Putting it all into perspective....

We have been home for a week, I find myself thinking about how richly we have been blessed in this country and how much we take for granted. I will be stuggling with that for awhile and how I will be changing my own behavior. Life is so fragile and so many do not have access to basic services like health care and clean drinking water.

Thank you to everyone for the support and the prayers. It touches our hearts to have such a wonderful family, supportive friends, and the opportunity to go to Guatemala. May God bless you all!

Love, Dave and Elayne

Friday...and now for something different

We got up and had breakfast in the hotel. Our tour van came and picked us up and we headed for Lake Attilan. It was a two hour ride that lasted three. But the ride was well worth it when we caught the first glimpse of the lake, it was the most beautiful blue you can imagine. We had lunch at a local restaurant and then took a ride across the lake. Our plan was to go to some of the villiages but we were only able to go to one. The area is known for it's artists....so.....again....we went shopping! The difficult thing was being choosy, we didn't have the suitcase space for alot, but we were able to get some cool stuff....

The views were spectacular....the lake is in a volcano crater, there are active volcanos around the lake. We were happy that today was not the day for them to erupt. The lake was choppy but well worth the trip.

We caught our ride and headed back to Antigua for our last night and to pack to be ready to go....

The rest of the trip

On our final Wednesday, we packed up our things, and said goodbye to Reu and our new friends. We headed for Antigua, a city near Guatemala City. Antigua has language schools so there is great diversity in the city. There are people from all over the world there that are students.

Antigua is also known for it's incredible Artisen markets....We had a shoping list of what we wanted to pick up....but after walking through the market, our list grew. We wanted to look for rainsticks, something for Kolton and Kamryn, table runners, a tortilla squisher, a lemonaide press....to name afew. It did not take long to figure out that the tortilla squisher and press were not going to be practical given we were flying home and not taking the bus back.

However, during a conversation about how they made black beans, we decided that we needed a bean pot. Esturado came to the rescue and through his amazing ability to network, found a woman who knew a guy in her village who made the pots. So we put in our order. The pots were delivered on Saturday morning just before we had to leave for the airport. I wrapped it in the table runners and pillow covers that we bought and put the pot in my backpack.

It is actually a small miracle that the bean pot and the 5 foot rainstick all made it home safely. Both ended up being carry ons for the flight home. But they did. The rainstick found a home in Elayne's office. And we are waiting for a day when we can tend a fire all day to try out the bean pot.

Thursday we said good-bye to Diane, Theresa, and Katheryn as they left for the airport. Due to an emergency at home, Gabriel went home as well.

After the good byes we went back to the markets to see what we see. The markets were an experience. You could get just about anything. It was strange to my eyes to see beef and other meats hanging and ready for your purchase. I passed.... There were all kinds of fruits and vegtables that were being hauled in huge baskets on top of their heads.

But the artisen market was a feast for the eyes with the colors and things that were available. Like everthing else, there were no listed prices, you had to tell what you wanted to pay and go from there. Bargining was not only the way it was done, but it was expected. I had fun with it, but I don't do math, so there were challenges with converting dollars into Q's. It was to much fun!

We decided to do something different on Friday....

Addmitting that the computer is smarter than I am....

Ok, the pictures below are from the day that we went to the Myan ruins. It was a great day! The weather was great, the kids were amazing....The groups split into two groups, Dave and I went with the girls. I could not figure out how to get the pictures with the day that it happened. Ergo...the computer is smarter than I am....So I guess as I post the pictures they might be out of order, sorry!

Day at the Myan Ruins

Tuesday....

I am not sure were exactly we went, but it was a beach along the Pacific Ocean. It was hot....and part of the adventure was riding in the back of a pick up truck for the hour drive. If we were home I would have had a complete meltdown because it is just dangerous to ride in the back of an open pickup. But there we were bouncing down the road. The scenery was spactacular. There were plantations of bananas, Mangos, sugar cane, citrinella, and trees that looked like parasols. Never did figure out what they were.

We stopped at a small resturant and had Chop suey. Yumm! Then on to the beach. We found a cabanna, ordered cold beverages. Some when swimming. Some took naps in the hassocks, I waded in the water for awhile and then enjoyed good conversation.

It was a 'volcanic' beach which meant that the sand was black. The waves were high, great for anyone who wanted to surf. The water had a strong undertow, so everyone had to be very careful. I noticed that as I stood in the water, the sand would be pulled away from under my feet, so it was difficult to just stand in the water. The water was warm and soothing though.

We stayed at the beach most of the afternoon and then headed back. On the way back....not a big suprise....it started raining and storming. We were drenched by the time we got back to Reu. We went to the hotel, changed clothes and then headed to the Dardon's for supper. After supper we had our nightly devos and then headed back to the hotel for bed.

This day we also worked on sorting the boxes of school and medical supplies that we had brought from Iowa and Illinois. Most of the supplies will be stored, but some of it will be taken to the jungle school, coffee plantation, and the farm family that we will see on Wednesday when we head to Antigua.

Supplies are much needed, but it is difficult and expensive to get them to Guatemala. I was shocked to find out that many children are not able to go to school because they have no shoes and uniforms. We were taking to a guy from Flordia that we met in Mexico on the way down, that was 15 when he got his first pair of shoes, we later learned that this is not unusual.

There is a public education system in Guatemala, and it is open to all children. But many families need their children help with the family business, what ever that happens to be, and many families are too poor to afford shoes and the required uniform.

More later....