Greetings,
We are still in the USA. We returned to pack out our house in Iowa and got partway through that job when Don's step-father passed away. We dashed off to Texas to be with his mom and the rest of the family and help with the funeral. Turned out that Don is the executor of the will so we had to stick around to get stuff done and begin the process of dealing with the will. We spent 8 days emptying the condo of his parents and I can tell you for a fact that it is a hard job to do. Now we are in Iowa and it is OUR house that we are packing out and reading to sell. Life is tough sometimes. We hope to be back in Antigua in August.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Currently in the USA if you were wondering
Greetings, you may have noticed that we have not posted anything here recently. There is a reason for that -- we are currently in the USA. When Don started with the NGO Transitions we left before we had the house in Iowa up for sale so he could get things moving on fund development. The understanding was that when our 90 days were up (time to renew passports) we would return to the USA to remove our belongings from the house, store those things that I (personally) cannot part with and put the house up for sale. We returned at noon on a Monday and at 4 am on Tuesday Don's step father passed away changing our plans and timeline. We did a 10 day marathon then drove to Texas for the funeral and burial. We postponed the funeral to a time when our daughter, Donna from CA, would arrive on plane tickets previously purchased. Shell Silverstein described our situation nicely with this poem for kids,
Too Many Kids in this Tub
Author: Shel Silverstein
There's too many kids in this tub
There's too many elbows to scrub
I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine
There's too many kids in this tub.
There's too many elbows to scrub
I just washed a behind that I'm sure wasn't mine
There's too many kids in this tub.
We ended up with 5 kids under the age of 7 and 5 adults under the same roof. We all landed at our daughter Susan's house because she has the most space. Susan and Scott were gracious hosts to such a crew. We never actually snarled at each other but by the end of a week with that many in one house everyone was having trouble controlling tempers. It did not help that the temperature here has been a 100 degrees in the shade and young ones could not play outside in that kind of heat. I forgot that Texas could feel like a desert when it wants to.
We have plans to return to GUA and our nifty little apartment in July. We hope to have most of what we have to deal with here in motion and plans in place. Yeah, I know -- that is really optimistic. Wish us luck.
Linda
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
We have moved to a New Apartment!
We have moved to a New Apartment! And I can tell you that this is Bliss!
Apartado Postal #169 Apartamento Huespedes Alameda Santa Lucia Norte #12, Antigua 3001, Guatemala
OUR LAND LINE PHONE NUMBER 502-7832-9966 remember this is an international call!!!
It has an answering machine. The best way to contact us is still email. guatebuzz@gmail.com
Before I show you the apartment let me give just a little background. Last year if you followed our blog you heard about Kristin with whom we did some volunteer work in schools, mostly re-habbing computers. Well since Don knows a lot about computers Kristin wanted Don to spiff up her computer and to add more memory to it which he did -- in this apartment. We really loved the whole complex and while we did not look really hard at her apartment (this was her home) we really liked the kitchen, dining and living areas and the gardens visible through the windows. When she finished with her project here in Antigua she went home but we were not in a position to rent her apartment. Just recently the tenent who was here broke his lease early and per the contract has to pay 90 days rent until the apartment is rented again.
We met Barbara and Tomas Cernikovsky last year and this year during Don's intensive search for a suitable apartment to rent he contacted them about any openings here at the "JARDINES DE LA ALAMEDA " so last week we received an email from Barbara about this apartment and to make a long story short we rented it on the spot. We had orginally planned to move in when we return in July but Friday we did not have water at the cassita and life is miserable without water. Barbara was kind enough to let us move in before she had the apartment ready for presentation to the public. We now live in Apartamento Huespedes (which means 'Guest Apartment). If you click on the link you will see the apartment before the recent upgrades. This is a gated five apartment complex and Barbara and Tomas live here as well. To enter you first must open the wooden outside door, next you open the inside gate door, walk to your apartment and open the iron gate (if you locked it) then the door to your apartment.
This is the front of the Apartment Complex. This was taken during last years Easter season. The front door is to the right of the tree.
This was taken with my back to the inside iron gate. Our apartment is at the far end on the right.
This is our front door on the right with the iron gate partly open. At the end you can see the gate/door entrance to Barbara and Tomas's home. The gates open to another garden and tiled hall.
Stepping through the door you can see into the kitchen. Above the dishwasher is a new window (one of the upgrades) which adds light and air. Don's antique desk is on the wall beside the bedroom. To the left is the bedroom door and the shut door is the bathroom (closed for obvious reasons.)
This is a better view of the desk and the alcove (for want of a better word) that has my Mother's Day carving sitting there.(There is a matching space on the other side of the arch.) It is the face of Jesus carved from a tree with his eyes closed.
I took this photo standing behind the table to show you the size of the space for dinning room and kitchen.
This is the bedroom. The bath is to the right. At the foot of the bed the room was opened up (upgrade) and the old indoor garden was removed and tiled and patio was added and a small garden at the end of the patio. The patio area also houses the new laundry room for this apartment. The gardener will take care of the garden since I have such a brown thumb.
A view of the patio and gardens from the foot of the bed.
Standing at the edge of the kitchen this is the living room. Front door to the left and the window opens to Barbara and Tomas's garden.
Life is a lot easier now. I had not realized how hard it was to 'campout' at the cassita. We were two feet from a major street with a lot of traffic both car (speeding) and foot and with all the dust that generated. I now have some choices of sitting areas, access to the outdoors with beautiful gardens, we are close to the markets, stores and other conveniences. Church will still be a good 30 minute walk (or we can take a tuk tuk) because we like San Fransico and will continue to go there. Don says his office is a little closer but still nearly a mile away but he likes our new living space as much as I do.
Apartado Postal #169 Apartamento Huespedes Alameda Santa Lucia Norte #12, Antigua 3001, Guatemala
OUR LAND LINE PHONE NUMBER 502-7832-9966 remember this is an international call!!!
It has an answering machine. The best way to contact us is still email. guatebuzz@gmail.com
Before I show you the apartment let me give just a little background. Last year if you followed our blog you heard about Kristin with whom we did some volunteer work in schools, mostly re-habbing computers. Well since Don knows a lot about computers Kristin wanted Don to spiff up her computer and to add more memory to it which he did -- in this apartment. We really loved the whole complex and while we did not look really hard at her apartment (this was her home) we really liked the kitchen, dining and living areas and the gardens visible through the windows. When she finished with her project here in Antigua she went home but we were not in a position to rent her apartment. Just recently the tenent who was here broke his lease early and per the contract has to pay 90 days rent until the apartment is rented again.
We met Barbara and Tomas Cernikovsky last year and this year during Don's intensive search for a suitable apartment to rent he contacted them about any openings here at the "JARDINES DE LA ALAMEDA " so last week we received an email from Barbara about this apartment and to make a long story short we rented it on the spot. We had orginally planned to move in when we return in July but Friday we did not have water at the cassita and life is miserable without water. Barbara was kind enough to let us move in before she had the apartment ready for presentation to the public. We now live in Apartamento Huespedes (which means 'Guest Apartment). If you click on the link you will see the apartment before the recent upgrades. This is a gated five apartment complex and Barbara and Tomas live here as well. To enter you first must open the wooden outside door, next you open the inside gate door, walk to your apartment and open the iron gate (if you locked it) then the door to your apartment.
This is the front of the Apartment Complex. This was taken during last years Easter season. The front door is to the right of the tree.
This was taken with my back to the inside iron gate. Our apartment is at the far end on the right.
One of the fountains between all of the apartments.
This is our front door on the right with the iron gate partly open. At the end you can see the gate/door entrance to Barbara and Tomas's home. The gates open to another garden and tiled hall.
Stepping through the door you can see into the kitchen. Above the dishwasher is a new window (one of the upgrades) which adds light and air. Don's antique desk is on the wall beside the bedroom. To the left is the bedroom door and the shut door is the bathroom (closed for obvious reasons.)
This is a better view of the desk and the alcove (for want of a better word) that has my Mother's Day carving sitting there.(There is a matching space on the other side of the arch.) It is the face of Jesus carved from a tree with his eyes closed.
I took this photo standing behind the table to show you the size of the space for dinning room and kitchen.
This is the bedroom. The bath is to the right. At the foot of the bed the room was opened up (upgrade) and the old indoor garden was removed and tiled and patio was added and a small garden at the end of the patio. The patio area also houses the new laundry room for this apartment. The gardener will take care of the garden since I have such a brown thumb.
Standing at the edge of the kitchen this is the living room. Front door to the left and the window opens to Barbara and Tomas's garden.
The dinning room table with my computer on one end and the view I have as I write. I can hear the fountain and listen to music from the flat screen cable TV. All the elevator music I want. It makes for a very pleasant space to be while slaving away at this blog.
The gentleman below took care of more than 200 such small gardens the Cernikovsky's planted on the Alameda (street) which the city now maintains. The gentleman in the red shirt still works part time inside the complex and for a small fee with take your trash out for pickup.
The patio and laundry room. This laundry room is a fantastic addition because hauling laundry on foot is hard to do and in the end expensive.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Finally...
It's 3:00 a.m. on Saturday and the last procession for Santo Viernes (Holy Friday, what we call Good Friday) has just passed our front door. They began their route from Escuela de Christo Church, about two blocks away from us at 4:00 p.m. yesterday. We actually saw them pass by twice today. The first time was as we were leaving the two-hour Santo Viernes service at San Francisco El Grande Church. They were passing the front gate of the courtyard and no one could get out. We had to wait until they had passed (about 30 minutes) to exit the church yard (it's surrounded by a high wall). While waiting or as we were leaving, my shoulder bag was cut by a thief. I imagine they were surprised. It only held a Spanish hymnal (we sang with the choir again) and two paperback missals (Spanish and English). I'll get the pictures posted as soon as possible. I'm only about two weeks behind, if I remember correctly. Fortunately, there is only one procession on Santo Sabado (Holy Saturday).
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Los Bomberos
La Antigua has a volunteer fire department, as do most Guatemalan towns and villages, at least those that have fire departments. Firemen are called bomberos and they don't set off bombs.
Of course, being Guatemala, they have their own statue of Jesus.
They also have fire equipment and dogs to protect it. I didn't get a picture of him, but we also saw a dalmatian, one of the official fire department dogs.
They also have fire equipment and dogs to protect it. I didn't get a picture of him, but we also saw a dalmatian, one of the official fire department dogs.
Strange Fellows
One Saturday, Linda and I went to Guatemala City by chicken bus. On our way back, we got off at the entrance to La Antigua and noticed these two strange fellows, who were against the side of a small building built over the Rio Pensitivo.
The first two lines are in Latin and translate as "I prefer to die than to be dishonored." The remainder, in Spanish, translates as "Secret password used by the Nazarenes (one of the brotherhoods who organize the processions and carry the processional barges) described by Pepe Milla (famous 19th. Century Guatemalan author)." Now, if the password is supposed to be secret, I wonder why Pepe (nickname for José, i.e. Joseph) felt the need to reveal it and why someone else decided to place it on a statue?
Tallest Tree
Here is a picture of the tallest tree in La Antigua. It's inside a walled-in garden. There are a few more trees to the left. There are other trees in La Antigua, such as in the parks and many of the enclosed city estates. Of course, there are trees on the surrounding hills and volcanoes, although you often see burning going on outstide the city, where farmers are clearing space to plant.
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