What Wonderful Hostesses!!

Left to Right: Mildred, Ana Elena ,Me, Mercedes, Anabel

When we were home for visits in June we discovered that Jared's Dad has some Guatemalans working for him. Jared of course had a nice long chat with one of them, Carlos, and told him we were visiting Guatemala in August. He told us he had a home we could stay in if we wanted to.

So this was the home we stayed in. Mercedes is the Grandmother-in-law of Carlos. Our "tour guide," Don Julio (sadly no picture), who picked us up at the airport and took us all around for 2 days is the Uncle-in-law of Carlos and Mercedes son. I know, totally confusing. We didn't actually figure out all the connections properly until we got home. And even now we're not quite sure we got it right.

Anyway, these women were the sweetest ladies in the world. None of them spoke English except 12 year old Mildred spoke as little English as I do Spanish. Grandma Mercedes kept forgetting I didn't speak Spanish, she'd ask me things all expectant like and I'd just smile and say Si, Si. Or ask Jared to translate. It was tough.

We got to their home around dinner time, they fed us dinner no questions asked. Refried black beans, boiled plantains (plantanos), white corn tortillas, and goat cheese. So good, and so filling.

After spending the night they fed us again in the morning. All the same food plus some scrambled eggs, sweet bread and Morcafe (mormon coffee),which is pretty much like Postem.
Then the next night same thing for dinner as the night before. They were so sweet and so happy to feed us that we just kept on eating, even 2nds and 3rds.

This is the outside of their home, pictured is the actual house we stayed in. The red garage door opens to a big driveway where they have their business. Don Julio works here with Anabel's husband, they're mechanics.

Looking down one of their streets. And yes we are parked on train tracks, no trains in the area though.

So picture 3 homes, all in one fenced in complex with the mechanic shop driveway in the middle. Between the 3 homes are these really narrow alleyways. This is the front door of the home we stayed in looking through the front door of Mercedes home.

These are the crazy stairs to go upstairs to where we slept. Notice the 12 inch tiles. Every step was a different heighth, and different depth. As you climb the stairs the steps got noticeably taller. It's actually kind of hard to climb a 16-18 inch step.

I know, a shower, kind of lame. Let me explain. NO HOT WATER! Mercedes said we could use their hot shower if we wanted but we said we'd be fine. I second guessed myself when I took my first FREEZING shower. But I'd rather that than get fried. The way they make the hot water is literally wired right above the shower head. So if you reach up to adjust the shower head during your shower you're going to get a nice ZAP! On the plus side a cold shower when you have no air conditioning in Houston like heat and humidity was not so bad.

Here's our tiny bed. Jared said the mattress was home made. I didn't really notice, it was quite comfy actually.

This is the garage/kitchen/sitting room area. We sat here to visit most every night. They cooked over a fire. The one morning the ladies got up at 3 am to make tamales in the biggest pot I've ever seen. They sell them to the locals every week for a bit of extra cash. We had some for dinner that night along with our refried beans, tortillas, plantains and cheese. They were quite good. I wish they could have taught me how to make them. Kind of a sweet potato mixture with chunks of real potatoes in it.

This is one of their dogs. They had 3 and they were the rattiest things I've ever seen. They are their built in alarm system and that's about it. They definitely don't treat their pets like we do.

This one got hit by a taxi at one point in its life, so that strait leg doesn't actually work. Their little black pup would chew on this leg all the time. Then hang all over it's neck and gnaw on it's ears. It was a rather patient dog, I must say.