Work Days

Yesterday and today were work days around the house. Matt's parents are here for a few more days, so we put them to work!

NEW in the house are: a bench in the entryway (purchased in Los Encuentros), a curtain separating the entryway from the rest of the house, curtains on both windows in ALL of the dorm rooms, curtains as cupboard doors in the kitchen, a wardrobe in our bedroom (also purchased in Los Encuentros), and a nearly completed fountain in the courtyard!

LOTS of thanks to whoever made the curtains for the dorm rooms and purchased the PVC, springs, and hangars to make that job possible. They are wonderful!

ALSO, lots of thanks to whoever made the curtains for the cupboards in the kitchen. We had to do a little work to the concrete countertops to make the velcro stick, but it's all up and looks relatively permanent.

ALSO, lots of thanks to Jacob, for setting us up with the two guys that have been working out here to convert the concrete sculpture in the garden into a fountain. Just a few more hours of work and it'll be done - at least from their side. We still have to run electricity to it, but that should be a relatively simple job, too.

And on top of that, we had time to run out to the Mayan ruins just outside town. Very cool. This place has been a functioning city for nearly 1,000 years. It was here for a long time before the Spaniards showed up in the early 1500s and after they defeated the K'iche Indians, they converted it from the K'iche capital (called Gumarkaah) to the city we live in now.

Of course, we had a few knocks on the door - pretty standard practice around here - and we received some wonderful gifts from our friend, Dr. Hoak, in Chichicastenango. He found THOUSANDS of dollars worth of orthopedic supplies in his storage closet that he can't use. We will work with Dr. Edgar (a Guatemalan orthopedic surgeon we know - and a SUPER guy) to see that they end up being used for people who really need them.

Not bad for a few "days off", huh?