Where We Live

Okay, we've gotten lots of questions about where we live. Are we in a tent, a mud hut, a tree house? Well, no. Jim and Kathleen built the dorm where we live about seven years ago and it is a tremendous blessing. Keep in mind that they actually lived IN THE HOSPITAL for a while. They slept in the ICU.

As most of you know, we live on the grounds of the National Hospital here in Santa Cruz del Quiche. As you drive in from the gate, the hospital is on the left, then at the very back, on the right, is the house. Our front yard is a soccer field where a lot of kids play while their parents are waiting for one thing or another at the hospital.

We basically live in much the same way as we did in the U.S. It's actually a bigger place than our Houston apartment (not that that was much of a challenge). We have electricity, hot water, high speed internet, seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a huge kitchen, a pharmacy, two washers, a dryer, and two large courtyards. Okay, maybe we're living a little BETTER than we did in the U.S.

Anyway, here's a picture of the front of the house, two shots in the living room (one is an action shot for Heidi - which she will roundly thrash me for when she sees it) and one of my favorite room (the kitchen). You'll note the two oven/stoves. We also have two refrigerators and a deep freeze. Oh, and don't forget the two pilas, one indoors and one outdoors. (A pila is a utility sink with two or three compartments. One is a deep one for holding water. The other one or two usually are ribbed like washboards and tend to be used by the locals for washing....)

Okay, enough of all that silliness. We have to go cook dinner. Tonight will be grilled chicken salads....