El Amparro

This is El Amparro, Jared's last area of his mission. He opened this area and was here 7 months, so it was kind of like coming home for him. We met dozens of then "little kids" he had baptised when they were 8 and 10, who are all now in their 20's, married,have their own kids and are still active in the church. They all recognized Jared right off the bat and said he was the most remembered missionary in the area.

When we got into town the school soccer games were going on. So that meant everyone in town was in one place. Worked to our advantage so we could find everyone and catch up all at the same time. One big party, just like a HS Basketball game here at home.

Our friend that brought us here and put us up for the night is Anna. She's one of the few Jared is still in contact with from his mission. I didn't manage to get many shots of her, but somehow ended up with tons of her family.

Anna's Grandma and Grandpa, not members but still amazing. Grandma moves about a cm a minute, but she still made us breakfast and made sure we had everything we needed. Such hospitable people, it's amazing. She'd be in a Rest Home up here, but there she was serving us. AMAZING!

Here's Grandpa all on his own, 94 and going strong. He wouldn't get out of his bed this morning because he couldn't feel the heat in his bones. :) I was already sweating bullets at that point of the day.

Here's our sink, bathroom, shower, laundry room. It was so hot and sticky here I wished I'd taken a shower. But the shower was behind that black tarp, and you poured buckets of water on your head, so we passed for the day.

This is Holli Alandra, and her older cousin who they called Gordita (little fat one). Having a good time with their Little Pet Shop American toys.

Chicken on the front porch, not an abnormal thing.

This was the Branch President when Jared was here on his mission. His beautiful family were the sweetest people ever. The girl in the middle, bottom, just got home from her mission. They currently have 2 sons on missions too. 3 out at once. They were so proud of their missionaries. We spent the evening looking at mission photos and playing with the baby girls. They gave us some beautiful porcelain butterfly's. I felt so guilty taking them, when they have nothing, but you have to, they were a gift.

Once we got home we sent out a package of gifts for all our friend here. We sent them a Disney Princess book and Harry Potter #1, both in Spanish. I really hope they like them. Jared was concerned if they could even read.

Pres Lopez home. You hiked down that dirt path to get to it. I have never been in a poorer but happier home. They have about 13 people that live in this 2-3 room home. And I don't mean 2-3 bedrooms. I mean 1 kitchen, 1 bedroom/sitting room. There were probably 6 queen sized beds in that one room, and those were the couches too. But you've never seen a happier more loving family.

This is Pres. Lopez's son-in-law. I just liked the shirt. This shot's for my brother Evan. Apparently in Spanish they get the B and V mixed up a lot.

This is Anna's Auntie. She makes bread twice a week for money. We tried to buy some from her, but she wouldn't let us pay her. It was so tasty. I wish I could have made them some pizza, it would have been so good from her oven.

YUM YUM YUM!!

Jared baptised this Mama when she was 10 years old. Now she's married to a good member boy, Kenny, and they have this beautiful daughter. They were the sweetest little couple, and are working towards the Temple in the next few months.

She used to sit on Jared's lap when she was 10 and his splits companion got after him for allowing this. "She's 10, same age as my little sister," was all Jared said. Now I don't speak Spanish but the way she was looking at Jared, even today, it was obvious she'd had a HUGE crush on him back then. :)

Here's Kenny at work. They make bricks for a living then deliver them to whoever orders them. The machine that compacts the bricks is super loud, he'll be deaf before he's 40 for sure. Kenny actually caught me taking this picture. I was across the street and he looked up right after I snapped this shot. I smiled and waved, he waved too, but I felt like such a stupid tourist. So embarrassing.

Here's the local Church building. So nice and well kept, hence the barb wire fence. They even had a full out basketball court outside. Notice the corn field right next to the church. They have that there to help the members who don't have a lot of money for food.

This is some of Mama Nillas family. Jared is NOT standing on a stool if you're wondering. They are just rather short people. This family was so sweet, and after 4 days of no English I found someone that spoke English, the girl on the right. It was so nice to have a conversation with someone. Her family actually moved to California and has been there for 3 years, so her English was really good.

Mama Nilla had us over for dinner the night we stayed here. More tamales, but different than the others. White corn paste, Mole and a bit of chicken. They were really good. Everyone make them different I guess.

This is Flash (the big one) and Capitan (the pup). I wanted to take Captain home with me he was so cute. Flash scared our friend, Anna, when we got to their house. She literally hid behind me. :) He's a big tall dog so I didn't blame her.

While having dinner at their home their son fell asleep, he's about 9 or so, so I thought this was funny. They kept trying to get him to go to his bed, but I think he thought he might miss out on something.

This flower is called a Caterpillar, I think. For obvious reasons. They had another version that just grew straight out of the ground, funny little things.

They even have beautiful butterflies here. Everything in Guatemala is beautiful.

This is their water system. That big cement thing is just a huge "pool" of water. But it's used for everything besides swimming. Cooking, bathing (pour buckets of water over your head), washing clothes, brushing teeth, washing dishes. They have an amazing way of keeping the pool of water clean, there's little areas that are separate but connected where they can wash, then it drains out onto the street below.

This is Shrek, the laziest dog in the world, beats Charlie hands down. They also had a female named Fiona. These 2 dogs were a big version of a Chihuahua, HUGE bat like ears, very funny looking.

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.

Day of Swimming

Getting ready to go swimming with some friends. This is Holly Alandra, she's such a cute little stinker. I had to full on bribe her to put on her seat belt, which is hard to do when you don't speak the same language.

Nice lazy river.Till Jared shoves you into this. :) We went to this amazing water park that was so Westernized it was crazy. Had so much fun doing non-kid things it was totally worth it.

This beats the Bucket Pool by our house Hands Down. Jared's already planning a Family Trip back just so the kids can play on this.

Holy Cow! We caught air on the drop on this slide. You'd go round and round, then HUGE drop, then slide back up on the other side of this wall just as high, then fall backwards to the end. Screamed like the scared little girl I was. So fun, but no seconds for me.

This slide rocked. Huge drop into this round and round thing. Kind of like the penny machine at the Library. Then you'd fall through the hole on the other side and shoot out the bottom. Jared always made me ride in front cause I complained once that he smashed my legs when I sat in the back. And let me just say, the front is really scary.

This slide rocked. You rode on your toboggan on your tummy. Tallest slide in the park, with 3 majorly huge drops. I wanted to do it again but Jared wasn't up for the hike.

This is called the Snake Bed. But hiking those stairs 6+ times in a row to try each slide was a bit of a bugger.

Means of Transportation

So I just had to add in all the crazy vehicles we saw down there.

This one's my favorite. I really don't know how this guy/girl (not sure who was driving) could actually see where they were going. Kind of reminds me of that scene in "Cars" where Lightening McQueen has the cactus on his head.
This rain storm hit in about 2 seconds. 1 second it was blue sky, then sprinkling, then this. It's a tiny video, but notice those poor guys in the back of that truck. Worst part is, the rain stopped after about 15 mins, but I can guarantee those men looked like they'd just stepped out of the shower.

I'm not really sure why this guy got stuck in the back, probably not enough room in the cab. And who knows what was actually in there with him: cows, dirt, fruit...never know. We came across another truck a few days later just like this one, but there were 3 little kids hanging out where this man is. And I mean little, like 8, 5 & 3. So dangerous, but they seemed to really be enjoying the ride.

This truck really did have cows. Burrows to be exact. We only saw a few trucks like this with animals in them. Mostly you'd see these skinny old cow, goats, horses or sometimes pigs tied up like dogs on the side of the road. And these were busy roads. But the animals just graze there then the owner moves him down a few feet every now and again.

These are called Chicken Buses. They usually go from Guatemala City, to another town, then back to Guatemala City. Whichever town they are traveling to is PAINTED on the sides and front of the bus. That way you know where they're going. It only costs about $2 or less to travel for hours, if you need to. Oh! And they're call Chicken Buses because there usually are a few chickens, or whatever people are traveling with, on the bus with you.

If you notice the one yellow one. These buses are actually retired American School Buses that have just been revamped with a nice paint job.

We just thought this gas station sign was funny. Stop Truck not Truck Stop!

Driving through the mountains we came across this. The 18 Wheeler actually hit the dividing wall. Sent the dividers clear across our 2 lanes and COMPLETELY blocked his own side of the road. Jared thinks he may have tapped the wall, then over corrected. It'd just happened and there were all these people on their cell phones. We think the driver was ok. And we were grateful he didn't crash on our side, or would have been stuck there for hours.

So I wanted you to see a bit of the countryside. This is a little motion sickness video. But it's worth watching, the landscape is amazing.

Future Temple

This is the Temple Site in Xela. Currently under construction, obviously. They wouldn't actually let us onto the site because we had to have hard hats. Too bad Jared didn't bring his Schlumberger ones, we could have had our own private tour.

This is the Guatemala City, Guatemala Temple. The Xela Temple is said to look like this when it's completed.

Gardening Anyone?

They literally garden on the mountain side in Guate. Everything is planted by hand because most of the inclines are 45 degrees or more. Absolutely amazing. And a heck of a lot of corn, gotta make those tortillas. Though, by Burnt Hill every plot was onions, apparently they grow better in the cooler Highlands.

Hiking Burnt Mountain

Like most hikes, you first have to drive up as far as you can. This crazy road was so narrow, and rather scary. Jared got a good kick out of me freaking out on the drive back down, especially whenever we had to pass somebody. OH! And Yes, if you got off the 2 lane tracks those "cobble stones" are VERY bumpy.

And like every hike before you start you have to use the bathroom. Since we were in a village with no trees I had to pay 20 cents to use this. By far the nastiest bathroom I have EVER used. They don't flush the toilet paper here, and I really don't think anyone has emptied that garbage can in like a year. You can imagine the smell in this little shack.

So we finally got hiking. Our "tour guide" gave out 10 mins in and we continued on for another good hour, at least. And this was no beaten path. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks! And not just pebbles either, HUGE rocks everywhere.

And though we tried our best to stay on the "trail," we did run into more than one of these tight squeezes. The trail was marked by arrows of all different colors. We backtracked all the time, or just lowered ourselves down to where it looked a little easier.

And though we were in the wilderness hiking forever there were "churches" ALL OVER THE MOUNTAIN. It was craziness. Singing, clapping, some actually preaching, and I think we saw a man casting out devils. Crazy. Most of the people in these churches were Corte. And I have no idea how those women managed to hike up that Mountain in those dresses. I was in shorts and had a bugger of a time, I can't imagine doing it in a wrap around skirt with flip flops on. And lugging kids on top of that. Craziness.

So this is the top of Burnt Mountain. Kind of reminds me of Moses and the Israelites out in the wilderness for 40 years. It's actually a volcano that killed off everything when it erupted forever ago. That's why there's not much up here. But it was kind of nice and quiet. I understand why the "Top of the Mountain" was usually considered the Temple back in scriptural times.

We figure the different colored arrows leading us to different trails were actually designated colors for the different churches. Too bad there wasn't just one trail, it would have made this hike a heck of a lot easier.

Mt. Vesuvius

K, so that's not really what it's called. But Jared's not home and I can't remember it's name at the moment. But it really is a Volcano and it really had smoke coming out of the top.

Random Parade

Check it out! They even have Marching Band geeks in Guatemala.

While we were at the Food Market we heard all this music and noticed everyone migrating back to the main entrance. Low and behold a Parade. The man that was our unofficial tour guide said it was propaganda for the local schools, which made sense because there was about 8 different bands all followed by a truck/float carrying the "Homecoming Queen" type girl.

Being a past Band Geek myself I'd have to say they did not play the best. But they did have a lot of spirit, which made it fun. I did accidentally mess up one of the musician when I caught her eye. Random blonde American in the crowd does that to a teenage girl.

Where to buy your Food?

We went through the coolest food market ever. And there wasn't just food either, there were clothes, hardware stores (that's where we got London's machete), toys...all sorts of junk. But I'm just going to focus on the food for a minute.

The fruit in Guate was absolutely amazing. We purposely bought a super sharp pocket knife so we could slice into all the yummy goodness. Just missed out on Mango season, but we did get to sample a few end of seasons that left us totally sticky and wishing for more.

So I don't remember what either of these fruits were called. The "hairy" red one you'd slice open to find a clear, gummy, almost grape like interior with an almond sized pit in the middle. They had a kind of coconut flavor, but not quite. The yellow ones were so sour and tart I wasn't quite sure what to do with them.
Any veggie you want was available, and totally cheap. I just missed the kid that was selling this stuff in my quick snap shot. But the little teenage girls across the way got a good laugh at him because they thought I had got him in the picture. :) I guess teenagers are the same no matter where you live.

K, so the red piles are different types of dried VERY HOT peppers, seriously just smelling them got your nose burning. Then the black piles (depending on which stand you were at) were either another kind of pepper or beans of some sort. Now the white piles are not something you'd see here at home. They are dried Sardines, small, medium, or large variety. They too were RATHER stinky.

This was the smelliest of the lot though. The meat markets. No refrigeration, flies everywhere, and what's worse they were right at the entry way into the market. So you smell it when you come in and you have to smell it again when you go out. As we rushed passed I notice some of the meat was BRAIDED. I really had to think on that one to figure out what kind of an animal could you braid. Then it clicked, intestines!!! BLAH!!! Waste not, want not I guess.

Guatemalan Men

Now not all the men in Guatemala dress like this, only the Corte people still wear this style. It's kind of neat though, because each color pattern or design is designated to a certain tribe. It's a way to distinguish which family you belong to.
Check out those awesome pants. We found a store that sold them, (I'll post that picture later) but Jared wouldn't let me buy him any. Go figure?!?

The women always wear aprons and in some cases so do the men. We wondered if the tradition goes back to the Temple or somewhere like that, because they don't really seem to serve a purpose, just looks.

I don't know what was in those boxes but this poor old man was having an awfully hard time pulling this cart up that tiny hill. Eventually someone came along and gave him a push. It's just amazing the kind of work they do for the little pay they get.

Keep in Mind

I'm making these posts with out Jareds help and I havn't totally sorted through all my photos yet. So make sure as you read them all you look back to see if I've added to or edited previous posts. Sorry if that's a bit confusing, I just wanted to get started and not have to make everyone wait anymore.