Antigua!

Above is a picture of sunset from the rooftop deck of Hotel Sor Juana in Antigua, which was rated by Trip Advisor as the #1 B & B or Small Inn in Guatemala...with the above picture in the write-up!  (I am feeling most famous right now!)

Hotel Sor Juana in Antigua was our destination after landing in Guatemala City, an hour late!  We arrived in Antigua at nearly midnight on Saturday, December 6, 2014.  And we had to be up early for a tour to Chichicastanango!  In fact, the driver was earlier than the 7:00 AM time, so we had to hurry to get in the van.

The road to Chichicastanango was a mountainous, curvy and beautiful route!

We passed through and saw in the distance mountain villages until we arrived at Chichicastanango.  Our first stop was the Hotel Santo Tomas, which had a beautiful garden.  We arrived just as villagers were opening their stalls in the market!  

A woman brought a couple of chickens to sell.




And then there was the already-butchered meat in the market!




Many vendors had fabric art to sell and carved and painted wood pieces.  I was able to buy a Nativity scene for Christmas!  The 400-year-old church of San Tomas is built on an ancient Mayan site and is a part of the Mayan culture, as well.  Beautiful flowers are sold on the steps, and people carry them inside to pay their respect, along with candles.

What a rich and colorful scene the market is!

Dave and I returned to the Hotel Santo Tomas to have lunch (and Dave to have Guatemalan beer, El Gallo, of which we'd heard from Greg!).

The courtyard of the hotel is beautiful, and we sat outside in the pleasantly cool afternoon.  Here I am with one of the parrots that was nearby!

We were treated to live music by a marimba band!

As we returned to Antigua, we stopped for an excellent view of the volcanos, Volcan San Pedro and Volcan Toliman (I believe).  Lake Atitlan lies below!  Stunning!

We returned to Antigua and Hotel Sor Juana in time for La Quema del Diablo, the burning of the devil.  La Quema del Diablo occurs directly outside the hotel, and in past years, the owners/managers of the hotel have not had guests stay.  When we were planning our trip, they explained that there would be a celebration outside the hotel and a cocktail party inside, and I replied:  "Sounds like fun!"  They generously welcomed us for the weekend and for their family party!  

In the square outside the hotel, the Devil had been erected on a platform.  

As people gathered, wood chips, then gasoline, were added around and on the statue.  Strips of firecrackers led from the platform across the ground towards the crowd.  Not wanting to be left out, Dave and I stood near the front of the crowd--which turned out to be a bit dangerous!  Wow!  Did that Devil burn!  And there was a wild scrambling backwards to avoid the sparks and smoke!

My new shirt from Debbie received burn holes, which I now treasure as evidence of the Devil burning!

We then joined the cocktail party inside the courtyard and on the rooftop deck of the Hotel Sor Juana.  The Hotel Sor Juana was at one time a convent, thus the name.  It is a beautiful old building with beautiful flowers, many reminding us of the San Francisco area.  The climate is simply heavenly!

And outside of the Hotel, the band was performing!  Quite an evening!

The following day, Dave and I took a couple of tours.  We went to Finca Filadelphia for a tour of a coffee plantation and for some coffee tasting!


Beans were red and ready for harvesting and roasting!






And the nursery was generating new plants for the hillside plantation!


The roofs of the building are used for drying the beans, with workers raking them every 30 minutes.

Dave's glee at seeing the roasting and later experiencing the tasting is evident!

Next, Dave and I took a walking tour of Antigua and learned much of the very old history.  Antigua was founded in the early 16th century, and while a major earthquake destroyed most of the town in 1773, many ruins remain, making the town a World Heritage Site.  Being such, the renovations of the town must meet strict criteria, so many of the ruins are left as they were when the town was abandoned by the Spanish Crown and the Catholic Church, which funded much of the origianl building in 1776.  The town is beautifully laid out, and here are a few pictures:

The following day, we sadly left Antigua and visited Guatemala City.  Our tour guide took us through Guatemala City to Zone 1, site of the National Palace.  Our intention was to enter the Palace, but a major meeting of very important people was clearly in progress!  Not only were we not allowed to enter, but the place was teeming with men in suits and earpieces!

We crossed the square, where children were ice skating and rides were running and Christmas decorations abounded, to visit the Cathedral Metropolina.


The day after the La Quema del Diablo, the Virgin Mary is paraded through the streets. While we had a glimpse of that (again outside of the Hotel Sor Juana) in Antigua, we saw the great platform built and displayed within the Cathedral for the procession in Guatemala City the previous day.

Interestingly, a major convocation of priests and the Archbishop of Guatemala were gathering at the Cathedral.  I wanted to stay to see who all arrived (I'm still wondering if people from the Palace were going to join the group), but we had to hurry off.

Dave and I spent the night at the Westin for a little luxury!  We were within walking distance of a shopping mall, so did a little shopping and very little buying!

Our short trip to Guatemala was spectacular, and I would love to return for a longer visit!

Staying!

Dear Blog...you have been sadly neglected due to living life to the fullest!

I have not written about all the exciting experiences of December 2014!  I have spent much of my time sorting through the 1000 pictures that I took and which clearly I cannot post in their entirety!  I will hopefully get to these pictures and stories soon, but first, I want to announce that after a long process, Dave and I have decided to extend our stay in Belize for one more year!  UnBELIZEable!

Dave and I have had been looking from every angle possible the consequences of returning to the States (and where) or of staying in Belize to continue our work here.  We sat down and made a long "Ben Franklin" list of pros and cons, then weighted each entry.  California won for where in the States, as we have a great house in Pleasant Hill and the state of the economy and the support for mental health treatment is better there than in New Mexico.

But the more difficult balancing act was whether to stay in Belize or not.  Two primary considerations for staying bubbled to the top:  the wonderful relationships we have made here, both with adults and with children, and the purpose in life that we feel while working here.  At least we know what we're doing here!

Major considerations for leaving included bugs and heat/humidity.  And we have some business that does need attention in the States, as well as a trip to the Philippines planned with our family.  We cannot do much about the bugs, but with Yvette's support, we will hopefully get air conditioning downstairs in the apartment.  And we will take a trip in May or June to handle some business in New Mexico and to see some family (Maria and kids and Nathan and Megan, at least) and friends in a few spots of the country.

I realized during this process that Dave and I have seldom really considered for so long all the options before making a decision.  We have certainly had long-term goals that we worked toward, but then an opportunity (usually from the preceding work) would present itself and we'd just jump in!  But so many things needed to be considered about staying.  I actually did quite a lot of research myself, including going two blocks down the street to meet the opthamologist to see if he could remove these bothersome cataracts!  I felt very confident that he can do it.  I liked the dentist that I met, as well.  And the Wagner Foundation kindly supported my staying here, as did the people with the Child Care Center.  Yvette, too, has been very supportive of our staying, and we so appreciate her friendship and support.

So...here we are and the invitation to all to visit is still out there!  If you haven't come to Belize, or if you've come and want to return, we would love to play tour guide!  Summer/fall months are pretty miserable, but you are welcome anytime (except when we're gone!!).

Short Blog about Nothing

Some weeks are not that interesting.  Life just goes on in a pattern...Dave takes flights, I work at the Child Care Centre, and we go to the gym too infrequently.

November 19 was Garifuna Settlement Day.  The previous day was extremely rainy, and our street and yard were flooded.  Across the street, the celebrations began with a concert at ITVET.  The festivities started about 10:00 PM, which is when all concerts start around here, and they were lucky that it didn't begin to rain hard again until about 3:00 AM.  I know this, why?  Because it is impossible to sleep during these concerts!  My plan had been to get up early and walk to the bridge and watch the Garinagu boats come in at 7:00 AM.  The street being several inches deep in water and the day being very gray, I stayed in bed instead!  And the rain continued to pour, so this day off in the middle of the week gave me an opportunity/excuse just to read a good book!

On the other hand, Thanksgiving is not a day off in Belize.  That day was a work day, though some people try to have Thanksgiving dinners for sale (fundraisers for schools).  Our cooks at the Centre prepared a lunch of ham, rice & beans, "dressing" (i.e. toasted bread crumbs), potato salad and cranberry sauce.  They even made cakes!  The food was good, and I ate while working!  I can't even remember if Dave flew on any missions that day.

The cold air that the U.S. has had means cool, rainy days for Belize.  I love the cool weather, but the constant rain leaves everything feeling wet to the touch.  And I think that everything smells of mildew, though that may be somewhat my imagination.  Last Saturday was a wonderful day of sun, but cool temps.  Dave and I walked very briskly to the nearby track, then ran on the track, and walked home!  So nice to be outside, working out!  Yesterday was back to the gym, and just getting from the car into the house left us dripping wet from the downpour that hit just as we arrived home!

My visa problem has not been resolved.  I am still waiting for the letter that shows my "volunteer" status.  Dave's letter for his work permit and visa have not arrived either.  We will have to get some resolution with Immigration handled tomorrow (it was to be today, but Dave has been flying all day), as we have a trip to Antigua, Guatemala planned, leaving on Saturday.  We have to solve this issue, at least temporarily, or we cannot leave and return to the country!  I don't know what Maddy and Izzie will do without us if we're deported!

Laura Connelly will arrive in two days for nearly a month in Belize.  She will be moving into her house that will serve as foster home for 7 or 8 girls.  She will go back to Florida on December 21st and return in January "for good."  I am so excited to see her and have her around more often!!

So much to do...revisited!

The above is a picture of a piece of the mural on the wall of Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre. Thank you to Jacque Woods for creating the most amazing mural across the front of the Centre!

I cannot believe that life has been so busy that I have not blogged for two months!  Shame, shame!  If I had not taken pictures of events, I would not be able to re-create many of the activities.  Fortunately, I can give a rough summary of all that has gone on.

September marked our second Carnival Parade!  This year we watched with a man from Phoenix, Arizona, a pastor who comes frequently to Belize to do missionary work.  He lived as a child in Belize, but had not been in town for the Carnival Parade.  I warned him what a wild event it could be! Here Dave and Pastor Thompson are talking along the parade route not far from our house.

And here are a few pictures of the parade!  Let's just say that it is a pretty much a beer-fest!

A tiny newborn baby watched the parade beside me.  I was a little concerned as she was dressed for cold weather, with hat and fuzzy booties, and I thought it was hot outside!  I was worried that she never cried and must be dehydrated!  But she was very cute!

September is a month of celebrations for the Independence of Belize!  One morning I heard drums and ran to the window with my camera to capture the parade of children marching by!  This parade was just one of many!

On the second of October, I had a fun outing with two favorite people, Yvette Burks and Marta Woods.  Yvette and I had to go to Belmopan to submit our information to receive an expedited police clearance.  Marta came along, and we took the opportunity to visit Kings Children's Home.  Kings is a privately run center with about 80 children in residence.  They moved into their new facility on 40 acres last Christmas Day!  What a beautiful place!  We were given a tour, and saw in the first building a well-equipped computer center for the children, a recreation room where a group of preschoolers were listening to a story read to them, and an amazing, huge, stainless steel kitchen with a large dining room!  Across the yard was another building with chapel and a room that was currently being used to make school uniforms and to embroider names on the underwear of the children!  Very clever and pretty!  Side buildings were dorms for the children.  And in the back is a building that will house 50 volunteers when missionary groups come to help out.  Quite an amazing facility!  The mural below, which is by a person from New Mexico (!), was astounding:  Hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil!

After visiting Kings and dropping off our information
with the police, we drove on to San Ignacio where Yvette,  Marta, and I had a wonderful lunch on a veranda overlooking a park at
Guava Limb Cafe.

After lunch, we had some time before being due back to pick up our police clearances.  We stopped at the home of people whom Marta and Yvette knew and who own a wood furniture-making operation.
They gave us a tour of the shop, which smells so good with all of the fine and varied woods!  Then we had coffee and pastries in their beautiful home!  Here are a couple of pictures of some of the wood

 features in their home:  a carved door to the
bathroom and a spiral staircase!

The three of us then went to Santa Elena to visit a primary school that is using the Kagan Learning system.  The school, which has 950 students, was remarkably different from any school that I've seen in Belize!  The positive messages, the small group learning, the peers working together, the respect for the environment and the other people at the school were all impressive!  The school leadership made a commitment to adopt this new method of teaching, and the forty teachers agreed to remain there for 3 years to allow sufficient time to develop the program.  12 teaching coaches are at the school to help teachers with the methods.  They adopted this program 5 years ago, and the vandalism has decreased (the campus was neat as a pin) and behavior problems have decreased.  How I wish that our children's center could do a complete reformation such as they did at the school!  The commitment of time and money was great, but the outcomes are amazing--and this is a school that serves a very diverse and poor area.

Yvette and I returned for our clear police reports (we've been very good citizens!), and the three of us returned to Belize City after a wonderful time together!

On October 6, I flew to Houston to attend the Association for Play Therapy conference.  I met Candace McKenzie there, and we had both a wonderful time learning and a wonderful time playing! I had little time to shop, but managed to get in the necessities, largely because the conference was held at the Galleria Westin and I had the second largest shopping mall at my fingertips!  Candace and I ate wonderful dinners.

At the end of the week, I skipped out on one workshop so that she and I could drive to the Johnson Space Center,  The traffic, because of road construction, delayed our arrival, but we were still able to
take the tram to visit Mission Control and the Saturn V exhibit.
After our tour, we went to Kemah Boardwalk where we had dinner on the deck, watching boats come in and out!  Beautiful!

As soon as I arrived back in Belize, Dave took off!  He flew the Cessna back to St. Louis.
Here Dave is getting some help, moving the airplane out of the hangar for the last time, and then

he takes off!

Getting through Mexico is difficult, as there is only one airport from the south that he can enter the country (in their attempts to control drug and human trafficking).   It took so long to do the paperwork in Cozumel that he had to spend the night.  He then flew to Brownsville for another night, then on to St. Louis.  Dave had the opportunity to do some flying while at Wings of Hope in the "new" Cherokee that he then brought back to Belize.  He was also able to spend a weekend with his sister, Judi, and Bill. The plane was loaded with medical supplies, every niche stuffed full.  Quite a lot fell on the ground when the authorities in Veracruz had Dave start taking out boxes (and allow the drug dog into the plane) for inspection!  He finally made it home with the goods, and the new plane was put into action the following day!

While Dave was in St. Louis, Laura Connelly was here.  We had a very, very busy week!  This time we went to Belmopan to register her group home as a corporation.  Other stops were at the utility companies and the Mennonite furniture store and other errands to get ready for a home to be furnished and running in December!  We had a little time for fun, like lunch at Cafe Michelle, which was wonderful!

Laura and I also attended the art opening at Image Factory for Inga Woods.  (Her mother did the art work on the walls of Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre.)  What amazing art and jewelry (which I want for Christmas) created by Inga, who is just 19 years old!  Yvette went with us, and the three of us had dinner overlooking the sea at Chateau Caribbean!

(There is Inga with the long hair and black heels beside her grandmother, Marta!)

My next trip to Belmopan was with Dave.  He had to get his police clearance for his work visa.  This time we arrived to find a street fair in progress.  I took a picture of Dave near at the park and a picture of the square outside the Belize legislative building.

Meanwhile, I have been busy as ever at the Child Care Centre.  I have had the opportunity to supervise two social work interns from the University of Belize.  They have been such a wonderful addition to the staff, and I will miss them as the term is nearing its end!  Here is a picture of Kharislyn as she prepares the room for the great Social Skills Group that they presented over the last month to a group of upper elementary school children!

Last week, I attended the retirement party for Hortense Augustine, officially the "Foster Mother" of Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre, but really the director of the facility as she is responsible for a large facility and a large staff, in addition to being mother to nearly 60 children!  I don't know how someone who looks as beautiful as this can be anywhere near retirement age!

We had a wonderful time with food, drinks and music and dancing!  And here's a chance to see some of my favorite people with whom I work!

(Nicol Crawford, Tracey Ogaldez, Marcia Stephen)

A special guest of honor was Dorothy Menzies, president of the Board, with Ms. Augustine, who is beside Chris Garcia, Board Secretary for Dorothy Menzies Child Care Centre.

Not everything has been paradise in paradise.  The rains ruined our street, and one day a large truck was stuck in the ditch, blocking traffic.  The road to the airport finally was cemented and opened, but only to the corner, not down to the terminal or hangars.  Dave has to drive through an amazing "lake" to get to the runway at Muncipal Airport.  The hangar door is still broken.  Luckily, Dave and the security guard have become friends, and he watches out for trespassers at night.  We know there have been people in the hangar during the rains, though.  No damage to the airplane, though.  

The rains brought out the sandflies and the mosquitoes, so I look like one large bite.  I also fell off a moving treadmill, so I had some lovely cuts and bruises.  Dave was trying to move the new airplane by hand and fell flat on his back, so he has been nursing sore ribs.  I have a stubborn intestinal infection that abates and returns and saps my energy.

Dave had trouble filing for his work visa.  One can only do so on Wednesdays, and the last two Wednesdays, he has been flying all day.  (In fact, he flew to Guatemala City on one Wednesday.)  He and Yvette finally got the attention of someone who stretched the hours and let him submit the application.  Then my work permit came through without the word "volunteer" on it.  The Income Tax Department, therefore, wants to charge me $2000 before Immigration will give me the work visa.  And that is currently a stalemate...I refuse to pay, and the Labor Department has so far been unable to find a way to insert the word "volunteer."  

My washing machine quit working, and we're beginning to smell a bit!!  The car's air conditioning went out on the same day.  And the power steering leak has become more of a river of fluid.  None of these things seem to be able to get fixed.  

In the general scheme of things, I don't think any of these things should cause too much stress (unless I am deported, and who knows whose doorstep I'll land on in that event).  So we continue on, looking forward to Jeremy and Jonattan's Christmas visit which we have planned with great adventures!