Cooling off in San Pedro 

He loves the boat rides!

Josh and a banana tree in San Pedro

Good Morning everyone!! We've now been in Panajachel for 8 months!!  I think we're finally ajusted to living here, maybe🤣.  Rob made an awesome meatloaf last night with homemade potatoe salad, it was delicious!  So cooking here is coming along, thanks to Rob.  He does all the shopping and cooking, which I really appreciate.  After a long day in service coming home to his cooking is a treat for me.  Pioneering here is always an adventure and never the same.  This is my basic schedule: Monday all day, mornings take a truck to Solola with Lydia and afternoon calls in Pana and stand 3 until 5

Stand witnessing, showing Caleb and Sophia videos in Spanish

This is a view of Pana coming down the hill from Solola

Tuesday is our midweek meeting at 3pm, so I stay home.  Wednesday is a boat day: San Pedro or San Juan or Santiago.  We spend the morning in territory, then calls or more territory until 3.  The boast ride home is usually pretty rough.  At 4 I have Spanish class until 6.  A pioneer couple who lost their business in the states are our instructors.  They started the congregation here 6 years ago,  he's New Rican (Puerto Rican from New York) and she's from Georgia.  They were in Mexico for a few years before they were asked to move here.  They have really helped us adjust here.  Lydia really enjoys going in service on Mondays with them

Nat and Lyds hydrating after a hike up the hill

Lyds and I on the truck

Thursday in service can vary.  We can work the city of Pana or take a truck to another town.  We worked San Andres a few weeks ago, I had never been there. A very clean town but we needed to identify ourselves right away as Testigos de Jehová, they were a bit leary of us.  I did find one English speaker in the market.  If we work Pana territory, later in the morning I try Cory a study I have.  She first took English literature but when I offered the study she wanted Spanish, so for now I'm just getting it established before I turn it over.  It's good practice for me🤗.  When she read that the Bible is a letter to us from God, she said, that's beautiful!! Best life ever!  Our substitute CO said are people making sheep noises( such as: that's interesting, never heard that before, etc.), this was definitely a sheep noise!

Friday is another boat day.  Rob leads the group so this is a family day in service.  We go to Santa Cruz or San Marcos.  This is called the hippy town.  Natty,who's from Wales and I were working together and the brother sent us in a coffee shop to do informal.  A man sitting across from us made eye contact so I asked where he was from.  He was from Wales!! So him and Natty had a nice conversation and he knew who we were.  Informal witnessing here is a very big part of our service.  Many english speaking expats and visitors hang out at coffee shops, so we go where the people are, not so bad if you like coffee, which I do!! In the afternoons Deb, Natty and I take a boat over to Santa Cruz for some studies.  I have a young administrator of the Spanish school.  She is so sweet and takes a few minutes if she's busy or will sit down with us if she has time.  She makes lots of sheep noises!!  She is my treat after a long week in service.  Then we hike up, up, up one of the hardest hills!! Up to Cecap, a artisans shop and restaurant.  Debs study is Dominga and mine is Elmay.  After we head upstairs to the restaurant for a coffee, cookie and the best view on the lake.  We usually find someone who speaks English to chat with.

Me hiking up, up, up

Deb and I after hiking up "The Hill"

The View

Saturday we have our meeting at 10 am and then I have Spanish class from 2 until 4. And Sunday Rob and Josh go in service and Lyds and I have a day together.  Sometimes it's hard to believe we really did this.  We have felt Jehovahs help and know we need to keep relying on him to continue to do this.  The friends here are very supportive and even though I get very homesick at times, I really love my new congregation.  After almost 30 years in the same hall, it was tough to leave. I'm glad we will see everyone in a few weeks!! See you at the convention😗

Getting big

Memorial 2018 53 in attentance, our congregation was about 35

How Lydia and I get around

Treat after service

Doing the stand by the docks

Panajachel

Solola

Pioneers of Panajachel 2018

San Juan cows

Lyds

My parter for the stand by the lake

Day at the Lake - Santiago.

Several families were invited across Lago Atitlan to Santiago for day of swimming and a picnic lunch. This is the home of a Witness couple and their two childen. Its a larfe property with lake frontage. He gardens and raises chickens - fat delicious chickens!

Josh and Attie in the water. They are sitting on a submerged wall. The lake has risen quite a bit in past years, and submerged structures can be found all around the shore. The native Mayans build away from the water. The expats build on the water, and pay the price later!

Beautiful backdrop of a volcano [San Pedro?] and an island in the lagoon.

View of the shoreline from the end of the dock.

The dock.

Swimmers drying off in the sun.

The picnic area.

We roasted hot dogs on a wood fire. I bought two kinds, cheap everyday sort of hot dogs - ten to a pound, and cheap butcher shop type hot dogs - seven to the pound. The butcher shop hot dogs had a tougher casing and were a coarser grind, just like we get back in Wisconsin. They fill the buns nicer. I bought 4 or 5 different brands of hot dog buns for comparison. Hot dog buns are hot dog buns!

The group also had access to four kayaks - 2 singles and 2 doubles. It proved to be just a tad too windy to use them for any length of time.

It was a very enjoyable day with good friends, beautiful scenery, wonderful weather, and homey comfort food. 

Milk in a Box.

This is what we've ben using for milk. Entera meaning whole or entire milk. It's ultra high temperature pasteurized so doesn't need refrigeration before it's opened. But probably killed a lot of the nutrition as well. The regular plastic jugs can be found in the coolers, but they all seem to be adulterated in one way or another;  no regular milk like in Wisconsin.

Besides the convenience of keeping milk in the cupboard,  the boxes also fold flat for easier disposal. The instructions are even included on the side of the box. Just pop the triangular tabs loose  - two at the top sides!, two at the bottom - and violā, squash flat. Make sure the plastic cover is loose, so you can burp all of the air out!

Football!

Josh and I have been playing soccer at this little field in Jucanya with the local brothers every Sunday night for about 2 months. This is really outside our skill set!

They've allowed me to mostly play goalkeeper so I don't have to run so much. I'm the oldest playing by more than 10 years. They say I'm doing well, as inadequate as I feel.

Covered moto parking. The whole field is roofed and fenced in with concrete walls at the bottom. Allows for some trick bank shots. The field itself is a type of astroturf with a ground tire underfill, so is quite comfortable to run on.

Brett and Jordan played here with some of the  English brothers one Saturday afternoon. They declined playing that and the following Sunday.  The English brothers tend to be somewhat slower. The Spanish and Cakchiquel brothers are sometimes incredibly quick, at least in my eyes.

Covered bleachers. Josh resting between rotations.

We were both quite intimidated the first few times, but he stuck it out and he's gotten much more active and much better. I'm very proud of him.

If there are enough sisters, they'll play half an hour before the brothers. We have the field for 2 hours total. There can be anywhere from less than a dozen to more than two dozen brothers on any given night. Usually they'll make teams of 5 to 7 and rotate out every five minutes if there are three teams. If there are only two and no sisters, then you get to run around for a full two hours.

The owner runs a small tienda in conjunction with the field.  He's a very nice guy. One particularly cold night he made hot chocolate for Josh and fed him cookies, no charge. He wants to improve his English with me and will teach me Spanish.  Have to find the time!

We've enjoyed this very much. The brothers are very kind and hospitable to us. Though they don't hold back when it comes to playing. We've both been smacked in the face several times, and elsewhere as well. Playing goalie,  I've had my fingers sprained, so now wear gloves which helps a little. There's been blood, sprained ankles, and other debilitating injuries, but everyone keeps coming back for more. Adam is currently sporting a black eye from 2 Sundays ago. We were half hoping he'd get another one last Sunday just so he would match🤤. 

San Juan.

My first time in San Juan, working with a ministry group. Josh and Lydia can be seen in the background [she's on Adam's shoulders]. We were following the lakeshore around the town, and came upon this group of plants - corn, coffee, and bananas - all growing within feet of each other.

Further down the lakeshore, reeds drying in the sun. Harvested for baskets or hat's?

Taking a rest outside the San Juan Kingdom Hall. The brother in purple is visiting here, working with the Spanish congregation. Just prior to this, we witnessed the immediate aftermath of a tuk-tuk accident down the hill to the right. Somehow it had overturned and the woman passenger was injured. Adam had a first aid kit and bandaged her injured foot up before they took her away in the back of a pickup. First real accident we are aware of.

San Juan Kingdom Hall driveway with residence building to the left. Kingdom Hall  is out of the shot to the right.

Interior of the San Juan Kingdom Hall.  Very small, less than 20 publishers I  believe. We later met the elder [only one?] in Panajachel returning from their Assembly.

Finishing up our day, heading downhill toward the boat docks. Josh is following a tuk-tuk down this narrow steep callejon [alley]. It just amazes me where they take these little three-wheeled vehicles!

Amateur Photographer.

Dida takes lots of pictures. Mostly of feet, floors, walls, and black [hand over the lens?]. But sometimes she fets some real good candid shots. They may not always be high quality,  but she captures the moment.

Jucanya Park.

Lydia loves this park more than the other. We don't know why and don't agree.  It's dirtier,  has less equipment, and gangs of dogs.

Our motos at Jucanya Park. Note the half dozen dogs in the background. There were another half dozen not pictured. The street dogs are fairly benign for the most part. They can get a little crazy when the females are in heat, but otherwise are just a traffic nuisance. I clipped one with my moto one night when it ran out in front of me. For being street dogs, they are not always very street smart.

View from Jucanya Park. Can't be beat. There is also a beach, and some go swimming here. We'll probably try it some day when it's warmer.

How could we ever go back?

Pancake breakfast at Mr. Jon's.

Sure we can eat three pancakes, each!

I've spent so much time with my family since arriving here I can't imagine going back to my former working lifestyle. It would be emotionally traumatic for all of us. Raquel is in the full time ministry, so is now the one away most often [such as this breakfast].

The pancakes were huge. But good. We couldn't finish half! Oh, well. Another meal.

La Mona.

The ladder is for what? So you can climb around it?

La Mona. The female monkey. She loves the park at Centro Salud Clinica [Central Health Clinic]. The equipment is dated and dangerous, makes you cringe to watch her. But she doesn't care! Falls, cries, begs for a bandaid, gets back up and goes again.

Metal swing, sort of cage like, especially the ones with the fixed front  safety bar. Can't be too comfortable.

Three way concrete slide. Two of the slides have nice curves at the bottom transition, but the third one is a sharp angle that cracks butts.

Double ladder to the triple concrete slide. Note the original metal rungs embedded into the side of the concrete. Someone must have thought that this was too unsafe.

Another view of the swings. They don't use chains, but suspend the swings on metal rods. The top loop is pretty worn and only a matter of time before they break through. 

Truck tire and pvc riding animal. There are 3 or 4 of these around the playground. This one has sharp sheet metal ears or spines, to fuel the imagination and increase the safety hazard. After all, it is a clinic.

Wooden monkey bars with a slide. She has no fear going across these, dangling in the air. A mother's nightmare!

Teeter-totter or see-saw. What do the English or Spanish call it? She hasn't really experienced the full sensation yet because Josh and I both outweigh her by 6 or 7 hundred percent. She needs a partner closer to her weight.

One of the strangest oddities at this park. The bench is missing a slat, so this dog wedged himself in its place. Was he trained to do this as a safety measure? Are there other dogs that take different shifts? Ann, all of your dogs may have a place in this world!

La Mona.