Fire = electricity upgrade

Recently our electricity went off, and we found out the outage was caused by a fire in the apartment behind ours.  Their maid had wanted to wash the windows, but due to faulty wiring, there was a wire sticking out in her way.  She pulled on the wire, which short-circuited the system all the way to the electrical cables in the street.

Thankfully the maid wasn't hurt, but a small fire started and the cables down the street started sparking and melted in two!  Our landlord's wife ran with buckets of water to put the fire out (not a good idea with an electrical fire), but thankfully she wasn't hurt either.  We called the electric company and they sent out workers to remove the burned cables from the street that day, and then they replaced the cables with larger ones the next day.  We were impressed with their fast work.

The worker right outside our house.

The worker down the street.

Now, as an unexpected benefit, our electricity works with more power than ever!  We always had trouble with our microwave not working very well because the power was weak.  However, ever since they replaced the cables in the street, it's like we have a new microwave!

No electricity

Whenever the electricty goes off, our water pump doesn't work to carry water from our cistern.  We have learned how to deal with it so life can go on without much of a bother.  I go into bucket-toting mode:

We flush the toilet by pouring water
into the tank.

I fill the bucket on the left with
  water to wash hands and dishes.
(The container on the right, which is
always there, has clean water.)

English class homework

There are two girls that come over to our house regularly for help from Carrie with their English class homework.  Their names are Guisela and Mirella, and they are granddaughters of the pastors of our church.  They are 14-year-old twins that attend a junior high school here in Chichicastenango.

They often have to memorize and sing English songs or present skits in English in front of their class of 40 students.  With Carrie's help, their pronunciation is improving!

Construction site

We went to check out one of Diego's other current building sites.  In the photo you can see the type of confined masonry that they build with here in Guatemala, and which we will use in our buildings.

Spiral staircase... Hang on tight, Veronica!

Selecting a builder

Over the last few months, we have interviewed several builders, mostly following recommendations from other American missionaries.  First, we looked into hiring an "engineer" or "architect" and met with four different men, but we discovered that they are basically trained at what we would consider a community-college level (in the States).  They also charge a higher price to earn money for themselves as well as paying a "master craftsman" who then actually oversees the work of the building project.

So next we talked to four "master craftsmen" themselves.  These men varied greatly in their knowledge and experience, and ranged from only seeming to be able to follow directions, to actually being able to think for themselves.  Their prices were lower, which was good, but some of them were only wanting to use cheap materials without regard to safety.  Here in Guatemala it is possible to buy inexpensive concrete blocks, for example, that break easily upon contact.  The builders also tend to add extra sand and gravel to the concrete mix to make it cheaper.  While we want to keep our prices down, we also want our structures to stay up!

After much frustration and prayer, we finally met with one more builder, named Diego Peliz, who offered us reasonable suggestions and explanations and seemed to understand his trade better than the rest.  Since we are trying to build an earthquake-resistant house, ministry building, and perimeter wall, we were happy to finally meet with a builder that seemed to understand the differences in quality of materials, as well as what types of materials will last the longest.  He has worked with other Americans before, and it was clear that they have taught him some aspects of safety in selecting building materials.

We took Diego out to see our property during his interview. 

Michael and Diego discussing the
fence around our property.