How Not To Grow Pumpkins

So I had a great idea to build my house a little faster. A couple years ago we saw pumpkins for sale at our grocery store. They were imported from the States and were only $3. Until we got to the register. There we found out that they were $3/pound. No matter how nice it would have been to have had a pumpkin pie for that Christmas, it wasn't worth $30.

I then began noticing how much empty space there is here in Petén. There are many spaces here that people buy instead of putting money in the bank, but since they don't have time to work the land it just grows up with weeds. There are also lots of people who have a very good knowledge of the land and of farming here.

So I decided to import my own Pumpkin seeds, have somebody else plant them on their land, truck them to the mountains, sell them to gringos for $10 instead of $30 and split the profits with my Petenero farmer. I bought 2500 seeds for around $60 (I wanted high quality, heirloom seeds), half Jack-O-Lantern and half Sugar Pie Sweet, and turned them over to an Agronomist here who has a big piece of property. I also gave him a lot of information (that I got online) about what pumpkins need to grow well. He told me not to worry and he was very excited about it. We also planned out what day to plant so that everything would be ready by the end of October. So far so good.

Everything was going great. We had 1400 mounds that had been planted and fertilized. Almost all of the plants had sprouted and we were looking good. Mynor was already spending his money...

Then in October we had several disasters. Mynor hadn't sprayed for bugs, instead talking about some new way where the poison is in the fertilizer so the bugs die when they eat the plant. All that gave us was a bunch of half-eaten plants with dead bugs everywhere that the ants came in to clean up for us. But that's ok because I'm pretty sure most of those drowned when we had two straight weeks of rain that turned most pastures here into temporary lakes, including my pumpkin patch. After that we were down to maybe 200 pumpkins still alive and well. Until somebody started stealing them. It was only 3-4 that were stolen and it could have been an animal, but it got Mynor scared of thieves. So instead of leaving the pumpkins to ripen on the vine and grow to the size of a basketball or better, he started cutting them as soon as he thought they were changing colors. The result was 150 tiny little pumpkins that after a week turned orange but didn't have any flavor. In his mind it is better to have 100% of your worthless pumpkins than have just 97% of quality pumpkins that you can do something with.

By the time I could convince him to just leave everything alone I was left with around 60 pumpkins to my name. It's a good deal, I think, to get 60 pumpkins for $60, but who would buy 60 pumpkins in the first place? We were able to give away a lot to friends, had fresh pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, a lot of frozen pumpkin waiting for Christmas and too many roasted seeds to eat. Oh and Mynor and I are still friends.

I still think this is a good idea and will try again next year. I think my biggest mistake this year was a lack of diversification. Next year I'm going to split my seeds up between 3 different people in 3 different parts of Petén.

Car Insurance in Guatemala

Because of the situation with José, I began again to look for car insurance here. I looked around when we first arrived, but the payments were more than a car payment on a new vehicle. I found that a reputable agency here (G&T) has recently lowered their rates to match their unreliable competition. For full coverage they still want $4,000/year to cover both vehicles (2004 Tacoma and 2007 Toyota Hiace Microbus), but their liability coverage seemed more than fair to me. They cover all expenses to others' property and persons, as well as any medical expenses of my passengers. They also pay families in instances of accidental death such as José's problem. Oh, and any and all lawyer fees.

The agent road a bus 45 minutes to my house so that he could take pictures of my vehicles and have me sign the paperwork. He also took this time to explain the policies to me. (Note: his name has been changed.)

Official policy:

In the event of an accident, I must immediately call the number for the main office in Guatemala City. They will verify my coverage and then send a report to the Petén office who will then send an agent to the scene of the accident.

Or:

I can call Carlos' personal cell phone anytime day or night and he will come since he already knows that I have coverage. This will save me at least an hour he says.

Official policy:

You must remain at the scene of the accident until the agent arrives.

Or:

There are some parts of Petén where it is too dangerous to stay and you must run for your life (such as the areas we are ALWAYS traveling to- Libertad/Sayaxché area). Carlos said to call him after I get away. He understands and can fill out the paperwork later.

Official policy:

Nobody under 21 is allowed to drive the vehicles to be covered and all drivers must have valid driver's licenses.

Or:

Don't say anything to the home office and Carlos can change who the driver was once he arrives.

Official policy:

G&T only pays if it is your fault. If you are not at fault, it is the other party's responsibility.

Or:

Don't say anything to the home office and Carlos will make sure everybody gets paid when he arrives.

Now obviously I'm not going to engage in insurance fraud of any kind, but I want to show you what life is like here in the "Wild West" of Central America. I am glad to know that I don't have to stay in a dangerous situation and that there is some common sense in that area.

Gone Native?

Some experiences we've had lately that make me think maybe we've crossed a line...

My wife told me today, "I cleaned the bathroom so you'll have to pee outside until after our guests get here."

We had left the house and were already on the road. Shelley said to me, "Oh no. I forgot my jewelry, now they're going to think I'm poor." We were heading someplace fancy and they treat you differently depending on your appearance.

Text message to my wife, "Just had six tortillas and a chicken wing. It was yummy."

Our one year old boys cried for days when my parents, their white, english speaking grandparents came to visit. They did not want to be held by them. After they left we visited our land to check on construction where they happily went to the new mason we have working there and smiled the whole time. They think they're two chapines.

We visited a new friends' house that they are fixing up before moving in. My wife's first thoughts before thinking about things like a kitchen or an air conditioner or even bars on the windows was, "How are they going to keep out the rats?"

It got down in the 70's the other night so while I was out and about I stopped into a Paca store and bought a $3 Goodwill reject Nautica jacket which barely beat out a jacket with an eagle on it and embroidered with the name, "Gene."

An innocent conversation that made a nice lady very sad

So my wife is a very resourceful person which causes me to be always on the lookout for the weird, cheap items that she can repurpose. Now with the boys that has gone into overdrive as she creates a home with warm memories and US traditions mixed with Guatemalan spice. Usually she tells me what she wants to do and as I am out paying bills and doing paperwork I keep my eyes out looking for the things she needs for that.

So for the boys' birthday she made a balloon wreath to hang on the door to announce to the neighbors that there was a birthday at our house. She has plans to make one for thanksgiving and Christmas and all seasons apparently, but the styrofoam circles we found in Guate are too small for our doors apparently. So Tuesday I was riding around in a tuk tuk while getting new tires put on my micro when I saw a lady hanging up decorated styrofoam wreaths in circle and heart shapes. I called my wife who told me to go by and buy some if they were bigger than what she had.

I stopped by later and asked about them.

Jimmy: How much are the wreaths?

Nice lady: These here are Q50.

J: Ok do you sell just the forms without any ribbon on them?

NL: No, everything I have is decorated already.

J: Ok, I think I want one heart and one circle.

NL: Ok, who are they for?

J: I'm buying them for my wife who will use them on special occasions for my twin boys like birthdays and Christmas.

NL: Twins? That's really difficult.

J: Yes, I think it is harder than one. Is there a discount for buying two?

NL: Yes, of course. It will only be Q90 for buying two.

Once I got into the micro it finally dawned on me what our conversation had really been about. Wreaths like these are used to adorn places where people have died or the graves of loved ones. We are getting close to Day of the Dead here and it is a month of funeral festivities right now if there is such a thing. After more than 4 years I have tuned out the crosses and wreaths and signs on the side of the road. I'm usually too concerned with the live things that may jump out in front of me at any time.

Because I wasn't thinking I missed a very culture specific part of the conversation and because of this I communicated that my twins were dead. Now go back and read our conversation from her perspective and you'll understand why I feel really bad about this. Now every wreath on the side of road waves at me as I drive by reminding me of my stupidity. Oh, and my wife won't use the wreaths now because they have been "tainted."

A Friend Goes to the Hospital

In September a friend of mine was drinking with his cousin and some other friends at the Texaco station in Melchor (border town with Belize). While they were sitting there, a blacked out car pulled up and opened fire on the group of them. One of the friends was killed, his cousin was hit in the arm and a 9mm bullet hit Luis in the neck, hitting below the chin on his left side and exiting on the right. He lost a lot of blood but before that could still walk. An ambulance "rushed" him the 1.5 hr trip to San Benito and their public hospital.

Luckily the bullet didn't hit anything important. He had surgery and afterwards could talk. He had difficulty swallowing but was told that was because of the swelling. I saw him the day after he was admitted. It was not my first time to the hospital, but I'd never been to the wards before.

I walked to the information desk even though it was 1pm and visiting hours aren't until 6-8pm. Luis told me on the phone, "They'll let you in. You're white." I told them I was there to visit Luis and what bed he was in. Not only did they let me go, the lady got up from her desk (with others in line behind me) and walked me past the police checkpoint and into his room in the Men's Surgery Wing where she pointed at him and left.

I say his room, but it actually belonged to six guys. They each had a worn out hospital bed with different sheets on them (the family is responsible for providing linens) and none of them had a gown on. They were all in various stages of dress with one guy in a long sleeved flannel shirt, jeans and his rubber boots. Luis was down to some barely on shorts. It was hot. There was no TV, no magazines, no air conditioning or even fans, not even any public health posters. Somebody had brought Luis a small desktop fan and his phone charger. He also had several bottles of water and a gatorade, but he couldn't swallow so it didn't do him much good.

I spoke with him for a few minutes sitting on the end of his bed (the chair for his guests was taken by the fan) but it was hard for him to talk because of the swelling. He took his bandages off and showed me the bullet holes before re-sticking them back on. It was actually hard to sit there because of the stink. I'm not sure whether it was him or one of the other 5 guys sweating and recovering from surgeries. I ribbed him about his choices in friends (the one who died was the target of this "cleanup") to which he replied, "Everybody has their problems."

This was on a Thursday and even though the doctor thought he would be ready to go on Saturday, he would have to wait until Monday when the doctor got back in town. Doctors take turns flying in from the city to work Monday-Friday in these free government run hospitals. On the weekends there is only one first year resident for the entire hospital. The highest rank in class gets to choose their location first and nobody wants to come to Petén so most hospitals here are run by your lower than average medical students on the weekends. They're not allowed to discharge very many people.

He was sent home Monday and has pretty much recovered. I told Shelley that I now have a list of 26 different emergency plans that rank above going to the general hospital. One of those is to let me slowly but mercifully bleed out (ok maybe not, but our Vet is truthfully #2 on the list.)

Even though I don't think there are very many privacy laws in Guatemala, my US conscience wouldn't let me take pictures. Instead, here's the scene of the shooting:

How to Cross the Border to Belize

My parents are here so last Thursday we went to Belize. The main purpose was to get our tourist visas renewed, but we also wanted to go to Spanish Lookout to do some shopping. If you're interested in crossing over, here's how it went:

Upon arriving at the border I had to pay Q10 to cross the bridge in our microbus. Then I drove up and past the Guatemalan immigration area and parked in their lot on the other side of the gate. Then, while the family waited in the bus I took all 6 passports up to the exit line. It was pretty straightforward, I got our exit stamps and then went to talk to the people about the vehicle. Our bus has Guatemalan plates so I showed my passport, US driver's license and registration card for the micro (tarjeta de circulación). I thought I would get some sort of form since everybody told me that I had to go talk to them, but they looked everything and then waved at me to leave. I'm not sure how I would prove if I came back a month from now that I had spoken to them, but I'm sure they know what they're doing.

So I returned to the micro after exchanging Q400 for 100 Belize dollars and drove through the fumigation area. There I had to pay $8 Belize (or $4 US.)

In front of you is the Belize immigration hall. Everybody has to leave the vehicle and walk down the hall with any bags you may have. We didn't take the cooler with drinks in it. It is again, pretty straightforward without any forms to fill out or anything to pay. They stamp your passport and write down your name. At customs they search your bags and after giving me another stamp for my vehicle asked me to go back and pull it up. They stopped me, asked me what was in the cooler, looked to make sure I was telling the truth and waved me on to pick up the family waiting in the sun.

From there you drive to the white building in front of you where you will buy your Belize vehicle insurance. I have no idea what it covers but for 24 hours on our micro they charged me $24 Belize.

After that everything was fine. Normally there is a checkpoint before leaving the border town where the police will check your vehicle papers and remind you that you're not in Guatemala any more and have to buckle your seat belts, but there wasn't one that day.

We normally eat at a Mennonite restaurant in Spanish Lookout called Golden Corral (hilarious I know...not part of the chain) but because they are closed in the afternoons (I think 2-5pm) we stopped at the San Ignacio Resort Hotel to eat at the Running W Steakhouse. It was fantastic and will become a regular stop for us.

We returned to the border at 5pm. This is where it gets tricky because you don't want to have too many Belize dollars on the other side because they rip you off in the exchange rate going back, but you have to pay an exit tax. They only accept Belize dollars (not US or Guatemalan Quetzales.) The tax is $30 Belize/person (not including children but I'm not sure what the cutoff is). Plus there is another tax posted at $7.50 Belize. The problem is that I've only been charged the $7.50 tax once in 4-5 times doing this. So do you take the chance that you won't have to pay or do you go ahead and exchange to have your bases covered? I covered my bases since having an extra $30 Belize (for the 4 adults) won't kill me since I'll be back in 3 months.

They didn't end up charging me after all.

After paying this tax and getting your receipt you take your passports to the immigration table to get your exit stamp.

They then sent me to the Entrance side of the hall to talk to Customs about getting my passport note signed. It was then that I could go get the vehicle and pick up my family for the drive again through fumigation (this time Q40, more than what Belize charges you). In Guatemala, everybody waited in the micro while I took the passports again but this time to the Entrance side where I quickly received my stamps as well as an offer by the nice immigration official to show me around El Salvador if I would ever like to see the coast there. He lives close to that border. Nothing to pay in Guatemala, nothing to do with the vehicle since it has plates, and nobody checked to see if I had purchased anything.

Everything on that border is very relaxed and the people are very willing to give direction if you're not sure what to do. We had a good day but the boys were very happy to get home after driving around so much. Plus, we have another 90 days in Guatemala and my parents got some extra stamps on their passports.

How to Destroy a Good Work

Some Kekchi friends of ours came over to the house today. We had a lot to talk about, but eventually the subject of the Kekchi Baptist Association of Petén came up. I don't have all the information in order to give you a decent description, but this is basically a group of churches in Petén that broke off of the larger Southern Baptist Kekchi group in Cobán. It makes sense because there were a large number of churches and they are pretty far from Cobán. Plus, Petén is basically it's own country separate from the rest of Guatemala in many ways.

So because there is some unrest in the association that the pastors are trying to work through, one of our friends today asked about the possibility of me starting a separate Association. I told him of course that that is ridiculous. I know it is human nature to start something competing as soon as you meet resistance, but that would be one of the worst things to happen. First of all, at least now the Kekchi Baptists have a unified front. They support missionaries (although part of the discussion is how they do that). They have a central place for training and when somebody needs support, they have a large network from which to draw that support.

So why would you ever want to break that up? Of course it appears to the ego that I would be leading my own association of X number of churches and I could be big and bad and the boss. But what would I accomplish long-term? I would be creating a division among like-minded churches. It would cripple the other association at least in the short-term from accomplishing it's goals. It would immediately alienate me from over half of the existing churches from whom I hope to pull students for ministry at our Pastor's Institute. And last but not least it would immediately provide fodder for sermon's aimed at why we are better or they are lesser Christians because of our/their affiliation.

I've been asked a lot about what I would deem success as a missionary. Let me tell you what I would call failure. I will pack it up and leave Petén the day I cause there to be a second Baptist church started in any village in Petén. There's just too many other important things to do.

A Friendly Acquaintance Arrested

Jeffrey Lynn Cassman, aka "Mark Francis", aka "Don Marco", the author of the very popular blog "GuateLiving", linked to my blog several times. He found us while making his list of blogs in Guatemala. I have enjoyed reading his blog almost every day for over a year now. Many of his posts were informative, funny, and mirrored experiences we have on a regular basis. He also had a lot of time apparently because he read most Guatemalan blogs and would link to the interesting ones, thus saving everybody the trouble of having to surf through all the blogs ourselves to find the interesting nuggets. You can learn a lot from other people's experiences and perspectives, but not many have time to read 20-30 blogs a day.

It turns out that he was a scam artist, wanted in TN and fled the country with his wife and 9 children (the 10th was born here right before we met him.) I'm not sure why somebody running from their past would have a high profile blog and purposefully write so that people would hate him, but I assume it has something to do with his "Investment Opportunities." He told everybody that he had worked as an investment banker in Phoenix before seeing the decline in the States, investing in Gold and selling everything to move to Guatemala for the "cultural experience." Now he is in jail awaiting extradition while his family is penniless and illegal aliens in Guatemala. He was arrested in the Central Park of Antigua.

It's interesting to look back now and see how he handled rumors and criticism. Shelley said, "Some people are born with too much nerve."

It wouldn't be the first time we've eaten with a criminal, but most of the time here we know about it. I liked the guy but Shelley always had big reservations. Chalk another one up to a "woman's intuition."

Update: Here's a link if you'd like to read an official report

I Need Money For My Sick Kid

This statement is made to us on a regular basis. Always by women. When men lie about needing money, they ask for their sick wife. When women lie about needing money, it is for their sick child. Not that needing the money is the lie, but the story they tell that they think will convince you, the merciful yet stupid gringo, to give them the money.

A lady whose never talked to us before nor come to any of our activities recently approached us in Santa Rita. She told me she needed Q200 because her 4 yr old daughter is sick. Here's our conversation

Jimmy: Wow, Q200. Don't you know that the big hospital in San Benito is free?

Lady: Well yes, but you have to pay transportation.

J: Yeah that's right...do you know that it only costs Q5 to get there. So round trip for you and your daughter is Q20 if they charge you for the little girl too.

L: Well yeah, but she has amoebas and the medicine costs Q70.

J: Really? I just had that and the medicine cost me Q25. Why don't you give me the name of the medicine or the prescription from the doctor and I'll pick up the medicine from my guy since it is so much cheaper. I'll bring it to you tomorrow.

L: Ok, I'll go home and get it.

So of course she didn't come back and that confirmed that she didn't really need money for her sick kid, but was using that as an excuse. However the next day her mom flagged me down. She apparently owed somebody Q200 and they couldn't pay it back and yes the little girl was sick but now she's better but it would really be great if I could go ahead and loan them the money so they could pay back the loan.

Why would somebody think that I would loan them money when they just told me that they owe somebody and can't pay it back. Will I have to wait for the next Gringo to arrive so they can pay me back for this lady? To top it off, this person doesn't know me and has never talked to me before.

This is a pretty typical scenario. On the rare occasion you will have somebody who really does need help, and we have helped before by buying medicine or taking people to our private doctor and covering the costs, but you have to be careful to not be tricked. It would be easy in the short-term to just hand everybody a little bit of money, but in the long-term we would lose respect and have a group of people paying lip service to what we teach with the hope of getting another hand-out.

Update on José Xol

I typed up a summary of what happened on our ministry blog for those of you who are interested. Check it out HERE.

Anybody for an Exotic Pet?

While checking wall construction recently a lady came up to me and asked for Q75. When I didn't just hand it over, she offered me a pet she had in her bag. Apparently her husband had got a whole litter of baby armadillos the day before. The workers were laughing and said they could get a whole one cooked for that amount of money, and that's something you could put on a tortilla...

Wall Progress

So here's a couple pictures of our wall as it is progressing. I only have two workers on it now, have gone through 70 bags of cement, and since my original bulk order of materials have had to order 500 more large rocks, 100 lbs of steel, and 400 U blocks. I went ahead and ordered another 2,000 block as well because the truck was coming anyways and it's not like I won't use it. I could use more workers to get more accomplished, but salaries would run me out of money too quickly and if I have to lay off my workers because I run out of material, I might not get them back. So it's slow going for now but at least both guys show up for work every day.

I Cannot Imagine

It is one of our biggest fears while driving. José was driving yesterday on a dirt road and as he passed a stopped Microbus, a 9 yr. old boy ran out in front without looking. He tried to brake but couldn't stop in time. They rushed him to the nearest hospital (1.5 hrs away) but the boy died within 30 minutes so they turned around and took him back.

It took only minutes for a crowd of thousands to gather. He called me after they got back, weeping and asking me to pray. I asked if he was ok and through the tears he said, "Only God knows." They were ready to burn him alive in typical indigenous fashion, but thankfully the head of the Baptist association arrived and calmed them down with the words, "but if you kill him, you won't get any money." The father of the child immediately demanded Q90,000. After negotiation, José agreed to pay Q50,000 within 15 days. Mateo, the Kekchi pastor overseeing the association had brought along Q7,000 to appease the people for now.

His missionary partner Domingo called me after it was over. He was driving José home, upset that his friend had agreed to so much when he has so little. He said that maybe José would be able to sell his land or something. I was shocked that the price was so high, when funeral arrangements including tomb and casket would maybe reach the price of Q10,000.

I called a friend of mine who has a lot of connections and is the owner of a bus company to get a grasp of the cultural side of this. When I told him the amount, he seemed relieved and described it as low. He said to his buddy with him, "50,000 for a kid? Yeah Jimmy, that's a good price. Maybe he got off easy since he's poor." Apparently he knows somebody who just had to pay Q120,000 for killing a friend's kid.

It was explained to me that it doesn't matter if it was unintentional, or if it was the kid's fault, or even if it was the mom's fault who wasn't watching her kid, the crime is killing a kid while driving. That apparently means prison time, unless you can convince the family to drop the charges. The "offering" is meant to be a help to get them to that conclusion. The lawyers around here have a form all ready to go.

So we're going to try and help our friend. We have several friends in the States who know José already looking to see how they can help. José is the national with whom we work the most. He is the kindest, most trustworthy person we have met here and his heart for his own people is evident. A show of his reputation is that the association already paid Q7,000 and is looking to do more. The churches here will be taking of love offerings as well, but it takes a lot of Q5 and Q10 bills to get to Q43,000.

Sand Problems

Of course this drama will never end until our house is finished, and at the rate we are going, it will probably be another 10-20 years...So get ready for a lot of blog posts. Maybe I should just start another blog called "Don't build a house in Guatemala" but I'm still sweaty and in Petén, so I'll stick around here for now.

When I ordered my trailer full of sand, I was given the options of 32 meters, 35 meters or 38 meters. I of course chose 32 meters knowing that the amount of sand would be the same either way and hoping that with my low order I would have a better chance of it all fitting on the truck.

I told them that I would pay for what was delivered and was assured that I would receive that correct amount because Manuel would never cheat me. I told him that while I appreciated him saying that, my albañil would be measuring everything anyway.

So when the sand arrived Lico measured everything out. The driver told me that they had brought me 35 meters of sand, but would only charge me for the 32. Red Flag number one. Nobody gives anything for free.

It came out that the length of the trailer is 12 meters. The interior width is 2.28 meters and the height in the center of the trailer was .85. That comes out to 23.256 cubic meters. That's almost Q1000 worth of sand that did not arrive. I told the driver no problem, that I'd just pay for the sand he brought and that he didn't have to make another trip. I was then told that he had loaded up 32 meters (wait, I thought it was 35...) but that some blows off the top during the trip. I told him that he should buy a tarp because it is not acceptable for a third of my sand to blow off the truck. "No, you don't understand, it doesn't blow off the top, it compresses with the vibrations of the road." He then explained that you have to add 10 cm to the top for compression because that's what everybody does.

It doesn't matter that adding that 10 cm only increases my total cubic meters to 24.276, I told him that I don't pay for air. I had never encountered this before and it didn't matter to me if he steals from everybody else, I only pay for what I get. Then he said that my albañil doesn't know how to measure and that the truck is actually 12.6 meters long and that gives me my 32 meters when I add the 10 cm. Well, that's still only 27.29 cubic meters, but I acted very chapin and took great offense that he would dare criticize my worker's measuring skills, plus I had just bought him a new tape measure.

After a little more talking I told him to unload all of the sand and that Lico would remeasure once on the ground because unloading the sand by shovel would take care of the compression problem. After all that we came up with the same amount of sand-23.25 cubic meters.

This had still not been resolved when the owner finally arrived. He wanted the rest of his money, even though he still hasn't delivered my block. I prepaid Q9,000 out of Q15,000 and the block is worth Q8,500 of that. I told him that I would pay him on Monday if he really did deliver the block, after I had counted all the block, and discounted the sand he didn't bring. There were lots of "Fijese" thrown about and more explanation about how my worker couldn't measure, the truck is actually longer than it really is and sand settles 10 cm, no matter how high it is stacked.

Of course, I didn't pay any more money, because I knew ahead of time that he would be asking me for it and I left my money at home. That way I could truthfully say that I didn't have any money with me...fijese.

Now I have to decide whether I stop buying from him altogether (the logical Gringo's first choice) or whether he has learned that the Gringo in San Pancho is tacaño (cheap) and not tonto (dumb), therefore bringing me the correct amount of materials from here on out.

It Doesn't Just Happen To Gringos

So out of my 4 new workers, only one is worth asking back for next week. I really need two assistants though for my albañil (mason). The guys were complaining about the heat and how they wanted to start arriving at 4am so they could leave at noon before it got hot, but after a long explanation that they didn't understand about how I knew they would take the same amount of breaks, therefore not working a full 8 hours, and that it is impossible to work well while still dark outside. After explaining these points several times, I finally just told them that if they don't like working when it's hot, they shouldn't have moved to Petén and that I could find workers who didn't complain about the heat.

So I did. I called Quincho in Guate and paid his bus ticket (which he'll pay me back next week by working) to come and start. He is stronger than most people here, works hard all day, and I have a rapport with him to be able to explain how to do things right without him getting all mopey and offended.

So I went to the bus office here in El Chal to find out how to pay for his ticket. I was told to come back at 6pm and to tell Quincho to be at the station in Guate at the same time to catch the 7pm bus. I would pay for the ticket, be given the actual ticket, but Quincho would be put on the bus manifest and all would work out. To my surprise, that's how it worked out. I paid the Q110 and he got a seat on the bus.

That night, about halfway to Petén, the bus driver told Quincho to get off the bus. The driver claimed that Quincho's ticket was for only Q60 and since Quincho didn't have the ticket in hand, he had no proof. Quickly the driver came up with the solution that Quincho could get a ride all the way, but he had to leave his bag with the bus driver. "Don't go to the office, come and pay me directly tomorrow," the driver told him.

So at 6 am Quincho was at my door. I gave him a ride to the city (Santa Elena) and I went directly to the office to complain. The man behind the counter was shocked, but went in search of the bag. Of course, the bag was not in the normal holding area. After a phone call to the driver, we were directed to a place in the market where the driver was waiting to watch the game on tv, and had the bag with him. Upon arriving, there was another argument about the Q50, but we finally got the bag without having to pay. BTW, World Cup means bus drivers sit around the market and get hammered. There were several empty cases of beer next to several more unopened ones and these drivers were on 12 hour break before driving back to Guatemala City that night.

How To: Buy Rocks

I know it's soon to talk about another house supply story, but I wanted to share another experience I had today when buying rock. Apparently I need a lot of rocks. These rocks are pieces of mountain broken down to slightly larger than a softball. A large dump truck holds about 1,000.

So I arrived at the quarry (this one in Santa Elena because all the other quarries break up their rocks to make gravel and won't sell them to you) and walked around for about 10 minutes before I finally was spotted by a guard. He came very close to rolling down the mountain of gravel with shotgun in hand, but luckily he caught himself all 4 times and made it down on his feet. Together we looked for the guy in charge.

While walking around I explained what I needed and asked him about the prices. The neat thing about guards is that they notice prices, but don't get caught up in ripping you off because they don't really care how much extra the boss gets. I was told that a double load costs Q600.

We finally found the guy who informed me right away that the double load costs Q1100 and is not really a double load, but 1200 rocks instead of 900 rocks. Now I know that they do not take the time to count out every rock, and the guard had just told me that a single load was Q300 and a double load Q600. He is at this point looking for a spot to pee while staying in ear shot so he can see if I'm going to get him in trouble.

I whistled at the high price and asked if that included delivery. One sign you are getting ripped off is if they say that other things are included. The fair price is one thing, and all the extras cost more. He assured me that that included everything and they would leave tomorrow at 7am.

I told him that I had heard from my friends (thus making the guard both my new friend and plural at the same) that the price shouldn't be more than Q600. This time he whistled and told me that he would be losing money to sell it to me at that price. Keep in mind that this is another tactic. His rocks are free. He just breaks them off of the mountain on his property.

I had the advantage on this one by knowing the fair price, so I held firm on the Q600, but ended up paying a little more than I should have for transportation and ended up at Q800 for the rocks and delivery 20 minutes away. Now I have to ask one of my workers to count rocks because I insisted (as I have with all the materials that I've bought lately) that I only pay for what is actually delivered.

My mason told me that I shouldn't buy rocks. He said that it is much easier and cheaper to find somebody with a mountain on their property and ask how much to buy the mountain. Then all I have to do is pay some guys to break up the mountain into little rocks, then hire some big trucks to take it to my property, then pay some guys to unload those trucks. Somehow he thinks that is cheaper than the $100 I just spent. I tried explaining that time is money, but that did not translate culturally.

So I Wanted to Buy Some Gravel

I have been running around for the last week buying materials for our wall. Construction started Monday. Last week I bought 2500 blocks, 32 cubic meters of sand, 1000 pounds of 3/8 in rebar, 200 pounds of 1/4 in. rebar, 2 shovels, one wheelbarrow, and one pickax.

I still need boards for scaffolding and forms, gravel, rocks, and bags of cement. The cement I can order as I need it so that I don't have to worry about moisture. There are several gravel pits around San Francisco, but you can pay as much for delivery as the actual gravel. On the way to Santa Rita basically across the street from our land there is a large quarry. I've asked about it before, but everybody told me that it was a private business and that they didn't sell their gravel. Just recently they put up a sign though that said "gravel for sale."

Saturday I decided to try and go by to see if they could bring me a dump truck full. While delivering more per load, it also keeps me from paying my workers to spend half a day unloading a truck of gravel when they could be digging a trench. When I got there with Lico, my mason, I found out they were closed, but I talked to the guard anyway. Here's our conversation:

Jimmy: Hey, is the boss around?

Guard: No, he's gone and won't be back until Monday.

J: Ok, I'll come back Monday then.

G: What do you need?

J: To buy some gravel.

G:Well we don't do that anymore. We're all out of gravel and we don't have enough for our own business. You have to go to San Benito (only 15 minutes away, but a lot more money to have them deliver.)

J: Ok, I just thought since the sign was new, you'd have gravel. Suddenly notices a price sheet nailed to the wall. Is it ok if I check out the price sheet so that I know what's fair to pay in San Benito?

G: Sure, how much do you need?

J: About 30 cubic meters.

G:Wow, that's a lot. We don't have that much.

J:Ok

G: Wait a second, let me call the boss over here to talk to you. Walks 10 feet up a little hill, whistles and waves his arm. Makes a grunting noise and walks off behind a mountain of gravel. After 10 minutes he comes back.

G: Fijese, you have to go to San Benito.

J: Ok.

G: We can only sell small amounts.

Lico: How much can you sell if we need just a little at a time.

G: 3 meters or more.

L: 3 or less?

G: 3 or more.

J: So, at least 3, but up to how much?

G: Oh, bunches. See that big mountain back there covered up with tarp? That's all gravel.

J: So could I have 30 meters?

G: Oh no, you have to go to San Benito. That's too much.

J: So could I order 3 meters?

G: No, we don't have enough.

J: Ok, I'm going to San Benito.

What made me feel better was that Lico thought the conversation was just as crazy as I did. If he had thought it made sense I would have been a little worried.

What We Do Before a Team Arrives

We've had several teams come and visit us, so we have some sort of a general plan of what to do before a big group arrives. Of course there are hotel reservations to make, but we have to do this 3 times. Once when the group confirms, once the month of the reservation (they start a new hand written reservation book every month, so the first time they write the information down on a post-it) and again the day before the group arrives. This gives them 24 hours to move people out of the rooms and get the refreshments out of the fridges for me. Since the hotel is privately owned, "associates" of the owner in town for "business" get to stay for free with no reservation. I just make sure they're not in any of my rooms.

I also have to calculate about how many bottles of water everybody will drink then increase that estimate if it is an adult group and discount it for a teen group. Teens tend to drink more sodas when we are out and about rather than the water I buy. Once we ended up with 100 bottles of water lying around the house after one group left. I also buy gallon jugs of water for each room for people to brush their teeth. Adults go through this faster than teens as well, but I like to think it's because they're drinking more coffee and not skipping out on basic hygiene. I also buy spoons, cups and bowls, coffee, creamer and sugar for everybody to use for breakfast. As soon as a team arrives we head to the grocery store to buy cereal and milk for breakfasts, but it makes it easier for them to have only have to choose things on the cereal isle without having to lead everybody to each individual utensil to pick out.

Hot water and air conditioning are installed in every room, but not always working. Also, one time with a reservation of 7 rooms I arrived to find only 3 were available and only one with hot water.

So on the day the group arrives I load up the truck with my purchases and coffee pots and head to the hotel. For this group that will be 30 cases of water bottles, 10 pkgs of bowls and spoons, 6 pkgs of cups, and 18 gallon jugs of water. I get all the keys and remote controls for all of my rooms and go down the line turning on the showers and air conditioners while closing all the windows. Then I start making trips dividing out all of the supplies while periodically checking that locks work on doors, the air is getting colder and the water is better than cold. If I have six rooms reserved, at least two will have something wrong with them which means changing and moving everything. At least I catch it before I have a bunch of tired people with their bags half emptied at midnight calling me to tell me it is still hot in their room.

From the very beginning we found a reliable driver who speaks pretty good english, so that is not an issue for our groups. I do also have to go by and alert all the restaurant owners of the amount of people and on what dates I would like to eat there. They are never that full anyway, but they need to know 20 people are coming so that they are well stocked with food and cooks.

There is also lots of ministry prep work too. For this team I have had several meetings with our Kekchi friends. We will be in 8 villages in 3 days doing evangelistic presentations. Our friends will use this as the foundation to start a new mission in each village. I've been editing a puppet recording for that part of the presentation. Below is part of the audio. Don't worry, there is no video so it's ok to be all black. (FYI, There are only two people who read this blog who will understand what they're saying.) The birds in the background except for the very last segment are the actual birds in our yard when we did the recording. The sound track I used is called "jungle birds" and sounds exactly like what I'm listening to outside my window now.

Sand, Mud Slides and Sinkholes...Oh My!

We've received a lot of emails today asking if we were affected by the storms and stuff from last week. I can happily tell you that there are benefits to being in the jungle! All Agatha did to us was steal our rain clouds for a few days to return us to the blistering hot days of dry season. We don't have any volcanos or even mountains to fall on us, so ha ha to all of you people in Antigua with your "perfect weather all year" or "land of eternal spring."

But seriously, there is great devestation in the mountains and many of our friends were greatly affected. Here are some links if you would like to see pictures of the volcanic sand in Guate and want to know why the airport is closed down, or the sink holes in Guate, or go to expat mom's website to read several interesting posts about the storm and it's effects.

I tried getting everybody to come to Petén, but had no takers. For now, the skies are clear.

Check Your Bread

About a year after we got here they built a big Maxi Bodega grocery store. It changed everything for us. Instead of going to four different stores to find out Petén was out of cheese or chicken and would be for a month, we could now buy Kraft Singles and refrigerated peaches from California. However, it is not perfect and sometimes you find this:

How To Get Fired By a Gringo

Step One: Buy land (oh how simple that looks typed out here...)

Step Two: Hire Architect

Step Three: Fire Architect for thinking that you are stupid

After his initial self-imposed deadline of a week to a week and a half, Mr. Andrés took over a month to finally get us our plans. And these weren't the 3-D plans like we were promised. He was also short two bedrooms and a bathroom from what we had asked for. He had also made it way too expensive. He had also thrown out everything we had given him and gone his own direction.

So we fixed some things on his plan on Sunday to which he replied that by Tuesday morning we would have the finished plans, including 3-D.

I emailed him Thursday morning asking if he was ok. Thursday night we got a 3-D view of the front of what he wants our house to look like (not even close to what we asked for) and the plans. In his plans there is a very nice view of the pool from our walk in closet window, but not from anywhere else. FYI, these plans are for somebody much richer and dumber than we are. Friday morning he sent me an estimated cost for the wall around our property. This should have been very easy for him and was also over a month late.

All I really wanted was a materials list. That's what I had told him many times. I have my own construction workers and I have contacts to buy materials. I just wanted to know so that I could set up a budget and a timeline and get started.

Instead of sending me a materials list, he sent me a budget which included $800 for him to supervise the wall, $11,000 in materials and $6000 in salaries. For the same price I could pay my workers for 32 weeks and my wall better not take that long. One of the things he supposedly brought to the table was cheaper materials through his wholesalers. My own estimate based upon prices I can get locally (who have everything trucked in for them) comes in around $8,000 including salaries for three months.

Everything combined led me to the unfortunate for him conversation about why we no longer require his services. It had to be done gracefully because Guatemalan men are as sensitive as girls (it doesn't help if you mention that comparison) and because he is a friend of a friend...and he knows where we're going to live.

Aaron's Found a Friend in Jesus

When the team was here I took a few of them by to meet Aaron. You've seen him before on the blog. He is a very talented man who has done amazing things in spite of the hard situation he was born into. His wife died 26 years ago. During the war he met a man who played the violin and taught Aaron some songs. Aaron then set about making his own violin. He used guitar strings for the violin and made a bow using a stick and a plant he stripped down and dried out. Below you can see a video of his second violin that is more refined than his first one. He also makes his own marimbas and has recently fixed the guitar shown below. He made the top to look like his violin and has started teaching himself how to play. He tunes everything by ear. Part of what makes it so amazing in addition to his musical talents despite a severe lack of education, is that he does all of this with very rudimentary tools. He says that he just has a lot of patience. Now that we've taught him about Jesus, my next step is to replace his Vikings shirt with a green one. Maybe a hat of cheese...

If you're internet is faster than ours, you can enjoy the video.

Animals of Tikal

We always see certain animals in Tikal, but this latest time took the cake. The best part was that I had my new telephoto lens and have been looking forward to Tikal ever since I got it. Here's some snapshots. The only animal we saw that I didn't get a picture of was the grey fox.

This is apparently Montezuma's Oriole (not to be confused with his famous "Revenge") and they have large bag nests all over Tikal. They look like regular black birds until they start flying and then you can see their really bright tail feathers.
Here's one flying in front of Temple I.
The pisote (coati mundi) is my favorite Petén animal. Maybe because we had a wild one living in our backyard in the first house we had here, or maybe because they are just so cute. There were so many of them this time that I accused a worker of having bought and imported Pisotes so that tourists would have something to look at, and my accusation was neither confirmed nor denied.

We have never been to Tikal and not seen spider monkeys.
However this was the first time we've seen them in the same trees with pisotes.

My Keens finally fell apart as we were leaving. I guess 12 time to Tikal is all they can take. The first 4 times through I hired a guide for our groups, but then I realized that each one told different stories. I then decided to pick my favorite ones and lead the groups myself. When it comes to tour guides, as in life, the more they talk the less they know.

Guard Pig

Yesterday, the Mission Group from the States left. That means I have 5 minutes free so that I can get back to blogging. At least I have a lot to talk about and plenty of pictures.

When going house to house last week I had one of my boys on one side of the village while my wife took one to the other side. At one Kekchi house, I was asked to come back further into the group of houses to show the little fat white kid to the old lady in charge. At the entrance to the house was this big fella sitting belly deep in the mud. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite," they called out to me...

Chicken Truck

While most things about our lives are hectic and most days we wake up not knowing what will happen, there are certain things that are set in stone. It does not take people here long to figure out our schedule (which is why our house was broken into a few years ago.) This inevitably leads to people asking us for rides. Usually we can accommodate people by packing them in the back of the truck or filling in empty spots in the micro.

So Tuesday night Mateo called me to see if his mom and sisters could ride with us to Santa Rita. They were getting out in the town before. I said that was fine. Five minutes later he called back to see if they could take along some chickens for his aunt. I told him I didn't mind taking chickens, but that they were not allowed inside the truck. No problem in the back (people put them in boxes) but absolutely no chickens inside the truck.

I stopped on the side of the road to pick them up and noticed the cardboard boxes shaking around as they loaded them in the back. The girls got in the back to make sure they didn't fly out. Not 2 minutes down the road Mateo's mom pulled something out of her shirt.

This is not uncommon as many women use their bras as extra pockets. They store there important documents, money, cell phone... whatever they don't want to lose.

It was then I heard the chirping and had to look over. I said, "Mateo! That is a chicken!" He apologized while explaining that it had just hatched and they didn't want it to die outside in the wind.

Soap Box

So I mentioned it before, that one of my pet peeves is people talking about Missions as if it is a horrible thing that God is calling you to. Some even give the idea that if you are a missionary you will spend the rest of your sure-to-be-short life suffering and miserable. Then you add to this people who think that they are miserable, so they must be called to be a missionary and are just saying, "No." These two things culminate in miserable people being guilted into going to a foreign country only to turn the people they meet into miserable people for having known them.

I won't even get started on people who have the same thoughts about the Christian life...

God doesn't want us to be miserable. Yes, bad things are going to happen to us. Yes, life is relatively more dangerous living in a foreign country. Yes, Jesus promises that people will revile and persecute us for following Him. All of those things are true.

The same thing happened to Paul and Silas. And they were singing in the jail. James said to "count it all joy." Jesus said to "rejoice and be exceeding glad". Just because bad things happen doesn't mean you have to be sad and mopey.

I remember the youth group days when the sadder you were when singing, the more spiritual you were. Words like "broken" were the fad. Go ahead and be sad if you want to, but I'm not going to let it rub off on me.

I believe God wants us to get the most out of this life as possible. That's why He doesn't want us getting drunk. Life is much better when you can remember it. That's why He doesn't want us sleeping around. You can't beat a life long relationship built on trust and with the absence of fear.

In my personal example. Being a missionary is SO much more exciting than any other "job" I could have. I feel that I have a huge advantage over those of you sitting in the States working 8-5, M-F. Did you know that my "job" requires that I have a 4WD truck and actually use it in precarious situations where it is the only suitable form of transportation? I love languages. Did you know that I get to learn several (not just one extra) and will have to use them in a competent manner to relay the most important message? I like teaching. I get to teach a large group of pastors for some of whom I am the only resource.

I have a friend that likes to fly airplanes. We can use that here. I know people that love helping hurting people. We can use that here. Are you passionate about farming? I have more than a few things to pick your brain about. Do you like working with kids? or teenagers? We have those here. The best part is that there aren't 20 other groups EXACTLY like yours competing for the same people. You're the only one. If that doesn't translate into a fulfilling and satisfying life, I don't know what would. Here in Petén you can go places where you are the only person who knows ANYTHING about Jesus. Many places. If you really believe in heaven for those that trust in Jesus and hell for those who don't, how could you reject the call?

For those of you who have been reading, you know things aren't easy here. I would never want to give anybody the idea that everything here is "pie in the sky." You should never attempt this unless you are absolutely sure that God wants you here. But way too many people are so concerned about the hurdles that they never leave the starting line.

Should Have Never Tried It

Shaving with an electric razor...in Petén.

My first razor ever was an electric Norelco handed down from my dad so that he could get a new one. It was one of those right of passage things as a teenager. He showed me how to do the maintenance and I very deliberately took the thing apart (being careful not to mix up blades) and hand brushed it every week. With the amount of hair I had growing at the time it probably only needed to be done every two months, but I did it nonetheless.

Then at 18 I decided that it was much more manly to shave with a straight razor. I have been doing it that way ever since.

Then recently my wife asked me why I never used an electric razor, since both of our dads use them and it seems much easier. She apparently like the idea of not having to clean up hair and dried shaving cream off of everything, every. single. day. Or so I gathered...

So that was my Christmas gift. My one prerequisite was that it be able to be cleaned by running it under water. Not too much, but I dreaded the thought of having to clean it out and I knew this would lead to more cleaning for Shelley as she cleaned up the little hairs I had carefully cleaned out of the razor to leave on the sink. I picked one up at Sam's.

The instructions (yes I read them) said to shave with only the new razor for at least 21 days in order for your face to get used to it. Unfortunately my face never had a chance. Within 21 days I was back in Petén. Not only could it not handle any hair left to grow longer than 12 hours, electric razor manufacturers did not plan for 99% humidity day and night... When hair sticks to your face, it doesn't get cut.

Guatemalans are very particular about the way they look. Even if they don't bathe, they will get their hair wet to make it look like they did. You get no respect if you do not have a neat appearance (pants not shorts and not wrinkled) recently cut hair and a clean shaven face.

If I spend money on something, psychologically I have to use it, even if it doesn't work. I just can't stand the thought that I wasted money, so I will go way out of my way and spend lots of energy to make it work instead of going back to the easy simple way. I'm working on this.

These two things combined to cause me to spend 10-15 minutes at a time just trying to get a close shave so that I didn't look like a "vagabundo." Sometimes twice a day. This caused my face and neck to become so irritated and red that it was more distracting than if I had just grown a beard! People would ask if I got in a fight, or if I got bit by a bug, or if I had a Dengue rash... not to mention the pain when I would sweat (something that starts when you get to Petén and doesn't stop until you leave...or enter Pizza Hut).

Finally after 4 months I bought a cheap "normal" razor at the store and some shaving cream. Less than a minute later I had the best shave of my life and everything was back to normal. I can't stand the thought of throwing the razor away, so it will probably sit in a drawer until my boys can shave...

A Meeting With The Architect

So last week we met with our architect. We gave him a list of everything we would ever want in a house and asked him to draw it up for us. This is the same architect that designed a nice restaurant on Flores as well as the Burger King and Pollo Campero in Santa Elena. He said it would take a week to a week and a half to have the plans back, so I'm thinking three weeks. He had some really good ideas and repeated things back to us in a way that we know he understands.

He will be drawing up the construction plans, as well as a 3-D rendering. He will give us a Master Plan of the completed vision as well as each individual step so that we can start out with just what we need to move in and then add on later as funds permit. At least Guatemalans are used to this type of construction. He will also have a list of building materials needed for each phase and estimated cost. We get all of this for Q5,000 (which apparently is the "friend rate", ha ha) of which we paid Q2,000 up front. That's $641 total and $256 down for those of you in the States. Of course, after we get the plans there will be the usual and customary editing of those plans (more outlets please).

I'll let you know how close he comes the first time through...hopefully sooner than later.

What is Missions Like?

Recently we received an email from a college student who had been diagnosed with severe depression and after some counseling realized that they were depressed because they were "resisting the call to the mission field" and wrote us to ask what being a missionary is like. Here is my response. By the way, one of my pet peeves is when people talk about suffering and the mission field as if they are one in the same. Missions is not miserable... I'll talk more about this in a later post.

H-----,

Missions is the most exciting and fun thing you could ever do with your life. Each day there are new opportunities for ministry and to my wife and I there is nothing we would rather be doing. The best thing about missions is that God wants to use whatever you are good at. He gave us gifts for a reason and wants us to use those specific gifts for Him.

Having said that, each day there is also a new set of challenges. These challenges can be just normal cultural, frustrating things, or sometimes they can be life-threatening. In each of these situations the missionary has to be very sure of his/her calling to be where they are. This is not something you can do just because you want to. There must be a definite call on your life to cross cultural boundaries and take Jesus where He hasn't been. It is only a certainty in that call that will help you through the hard frustrating times, and give you peace in the terrifying times. It is the sureness you have that you are exactly where God wants you to be that gives you the strength.

I pray that you find God's best for your life. Don't force it, but look for the opportunities God gives you to minister, in the ways that you enjoy, using the gifts He gave you. God's calling is not a punishment, or a banishment, or a life-sentence of suffering. It is the most fulfilling, joy-filled life you could ever experience.

Striving to make heaven a little more crowded,

I also directed them to visit our blogs to see a day to day synopsis of our lives.

Wipers While You Wait?

The rainy season has started in some parts of Guatemala, but here in Petén we've just had miserably hot days waiting for it to finally rain. There have been a couple days of storms, but it's been a while now. Because it is so dry for so long, you can forget about your windshield wipers. Mine had not been replaced since buying the Micro. Even when you pay for it at the service places, you don't always get them (that's happened to me twice) and you will wait a few extra hours while they find it from somebody else, get it delivered and then figure out how much to charge you for it.

Another option is to find these car door to car door salesmen. I found this guy at a Pollo Campero about 2 hours outside of Guate. He had two wipers the right size and installed them while I went inside and ordered. Total cost= $10. We hit our first rain 30 minutes later.

The stuff draped over his arms is a door sealer. It is way overpriced and the guys will put on twice as much as needed and then try and charge you per foot instead of per yard. Don't let them get away with it.

A Whole Meal!

So I got a couple zucchinis the other day that weren't worm infested. By this time we had a stockpile in the freezer, so I decided to make a meal out of things from the garden.

I did cheat and use one onion from the store.

Here are the green beans frying. Notice the bacon? They're southern style...

And here is my second attempt at fried okra. Shelley said they were like eating candy.

Here's the other two sides with some baked chicken fingers. When Shelley lets me cook, I have to make it count. Usually the kitchen is such a mess that it is easier for her to cook and clean up after herself than just do the cleaning after I'm done. At least it tasted good!

Jimmy Who?

A year ago we had the transmission rebuilt for our Blazer. I had to ride a tow truck 8 hours to Guate to drop it off, then catch a flight home, then Shelley and I flew back 10 days later to pick it up. The mechanic's name was Hugo and he has his own shop. I found him through a knowledgeable Guatemalan friend here in Petén who had had USA made vehicles worked on by this guy.

Hugo met me on the side of the road to guide us to his shop and I spent over $1,000 on Blazer repairs. We talked quite often and he assured me that he knew what he was doing and that everything was on time. I was actually happy for the first time with a mechanic here. The best part was his 2 year guarantee on the transmission.

I am used to people remembering me. There aren't very many Gringos from Petén, and especially if I spend a lot of money somewhere, people remember who I am. So yesterday I called up Hugo to see if he could help a friend with his Mercedes. I was expecting a cheery greeting but instead the guy drew a blank. I explained further, "You worked on my transmission a year ago...I'm the gringo from Petén who you met in the tow truck..." He still acted dumbfounded. Then he said, "I don't work on transmissions." I said, "Yes you do. I have a receipt here with your name on it and your address and even a guarantee for 2 years." "No, you must be mistaken. You have to have special tools to work on an automatic transmission and I don't have those," he replied.

It was then that I understood that he thought I was calling about the guarantee. I explained, "I just need a phone number for somebody who can work on a Mercedes transmission. My transmission is fine."

"Oh, well yeah I have a phone number and address right here. How's everything going in Petén? Do you still have the Blazer? ...well if you need anything give me a call..."

At least I got the information I wanted. Not sure that I would trust it. Sorry Mark.

The Excited Plumber

In Santa Elena we had a plumber who was excellent. He really knew his stuff, such as how quickly to add acid to a pipe so that it wouldn't eat the pipe. He was also very slow, but he learned this during his day job working for the local government's water department.

He was amazed at every little advancement in technology and especially anything remotely "Gringo." For example, one day he asked to borrow my plunger while working on a drain problem. When he returned it to me, he said, "You brought this from the States didn't you?" "I knew it, you just can't buy plungers like that one here. It's high quality." It is actually the normal wood and rubber one you can buy cheap anywhere in the States, but he loved it. Anybody want to start a plunger import business?

Another day, after taking him to the hardware store to buy some necessary parts, I hit the garage door opener. This was the only house here we'd been in that had one. He saw me hit the button and then saw the door start to swing out. His response (in a very excited tone) : "Isn't technology wonderful? We've come so far as a country. Now you can just hit a button and the door opens just like that. Imagine that."

Take joy in the little things...

Another One Bites The Dust... Instead Of The Children

I was sitting on the sofa eating supper while watching a movie with Shelley tonight. Both boys were asleep and we were enjoying the time together. All of a sudden next to my ear I hear a loud thump as if something heavy fell on the sofa. I turned my head and didn't see anything and looked at Shelley who had a concerned look on her face. She had seen something dark fall and hit the sofa as well, but with her glasses instead of contacts she can't focus on her periphery. A search of the area found this guy under the end table:

He fell out of the plant on the wall to the left of the sofa. He's the second scorpion in the living room we've killed in as many days. I hear only the little ones are dangerous, so yippee, this one's not so bad...

Maybe it's the rainy season starting that has sent them indoors?

Petén Garden Update 2

It's been a while since I've talked about the garden. We have had a few snacks to whet our appetite, but no huge harvest to keep us eating for weeks. The worms came back to the zuchinis, but we have had a few to eat such as these: (I planted three varieties)Here are some sugar snap peas. These are the first ones which we ate raw. I have three plants and am freezing what I get from them (about three pods a little bigger than this every three days) until we have enough for a meal. I'm happy to get anything because they are supposed to a cool weather crop (of which we are not) although I got a variety that is withstands higher temps.
My first tomatoes will be ready any day now. They are Better Boy, so they get bigger than any variety I've seen here for sale and should be wonderful on a BLT. All six plants have at least one set of clusters, so I should get a nice steady progression starting next week.
Okra was made for Petén. Here's a plant that'll be ready tomorrow. Since it just started I am only getting two pods every other day, so I am blanching and then breading them before freezing so that when we want them we can drop them right in the oil from the freezer. I used Paula Dean's recipe for the breading so we'll see if Southern Shelley approves or not very soon.
And here are my first Jalapeños growing.

Of course I'm only showing you the highlights. I don't have pictures yet of my green beans, but they are Shelley's favorite thing we have growing. I am getting a handful every 4 days if there is not temp over 95 (causes all the flowers to fall off.) It is another thing being frozen. We have enough now for 1.5 meals.

I'm learning a lot and realizing that there are a lot of possibilities for our friends to grow. I show weekly pictures at the Bible Study to a very impressed group of old men who are asking for seeds. Once we get enough frozen, we plan to fix it and take as a snack so they'll be motivated to harvest on time and then eat it.