Raincoats and Boots!

Last year during rainy season, we bought raincoats to keep us dry... 

Well, that worked for the top half,
but when we walked to a friend's house
recently, our shoes got soaked.

So this year, we decided to buy
rubber boots from the market!
Rainy Season, here we come! 

Electric Lines Don't Like Trees

The evening right after we returned home to Chichicastenango from Mexico, we heard a crash outside and the electricity went off.  We could tell that there were lines down right outside our gate, but we didn't venture outside until the next morning.  I called the electric company and other missionaries who lived nearby to alert them of the possible danger of live wires.

The next morning we saw the culprit.  A tall pine tree had fallen in the nearby ravine, taking down our electric lines and landing with its top across the road.

ASELSI is down that road and a lot of people walk by, so they sent workers to clear the way.

Rapidly, the area filled with various workers clearing the road and cutting down other trees and branches that might cause problems in the future.  The guy in the photo below climbed the tree and was using a machete to cut the same branch he was standing on.

The next guy put his ladder on a scrawny tree and used his machete to chop down the upper part of the tree next to it.  Whack, whack, whack!

Then they used an ax to chop down a smaller tree by the road, and it almost fell on a tuk-tuk passing by.

It was quite an exciting morning on our street.  We were very happy that our electricity was restored by mid-morning.

More Adventures En Route to Mexico

Here are some scenes from the main highway in Guatemala on our latest trip to Mexico.  Always interesting!

A detour around the same landslide that
we have photos of in a previous blog post.

Waiting for several minutes for a truck to
park in La Mesilla, the border town.
They were washing the black truck, and
the owner had to go look for the keys to
be able to move it a few feet.

A pile of firewood in the road,
probably recently delivered to this hotel.

A "gas station."
There are about 40 or 50 of these stands
along the way selling coolant and gasoline.
Usually there is someone waving an empty
2-liter soda bottle on a stick.

Finished Homeschooling This Year

We finished our school year!  Now for a couple of months off.

School in the morning upstairs with Mom.

School in the afternoon downstairs with Dad.

Veronica's job during morning schooling.
Hurray for naps!