Une Manque d'Electricité

We've been experiencing major power outages here in Tactic. The normal 1/8 of a second outages that switches my computer off and then laughs at me has been replaced with 8 hour outage assaults.

Coincidentally, electrical circuitry in my brain seem to be in disrepair. I have been having an unusually difficult time speaking French, replacing French words with Spanish ones.

Lady in the Water

I'm so stoked!

We are not of this world.

(is "stoked" outdated? if it is, great! it's time for a comeback - like fab! weirded out! groovy! and perhaps the most tubular of them all: gnarly!)

Torn by sympathies

So... forget it, here are the articles I've been reading regarding President Chavez in Venezuela, US foreign policy, Christian public reaction to Chavez, Chavez reaction to Pat Robertson, and reaction by non-Christians to Chavez kicking a mission agency out of Venezuela:

some hi$tory of oil in Venezuela

some ignorance towards Venezuela and Pres. Chavez

some brutal reaction to US Imperialism

some further ignorance regarding Christianity

some further information on New Tribes Mission


My reaction to all this is that because of the way Christ's name has been misrepresented and used politically in history to "control the masses" and to generate income, the backlash is grizzly and terrible and justifiable! Why do Castro and Chavez and Tito express such animosity towards Christianity? Because they see the dichotomy in what is preached and what is done - Tito for example was imprisoned and tortured by "God appointed" royalists. Cuba was under seige by colonial powers that were in bed with state churches. Venezuela has been used by the United States, a breeding ground for religious fanaticism, for its oil riches for nearly a century.

Generalization: Christians despise socialism because socialism despises Chistianity. So, what if I'm both? How do I relate to those Christians who don't know their right hand from their left as far as people carrying the banner of Christ politically, economically, philosophically and socially? How do I relate to those who in response to Christian actions - hate my beliefs?

Should become a double agent?

Me and my Son

I must say, he's a sweet dude.

My Skin Hurts

[Apparently Canadians talk about the weather more than any other nationality]

I shiver. This is Guatemala, not a lake in north Ontario in late November. Yet, I shiver.



Poor little Blaise has a cold, so his nose whistles when he sleeps. His voice reveals he has a cold too. The past two nights Amber has brought the little blanket kicker into bed with us to make sure he stays warm and can't kick his blankets off. His cold little fists waving about.

I'm quite certain it got down to 0 degrees Celcius last night. I could see frost on the grass in the shadows this morning and on a shirt that fell of the clothesline. I could see my breath in the shower.



Amber and I ate breakfast on the roof in the bright morning sun to try and warm up. She read to me from I John 5. I ate my pineapple banana rice and drank my cacao cafe. There was a cow nuzzling her calf in the meadow. Two large trees behind the field each held a very large white bird - something out of a very overdone 32-color painting of heaven.



I posted more of the family. I like this montage of 7 generations. I just wish we all had Blaise's expression.

Melocotón & Cacao

Amber purchased this "melocotón" for 8 Quetzales. A melocotón is a peach. This is clearly not a peach.



I purchased these cacao beans for 6 Quetzales. This is what chocolate comes from. The process: roast, peel, grind. Very delish.

Ah! the smell of alcohol

Les had to remind me to write this in my blog.

Two weeks ago, enroute to the capital (a three hour drive), our vans were pulled over by some roadside policemen. Usually there are about three places on this journey where cops do registration and license checks of selected vehicles. It is interesting to note that Erick, one of our compañeros from Guatemala gets pulled over when driving the Toyota van about 80% of the time whereas Les, a Canadian who usually drives the Kia van, gets pulled over about 20% of the time.

On this occasion I was riding with Erick. We were carrying a van full of medical supplies that had been donated to our ministry. These were being dropped off at a needy hospital in Guatemala City before picking up a team of 19 Canadians from Ft Saint John, BC. It was a wonderful experience to see the excitement and gratitude in the faces of the doctor and nurses we met as we delivered these supplies (gloves, syringes, and the like) a couple hours later. What a privilege to deliver the gifts of others. Three policemen attended to our vehicle. One stood away from the vehicle with his semi-automatic rifle. One checked Erick's license and the van's registration (vehicles are not required to be insured here, though it is a good idea). The third came to my window and inquired about my passport.

The one checking Erick's info became quickly interested in the supplies in the back. Erick said he knew they were donations made for a hospital, but not what they were (which is true) and that if the police wanted to know what they were they could search every box. He said this with a smile of course. This policeman made a five minute cursory inspection of the old boxes. He was trying to easily find a way of "fining" us. He was unsuccessful.

The policeman at my window, after inspecting and approving of my passport photo, began to inquire at close range to my face about the supplies in the back - a sort of cross-reference as Erick was occupied outside the van with another cop. I have enough trouble understanding and speaking Spanish as it is, but when the man you're talking to is slurring his speech and smelling of homebrew... I had trouble not laughing at him, so I just vainly flipped through my pocket dictionary trying to interpret what he was saying, though for the most part I could already understand. He let it go after getting mildly frustrated with his and my inability to communicate, mostly his I am certain.

I believe I have learned a valuable lesson: Feigning ignorance is a great tool when being interrogated by an intoxicated policeman.

Talkin about HOT spaghetti

MMM-MMM!

I spent all morning working on the new Impact Ministries website. The shortterm team that is here now is travelling to Fray Bartolome de las Casas and I got left behind. This is good as I can work on the website and the child sponsorship database while they're gone. When Amber mentioned to me that lunch was ready I nodded mechanically as I always do when I'm wrapped up in my cyberworld only to realize 90 minutes later that I was hungry and that lunch was in the fridge.

I reheated the spaghetti and the sauce in a saucepan and added some chilis. Oh, sweet volcanic chilis. Now I'm wiping my dripping nose and licking my lips - the parts of my lips without drippings. Now I'm fired up.

Day of the Dead

On November 1, the Catholic world celebrates the Day of the Dead. This follows All Hallows Eve (Hallowe'en) and precedes All Saints' Day. Here in Guatemala, devout believers meet in cemetaries to spend time with dead relatives by bringing food to share with the hungry dead. The food is usually eaten by roaming dogs, or by those who bring it.

I visited the local cemetaries to observe the festivities. The rich cemetary had lots of kiosks set up at the entrance selling treats and french fries to visitors. I abstained. Many families surrounded the tombs and colorful concrete beds with beers, pop, bags of flower petals and long grass clippings, and of course french fries. They decorated the graves with the grass and petals.

I wandered accross the road to the poor cemetary where most graves are unmarked and have no cement coverings. Mercedez was with me to make sure I didn't do anything ignorant and to explain some of the behaviours. We met three young boys who were lighting votives on dirt mounds under plastic sheets and behind makeshift windguards. One of the graves was of an older sister.

Last night (Nov 2) there were apparently really big parties at the cemetery. I was planning on going to see them, but Eric didn't come so I didn't feel like standing in the mud and rain to film shadows.

Let me know some of your thoughts on this practice. I'd like to discuss.

méli-mélo

Daniel and Flor (meaning flower) were married Saturday night with a couple hundred people as witnesses. People are married in a civil ceremony as well as a religious one. According to Les and Rita who conducted the religious ceremony we attended, the two of them were very nervous.

I was asked by Erick, Daniel's father, to take the pictures. I had to remind them to smile, they were so serious. They both looked really good though. After the ceremony which included a supper and some musical entertainment (marimbas and flute with piano accompaniment), both Daniel and Flor stayed by until 11pm to clean up the church, load chairs, move benches and load gifts into their vehicle. I thought they would have better things to do.

On a very different note, I was shaken by a story of three girls beheaded on their way to a Christian school in Indonesia. Pray for their families and for Christians in Indonesia.

The power went out just as I was about to blog last night. My unlimited power supply did not work.

A couple days ago a man came by selling big baskets for $8. We bought one for laundry from him. A couple hours later, we bought oranges from a man who was carrying a huge (I mean massive) bag of oranges - selling them at about 50 oranges for $1. We bought 25 and I juiced them by hand immediately. A bit zingy, but for 50 cents, it was pretty good.

I finally broke down and bought Lux, a risk style computer game, online. They have Canada Risk and Montreal Risk and dozens of others like WWII, Vietnam, Europe, etc... Dean has it too, so we'll be able to play online together. I haven't told him yet. Unfortunately, I can't play Settlers of Catan online anymore, something about my connection.

Walter was just over for his English lesson and after studying directions on a Guatemalan map, we decided to plan a canoe trip from Tactic to Livingstone for November 2006. I envision taking a bunch of the young men from the church as a retreat. I sure my friend John Fraser would be proud.

Last night, Rita preached on the fact that Christianity should not be a religion. Religions are human methods of pleasing and appeasing God or gods. Christianity is a relationship where both parties willingly give. She shared the message with a lot of clarity. It is a message people need to hear everywhere - Canada and Guatemala.

Blue Steel

Blue Steel. I think it works. I think it really works.

Happy Birthday Les!

He turns 50 today.

Rita threw a surprise party for him last night. As I was riding back with him (Johnny and Erick were in the other van), we were told to try and delay him in Guatemala City after dropping off the team at the airport. I had to make some purchases in the capital, so that was all I could muster. I knew he had work to do and he was tired (we got up at 3:30 am) so I didn't really want to delay him too much. His party was at 4:30 and we left the capital at 10 am. Just 38 km out of the capital, traffic stopped. We travelled 15 kms over the next 2 1/2 hours because of a transport truck that tipped onto the highway. So, we arrived just in time for the party. Johnny figures God caused the delay. I'm not so sure, but it did work out quite well. Les and I discussed many ideas on the road.

Many people came to the outdoor party (it was a bit cold and windy) and spoke kind words to him. I shared a few words, and although having started my short speech in English, I ended up speaking the whole thing in Spanish.

New Brunswick men came and went

I have 15 new friends in New Brunswick.

They came to do some work on the school in Chicoy. This work ended up being diging out the final holes for the foundation to the second building (for the bathrooms) and then building the rock and mortar foundation for the future concrete block 2-story structure. The foundation is about a metre deep into the ground with some corners another metre deep - the earthquakes here can be quite devastating, so the builders take extra precaution). I pitched in for 3 days and worked alongside them with a shovel and pick and buckets of mortar. I chose not to use gloves to toughen up my girly teacher hands. It worked - lots of cuts, blisters, and calouses. Nice.

So, as an Acadian, I had some preconcieved notions as to what this band of loyalist descendents would be like. I was dead wrong. They had very tender hearts and God spoke them quite strongly through the kids at Chicoy. I think they are all going to sponsor at least one child and then get others from their area to sponsor too.

I visited quite a few villages with them: Pombatch, San Antonio, Chicoy, and a place really far up a mountain where a church is pastored by a 74 year old man who just recently received a bed to sleep on from Impact Ministries. We ended the trip with a day in Antigua where the guys tried out their bargaining skills at the market (they are very nice guys, and they paid for it). We also had a very wonderful sharing time the night before they flew home yesterday. Some very touching words from all of them. I will miss them.

there and back again in 23 hrs

2:50 AM is our rendez-vous time outside my house. I meet up with Walter my neighbour, Oscar (a fellow teacher) and Eddie, Heber, and Johnny (students at Beerseba) in the light rain. Les picks us up in his Kia van and we hook up with Estuardo and Erwin and their big cattle truck. Eric misses the departure despite our best efforts to wake him.

Our first destination is a church compound in Guatemala City, three hours away. There is very little traffic, but that makes us an easy target for the police. We are asked to pull over three times in as many hours because of our suspicious behaviour - traveling at night with a big truck full of cargo. We had loaded the truck earlier this evening with pasta, sugar, soap, clothing, five barrels of dehydrated soup from the Okanogan Gleaners, salt, and corn flour. The suspicion is that we are transporting wood, a felony without proper licensing in Guatemala from what I am told. We are let off without any problems each time.

The sun rises as we enter the city limits of the capital. We wind through the perimeter highway to Zone 11. Ministers are waiting for us at the Tierra Prometida Ministerios with the rice, water, beans, blankets, sugar, and vitamin enhanced porridge which was purchased on our behalf with money donated by Guatemalans and Canadians who responded to this need. We load the truck and head to Pollo Campero for breakfast. Our truck is full



My primary duty on this expedition is to document with video and photo. As I pull out my little Canon DV Camcorder to record the awesome view of both fuego and agua volcanoes (fire and water), I realize that I left it on and have consequently killed the battery. Hmmm.

The vistas on our journey from the capital to Lake Atitlan fill our tired senses. Fields of sugar cane and a plant they use to dye food red line the busy road. Les and I spend our entire time in the van chatting about Acadian history, Mennonite history, the vision of Impact Ministries and other topics, less noble.

We drive south, then west, then north through the coastal plains to bypass the mountains. The sun shines bright. It is much warmer here than in Tactic. I'm thankful for the air conditioner and a little cold.

We meet Jorge at our junction to the north road that will take us to San Lucas de Tolimán on the shore of Lake Atitlan. He speaks like a Canadian and a Guatemalan. He's lived in B.C. and Calgary for several years. His father leads the Tierra Prometida Ministerios that we are collaborating with. Our caravan winds through the villages, some cleaning up from flooding, others visibly untouched by Hurricane Stan. This road has just opened on Thursday. Today is Saturday. We drive over a makeshift bridge and see to our right how our road has been washed out about two metres deep and six metres wide. Huge boulders line parts of the road where they have been moved to clear the way. These same boulders rolled through villages from way up high. The devastation here is astonishing. It has been 10 days since the hurricane loosened the earth in the mountains and the people have been busy cleaning up. People scrub the outside of their houses one metre high where mud stains the walls. People shovel mud out of their homes onto the already massive piles of muck still stinking.



We reach our second checkpoint in San Lucas at noon. Many people from the ministry have been busy here. They have separated many goods into family bags to ease the distribution process.

Jorge has the same Canon camera as me, so he charges my battery quickly and I'm back in the game.

Many hands move the supplies from our truck to the middle of a meeting hall. We eat and load three pickup trucks with enough staples for the three hundred eighteen people living in the Nazarene Church in Santiago Atitlán. The rest of these supplies will stay at this centre to be delivered tomorrow to 3 other hospices.

The drive to the church allows us to see further devastation and the beauty of the volcanoes surrounding Lake Atitlan. Jorge shares local legends over the walkie-talkie as we marvel at the sites. It is three in the afternoon when we arrive at the refuge. There are children everywhere and many many women in the Spanish imposed traditional dress of the Tzutujil people group.

Our men unload the pickups in a passing line and pile the supplies at the front of the church. The leaders, including Les, share with the refugees who we are and why we are here. Prepared soup and tortillas are served to the hungry. I visit with a man with a big smile named Jose Mesia-Chavez. He lost his home, clothes, and food at 3:00 AM ten days ago. He is smiling because none of his family were killed. A landslide woke them up and they were able to escape through their door and flee to safety as their house was toppled over and buried along with all he had to provide his family with.

I snap photos of people eating and being served. Then they begin to call family names. The boys from our church stand ready with a blanket, bag of soup, bag of rice, bag of soaps, and two bags of various food staples (beans, corn flour, salt, sugar, water, Gatorade to fight dehydration, oil, instant noodles, enriched porridge and more). The people stand in waiting ensuring that they do not miss their name. Those whose names are missed have their items set aside on the platform.

I film as Les interviews an older man who has lost his wife. The widower has known God for 45 years. He has also lost his house and all he owns.

A woman is interviewed who has lost a finger and has huge lacerations on her other fingers on her right hand. She was reaching for her father when she received the cuts.

Another woman lost her 3-month old baby and her house when the river swept them away. I have a 3-month old baby. This same mother has a 6-year old son who is recovering now from a massive headwound.

Les and I managed to keep ourselves together to finish the interviews. It was hard to see these stonefaced women, who suffer unimaginably, answer questions.



We then retraced our path with stops in San Lucas and Guatemala City to pick up the truck and to eat. I had a headache when we got to the capital. I don't know if it was from the heat, the lack of water, hunger, emotional distress, lack of sleep, or the intense diesel fumes. It just hurt. I was silent for about an hour approaching the capital. Les bought me 1000 mg of acetaminophen at a pharmacy next to the Pollo Camero. They cost Q1.10 (about 17 cents). They really hit the spot.

Les and I share heart stories all the way home as five guys sleep behind us. The truck weaves frighteningly along the road ahead of us as we cross numerous mountain ridges.

We arrive at 1:30 AM and I check my email and head to bed in my house where my wife and baby boy are sleeping.

Off to bring relief

What a priviledge to carry the gifts from our church here in Tactic and gifts from Canadian Donors to the refugees of the mudslides southwest of us. According to some reports there are as many as 200,000 homes destroyed or damaged. Mixed reports say that 652 people are confirmed dead with the number rising possibly to 1000 from the initial hurricane damage and the town of Panabaj was completely buried, pop. 1400. So, to me, this reads as over 2000 dead in Guatemala alone. We're leaving at 3 am tomorrow morning to bring the food and supplies and already the reports on this catastrophe which doubled the death toll in New Orleans/Mississippi have left the newswires. I guess there's nothing left to say - people know what needs to be known.

We're going to El Salvador in a couple weeks to bring relief supplies to a hurricane, volcano and earthquake stricken country. It will be the first mission trip from our little Mayan town. I post updates as to what we're doing right here.

Incidentally, if you would like to donate to our particular relief fund, you can go through Impact Ministries.

3 months, 3 weeks, 3 hours

Blaise turned 3 months yesterday. He's a big boy now. He's slept 5 nights straight through in a row now. Very very precious.

Amber and I have been in Guatemala 3 weeks today. It feels like much longer as it feels very familiar already and Canada feels quite distant despite the ability to chat with almost everyone. Today the students at Beerseba graduate, five different classes do. I put together an 11 minute tribute to the students who attributed their success to God, parents, sponsors, and teachers. I wonder if many of these students would have learned to read if the school had not existed.

I left a little gadget attached to my iPod last night that serves as a mic and a mini speaker. The iPod had an alarm set for 3:50 am which we used 3 weeks ago to wake up in Calgary to load the car and drive to the airport to stand in line for 1 1/2 hours. Anyway, it went off with "Chunari, Chunari... " blaring. Man, from a deep sleep, that's such a weird feeling when you're not expecting it. I bolted out of bed thinking someone was at the door or my phone was ringing. Well, I didn't sleep too well after that because at about the same hour, and I've heard this before in the middle of the night, the sound of 50 swine being slowly butchered one by one with dogs barking rang steadily for about 1 1/2 hours. It turns out as the vehicle approached the house at about 5:30, that it was just a truck running with loose fan belts and a really loud diesel engine. Then I got up with my son and I just finished changing him after his first feed in 9 hours. I don't think he thought it was a knife coming down on hogs when he heard the sound.

Mud Slides and many dead

"Our Guatemala is in pain." A man in our town square this morning was speaking into a microphone.

Tactic, where we live, there are no effects of Hurricane Stan, but it is so much easier to empathize with the people affected by the mud slides when you recognize the faces as those of your neighbours. Almost 2000 are feared dead. That's nearly double the death toll of Katrina which held CNN hostage for 2 weeks. Thousands more are homeless, many of whom are taking refuge in churches and Christian schools. Our church is giving money and support that we will personally bring down to help known existing ministries in the Lake Atitlan area. I may have the opportunity to go with Les to do this on Tuesday. We have to wait until roads and bridges are returned to usable condition. We're bringing rice and dried soup and blankets and money. We will bring whatever money is donated to Impact Ministries for these victims, you can call and make a donation Monday (business hours Pacific Time Zone).

public confession

A man stood before his church this evening. He opened his heart and let his guilt be exposed before his parents, his siblings, his girlfriend, his friends and some strangers. His girlfriend is pregnant and his sin is exposed. The reaction of the church was complete grace. The church leaders surrounded him with hugs and prayers of forgiveness. His family embraced him with complete acceptance. His confession allowed for this. The blood of Christ allowed for this. He didn't keep his sin hidden. Their child will be well regarded in this church community. The child's parents will be well looked after and they won't be looked down upon because he made himself vulnerable.

What would have happened in my church back home. No mention. Maybe a visit from some concerned people. I don't think a confession would have happened, let alone publicly. It would be winked at. There's no healing in this. There's no community in this. People would have been gracious, but I think the hidden sin's effect would stick. Public confession, at least in a small community, carries with it the healing power. The larger the group, the greater the healing, the vaporization of shame. It was literally one of the most beautiful moments I have experienced in church.

We're Cool

Just so everybody knows, we were not, nor shall we be in the path of Hurricane Stan. But thanks for your concern. School was cancelled nationwide for two days though. Gave me a chance to go up to Fray Bartolome, about a 3.5 hour drive from Tactic. Limestone mountains, green ridges, and palm trees dotted the way there. Les, Rita, and Vicky interviewed some teachers there.



I've been teaching guitar pretty steadily to a few students. Discovered that guitar strings are less than half the cost they are in Canada. These kids are really tenacious, they'll be playing C#M7 in no time.



Hey Carl, would this be considered as desecrating a basketball?

If I could do anything I wanted to today...

I would not change a single thing.

I meant to post this yesterday. I got up and made some coffee for me and a guest. Edited some old footage to help clear my hard drive. Played with my son. Brought my PowerBook to an internet cafe as Impact Ministries interent connection was down and downloaded 4 days of emails. Walked through town to pick up a video cassette, 2 mousetraps (ratoneras), yogurt, and cheese.Had a meeting with Les, Rita, Amber, and Michelle. Gave Walter an English lesson. Helped Amber make supper. Attended the youth meeting at the school with a couple dozen youth and teachers from the school where each person shared either a song or an instrumental or a verse and word from God. It was really, really good. Some real soul. Then I came home and Skyped with Mom and sent a few emails out, now that we're back online.

Today, it's raining gently. I taught the Cuarto Primera class English and I have another couple classes later this morning. Blaise has slept 2 whole nights straight this week. He's a little man and he loves it when I blow into his face. He takes a quick breath and then smiles wide and sometimes laughs.

We attended Vicki's birthday party on Monday night. It was a surprise. When she entered, Hector and Hector David lit firecrackers, lots of them. The feast consisted of baked potatoes, beans, tortillas, salsa, bbq chicken, bbq steak, bbq sausage, and cake with delicious pineapple melon juice to drink. It was a good time. Though I understand a lot, it's still too difficult to engage in group discussions, so I stick to one on one conversations where I can stumble through sentences under more grace.

Avocados - 25 cents each

... and they're green and ripe! Ripe when they're green!!!

I'm learning Spanish pretty well. I figure by Christmas time I'll be quite fluent. This immersion thing is as good as theory declares it to be. I have an English protogé, my neighbour/friend/coworker Walter. We're having lots of fun laughing about the b-v interchangeability and -ed extensions. My English students at school have taught me a lot too. When playing hangman, they put spaces for what they say is an English word (it's English class, so I've placed natural restrictions on the game - no Spanish words) and it ends up being a local town name Paranaagulisijuaquorira or something like that. My marker dude was hung. I've also been commissioned to produce the graduation video - lots of fun to participate in here.



I've set up my office, my temporary office I should say as I will have to clear out when a short term team comes here to stay for a week at a time. It's great! I've got a closet for all my mini DV tapes, books, discs, RCA cables, tools, games, and frisbee. My desk is a slightly warped 6' X 3' table and on it... iMac, PowerBook, iPod, speakers, 3 external HD, miniDV camera, cell phone, and digital camera. Pretty sweet. It's almost like Carl's spread!

[note to zaakistan.como fans: new pictures posted. Got connected to ftp with the help of Dave in Calgary, our network administrator by proxy]

Birthday Blessings

I just returned home in the rain (fortunately I live next door) from a youth meeting. This week celebrated the September birthdays of some kids in the group. After eating pizza and visiting with people jamming in a corner and after a 30 minute time of open worship and prayer and after a story about El Spiritus Sanctus, girls gathered around their girl friends who had birthdays this month and likewise for the boys. They prayed for eachother without being shy about their devotion to their friends. It was really beautiful.

Elsewhere in our exhilarating lives... I've taught some elementary classes and one of the teachers named Walter (he also leads the youth group) English and I've taught a couple guitar lessons... in Spanish. Brutally funny. I have 17 guitar students divided in 3 groups. We've also moved to the back room of our house, with the help of Rolando, so that we aren't so close to the main road where big trucks barrel down early in the morning and in the afternoon. Mind you, as I write this at 9pm, there is a group of about 12 youth beside the back of our apartment enjoying a lively discussion which I know is keeping Amber awake (I think Amber needs sleep callouses so that she will be able to sleep through explosions and floodlights, this way I'll be able to read in bed before The End comes). We have closets in this room too which is fab.

Amber and I were treated to lunch by Rita, Les and Vicky. It's so good to know that we'll be spending so much time with these people of vision, rather than just a quick visit.

God's presence sure is great.

[note to those zaakistan.com fans: I'm having severe difficulties connecting to my website via ftp, so I'll post pictures and such when this devastating issue is resolved. Hang in there! Life without regular updates will prevail, I think.]

fwd-rwd

Bought a Nokia 1108 phone today in Coban. Bought two, same color for Amber and I. Paid Visa and was able to call Alberta directly from Guatemala immediately - no wait, no hassle, no contract.

Bought tree ripened bananas for 1 Quetzal (approx CAN$0.15). Bought six, same color for Amber and I. Paid cash and was able to walk home immediately with them within 3 minutes - no gas, no crosswalks, no rip-off.

Praise God we're here and we're so glad that we are!

Well zaakistan.com visitors, after months and months of planning and prayer and excitement and stress here and there and a lot of packing and a trip to Calgary and 2 flights and a great rest in the capital and a 3 hour drive from Guatemala City: we're here in our new home with an internet connection and beds (lots of them!) and a roof over our heads to keep us dry (lots of rain). We've here for about 90 minutes already. We're thankful and jubilant right now.

I've got our 5 large luggage pieces and 2 smaller ones to unpack, so I'll tell the detailed story of our journey in the future, perhaps, if there's nothing else exciting happening in the next couple days, so stay posted. Send us an email if you want.

Blaise has started to laugh in the past 24 hours. Very cute laugh and he's so big. He's in his swinging bed right now and he seems much lower than Tuesday night when he last slept in it.

5 weeks, now 3

Oh man. This has been a whirlwind summer. I haven't had time to think of the next 3 weeks.

So we had a great time in Montreal. Groovy place! I miss it even now. Tennis is the rain. Food that I've never heard of before. Quick friends. Gosh.

And then to Acadie. Grande-Memere could make Blaise smile so easily. Pepere turned 55. We visited a vinyard and Cap d'Or and Kevin and Pam and Peter and Shari and Jeff and Marta and Jean-Pierre and Sherry. Such a rich life there. And stars. Canoed a bit too.

We fly to Guatemala on the 23rd of Sept. I have to check online to see if my flight is still good as a bunch of flights are being cancelled due to this supposed fuel shortage. But, man, too many logistics to think of to really think of what life will be like there.

Is anyone else out there listening to Arcade Fire?

Now we're trying to pack in as much visiting with friends and family as possible and figure out which 280 lbs of our possessions we will bring to our new home. Check out www.zaakistan.com/guatemala/support.html for more details about our move.

Amber's funny today. Especially funny I should say.