El nuevo Hogar del Niño
The new orphanage |
We finally moved into the new orphanage last week. We've
been busy ever since with an endless amount of cleaning and organizing. The
change has been dramatic. The new place is about a 15 minute ride out in the
countryside, and has a wonderful view of the nearby lake and mountains. The
kids are very excited to be here.
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| In contrast to the old hogar, this place is luxurious.
We have running water (from cisterns) and dependable electricity.
A well will soon provide potable water both to the orphanage
and the community. Almost every room in the new building
admits lots of natural light. The old place was really
a dungeon in comparison. There is also a large orchard
on the premises provides a variety of fruit year-round. |
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Anna
cocinando
Anna cooking in the new kitchen
(Compare with the old
kitchen!) |
We made an epic trip
to market yesterday and bought enough supplies to last until
Armageddon. Although we're only 15 minutes from town the perception
is quite different. We institutional quantities of rice and
black beans. We also bought significant amounts of chicken (to
freeze), cheese, eggs, powdered milk, chile peppers, oatmeal,
and other items. We're not going to starve here.
Somehow the food tastes better when eaten in a sunny dining room.
Either that or I've become permanently inured to the routine meal of beans and
rice. Probably the latter -- we had that standard ration for 7 consecutive
meals in a row this week and I ate every last grain of rice each time. |
I did the first load
of laundry in our newly restored 1950's era washing machine.
The women that do the laundry here were very interested in learning
to use it. Laundry is still done by hand here, but probably
not for long.
This
will be my last entry for a while. While this place has tons of new amenities,
Internet connectivity is not one of them. I have to go to Santa Cruz or
Chichicastenango to check email and send web updates, and I am reluctant to
take my laptop on the chicken bus. Plus, I'll be too busy. I'm slated to
install glass in all the doors here tomorrow. Then we need to take a trip to
Guatemala City to purchase a vehicle to get the kids to school. Then maybe to
Xela to talk some sense into the cellular phone company... |
Tejiendo
A woman weaving in
Chichicastenango |
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