Guatemala: Day 3 (part 2)
Still Day 3: Thursday, 01/04/07
We finally passed through Panabaj and entered Tzanchaj, the village where the orphanage is. This is the gate with the pathway that leads up to the airstrip. There are four or five ways to turn in and get up to the house, since there are several houses all within a short distance of each other up in this “neighborhood”. These gates can be padlocked to prevent vehicles from entering, but it doesn’t do much good against the majority of the theft that takes place…like the bolts from the hangar.
We walked up the long “driveway”, and were startled to hear a small plane overhead. It turned out that Tom was just returning from a trip to Guatemala City where he picked up some groceries, but we wouldn’t learn that until later. Also startled by the plane were some stick people, who hurried off quickly. No wonder, since the wood was stolen from the property. They cannot understand why the Stukenbergs don’t cut down and use all that wood on the ridge above their house, so they feel that they might as well take it. Of course, as Susan pointed out, all that wood does help keep the volcano from collapsing and sliding down on top of them! Notice the tiny little boy in between the mother and older daughter. Kids start lugging sticks very early.
As we approached the house, it had an empty, twilight-zone feel to it. No one was out in the yard or on any of the play equipment. Even the dog seemed lonely.
Poor Chispa! She ran into a machete-wielding man who didn’t want to be bothered. Chispa (meaning “spark”) was one of three dogs at the home, joined by Princessa and Buster. The dogs took turns guarding the hangar (on the inside) and the house property. Chispa got stitched up by the local shoemaker, but wouldn’t leave her stitches alone. Thus, Tom had to rig up the bucket, and called her “Buckethead all week.
Susan was home, cooking as usual. She told us that Nate and Deborah had taken the kids down to the lake to swim. We took advantage of the quiet time to get a few chores done around the house. Mike fixed bicycles while Dani and I washed some windows and cleaned up in the kitchen. I was still stuffed from the breakfast of blue maize pancakes, but Dani and Mike helped themselves to some lunchtime leftovers.
When the kids got back, we all got involved in various activities with them. I spent some time reading with a few of them, especially Esme. Then Susan asked me to sort out some of the school books for her and label them, which I happily did with Gladys helping me.
Dinner consisted of hotdogs wrapped in dough, fruit, and beans that were dressed up to simulate baked beans. It was all delicious as usual. Afterwards, Tom continued in the story that he’s been reading. All the kids were hooked by now and the story was getting very exciting. I was hoping Tom would manage to finish it before we have to leave! As the kitchen crew began clean-up, Hugo invited Dani and me to go play guitar and sing with him. It was a lot of fun, especially when he played something that we knew and sang it in Spanish as we sang in English.
Bedtime came for the little kids, and as the older ones settled down to quiet night-time activities, Susan asked us to go up to the family loft and watch a movie with them. She wanted to show us “The Christmas Card”. It was very sweet, and we enjoyed the time with them without all the day-time chaos. Afterwards, Tom drove Nate and us into town to try the ATM there. Yay! There may be no paper money in Guatemala City, but out here in the villages there was still some available.
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POSTED IN: Guatemala, My Family & Friends
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