Vaccine for our 12-year-old

We are happy to report that Veronica has now begun the Covid vaccination process!  She turned 12 years old this week and finally became eligible to receive a vaccine (Pfizer) here in Guatemala. We are guessing these vaccines, as well as the Moderna ones we, Michael and Heather, received, are donated by the United States. We are very grateful for that!

On Friday, Michael and Veronica went to the local neighborhood elementary school and waited for a couple of hours in line amidst children running all around the area.  The funniest moment was when one little boy came up to Michael, who was at least a foot or two taller than every adult there, and said, "¡Ya creciste!" (which translated means, "You've grown!") followed by the moms in line giggling.

Never say "no"

The longer we live in Guatemala, the more cultural tidbits we pick up.  The current thing we have noticed is that the people seem to have a "Never say no" mindset.  We see it not just with us, but when they deal with each other, too.  Not that they never MEAN no, they just don't like to say it.  For example, if someone is invited to an event that he doesn't plan to attend, he will answer, "Yes," but not go.  At a store, if they don't sell the item you are asking about, the store clerk will say, "We will have it in two weeks," which we have learned to interpret as, "We will never sell that item."  When I used to ask a student if they were coming to my English class that week, they would always answer, "Yes, see you then," but I remained wondering if they would actually show up because more than half the time they wouldn't.  If you ask someone to find out some piece of information, they will answer, "Yes, I will go ask," but then never reply.

The specific event that brought this to our attention recently was when our construction workers told us they wouldn't be able to take our trash to their dad's work site for a few months.  We had been grateful to them for including our trash with theirs, because there is no trash pick-up here, except in town where their dad has his car shop.  The boys told Michael, "Don't worry, it will just be for a couple of months.  The owners of the place our dad rents gave him a week to move his car shop out so they could do construction on the adjoining building.  They told him he could move back in two months."  Michael questioned the speed of the construction and how they could finish that fast.  The boys responded, "Yeah, people always tell you something positive, but then it never happens that way.  Or they tell you they will get back to you, but then they never do.  It is very frustrating."

Now, that is the norm, but we are always pleasantly surprised when we come across people who actually do as they say and tell you the truth... but even then the truth will be spoken in a way that they never actually have to say, "No."

Heather's driving stick

This is a photo of the homemade driving stick Heather uses while driving in Guatemala.  We copied the design of a $200 driving stick that she found demonstrated on YouTube.  She steers by holding the spinner knob in her left hand, while holding the right side of the driving stick with her right hand: push for gas, pull for brake.  It works well!

Fireworks and fog

This year, like every year, people all around Guatemala set off fireworks on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve at midnight.  

This is a video of Veronica silhouetted against our closest neighbor's fireworks display on Christmas Eve.  We discovered an interesting phenomenon this year, which has actually happened in previous years, too, but we didn't figure it out until we could hardly see any fireworks due to thick fog this year on New Year's Eve.  

On both nights, the night started off clear as a bell, but it started getting foggy right before midnight.  Especially on New Year's Eve, the fog increased in intensity until we couldn't see the fireworks at all, just loud booms all around!  So we investigated "smoke-induced fog" and learned from the internet that it is an event that can happen if the atmospheric conditions are ripe for fog anyway.  In fact, the fog increased in thickness until even the grass was wet around us and we could hardly see the outline of our fence, a phenomenon also described by the website as "induced fog thicker than normal."

So, as midnight approached and the merry-makers were getting started with small firecrackers all around us, they were actually inducing a fog that would inhibit the enjoyment of the actual event at midnight!  Too bad!

Fun with hair

 Veronica and I have been having fun dying our hair!  So far Michael has declined to join us.

Trusses

We put together the first house truss to check it out!  There will be 8 trusses in all, each in three parts.  The weight of one truss is about 400 lbs., which is very heavy to lift without a crane, so we designed the two halves and the bottom chord to be lifted up on the house separately and then welded together up there.

Manuel is balancing the two top halves,
which are just resting on the bottom
chord for this trial run.

Sebastián and Michael are checking
some measurements.

Now, 7 more to go!

Vaccinated!

Both of us, Michael and Heather, have now gotten our second vaccine dose against Covid-19.  For us, this was a very happy day!  (Note: the dates are in the Spanish order of day/month/year.)

News of the pandemic in Guatemala is very sad.  The country is having its worst surge yet, and it is really a national tragedy.  One of our friends here just told us that he talked to a worker in the town's cemetery who said they are burying 5-6 people a day instead of the usual 1-2, and that is not the only cemetery in this municipality.  We also just read a post written by another missionary about a hospital in his city that is swamped with Covid cases and 48% of the patients they admit are dying.  There could easily be 1000+ people dying a day in Guatemala from Covid, and that's in a country with only 18 million people.  We are praying for the end of this pandemic!