Week One of Our "Getaway"

We decided to take a two-week getaway!  The beach?  Nope.  A romantic villa somewhere?  Nope.  A secluded cabin in the woods?  Nope.  

Spanish School!!

It is a pretty place.  This is the 'garden' where we study for 4 hours every morning!

We also do another couple hours of Spanish each afternoon under the guise of a fun 'excursion'!!  Here are some pictures from our tour of Antigua.

Catedral La Merced

Many years ago, an earthquake caused much damage to the many churches in Antigua.  Many of the walls are still standing but the roofs had fallen.  This one is slowly being restored.

The tour led us to the local market.

Not part of the tour but interesting nonetheless!

Excursion on Day 2 was to a macadamia farm.  We walked to the bus terminal and jumped on Esmeralda, the chicken bus that took us about 20 minutes outside of Antigua to the farm. 

When we were close to our destination, the guide told us to 'get ready'!  The chicken buses barely slow down so we had to move quickly!  We didn't realize that we were on a 'tight' schedule until we had to 'catch' the same chicken bus back to Antigua after our tour.  Again, we had to move quickly! 

The machine used to take off the hull of the nuts.

The sorter.

Today we learned how to cook platanos con mole.  A Guatemalan dessert that is traditionally made for birthdays and other special occasions.  

Think 'bananas' in spicy chocolate sauce.

Tomorrow we will head home for the weekend.  We are excited to see our kids for a couple days as well as jump back into life in Canilla.  We will return for Week 2 of our 'getaway' on Sunday.  We may need a REAL vacation after this!!  ;)

Not Quite NAPA

This last week Lori and I made a 'City run'.  These trips are a mix of errands, buying supplies, and time together.  With all the trouble we had with the transmission in the Suburban the last year or so, the air conditioning not working was put on the back burner.  So on this trip, I decided to stop by a mechanic to have a look.  As I made the required U-turn, I felt a 'pop'.  Pulling into the shop, I could tell that the power steering and brakes were not right. 

Suffice it to say that I made several trips back and forth from the hotel to the garage and our return trip was delayed.  Here are a couple of views from a crosswalk in Guatemala city on my way to the garage.

Pedro's shop is the second one over.  The one with the red car.

  

Once we found out what part was bad (power booster) it was time to go shopping!  The next morning, Pedro had me meet him at the shop.  From there he drove to area near the main bus terminal where there are tons of used auto parts stores.  We went to several. 

Here are a couple of pics from where we ended up.

It was 'almost' the right part.  The guy at the shop 

switched the mounting plate for us.  Pedro is supervising. 

 

The shaft was just a bit too long.  Once we got back to his garage, Pedro had one of the neighboring shops shorten the shaft.  Isn't that a beautiful weld?

Unfortunately, it didn't hold.  I was helping put things back together.  As I was laying down with my hands up under the dash I dropped a small clip.  After a prolonged time of looking for the clip, I bumped the newly fixed part and snap.  Back to square one!  Pedro, his son Kevin and his son-in-law (who works at another garage) all stayed way past closing time to use the old shaft in the new booster.  Power steering is still bad but the brakes work!  Back we drove to Canilla!

It was frustrating to have yet another part break on our suburban.  It was frustrating to be stuck in the city and miss clinic.  It was frustrating to not have my old 90th St. O'Reilly's right there with the right part in stock.  It was frustrating to have my plans, my schedule disrupted.  But once the cloud of frustration of the moment passes, I rejoice ...

I am overwhelmed with thankfulness.  Thankful that the car didn't break until I was right next to the garage.  Thankful that the weld gave way before we were half way back up the mountain!  Thankful for resources that we can pay for the repair.  Thankful for Pedro and his family working so hard after it was time to leave for the day.  Thankful that the air conditioning is fixed!  Thankful for extra time with Lori!  Thankful for the opportunity to serve here in Guatemala.  Thankful that God is not done working on my patience, my faith, in Him.  Thankful that He goes with us, that we are not on our own.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  

1 Thes. 5:18

As a side note, we plan to communicate more with a newsletter in the future.  Our plan is to keep the blog focused on more of our 'daily life'.  The newsletter will contain more information on the ministry we do here, prayer requests, etc.  Our first step is to create a list of subscribers.  If you are interested in receiving our newsletter in the future, please subscribe above (you may have to view the full web version to see the link).  Thank you!