Rainy day down day.

Decided to have a "down" day today because it's raining. Life is drastically different with a little one; everything requires so much more effort. I just didn't have the will or energy to carry Lydia around in the ministry today. Instead, we'll take a lazy home day, hopefully go to market later, and then catch up to mom this evening for supper.

I had mentioned previously about the noise the roof makes during rain, but don't believe i had expoundedbeyond that. The rain drum effect was expected by me, but what I failed to anticipate was the almost constant noise this type of roof makes. On a clear day, it's constantly popping and creaking as the sun heats it up. When the wind blows, leaves, sticks, and other debris rattles down onto and across it. Cats jump onto and paddle thump across it. Birds scritch scratch tap across it. And since it's one big drum, these noises are telegraphed throughout the entire house. Added to the other noises of the night, its not surprising sleep is often interrupted or difficult to obtain in the first place.

San Antonio Boot Camp

Just to start the day out on the right foot,  this is where we walk from the kingdom hall to get a truck to San Antonio for service.

Walking along the river from the kingdom hall to Calle El Amate to find a truck near the bridge.

View of the well maintained road back toward the kingdom hall.  Be sure NOT to be caught next to a puddle when a truck splashes past.

The river. [Rio San Francisco per maps.me; Rio Panajachel per Google Earth and Google Maps] 

Typical walkway in San Antonio. This is Anthony going down toward the lake.

Just to give an idea of how hilly it is.  This is a walkway on the opposite side of the road going uphill. Pictures just don't do it justice.

End of the road. Went from paved to dirt.

View across Lago Atitlan from East side of San Antonio. 

Heading back toward San Antonio after working territory. 

I've enlarged my pictures to original size from the app default. If this works well for everyone, I'll keep this size from now on.

03 October 2017

Switched photos back to default size because they weirded out.

Extra Skylights?

This is the ceiling in our bedroom,  it is also the roof of the house. Notice the spots of light along the beam [three are visible if you look carefully, the last next to the light]. These are not electric lights nor skylights, these sre holes.

We had the hardest rain yet last night. When it rains hard, I can feel spray drops coming through the nearest hole while lying in bed. Not alarming in itself, actually reminds me of camping. But last night it did get me to thinking "where else does this roof leak?" With the intensity of the downpour I was imagining water pouring down upon our suitcases,  still strewn around the bedroom floor. The light of a bedside flashlight allayed that fear. All was right, in spite of the thunderous beating of water on the roof.

This is our shower, one of the nicest I've seen in Guatemala [or anywhere for that matter]. It's large and recessed. Last night during the downpour Raquel smelled "that smell" [Ooh ooh that smell!]. The sewer had backed up into the shower.  I splashed it clean with large bowls of water after it had receded.

Midweek Practice.

Practicing talks after the midweek meeting.

Maddie, Sebastian, and Lydia.

This was our first regular meeting back in Panajachel because of the Circuit Assembly and Circuit Overseer visit. Had my first part and was reappointed as an elder. Another brother who was with the original English group here was also appointed. Hes been here about 4 years and probably has the most local avvy. The meeting was an hour early because the Cakchiquel Congregation has their C.O. visit. Many stayed late because it started raining heavily just as the meeting finished, so we got to meet the Cakchiquel C.O. and his wife. He had to jump out of his car to open the gate and got a little soaked.

Today was supposed to be a Service Day for all of us, but in contact with the other elders it was cancelled.  The other congregations, in spite of the visit, had already cancelled in anticipation of the planned protests around the country today. These are expected to be heavily attended and could be problematic.

The earthquake in Mexico yesterday had no effect here. We weren't even aware of it until someone mentioned it at the meeting. We are all fine and hunkering down today until later when we'll venture out looking for food.

Please feel free to comment. It's how we stay connected.

Lydia's Home.

Our new home from Lydia's viewpoint. 

The shower.

Joshie in the living room. 

Mama in the kitchen.

Dada in the kitchen.

Hello, new home.

How do you find locations in Lago Atitlan? 

Look for landmarks,  such as this tienda near our new home.

Look for street signs. They are few and sometimes hard to find. This is the street we live off of in Barrio Jucanya [who cahn yah] [barrio = neighborhood].  This location is known as "intermedio", the center of Jucanya. This is still a part of the town of Panajachel. 

Fortunately our alley entry has a street sign. [Ki yay hone = alley, or small street; "cho" may be mayan (sho); Cruz = cross.]

Other landmarks such as this bamboo fence identify a place. This is our fence! This is the view East down Cho'Cruz back toward the tienda on Salpores.

Looking South down the cross alley. Does it have a name? First sight of Casa Amarrila, our little yellow house.

From the other end, a view North.

Our new front gate.

Our new landlord has been very helpful -- a contact list for emergency numbers,  LP gas, drinking water, and written directions to the house.  He has a house manager named Thomas who has bent over backwards to accommodate us. We had to call him over late one night after the cold see stopped working [can NOT flush the toilet without cold water!😝🤤😖]  He came twice, the second time with a helper, and stayed until it was fixed.

Moving into our new home. All of the luggage is inside now, but mostly unpacked. Still living out of suitcases.

Goodbye.

Leaving our two-time home Port on Verde [Green Gate] on Calle el Rio,  probably for the last time.

An unusual plant blossom. Anybody know what this is?  Alana was photographing all week long; this is for her.

Good-bye Flemings. That's their shuttle off in the distance driving away [I'm really slow on the uptake getting my camera out]. Alana was hanging out the window waving good-bye until they disappeared. We will [do] miss them immensely.  They were a great help and comfort, our last link with home. Their departure makes our move that much more real and permanent.

Lydia will in particular miss Alana; they were best buds. Lydia called her "Balana", and that name stuck somewhat throughout the visit.

John and Alana allowed us 4 extra check-in bags on the flight down. We used their shuttle to Guatemala City airport as a transport for moving our bags to our new home the morning they left. At least they got to see our new digs before leaving.

Thank you, friends.

San Pedro with Flemings

On the way to the Field Service meeting at a sister's house in Panajachel.

Boating across Lago Atitlan to San Pedro.

In the ministry on a typical San Pedro street, up, up, up....

Caught in a parade. Nothing extraordinary. Parades are somewhat common. This one was school children and their teachers, which is common. The parade started at a school hidden around the corner [bottom photo], went around the block [large block] and through the central square and back to the school.

Fountain at central park of San Pedro. Huge statue of Saint Peter.

More door-to-door in San Pedro.

Lunch with the Circuit Overseer and his wife afterwards in a local street-side restaurant. Had pupusas, a thick tortilla stuffed with meat and vegetables and cooked on a griddle. There is a Venezuelan version that we had a few nights before that was much better, more flavorful.

Good Morning Everyone! We have now been in Guatemala for two and half weeks, seems much longer😎  The congregation here has taken great care if us.  Everyone wants to help us with whatever we need.  Rob was announced last night as an elder and so was another brother.  So there are 4 elders now!  They doubled in one night and a new MS also!
I got up early today and made breakfast, showered, got dressed and then Rob read 26 messages on his phone--service is cancelled due to protests in town and out of town where we were going for service.  Best is stay inside--should have gone shopping yesterday!!  I do have a bag of cookies, uncooked rice, avocadoes, sharp cheddar cheese and Doritos any suggestions😂😂
We looked at a really nice apartment yesterday but expensive, so we'll see if they will lower the price if we do long term.  A sister suggested airnb app and we're getting contacts here, so we will keep praying and see where we should be.  It's ok here for now but very little storage  space for our clothes, living out of suitcases and only 5 outlets in the house and none are in the bathroom, makes doing my hair a bit tricky.  Woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and walked through a small dirt pile in my living room, when I got up the next morning it was dirt from ants or something that came up from a crack in the concrete.  A large spider had been living in the corner of our bedroom ceiling and I was fine until last night during Bible reading he landed on my arm!!  We've been woken by a cat in our living room,  a large bird walking on the tin roof and dogs fighting and barking.  It's all part of the adventure😀  One night a woman knocked on our kitchen window and wanted to clean my house and another women knocked on our door and she either wanted to cut Robs hair😂 or borrow a scissors, we really need to learn Spanish!  The owner and landlord  of this house are very very accommodating and even came over one night when our toilet quit working (no cold water).
Service has been very productive.  I have about 4 calls already.   A Young boy that speaks English, a Columbian woman and an English teacher who teaches History that I met in a cafe.  On the docks in Santa Catarina we met three young people from France.  You really can talk to people from all over the world here.   We do lots of informal witnessing, my hardest thing to do.  The contact cards are wonderful for this....
We went to a park the other day by the lake near our house.  I bought my first fresh coconut and was charged the tourist price--7Q, found out it's usually 3 to 5 Q.  Rob and I liked it but the kids didn't. We were told if you get travellers diarrhea this is the best hydration for you.  The park was literally trashed but Lydia had fun anyway.  Think I will need to buy gloves and another sister in hall who has kids, said we will clean the park. The lake here is truly beautiful...I tried to picture what it will be like in Panajachel after Armaggedon and it is the way it should be..it will be a true paradise then...the volcano backdrops are stunning, never get tired of the views here

Josh carrying our laundry to get cleaned. 11lbs. 44Q $6 washed, dryer folded