Roofs

We've added more roofs to keep us out of the rain.

There is now a roof over the door in the fence.

This is the view from inside.

And here you can see a small additional roof
we added to keep us dry as we come and go
from our temporary kitchen.

Small town

You know you live in a small town when you're driving and there's nobody on the road, so you speed up and feel like you're really flying on the short drive into town... then you look at the speedometer and it says "29."   Ha ha ha ha ha.

Community leaders

When we got to the community meeting on the evening of the induction of the new leaders, we were surprised to find a very religious setting.  There were candles burning and an "altar" set up.  The meeting went on as usual, with no mention of religious topics.  This type of religious setting is very common here and is shared by both Catholicism and the Mayan religion.

The leaders sit up front at the long table.
The audience is generally divided into
men on the left and women on the right.

My (Heather/Erica's) mom, Karen, was visiting
us then, so we took her along to the meeting.
There is a community meeting once a month.

Railings

We added some railings for safety.

This is the ramp between the outhouse on
the left and the ministry building on the right.
This will help make the bathroom wheelchair-
accessible.

This is the ramp by the front fence where
we will be able to come and go from our
house to the ministry area.  The ministry
building is on the right.

This is the entrance to the classroom,
which we will use as our kitchen at first.

English classes

English classes are still in session at our house every week.  Elena teaches two students individually, Jeovani and Haydee, and I (Heather) am currently teaching one student, Joe.

Jeovani, studying English with Elena

Mud, birds, and leaks

It has rained quite a bit during rainy season, and one day we discovered mud had run down the hill and under the door of our classroom building.  Our builder went right to work constructing a temporary mud barrier.  Later, when we have grass in the yard, we will have to divert the rainwater runoff, but hopefully not more mud!

Also inside the classroom building, we found a bird's nest with a dozen eggs!  Our builder got the nest down and sealed up the edges of both buildings all around with pieces of styrofoam.

Then, after a heavy, blowing rain, we discovered leaks in two different windows.  The windows were made here in Chichicastenango and were not sealed well.  Our builder put silicone caulk in and around the window frames. 

So far, so good... no more mud, birds, or leaks!

Forest fires

This summer there were some large forest fires near our land in Chichicastenango.  The fires were likely started by someone burning brush after clearing their corn fields.  Unfortunately, the best time of the year for clearing fields is also the driest and windiest time of year.  We were happy that the fires went out after a couple of days because there are very limited firefighting resources here.  In the whole municipality, there are only about four fire trucks and a couple of water tank trucks. 

This photo was taken out behind our land.

This photo was taken along the drive to
our land.