Friday, December 28, 2007

Day Seven in Guatemala -- # 7 of 8, Part One of Two

I'll be out today. Going Bowling. No, not with pins. My alma mater, The University of Houston, has their final game this year, the Texas Bowl. So Mrs. Jim, Karen, Billy (U/H is one of his schools also), BP, and I will get there in plenty of time for the Cougar pregame activities. Thought then, "this would be a good time to post 'Day Seven in Guatemala.'" I have been working on this for some time, so hang on. It will be long. So long that I decided to have it in two parts, the first today. A group from our church spent six days in Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Mrs. Jim and I both were working there at a state orphanage. This was a work trip arranged by Buckner International. The seventh day, posted here in Part One, and soon in Part Two, were spent sightseeing. Day Seven in Guatemala -- # 7 of 8: On the road again! After six days of work

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We left our hotel early, luggage was out at 6:00 a.m. for the luggage van. Our work was finised for this year, today we would be tourists. Click on the picture. You will see that valley is full of houses. Not many crops could be grown down there.

>>>>>>>> A potty and snack stop at the Shell station
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Clean too (link)
>>>>>>>> Wild flowers and corn
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>>>>>>>>> Taxi, anyone?
We had to work hard to get around these fellows. Then we all came to a stop. They use these pickups to get into the villages not large enough or without good enough roads for the busses. About twenty-four people can ride, all standing up.
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>>>>>>>>>>> Our destination for the afternoon, Lake Atitlán
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>>>>>>>> These little taxis were running all around in Guatemala
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>>>>>>>> We would boat around Lake Atitlan
You can see our boat a little later, it was smaller one. In fact it took two to carry our party. (link for Lake Atitlan information article)(link with lots of pictures)
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>>>>>>> The southeastern shore
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>>>>>>>>> We would stop at this village for about an hour
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>>>>>>>> This little town did a lot of weaving
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>>>>>>>>> That IS a dog on the roof
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>>>>>>>> There were twelve villages around the lake, we stopped here
We stopped at this village, one of twelve surounding Lake Atitlán, each named for one of Jesus' appostles. I forgot the name of this one.
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>>>>>>>> Our interpreter, Jessica
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She was enjoying the ride. Jessica had been with us all week. None of us spoke Spanish fluently.

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# posted by Jim : 12/28/2007 12:55:00 AM  4 comments

Thursday, October 23, 2008

It's that time of the year again, Guatemala bound

First off, there is supposed to be wireless Internet in the hotel rooms. I can get e-mail and blog if that is the case.
Please check below for later posts from on the road.

It is back to Guatemala (previous Guatemala posts) again this year for me. I will return after next week. We leave Saturday morning from Houston Intercontinental George H.W. Bush Airport and be there for evening.

We will be doing work and Bible classes at the orphanage in Huehuetenango which on the Pan American Highway, closer to Mexico than to Guatemala City where we fly into.

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For a change off, try letting the kids paint the adults' faces. I had a lucky draw and it ended up looking better than when she started. Sorry, no picture of the finished work.
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I don't think it will be hot water heater installation this year. We are supposed to update the kitchen and do a LOT more painting.

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I should be posting Sunday and Wednesday on JIM'S LITTLE PHOTO PLACE. You might want to check there too.

Please leave a comment here for this blog, or if I have posted something below during the week, please leave it there. Either way I will find it. Thank you.

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# posted by Jim : 10/23/2008 12:59:00 AM  15 comments

Thursday, September 24, 2020

The Letter "M" -- Weekend Roundup and Reflections

The thirty-ninth issue of Weekend Roundup for this year, 2020... (THE THIRTEENTH LETTER FOR THIS SERIES) - the Letter "M" Prompts are: 
(A) Starts with the Letter "M"; 
(B) "Many" (Tom's Choice); (C) A Favorite; and 
(D) Reflections.
 _ _ _ _ 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asGhCioHqow

 (A) Starts with the Letter "M: Monkey starts with "M". I haven't shown this guy playing with me here for a long time. I found him in the courtyard of our hotel on our first mission trip to Guatemala. 

 
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(B) "Many" (Tom's Choice): Many kids wished me Happy Birthday (October 30) on that mission trip. Our purpose was to upgrade the living facilities there and conduct a Vacation Bible School. 

We installed a hot water heater for the boy's bathroom and overhead lighting in the girl's dorm so that they could read or play games and stuff after dark. 

We also did a lot of painting. Oh yes, one man in our group was an electrician, we were his helpers. 


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(C) A Favorite:  McDonald's delivery motorcycle, in Guatemala City.  Note that I went back for another mission holiday the next year, 2008 for this shot.  He got ahead before I could get the camera turned on, this is a zoom picture from our bus.

[Note the out flow through a culvert under the walkway.  the day before it was gushing over the walk in tandem with the smaller culvert.]


(D) Reflections: The rain water retention area at the end of our street got a little workout from our Hurricane Beta. We only had six inches of rain in our area and the winds had diminished to the mid twenty MPH.  Note the bird's Reflection on the right.
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  Bonus Questions:

1.  What is your favorite "M" word?   Mine will be Mule.  Stubborn, beast of burden, even a line and a verse of a song, "... or would you rather be a mule? ..." (see below or Click here for Frank Sinatra singing it, )
 
2.  Tell about one of your experiences with mission, student, or other purposed travel.  We enjoyed mission trips, to Hawaii taking our daughter in 1988; two to Albacete Spain 2001 and 2004, taking the two older granddaughters with us as a treat and to help with the kids;  two (Mrs. Jim the first only) 2007, 2008 to Guatemala, and Mrs. Jim two to Mexico while I was working.  

I had six weeks off in the summer, Mrs. Jim had 10, both working in education, each year we would generally have a big trip and then smaller to see parents in Louisiana and Nebraska.  A lot we drove, even in Europe and the Caribbean Islands.  As we became older we would cruise more.  We've been to all 50 states and most western European countries, even the small ones.  The last one of those was to Andorra in 2009 where we also took our youngest son, father of the older girls.  Be went from Barcelona to Bruges Belgium and back to Paris.  I drove. 

Oh yes, 2014 was the last year I drove in Europe, from Britain to Northern Wales. We've crossed the Arctic Circle, and been in the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica but not to it.  The other continents, yes.  My bucket list was trhe Panama Canal, Moscow Russia, and China.  We did those quickly but didn't stop, all parts of the world, some more than others.


https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/bing-crosby/swinging-on-a-star
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Would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a mule

A mule is an animal with long funny ears
Kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
He's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule

Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a pig

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don't care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Or would you like to swing on a star
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a fish

A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook
He can't write his name or read a book
To fool the people is his only thought
And though he's slippery, he still gets caught
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish

A new kind of jumped up slippery fish

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see it's all up to you
You can be better than you are
You could be swingin' on a starWriter/s: Johnny Burke, Jimmy Heusen-van
Publisher: BOURNE CO.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind _ _  
 _ _ _ _

The fine print:
 - [Click on any picture for larger, click it again for extra large]
- I am linked with Tom of "Backwoods Travel" (Link here to click for Tom's Weekend Reviews)
- I am also linked this week with James of "Weekend Reflections" (click here for his Reflections Photos).
- The pictures mostly are all mine and rights are reserved to me under Copyright Law.

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# posted by Jim : 9/24/2020 09:56:00 PM  6 comments

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Update from Huehuetenango

We are in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, working with the Buckner organization at an orphanage. Fifteen from our church came down, four ladies and eleven men. One fellow from Harvest Chappel in the Chicago area came also.

Yesterday they had a pinata birthday party for me and another lady whose birthday is today.

All the kids and us workers and the orphanage help came and everyone had a lot of fun!

I check my blog and e-mail whenever I can. Yesterday it was off at the hotel. I was using Mike from Chicago's laptop this morning, tonight it is the computer in the hotel lobby. There isn't any way to put pictures on and it is hard for a blog update.

Mrs. Jim's Bible craft classes are going good! In the mornings she is painting apartments for the staff and also the kitchen! There is a steady crew of four and then there are other helpers. Another fellow, Ben, and I helped this afternoon.

Three of us guys are putting in three hot water heaters and hooking them up. We have to break through concrete and cinder block walls to get to the bathrooms, etc.

Tomorrow is our last day, we leave early Friday for a 'tourist way' to Guatemala City. Then leave there early Saturday morning.

It has been so rewarding, the kids are so precious. There about 60 of them, ranging from babies to teenagers.

Pictures and our story will come next week or Sunday.

Happy Halloween, 'bout over now. These people are big on All Saint's Day, maybe I can get some about that for the blog. It is a national holiday, things will be pretty well closed down. So we will eat pizza tomorrow at noon with the kids.

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# posted by Jim : 10/31/2007 10:11:00 PM  12 comments

Sunday, November 04, 2007

I was glad when they said unto me

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“Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

Psalm 122:1 (NKJV, see below) What follows is an outline in pictures of our mission trip to Huehuetenango, Guatemala. There we would do facility upgrade work and have Bible classes in an orphanage. October 27: Sixteen of us, 11 men and 4 ladies, from our Conroe, Texas, church and one man from Harvest Chapel in the Chicago area traveled from Guatemala City to Huehuetenango this first day.

Also going with us were three translators and two Buckner International project coordinators--one local and one from Houston (link).

It was the beginning of a week of work and play and learning for us. October 28: After a nice breakfast in our hotel we would hop into our faithful bus and ride a mile of so over to the orphanage. The children gave us a nice warm 'welcome,' or ¡Bienvenidos!

October 29: Bob, Larry, and I would install and/or hook add plumbing four hot water heaters. Mrs. Jim is a fine painter!

So is Jessica, our interpreter.

Manuel, our interpreter, and Scot were constructing and planting a new swing and a new see-saw. Mrs. Jim was the Bible class craft leader with the help of Robin, Debbie, Dorothy, Betsy, and Jessica. Dale lead the lesson telling with the help some of the guys who would take a work break. The kids really liked Ben. October 30: (my--Jim's--Birthday) What a start to a nice day!

The day at the camp would end with a pinata party. Here I am with worker friends and the emptied pinatas. October 31: 'Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work we go!'

First a warm goodbye from our friendly house monkey. We had to dig to be able to cut into a cold water line for the heater behind this wall. Seen are me (Jim), Larry, and Bob. We were about finished, as were the others with their jobs.

The rest of this day and the morning of the next I would help with the painting effort. November 1: Goodbyes are sometimes hard.

November 2: On the way home we would take the scenic route, stopping at the Lake Atitlan area. (link) November 3: A 6:25 departure meant a 3:15 wake-up for us. Our nice breakfast was ready on our plane.

Next stop, Houston George H. W. Bush Intercontinental Airport. Our mini-bus with luggage trailer was waiting for us there. Sam is ready to be home. .

. Psalm 122 A Song of Ascents. Of David.

1 I was glad when they said to me, 2 Our feet have been standing Within your gates, O Jerusalem! 3 Jerusalem is built As a city that is compact together, 4 Where the tribes go up, The tribes of the LORD, To the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of the LORD. 5 For thrones are set there for judgment, The thrones of the house of David. 6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May they prosper who love you. 7 Peace be within your walls, Prosperity within your palaces.” 8 For the sake of my brethren and companions, I will now say, “Peace be within you.” 9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek your good.

Psalm 122 (New King James Version -- link) 


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# posted by Jim : 11/04/2007 01:10:00 AM  9 comments

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