This morning, after breakfast, Rachel and I prepared to head to Solola to the market to get more food for our group. I think I’m almost used to cooking for twenty people… but that meant restocking some things that didn’t last nearly as long as I thought they would. That’s not all bad though, because it made for a good excuse to go back to the market, which is quite an experience anyway.

Karen (our hostess) offered to go with us, and we eagerly accepted her offer. Not only do we enjoy her company, but also her expertise in getting around town is wonderful. We took a taxi into the village, and that cost us 25 Q. (Are you getting the hang of the money yet? I’m not. But I sure am leaning how to multiply and divide by 7. :-)) Basically, it cost a little over $3 for a ride into town, and we think that might have even been the price for a round trip, because we had to explain to the driver (I use the word “we” very liberally here… since I just stood and watched while Karen and Rachel did the explaining.) that we would not need a ride home, but that Karen’s husband was going to come get us.

Once we had dismissed the taxi driver, we stood and looked around at the market. It was huge! People swarmed everywhere. Karen thinks that Tuesdays and Fridays are the big market days, so we picked a good day to be there!

It’s truly impossible to describe the market experience. But there were a few highlights in my mind.

• There was a large shallow basket holding about four live chickens. I said, “Hey! We could get our chicken that way!” Rachel didn’t realize I was joking, and she was quickly thinking about how exactly we would make that work…so she was relieved to find that I was still content to buy rotisserie chicken at the store.
• Most of the people were wearing their traditional Guatemalan garb, which means beautiful, colorful blouses and skirts on the women, and very interesting clothing and skirts worn by the men. Apparently, when it gets hot, the men don’t wear their “pajama” pants under the skirts any more. I’m just glad it’s still rather cool, because I think the outfits look better with the pants on.
• The produce is so cheap. Less than a dollar for four large plantains. Just over four dollars for twelve huge avocados. Just over a dollar for five pounds of plum tomatoes. It’s so much fun to shop with those kinds of prices!
• There was a man with a wide leather strap going across his forehead, over his shoulders to his back, and then under the huge wardrobe he was carrying on his back! I wouldn’t think he could even lift it by himself, much less carry the whole thing on his back!

Rachel and I kept noticing one thing after another, and agreeing that it was surreal. There’s no way to really convey to you what a cultural experience it is. You just have to see for yourself.

After we finished at the outdoor market, we went to the grocery store just up the street and finished our shopping, getting such things as more toilet paper, cheese, yogurt, more chickens (already cooked), cereal and milk. Greg (Karen’s husband) came in the pickup truck, along with Dave Loomis, to get our groceries and us. We piled everything in the back of the truck, and then we ladies hopped into the back of the truck too. What a fun ride, back up the hill to Eagle’s Nest.

We got back “home” just as a lady with a huge basket was delivering our hot, fresh tortillas carried on her head. I had ordered 100 tortillas, but realized that it probably wouldn’t be enough for all the meals I had planned, so I asked if there was any way to get more in time for supper, since these tortillas would probably only be enough for lunch. Marta (the “secretary”) translated for me, and there was a lot of conversation as they tried to figure out if it was possible to make 100 more tortillas by 4 pm, and also bring 200 more tortillas by 10 a.m. tomorrow. Finally they said they could do it, and off they went, basket on the head, while I stood there holding the smaller basket of hot tortillas.

If you look at the palm of your hand, that is the size of these tortillas. Imagine a lady with a lump of dough, flattening it between her palms, and then cooking it. The tortillas aren’t big enough to make any sort of “wraps”, so I explained to the team that we were going to have “folds” for lunch instead of “wraps”. Rachel and Deb helped me prepare lunch. Rachel spread cream cheese on each tortilla, Deb put a piece of cheese on it, and I put the piece of meat on. We had fun with our little assembly line.

Lunch was a hit, and we even had lots of leftovers. I am hoping to serve some of those for lunch tomorrow.

After lunch was over, I was eager to start on my supper preparations. I made salsa and guacamole, I deboned two chickens, and I put the bones in some water to boil to make broth. After all that was done, I decided to head out and see what there was to see before I needed to get back to work. It’s always fun to go see the people at their work sites. The team is really working hard, and I’m glad I don’t have their jobs! Rachel and Anna not only worked on the roof of a building, they also made many trips up and down a very large, steep hill carrying big pieces of roofing metal to the workers. The hill is so steep, a truck wouldn’t be able to get back up again if it went down, and so that’s why the roofing supplies are carried down one piece at a time.

Michael and Eric Ross were working in a house doing some sort of construction. They do well working on projects together. Michael said they also had perfected a technique for ruining drill bits.

The girls have had lots of time to spend with the children. This morning they were in the pool with some little ones, and later I found the girls in the nursery holding babies. (Janie, Molly got photos of the two babies you asked about, so we’ll try to get those photos posted.)

While I was out and about, I found out that Larry Boggs had been invited to join us for supper, so that was exciting. After all that I’ve heard about the Boggs’, I feel like they are celebrities. It was a little nerve-wracking to think I was making supper for everyone else AND Larry, but I knew we’d be ok, and I was excited to get to extend our hospitality.

The supper preparation went very well. Deb Everly was a big help, again, as usual. My original plan was to make enchiladas, but since these tortillas are so small, I realized I needed to change my plan just a little and make something more like Mexican lasagna with layers of ingredients rather than little rolls of things. It all came together, and thanks to the Latin American work schedule, the team was dismissed from work by 5 pm, so I had lots of helpers available.

I asked Eric Cowell to help set up the tables and to make sure we could fit all the chairs around. I figured he’d just throw it all together, which was perfectly fine with me, but I soon realized he was really serious about getting things arranged just right. When I commented on his attention to detail, he muttered something about being an engineer. Then I remembered he told me before that he works as a Quality Engineer for a company in Bloomington. By the time he was done arranging the tables and chairs and plates, they looked perfect. I laughed out loud and even took a photo of his work.

While Eric Cowell was working on the tables, Eric Ross was trying to solve the puzzle of how to get a very thin cutting mat out of the place next to the sink where I had accidentally dropped it. It had slipped down between the wall and the cabinet, in a tiny crack just big enough for a cutting mat. Eric got a flashlight and a coat hanger, and with a few snips of his wire cutters had just the right tool to go fishing. I kept telling him that we could just abandon the mat, but I realized he wasn’t really listening to me. It took some maneuvering, but he finally got that thing out of there!!! He also made note to come back tomorrow with some calk to keep that little trick from happening again.

Much to my delight, supper turned out great. The food was delicious, there was enough for everyone to eat their fill, and there are even a few leftovers.

After supper, the younger girls swarmed into the kitchen to start rinsing and washing the dirty dishes. I think Molly was the main organizer of the group, but all four of them worked very diligently. If I remember right, it was Anna, Molly, Kristen and Corinne. They were shoulder to shoulder, washing, rinsing, drying and putting away. Once I had the food stuffs taken care of and cleared away, I asked the girls how I could help them, but they insisted I go away and sit down somewhere. I didn’t argue with them. I was very grateful for their work. They did a marvelous job and left the kitchen in beautiful shape!

Then it was time for our evening worship time. We started by hearing a bit from Larry Boggs about what he’s doing and how we can pray for him. Then after he left we sang and prayed some more. Once the serious stuff was over, it was time to record highlights from everyone. I have to say, this group is getting sillier and crazier every day! We could hardly get through our sharing time. We kept laughing and whooping and teasing and hollering. I had to dry the tears from my eyes more than once after laughing so hard. My tummy will probably hurt tomorrow, and it won’t be from any great exercise.

Finally we finished our sharing time, and everyone was dismissed, with a note of caution to be very quiet around the boys’ bunkhouse tonight. Eric Ross will be getting up to ride with the group going to Guatemala City at 2 a.m. He wants to have some time to talk to Larry, and that’s the best time to do it, so he’s going all the way there and then coming back here tomorrow afternoon with Larry.

Before I end my daily report, I have to try to describe for you the weather around here. (insert *yawn* here) Seriously. It’s truly spectacular. The last two days have started out clear and sunny. We can see for many miles in every direction. But then, after lunch, the clouds start to roll in. And they really do roll! It’s like smoke blowing from a huge bonfire. The mist and fog climbs right up the mountain and then blows around and past you as you walk. Several times I’ve caught myself looking to see where the fire is, but it’s not smoke… it’s a cloud! Janie Rider tried to tell me about this, but it just didn’t register with me. Now I understand. After the clouds swirl around a bit, soon we are completely enveloped in a cloud, and I cannot see beyond the balcony rail thanks to the fog and mist. I now know what it’s like to be IN a cloud. Usually after that it rains a bit. Then later all the clouds blow away and it’s sunny and clear again. It’s so strange! As I was walking in the clouds today, I couldn’t help but think of the Scripture that refers to a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. It really helped that concept come alive to me to see the cloud swirling and blowing, and to think of being completely surrounded by the witnesses Paul referred to.

Anyway, that’s all for today. There is talk of making a trip to a town tomorrow that has the extreme zip line thing. Larry Boggs really wants to go, so we’ll probably wait for him to get back before going anywhere. Besides, that means Eric Ross could go, too. Apparently Phil Mitchell was trying to convince Molly to go on the zip line, but she said the only way she will do it is if he’ll shave off his moustache. I guess that sort of killed the idea as Phil said that was to high a price to pay.
I’m not sure if that conversation was supposed to stay at the dinner table or not… Hopefully I won’t get in trouble for sharing it with you.