A Steep Learning Curve

It is just starting to rain here, as it usually does every afternoon at some point. It rains for about an hour or so and then we wake up to beautiful blue skies in the morning. We are learning to wear the right shoes and to take an umbrella with us at this time. So far, none of the dry laundry hung up on the wash line has gotten wet from the rain.Yes, we are learning some Spanish. Judy's teacher is the housekeeper. Judy trys to imitate her sometimes and they both burst out laughing. Last week Judy walked to the market by herself and purchased some vegetables. She did not get lost! :) Yesterday the team currently here did their market activity in the morning. Sunday morning the market is packed. People crowd together and you take nothing valuable with you other then your quetzales (local currency) you need. You learn to walk right up against a Guatemalan woman or man - of course they only come up to Judy's chin and Al's chest. We attended the worship service at Iglesia Rio de Vida which always starts at 4 PM. Yes, we walked to church in the rain. It is so comfortable, not cold. Les (director of Impact Ministries) translates into English for us during the service. The speaker was a very dynamic passionate speaker - he is the local butcher in town. He spoke on the family - it was powerful. Judy had tears running down her cheeks as in May! What is with that? We were introduced in their service and we met some new people and some people that we had met in May. We are learning Guatemalan time. If you are scheduled to arrive somewhere at 5:00 PM you are not late if you arrive at 5:59 PM. If you have a meeting set up it may or not happen because something else has come up that has taken priority.

Judy has learned the hard way not to pet guard dogs. :) She was bit on the arm & received 2 puncture wounds - no stitched needed just wounded her pride!

We are finding a routine. The group currently here from Saskatchewan are so gracious and patient with us. They are a lot of fun as well! :) They are away from the guest house doing some construction this afternoon and we are able to catch our breath a little. We purchased some ice cream today for the team at the local ice cream shop and we were able to communicate somehow that we needed a receipt.

Using a propane gas oven has been a challenge for Judy. The heat needs to continually be adjusted to maintain constant temp. The rack needs to be somewhere in the middle or upper level to keep from burning the bottom of the cake or muffins. The heat is not even from one corner to another so the pan must be rotated.

This group loves coffee morning, noon or evening so Al has been kept busy making the coffee. That too is a challenge. The coffee makers are very slow even after Judy tryed to get them to work better by cleaning them with a vinegar solution. It takes more than one half hour to drip a pot of coffee.

Today was garbage day. Al put the garbage out in the street this morning for pick up. He had to keep watch to keep stray dogs away from it.

Thanks for your prayers. Bendiciones!