Unexpected Trip

We spent last week in Antigua with the cleft palate families and we were back again last night. It wasn't a completely planned trip, but a nice visit nonetheless.

On our way back to Quiché from Antigua, we noticed that our truck wasn't acting just right. We had a fair amount of work done on it and had let it sit for nearly a month, so we weren't sure exactly what was wrong. Driving to Canillá for the weekend, though, was painful. We nearly didn't make it. Things were getting worse by the kilometer and, by the time we finally got there, our maximum engine rpms were about 2200 and we were spewing a massive trail of smoke. We looked like we fit right in - and not in a good way.

Duane and Matt worked on the truck for a good part of the afternoon, trying various things, and nothing really worked. We got it home from clinic on Sunday with lots of prayers and decided we wouldn't even try taking it to Nueva Santa Catarina on Monday - it's a three hour drive on one of the main highways in Guatemala. So we took our backup truck instead. The backup truck isn't in the greatest condition, either, though, so it was a rather long day.

We decided to take both of the trucks back to Antigua. We figured we were doubling our chances of making it. We left the grey truck with the mechanic who originally worked on it and took the green one (the backup) into the capital to get some new tires put on it (American owned store with free road hazard and a good guarantee).

We were lucky enough, while in the capital, to schedule our first OB visit for Heidi. Dr. Mario Ruata is a native Guatemalan who did medical school here in Guatemala but his residency in Dallas, Texas. Our Spanish is coming along quite nicely, but it's nice to have an English-speaking doctor. He spent about thirty minutes with us, got a very detailed history, did some explaining of various things (mostly for Matt's benefit, of course) and did an ultrasound. Everything looks good at 13 weeks and we got to hear our baby's heart beat for the first time. YAY! Now this is the part where you all get jealous. The visit cost about $30.

Well, with the extended doctor visit and Guatemala City traffic, we didn't get back to Antigua until after the shop had closed, so we spent another night in the Lazos Fuertes hotel. We had a wonderful breakfast this morning at the Doña Luisa restaurant (for less than $6) and got the truck back.

Matt had drained the entire fuel tank, changed out the filter, inspected the belts, and messed with a dozen other things on the engine and it was (drum roll, please).... a microfilter hidden inside the fuel pump. It's a pain in the rear to change, so it's not on the normal checklist. But, apparently, you need the little bugger to be clean. So $8 later, we were on the road.

The good news is that, starting in 2007, we have two trucks with brand new tires, and all new belts, fluids, filters, etc. on our main truck. Without transportation, we can do very little for the people we work with. And it LOOKS like we're in good shape now (knock on whatever is handy).

Ah, and a treat we hadn't counted on, we got to eat at Subway yesterday. Nothing like a good 30cm sub to get your day going!

Tomorrow we're at ASELSI. We're planning on seeing all of the cleft lip/palate kids for their follow-up visits. We'll take lots of pictures. (And since we've been gone about a month and a half there, it could be quite a long day - we'll pack a lunch.)

OOPS! Sorry this is getting rather long, but Duane Ficker flew back to the United States today to take a look at another plane that might fill the gap while they're working on the wrecked one. Please keep him in your prayers.