saying our goodbyes

We were sad for the inevitable time to part, Sunday morning April 11th.

Favorite moments or events for the trip:

Michael, going to the hardware store and using his Spanish to buy needed repair items.

Kai, drilling the holes in the floors

Linda, seeing the school kids and meeting the teacher, Angelica

Ti, painting (I thought it would be block laying!)

Willa, seeing friends and getting that goal kicked in past Ascenta's guard.

Jim, seeing Don; arriving at Popi's new building and figuring how to use the existing floor plan

Our main consolation with leaving is the thought that we will be returning again in the not too distant future......

the celebration dinner

On our last night in Nebaj, we celebrated the accomplished work, not that we were leaving. Don made us a great surprise dinner that really hit the spot for his hungry crew; meatloaf, corn, mashed potatoes, cole slaw and still warm biscuits.

finishing projects

We were tempted to start more projects, but we knew we needed to finish all that had been started. The dividing wall in the upper dorm room was built to create a separate space for a bathroom. Mattias and Jim are shown laying blocks.

Willa is shown mixing mortar, but Tias and Kai did their share of mixing as well.

Kai took on the job of drilling holes through the floor for three drains; the toilet, sink and shower. That was some difficult work. Kai became noted for his concrete hole drilling prowness. Tias helped with the drilling as well.

We also had the job of laying out all the new plumbing in such a way as to accommodate all the planned for new additions beyond our work as well. This was much fun and challenge. Especially the challenge of finding the existing sewer lines and where we could possibly tie in our new drain lines. Kai and Tias excavated a hole under a wall on the first floor to find the sewer main. If space allowed, there is a great picture of Kai bent way over into the hole looking rather headless!

Michael wore many hats during the two weeks of projects. Here he is shown doing more electrical work, adding an outlet, overhead light and light switch for the new kitchenette/lounge area. We had lots of fun sorting out the existing electrical wiring, exploring unused conduits to figure out where they went (we even used compressed air to blow through the conduits to try to figure out where the conduits terminated. About half the unused conduits seem to disappear into the floors or ceilings. We couldn't push wires through them either.

Linda did alot of painting, as well as planning for colors, floor tile, bathroom layouts, etc, etc. We even got involved in figuring out how to use some of the available spaces around the place. Here Linda is shown painting in the new kitchenette/lounge area.

Play and Work

We decided to give the kids a choice; either work or active interaction with the community. Willa especially took advantage of the latter option, playing soccer with her friends from last year as well as playing with the Mayan Hope School kids. The three pair of pictures shows Willa at play first with the Mayan Hope kids, next with her neighborhood soccer friends and last at work painting.

We made a total of three hikes during our stay in Nebaj, the next shot shows Michael and Kai walking from Chajul to Cotzal on one beautiful, lightly breezy day. We also had a hike to Acul, the town where an Italian family escaped Fascist Italy in the 30's to start a

new life here making cheese. They are locally famous for their cheese three generations later.

Tias set up the computers here. We now have a functional network of computers with an internet connection faster than most of the internet cafes! Kai did some fun screen savers. Thanks to all who made the extra computers available, Julie and Rick!

One other experience needs to be mentioned. Don's former building was located on a steep section of a busy road. Traffic was not continuous, but any type of vehicle laboring up the steep road was very loud successfully drowning out conversation. We were looking forward to the quiet street of the new location. Well, traffic noise was very little, HOWEVER, the new location is right next to a brand new, very large, completely cement block church. Church music there is amped to the max, perhaps that the music could be heard all the way to the heavens. Combine max amps setting with a totally cement building and very few attendees to absorb sound. Then realize their wall is 6" from Popi's wall. To top things off, we were there Holy Week during which they apparently felt this music had to start at 530 am. The same music, literally. Repetition ground this one tune into most of us. Despite our feelings of great annoyance about being forced to hear this so often, eventually some of us got to tapping our feet and perhaps humming a bit of it. After Holy Week for the rest of our stay, we endured the high decibel level just three times a week during more reasonable hours.

Mayan Hope School

Here is our whole reason for being here: the kids at the school for special needs children. We visited the school a couple of times and were able to interact with the kids and talk with the teacher. What a special place this is! The teacher, Anjelica, is very commited to helping these children who have no other educational options. (There is a school for special ed kids in Xela and one in Guatemala City--but both are private and very expensive.) Before this school was in operation, noone knew what to do with these children. Some were literally tied to their porches while parents went to the fields or to work. Now they have an educated, talented, patient teacher who teaches the kids personal hygiene, communication skills, simple chores, and more depending on their abilities. The school has a dozen students in total. There are more kids in need in the community, but the parents need to be educated on the necessity of this kind of education. Some of the parents don't even want to take the time to walk their child to and from school. Anjelica is working hard to increase public awareness of the school. Plus she is always looking for opportunities and financing to take more classes. (In Guatemala, anyone can teach if they have a high school education!)

We brought a couple dozen books for the kids at the school. (Thank you so very much to all of you who donated books!) The kids are so excited to have these treasures! I know they will be well loved.

Good Friday Procession

Being here in Nebaj over Semana Santa (Easter) affords the opportunity to see many processions. The most elaborate and interesting was the Catholic sponsored stations of the cross on Friday. Popi's is located so near the square that we would hear the crowds and music and go out to investigate.

The stations of the cross procession was the most moving of the processions. Each of the 12 events represented by the stations of the cross were enacted. Jesus and the two thieves were represented, as well as all other people involved with the 12 stations. They carried their crosses about 6 city blocks. Upon reaching the plaza, they were tied to their crosses (one deviation from the story was tying rather than nailing.) Seeing people raised high above the crowd on crosses is quite different than reading about the event!

The pictures shown here include Jesus carrying the cross, one cross being raised, a closer picture of the cross erected and a crowd scene of mostly Mayan women in their traditional dress.

Lastly, a procession mat made of colored saw dust that was actually not used for this event. However, I wanted to include this picture for all the work that went into making this master

piece destined to be walked on later that day.

The First Big Rain

To continue the story started earlier and left you hanging....

Yes, the title does give a hint as to what happened. After much deliberation about how to place the stove, refrigerator and various tables, we sighed major relief. Not long after the floor plan was arranged, we had the first drops of rain sprinkle down. Hmmm, rainy season coming early this year! Not long after the sprinkle, the rain became a downpour. This was the first rain since Don had made the move.

The deluge of water pouring in the bakery ceiling gave us the first clue the roof leaked... badly...Everything in the bakery was soaked in just a couple of minutes. Michael heard a sizzling sound emanating from the new pump switch. Luckily, no other electrical appliances had been moved onto the table tops yet. We hurried to the roof to see if we could determine the problem. Sure enough, the roof with an already low pitch had an area of loose steel roof panels slanted with the end closest to the gutter being the high point. In essence, all the water from that width of the roof was being funnelled not to the gutter, but into the building.

We took a cue from the many roof panels held down by rocks as shown in the first picture. Two rocks that Kai and Tias had dug out of the hole were expedited to the roof and strategically placed on the high end of the steel roof panel. This extra weight made the panels stay down so the water could continue cascading to the gutter rather than rolling back into the building. The second picture shows Michael and Jim expertly and carefully placing these stones and various bricks to secure the errant roof panel. Don called the owner of the building to see about getting a permanent repair or preferably replacement of the entire roof.

By the way, the third picture shows the room as it was when we arrived with much of the floor existing as a gaping hole with the tank in it, and the pump above. Michael was the electrician for the space, adding outlets for the various electrical equipment to be used in the room. The last picture shows the room after a complete move in. Note that beautiful new wooden floor concealing the pump and tank.

work and play

We made our way to Nebaj from Antigua the next day, Wednesday, March 31st. After a happy reunion with Don and a tour of our new home for the next 11 days, we settled in.

Here are some pictures of the work and play. The first one shows the rebuilding of a poorly constructed roof over an open air area. This space will become a kitchenette and lounging area.

The next picture shows us on our first hike, a repeat of our favorite from last year, posed on 'the rock' which the sharp eyed reader with a graphic memory would recognize also from last year's trip blog. This shot shows Kai, Ti, Michael, Willa and Linda on our way to Cocop and the beautiful Rio Azul.

This next picture shows Kai and Michael playing chess, definitely one of the popular games played this week!

Next are Kai and Ti painting the stairway's wall.

Don's new location is just a block and half from the main square in town which is also the highest spot in town. Water pressure is inadequate during the day to supply water to the building, even the first floor. One of the first things Don had to get done was the purchase of a water reservoir tank and pump so water could be available during the day. This system was installed with the tank under the floor of the second kitchen room to be used as the bakery. The pump was located on the floor taking up space. All this was done quickly in an effort to minimize down time during the move. Don desperately needed to get the bakery room functional which meant locating the pump below the floor with the tank, then making a removable floor covering. Ti and Kai dug the hole bigger to accommodate the pump, Michael and Jim repaired leaks, relocated the pump into the hole, upgraded the piping design and trouble shot the many quirks the system had. Everyone helped haul sand in bags from the school located about half a mile away. Ti acted as mason built the four piers upon which the removable wooden floor was built with Kai mixing the mortar.

Moving equipment into the bakery room was a happy day, until that evening......

Back to Guatetmala for 2010!

We were able to come down to Guatemala again, this time with our friends Michael and Kai Varnes-Epstein. Besides to have fun, our trip's main objective was to help Don Langely of Mayan Hope with his move of the restuarant and hospedaje (hostel) to a new location. Don had already physically moved about a two weeks before and had been open for business for less than a week upon our arrival.




We had a smooth trip down, first by chauffer Michael taking us to his mother in law's house near Chicago. Kai was aiming to stay up all night to make us a pancake breakfast. Admittedly, none of the adults thought he would really make breakfast, but alas, at 430 am, we awoke to the smell of cooking breakfast! Thanks Kia! Next, Michael's sister in law, Jana, made the herioc effort of picking all of us up at 530 am in order to drive us to O'hare early enough for our plane to Mexico City. Next stop was Guatemala City, then a shuttle to Antigua where we stayed at our favorite hotel there, the Green Day (Dia Verde.) Pictured above are Kai, Tias and Willa at the airport.

We arrived during the height of Easter time special ceremonies and events, so there was much going on in Antigua. Vera of Dia Verde, recommended going to Saint Francis church where Tuesday evening's activities and much food vending were happening. As we hungrily ate new taste treats in the church's plaza, we couldn't believe that that morning we had been having breakfast in Lombard, IL!

Sorry about the picture being sideways, I will try to fix it later. I'm rusty with this blogging details.... This is Saint Francis Church, Tuesday night.