Every Day an Adventure

Yes, today is our second "weekend" day, since Heidi didn't operate today, but it was still not exactly uneventful.

Again, we're still dealing with less than reliable water. Last night we didn't have any. At times today we've had plenty and at other times not. Time will tell. Perhaps the pump still hasn't filled the water tower yet.

Anyway, after lunch, Heidi went to the market to buy a few things. Upon coming home, the guard casually told her that someone was robbing our truck (the Mazda). She could see two doors open on it. She said that it might be her husband, but the guard said, no, it's not your husband. So she called the house.

Matt quickly ran outside and apprehended a guy in the bed of the truck. The driver door and the rear passenger door were open. Matt jumped into the bed of the truck, questioning why the person was in the truck - loudly. He answered about half of the questions in English - not bad English, either. Matt continued asking questions loudly and angrily, in Spanish. The guy went from crouching and holding on to the bars in the back to standing up and that's when he was... um.... gently placed on the ground.

He was given the advice that it would be better for him if he stayed seated rather than trying to get up again. Heidi quickly called the police. Upon inspection, it appeared that nothing had been taken out of the truck. The guy had recently been in the hospital - he had some fresh stitches over his eye and still had an IV needle in his arm. He kept saying that two other men had offered him a ride home in our truck, but they were nowhere to be found.

The police came, as well as half the doctors and nurses in the hospital, who identified the man as a current patient. His neighbor also showed up, who told us that he's got some money and property but has been drinking for about a year now. People around here go downhill quickly when they start to drink.

We gave a police report - more or less - and they handcuffed him and took him away. The police were very helpful, very friendly, and very professional. Not exactly what we've been told to expect - but we'll take each encounter at face value. We will need to look into getting an alarm put on the Mazda. This is the second time the vehicle has been opened without a key. Perhaps Martin can give us some advice.

The Toyota has a rather loud alarm already on it, but we'll continue to avoid leaving valuables in the vehicle. It's a little disconcerting that all of this took place in broad daylight with Matt in the house with Isaac, but we were parked in such a way that the Mazda was not really visible from the emergency room. We've remedied THAT situation.

Anyway, tomorrow is clinic at ASELSI. Friday is Heidi's clinic at the Hospital Buen Samaritano, then we'll probably see Roy Friday night.

Please pray for this little incident to be completely over. Also, please pray for a friend of ours who just had surgery in the US. We told him we probably could have done it cheaper here in Guatemala, but for some weird reason, he wanted access to blood banks and all that other stuff... Go figure.