is like 70ish in the day. 50ish at night. It’s rainy season here. So far, that has meant that it rained hard once (last night). Are you jealous Pittsburgh? How come there is less rain here in the rainy season than in Pittsburgh during their driest season?

Back at Maria’s house. Her friend loaned her his Internet card. Yay! La Iglesia de Nuevo Eden has a new singer. Tonight’s music is not so bad, or it wasn’t until the other lady grabbed the mike again. We peeked inside. There were about 3 people in the congregation. Maybe we aren’t the only ones who aren’t impressed with their music.

Today’s post is rather short. Maria took her Internet stick to a friend with her router hoping to be able to make them work together, so we are at Solomon’s Porch listening to a band of ex-pats. and eating super fantastic nachos while using their free wi-fi..  There is a medical group gathered here, planning to do some work with the Mayan Community.. Please excuse any typos. I left my reading glasses at the house.

We went to the Nature Reserve today. It’s not quite like any other I’ve been to. It’s a natural forest, that has netting to keep some of the butterflies enclosed. There are small waterfalls there, amazing plants/flowers, and hummingbirds. Need I say that I LOVED it! There are more species of butterfly and hummingbird than you would find in the US. Thank God it is small and has several benches so I could take breaks. I took a ton of photos. I”m uploading things now. I’ll organize later, so for now, there will be three days worth of photos.

Update: Here’s a link to the photos I took at the nature reserve: Lake Atitlan Nature Reserve

I didn’t get to the monkey section because it involved far too much walking. Oh well.

I just cut THE BEST pineapple I have ever eaten. Cut a piece, eat a piece. Sorry Maria, I ate WAY more than my share. Today was very full (so far), ending with a trip to the market where we purchased fresh pineapple, strawberries, mangos, oranges, limes, avocados, and some spiny fruit I never saw before (earlier we bought melocoton and mini bananas). Mmmmmmm. I am licking the juice off my fingers, hands, arms, the cutting board..(okay, not really the cutting board, but I wanted to )

The only thing that wasn’t delightful today was my time in the hammock. That actually was wonderful, but imagine swinging in a hammock to the sounds of a heavy metal and rooster duet. LOL!!!

Headed to the beach. More later. 

9:33 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 7:33 Guatemala time. I’m chilling here while Maria runs an errand. We walked to the beach. If you know my story, you know what a big deal that was (it’s about 3 blocks roundtrip). I actually enjoyed part of the walk. That alone is exciting. The beach is a mixed bag. There is no one who checks the quality of the water, no clean up, therefore, it’s not safe to put your feet in unless you want a disease. It sounds like a real beach, the water has waves (not quite like ocean waves, but waves). Silly me, I was thinking it was 7:00 when we went, but it was only 5. I got to see where the sun would set if we were there at the right time. It was rather cloudy in that spot anyway. I’ll try for the sunset photo tomorrow or Sunday probably.

This morning, after breakfast and some wi-fi time, we went to the BAM to exchange money. I have a photo of the outside. I think it’s funny because there are seriously armed guards outside of a place that has BAM in big letters. Anyway, we exchanged US dollars for Quetzals. I gave them $100, they gave me $750. Pretty nice, huh? I had to show my passport, they record the transaction. I learned later that you can only do this once every week or something. If I want to exchange more money, we have to use a different bank. I’ll probably need to because I was spending money all day.

While Maria shopped for our wi-fi hot spot and a phone, I decided to sit outside and wait . I broke down again, and made a deal with a Mayan street vendor. She was really nice though. Her name is Angelina and I made an amazing deal. I bought a table runner, handwoven and a purse for $140 Q. Maria said, you know that only really cost you less than $20 US dollars. You got a REALLY good deal. (The original asking price for the runner was $300 Q). Anyway, we were on a first name basis by the time the deal was done.

When we left there, we went to a Mayan cloth market. I bought a handwoven, embroidered blouse. It has to be tailored to fit me, but it shouldn’t be too hard. They intentionally make their clothes adjustable, makes it easy to hand things down. Their clothes are made to last for a very long time. That blouse cost me $100 Q, about 13 US dollars. Now that I realize how little I spent, I’m feeling a bit guilty. They put a lot of work into making these things, I probably should have paid more.

The one thing we are not doing much of is eating, although we did visit Dina’s Chocolates. I had a dark chocolate orange truffle. It was delicious. The orange was actually pieces of an orange. Maria had hot chocolate.

We went back home for a bit after that and rested. Maria wrapped gifts she had for Anya’s teachers at the Spanish School, so we visited with them this afternoon. They actually understood my spanish. I, surprisingly, understood most of what they were saying to Maria. I have been pleasantly surprised by how well I am managing to communicate. I won’t lie, I allow Maria to speak and translate quite often, but I’m getting less shy about speaking for myself. I will also admit that some of the street vendors laughed at me when I spoke to them in Spanish.

After visiting the Spanish school, Maria went to the panderia and bought banana bread while I photographed a beautiful old church. From there we visited the market in Panajachel and bought the fresh fruit mentioned at the beginning of this blog. We also bought beautiful fresh flowers for 4 US dollars. Now, she is out, I rest and listen, once more, to music from La Iglesia Evangelista. I guess I’m getting used to is because it doesn’t seem as bad as it did last night (or maybe it’s a new singer).

Maria brought back some flavor-poppin’ good nachos from Solomon’s Porch. It is owned by a former Florida attorney who gave up his practice to live here and serve the Mayan community. He also pastors a congregation for ex-pats and some lost souls, both white and brown.

Everything went perfectly yesterday. As the devotional I shared said, “Let go and Let God” handle things and all will be well. We were able to catch the 11:40 plane to Guatemala City. Being on standby meant we were the last to board, but still had just enough time to call Eric, Richard and Alfonzo (the person in Guatemala who set up our transport from the airport). We had the unique pleasure of traveling with a Bengal cat named Spot who serenaded us most of the way. It was cute. At first our seats were not together. We were across the aisle from each other. Then the woman and child next to us found seats near her husband, and Maria and I had the three seat row to ourselves.

The first huge difference between Guatemala and the US is the bathrooms. They look similar, however, you are not permitted to flush paper down the toilet. Think about that for a minute. It goes in the trash can instead.:(

When we arrived in Guatemala City, our luggage was there. That was a huge concern for us. No problems with immigration or customs. When we got outside, there were throngs of people standing outside with a bar that separated them. Looked like fans waiting outside a concert hall for a big star. They cheered when whomever they were waiting for came out. Maria said it’s always like that. Our driver, Salvador, was outside with a sign with Maria’s name on it. He had a rather new 18 passenger van to drive us the three hours to Panajachel. It seemed we were going up hill the whole 3 hours.

The thing that struck me most about Guatemala City was the way things were very similar, yet very different. McDonalds, Alleve ads, Pizza Hut, Cheetos signs on trucks, traffic, same car brands… What was very different other than most signs in Spanish was the pollution. There is obviously no vehicle inspection here. Rusty trucks and chicken buses fill the air with ugly smoke and fumes. I wanted the window open, but soon closed it because of the pollution.

The other thing that struck was was the pristine beauty of the landscape. Glorious mountains, blue skies, stunning vista. We stopped as we neared Panajachel at an overlook where we could view Lake Atilan and Panajachel from above. There are several huge volcanos and an lovely lake. Pana is in a valley (sort of-it’s still really high elevation).

Got my first high pressure sales attempt at the overlook. A young lady and a young man waited for their prey. “$5 dollar for you Miss”. I told her in broken Spanish I only had US dollars. “$2 then”. $1 for you Miss. Look pretty on you. Just for you $1.” The pleading look in her eyes made it very hard to say no. But I resisted.

Maria’s house is very cute. I met Alfonzo, the guy who takes care of her property. He had a carpenter in building shelving in the den and in the bathroom while she was gone. He does really nice work. She was disappointed that he put the shelf over the sink instead of over the toilet, but the work was fabulous. Wish I could take this guy back to my house to work. Alfonzo setup Maria’s hammock in her patio. It’s beautiful. I’ll probably live there when we are not out exploring things.

After Alfonzo did a few odd jobs for her, we went out for dinner at the “deli”. I’m thinking sandwiches. Wrong! We had steamed veggies over brown rice with peanut sauce. Yummy! The restaurant was full of ex-pats. Apparently, you have to be very careful about where you eat here, and this was a known safe place. We were ambushed by “indians” selling their wares. Even though I knew I shouldn’t, I couldn’t resist the little girl selling headbands. Once I did that, I was a marked target. There were boys, girls, old ladies, middle aged ladies swamping my table, BEGGING me to buy their homemade items. Most were beautiful, but it was hard to get rid of them. I almost wanted to yell, “LEAVE ME ALONE!” I realized after a bit, that the headband I bought and my purse were on the table, clearly marking me. After I hid both, they backed off some.

Maria and I were both exhausted, so we decided to turn in early, then the music started. There is a pentecostal church right around the corner. It started with an accordion, not too bad, but then, the singing started. AY!!! Thank God I bought earplugs. Maria had warned me of this and the roosters that will begin crowing at 4:30. Thank God I listened to her.

She was right about the roosters, but didn’t mention the packs of howling dogs that would join them. 4:30 Guatemala time is 6:30 Pittsburgh time, so once I heard them, I was up for the day.

For now, all the photos I took yesterday are in the gallery. Click on “more photos” to see them. I’ll edited the gallery later, so here’s your chance to see my unedited photos. LOL!

Yes, we should be in the air at this time, but our plane is not yet here. Apparently it hit a bird on the way here. Hmm… musta been pretty big, maybe it was a pteradactyl. Anyway, it looks like we are going to miss our Houston connection. Maria is trying to contact our van driver in Guatemala. We are on standby for the next flight (11:40), and confirmed for the 7: 40 flight if necessary.  There could easily be issues with us getting our luggage, but we both have a change of clothes with us. God will work it out. Today’s Daily Word was totally on point. “Let Go and Let God!”

Guess who we visited with at the airport? Anita and her mother! I got to spend time with my two best friends at the same time . She and her mother were on their way to a conference in Canada. Their gate was right beside ours. Isn’t that crazy?!!! We both knew we were traveling today, but hadn’t talked about times.

“Ladies and gentleman we will be boarding soon”. Let the adventure begin!