Six months & Feria week

Last week was an interesting week.

First, I'll admit that we were excited to have made it to the six month mark as parents ... sometimes we wonder what in the world we are doing trying to raise a person??!!?  I don't feel like I'm grown up enough to really be in charge of another person's well-being.  But, here I am with a child :)  Poor kid!  Here are some pictures of Luke on his half-birthday.

Second to that, we passed our six week mark of living in Guatemala which was celebrated by Pana's Fair (Feria) Week.  Wow, am I glad it is over!  It was a WILD week.  Since we arrived, we've been surprised by the amount of artillery shell fireworks being set off at all hours of the day and night ... most nights we are startled awake to what seems like a full-on bombing - until we remember that it's just someone have "fun" at 3 am.  These bombings ramped up last week to the point that sleep was pretty illusive.  Top that with another unexpected sound -- marching bands practicing constantly.  I love that the kids here are involved in a healthy/productive activity, but is practicing into the middle of the night really the best?

We got to see all that practicing in action during the town parade -- with the bands out in full force and all the school's dressing up with a theme.

A man thoughtfully setting off some fireworks between each of the school groups --

A woman and man in traditional Mayan dress -- the men wear wrap-around skirts over their pants.  Jason made the tactful observation that he thought maybe some of the women may use their tops to carry small items.  I've seen a woman dig her entire purse out of her shirt, so he was certainly correct! ;-)

A man walked up and down the parade route selling scoops of ice cream with a balloon vendor in the background.









































AMA's theme was China -- with all the students in costume.  Lucky teachers -- they got to try to corral their students for over three hours on the parade route!

A present for Luke AND a present for us :)

For Luke's six month birthday this past week we decided it was time for him to have a high chair.  Of course, getting a high chair isn't exactly as easy as it sounds due to our location.  I highly doubt that most local Guatemalan women have high chairs for their children, so the demand is pretty low and those that are for sale seemed incredibly expensive.  We've been scouting at second-hand shops for weeks and this vintage/retro high chair kept me coming back.

It is definitely not fancy and does not have any bells and whistles; but, it works, I love that's it's old and it was the cheapest one we could find.  It was very grubby at the store and as I cleaned it up at home, I was thankful to have parents who have shown me that dirty, old things can often be made almost new again with a good cleaning job.

So, Luke gets a high chair AND his first taste of green beans for his birthday ...

... our present to ourselves was to escape across the lake for three days - to a place where this is the view from the shower!

A new month (finally!)

I am REALLY excited that this is the first day of a new month!  I generally try to be content in this present moment, instead of continually looking ahead to what is next to make me happier or somehow make my life better; but I'll admit, last month was a challenge. It was our first month of spending more time apart than together and Jason's first month of teaching at a new school with a very challenging class (topped with the school losing two teachers in the first month), plus the unsettling events: the earthquake, a terrible murder of a local woman, then getting flooded out of our home; and the exhaustion of moving THREE times in one week.

But, through it all I have been reminded that God provides and protects.

After getting flooded and moving back into our original apartment, we were given an unexpected gift. A young Israeli woman who had been living in the same complex as us while she volunteered at AMA left early.  Her apartment was paid for and empty, so after three nights at our original place we were able to move into her apartment and got the gift of 10 free days of housing while we looked for a permanent place.  Pretty awesome, right?  Unfortunately, our permanent place is being very illusive. We've now paid for another month here while we keep looking -- several people have asked why we don't just stay in this spot. It is a beautiful spot, but besides being over our budget, it is expensive for this area for what you actually get inside the place...so the hunt continues.

As we go through this unexpected process I am reminded how God wants me to be heaven focused, remembering that my home is really not on this earth.  As much as I want to feel settled and secure wherever I am, being unsettled makes me rely on Him more and look with great anticipation toward my heavenly home.

That doesn't mean that I'm not looking forward to see what God has in store for us this month -- it feels like we have a fresh, clean start.  Plus, Jason got his first paycheck yesterday - our first paycheck in six months which is quite a thrill.  This Friday is a Panajachel holiday (sort of like carnival for this town) so Jason gets a day off of school. Woo-hoo! We'll see what adventuring we can get up to.

In the meantime, we are enjoying the beauty and culture of where we get to live -- here are some of my favorite photos from the past week.

A beautiful evening at the lake --

How people get to nearby villages -- taxi-trucks.  A tarp goes over the top when it rains.




























A piñata shop -- they look just a tad creepy to me...


















What every historic, beautiful church needs - a Ferris wheel!




























Some of the local children preparing for the holiday festivities.

 


In Guatemala, the men carry the horses -not the other way around.

Cuteness

Luke's six-month birthday is coming up in a few days and while I realize we are extremely baised, he seems to get cuter every day!  Here a few recent photos of our little sweetie-pie.

Let's see -- what's Luke doing right now?
He loves to stand and do jumps (with assistance)
He's happily eating some rice cereal
He smiles and laugh/screams a lot
He's close to crawling -- getting onto his hands and knees and then not sure what to do next, just rocks back and forth
He slept thru until 5:45 am yesterday - wow! What a treat that was! First time I've slept that "late" since before he was born
He says "mama" a lot. I don't think he knows what it means, but it's still pretty cute
No teeth yet
He is generally happy outside, exploring new places

Lake Atitlan Villages: Santiago

After all the crazy events of last week, we decided that we needed an outing over the weekend to get our minds on something else.  Emily, who teaches at AMA with Jason invited us to join her on an adventure across the lake.  We were happy to have company and since she's bilingual that took all the stress out of our trip :)

We took the publico boat (which means you pay 25 Quetzals one-way; about $3. Native people pay only 10 Q) and joined about 20 others in a journey across the lake, to a village situated on a lagoon located between two  volcanoes.  

As is typical for the season, it rained on our way over, but then as we arrived, it cleared up and the sun was shining for a little while. Gorgeous! If you're claustrophobic, this boat ride in the rain would not be for you as tarps come down to cover all the windows. 

We meandered off the main drag and came upon more typical homes .... cinder block, tin and sometimes a piece of plywood.

These guys amaze me! One -- how beautiful is that huge pack of avacadoes???  Two, how crazy is it that they have the full weight of their pack on their forehead!!?!!?

Down at another, small dock ... the typical boats for the area.  These remind me of an original version of the paddle boards that are so popular in the US now.  Usually we see men standing in these, paddling around the edges of the lake.  We got to watch two men struggle to get under their large packs of wood ... once again with the weight from the entire pack strapped to their foreheads.  Crazy!  And, how do you like the woman balancing her washtub on her head?  This is how everything is carried here.  Today, I saw a woman with a sack of potatoes draped over her head.  I've wanted to try to learn this skill, but don't want the locals to think I'm mocking them ...

The main dock was so beautiful as we prepared to leave.  Boats only run until 4:30 or 5:00, so unless you want to spend the night, you make sure you're back with plenty of time to spare!

One last picture before taking our boat back to Pana.

Meet Jason's Class

He has two more students who come in just for his ESL period in the afternoon and has been told he'll have a few more joining his class in November when the Guatemalan school year ends.  So far, these kiddos are keeping him VERY busy every single minute of the day.