Guatemala
is still keeping us busy. We try to have something to work on every day so that
we can keep it fun and busy. We are so excited for our little house to be done!
We started planting trees all around our house. The last few weeks we planted
around 15 different trees. We planted strawberries, bananas, mangos,
raspberries, nectarines, pears, mandarins, oranges, grapes, blackberries,
apples, avocados, granadias, lichas, and paternas (these last 3 do not exist in
the US, the first one is the one we posted a picture of a long time ago that
looks like boogers inside haha, but delicious. Paternas are Mike’s favorite
fruit that he ate in Peru all the time and we found a plant here so let’s hope
we have success with it. They are a fruit that grow in like a big green bean,
there are black seeds inside surrounded by white fruit that is like cotton
candy. Lichas are this weird looking fruit that originally is from Asia, it is
pink and spikey on the outside but inside is a clear fruit surrounding a big
seed. They taste kind of like grapes). We are really excited to see what we get
and we will probably go get more trees this week!
Mike is
still teaching English, he has 5 new students and he is really enjoying
teaching. We’ve had a few more people who are interested so hopefully soon we
will get more. Mike has really been working on the outside work now, he has
been cleaning all of our land around our house so we can plant stuff and make
it look very nice. I was surprised to see that he only got a couple of blisters
on his hands haha. He has given a couple of talks at church and he has done
great. The first time he didn’t tell me he was going to speak until we were
basically at church… I was happy it wasn’t me. He is enjoying his calling as
Young Men’s President and likes working with all the youth. I must be doing
something wrong because I have no calling and they don’t want to hear me speak
either haha…. I’m just fine with that lol. Mike also got to take the youth to
the fair this week and they had a lot of fun. The fair was in town for a week
and we got to go 2 times. Xavion and Layla really loved all the rides, they aren’t
scared of anything and they got to go on almost all of them that they were
allowed to. The last couple of weeks the kids have been asking me to make them
some type of treat so they can go out and sell it to the neighbors, the first
week I made them cupcakes and the second week we made banana and pumpkin bread
and they did pretty good. It’s fun to make things like that here but it’s hard
to find the right ingredients. I’m still keeping busy and just getting tired
more often haha life is great. I’m so burnt, people actually think Layla and Xavion
look like me now lol.
Colton has
been having hard time with the parasites, he got a lot better once we were in
AZ but when we got back he started getting sick again. We took him to a
different dr. who is known as one of the best ones here in Huehuetenango and
this time we were told that the previous medication Colton took got rid of too
much bacteria, even the good ones, so we had to start giving him bacteria every
morning so he could get better. One time he had a lot of fever up to 103 for
like 3 days and one day he threw up all afternoon. I was worried to death and
didn’t know what else to do but to pray to my Heavenly Father to care for him.
Mike gave him a blessing and we just waited to see what happened. My family
believes in “ojo” which is a curse that people believe in here. Supposedly cute
kids get it from other people who look at them too much. Kids start having
fever, throwing up, cry all the time, diarrhea, don’t want eat…. Anyways
everybody kept telling me I had to cure him of OJO because that’s what he had.
I always refused to believe it was true and I was praying so hard that I
wouldn’t fall into those beliefs just because I didn’t know how to help my
baby. The way you supposedly cure ojo is that the person who is curing the baby
(it doesn’t necessarily have to be a witch just someone who has been taught how
to do it) first, they pass an egg all around the kid and when they crack the
egg it’s all black inside, then they do crosses on the kids hands, feet,
stomach, forehead using a green plant called rude mix with alcohol and then
they spit on the kids face. Their beliefs are so strong that it actually seems
to get the kids better pretty soon but I did not want to fall into it and
Heavenly Father heard my prayers because Colton has been pretty good these last
couple of weeks…. So thank you everybody who kept praying for him, from the
bottom of my heart I thank you all very much. He can now stand all on his own
and he even claps to himself when he does. It’s pretty cute. He has been
walking a lot holding on from our hand. I think he will soon start walking by
himself. I can’t believe he is almost one.
Layla keeps
spending a lot of her time in time out. We have had a hard time at church with
her because she wants to take everybody’s snacks. It’s so frustrating. The
primary president asked me to come sit with her during primary a couple of
weeks ago so I have done so and it’s a little bit better but today she was so
good they picked her as the reverent kid to stand on the pulpit next week, so
we will see how she does up there… I’m kind of nervous. Both Layla and Xavion
will do a dance at a talent night from church next week, Layla is super excited
about that.
Xavion had
so much fun at the fair riding all the rides, he got to ride a mini quad all by
himself on a small dirt track and he thought he was the coolest. The first time
he did great but the second he got stuck on the rope fence and Mike jumped over
the fence and went to pull him out. Mike and Xavion also got on the Ferris
wheel with the young men from church and had quite the experience. The
following story is told in Matt’s words. He came to visit us in Guate and went
to the fair with us:
After an hour the guy in charge of the ride still
was not letting anyone off the ride. In Guatemala the way the rides work are
that they will not even start a ride until the ride is full. So if you are the
first one there you end up waiting forever for the ride to fill up. Then once
you are on you don’t get off the ride till there are people to take your spot.
They also claim safety reasons about keeping the ride balanced. Xavion really
needed to go to the bathroom about half way through the ride. He tried holding
it as best he could to the point that he was ‘Ooohing’ quite loud as he fought
the good fight. Finally, like when summer turns to fall, he could not hold it
any longer. Mike made the decision to have Xavion pull his pants down and do
his best to aim off the side of the ride. Unfortunately, the bar that held them
in also made it difficult to make it off the side. As chance would have it,
when Xavion could not hold it any longer, they happened to be stopped at the very
highest peak of that now despicable ride. As Xavion started the necessary deed
Mike peeked over the edge to see the damage that was being down. What he saw
when he looked over was the seat filled with his young men, looking up to try
to find out what was getting them wet. Finally, via text message Mike let
Brenda know what was going on and she went and gave the guys in charge a piece of
her mind. Well, this was enough to get them to let them down and after all was
said and done the young men had a pretty good attitude about it and everyone
went to go get a churro.
The Tagada – a multi perspective story
The Tagada
is the biggest, most expensive ride at the fair. It is a giant saucer shape
with seats on the inside edge of it. Everyone sits facing in looking across at
someone facing them. There are no individual seats, just one continuous seat
around the whole thing. There is no way to lock yourself in, you simply sit there
and can try holding onto a railing that was above your head, though this is not
very effective. Once the ride starts it spins in a circle for a few seconds then
it starts bouncing in random directions. It’s like a car on hydraulics, it bounces
in random directions very quickly and with a lot of speed. This, without exception,
causes people to be thrown in the center where they continue to be thrown
around in a heap with all the others who are unable to hold on. There is always
a giant group of people hanging around this ride, not to ride, but to watch. It
was hilarious. It was at the Tagada, the final ride of the night for Matt, Mike,
and his young men, that our story begins. Mike, Matt, and the young men bravely
entered the ride, and then sat for about twenty minutes waiting for the ride to
fill, but once it did… all hell broke loose.
Mike’s
Perspective:
I had gone
on this ride before with one of my young men from church earlier that night. We
had both successfully avoided falling into the center pit of terror and public
humiliation. I thought I was safe…but the second time with Matt was different.
Maybe it was the big crowd gathered expecting a show from the gringos, maybe
Matt was bad luck, maybe it was the end of the night and I was tired from
riding all the other rides, eating churros, and dealing with Xavion’s urinary
emergency, or maybe they added some kind of turbo juice to the ride…but I fell
in. The ride began and as soon as the bouncing started I lost my grip and
grabbed onto anything I could. I happened to wrap my arm around my younger
brother’s waist. I could tell he had gained weight since the last time I saw
him. A big bounce came and his back crushed my arm against the back of the
seat. I willingly fell into the pit to avoid any more pain. No sooner did I
enter the smooth slippery inside of the beast that I saw a wallet full of quetzales
sliding in front of me. It looked strangely familiar. It was headed straight
for the gate where people enter/exit the ride…the one place where it could
potentially fall out of the ride into the crowd below. Luckily a kind soul
stuck their foot out to stop it just as it was about to fall. I scrambled for
what seemed like a full minute to get my hands on the wallet. As soon as I had
it in my grasp a strong jolt from the ride sent it flying out of my hands and
sliding into the pit once again. I was able to get a hold of it again and immediately
took the fetal position to avoid further separation from my wallet. I slid to
the side of the ride and hit a few pair of feet. I look up to see Matt still
holding on to the side. I decided to allow my brother to fully enjoy the ride,
so I grabbed his arm and pulled him in with me. I reached the middle of the pit
and managed to get to my feet. I balanced myself, standing up in the middle of
complete and utter chaos. I glanced at the on looking crowd and managed to make
eye contact with my dear wife. I could see the look of concern in her eyes (or
maybe she was laughing at me, I couldn’t really tell), and I gave her a meaningful
look and hoped she knew it meant that I love her and hoped she would be able to
move on with her life without me if I didn’t make it out alive. I saw Matt
stumbling like a buffoon out of the corner of my eye. I turned in time to see
him fall into a poor stranger’s lap that was still sitting on the side. (side
note: Matt claims he jammed his middle finger during this moment so hard that
he couldn’t even shuffle a deck of cards during our rigorous game of spoons the
night after, which left me to shuffle the deck every single round because he
was being a baby and apparently every Guatemalan is incapable of shuffling
cards. {Side note to the side note: Matt lost the game of spoons and I came in
second place because I let my young nephew win}). My laughter caused me to lose
my balance and I slid into the side of the ride again. Seconds later a portly
fellow crashed into me and nearly knocked my glasses off of my face. I managed
to get them back on and get to the side again. I held on until the ride ended.
I exited the ride and tried not to make eye contact with anyone in the crowd.
All in all, it was a pretty fun ride.
Matt’s
Perspective:
I had been
to the fair the night before and thought I knew what I was getting into. I had
seen the people stuck in the middle of the ride, not being able to move, at the
mercy of the machine, but I thought I was better than them, more capable, more
athletic…(and really I was, it took Mike pulling me in to get me in, but I
digress) So the ride began as it always began, with a lot of spinning, and then
it began to lurch. Mike and I were next to each other, at least for the first
few seconds before he immediately fell in due to his weak upper body. He had
put his arm behind me for support and quickly had it smashed by my body as the
ride jerked. He removed his arm with pain written in his eyes, without that
support though he had no chance and into the pit he went. I saw his wallet fall
and I saw his face as the realization set in that it was, in fact, his wallet
and not someone else’s. He began to scramble with a look of fear on his face as
the wallet skidded to and fro with Mike desperately trying to reach it. A
little girl (who, unlike Mike, had not fallen in the pit) saw his plight and
took mercy on him, trapping it under her foot. Mike tried with all his might to
reach the girl and his wallet, and each time he would extend his hand to grab
it, the ride would throw him again. Eventually, Mike was able to retrieve his
wallet and make his way back to me. With a look of fear and pleading on his
face he begged for help. It was reminiscent of the Lion King when Mufasa is
hanging onto the edge of the cliff with Scar looking on, however, unlike Scar,
I took pity and took his arm… and was promptly pulled into the fray. I stumbled, rolling into a random girl before
being flung into the center by a sudden lurch of the machine. There I was in
the center of the beast, being mixed around like a tossed salad with the other
poor souls who were with me. I quickly jumped to my feet, having to move
quickly so as not to fall back to the ground. I slowly made my way to the edge
where there seemed to be a space for me to sit. I had no thoughts for Mike,
based on the past couple of minutes I assumed him crippled or dead. I made it to
the edge and threw myself at the empty space. Right as I did this the machine again
lurched and sent me, not towards an empty seat, but directly into the lap of a
very surprised looking Guatemalan. I gave him a quick smile and a nod of the
head and slid into the empty seat I had previously been aiming for. Unfortunately,
I had jammed my left hand against the ride when falling into my new friend’s lap
and so only had my right hand to hold on with. Fortunately, without Mike to
pull me in I was able to manage the rest of the ride without anything else
happening to me. Now that I had myself safely in a seat I was able to again
turn my attention to Mike. There he was, still in the middle trying to make his
way to the edge as I had. He eventually made it but quickly realized that he
was not able to survive the ride sitting normal in his present physical condition.
He opted for a new position. The position where he held onto the edge of the
ride with both hands while standing up and facing out. So, with his behind facing
everyone on the ride he bounced up and down with each jerk of the ride, looking
very similar to the new dance crave known as twerking. The ride slowly came to
an end and we shakily exited to the admiration of the whole crowd. All in all,
it was a pretty fun ride.
Brenda’s
Perspective:
Mike and Matt
got to get on a ride where you just have to hold on and try not to fall. Well…..
They both fell in the middle and were there for a while just going everywhere. From
the beginning I had the feeling they were going to fall because they were
trying to be too cool by not holding on tight. Quickly they got a big audience
and they were all having lots of fun watching them. I did too! I just wish I would
have been recording it because it was hilarious. Mike didn’t realize his wallet
had come out of his pocket until he was down on the ground. He was chasing his
wallet and a girl was helping him get it but it took him a while before he got
it…. The funniest thing was that I could hear all the people behind me talking
about the “gringos” and they were cracking up to see them laying on the floor
and not been able to get up. They were screaming “look at those gringos”. At the
beginning before the ride started they said “let’s see which one can stay on it
longer” then you see mike flying out of his seat onto the floor, so people
started screaming “look there goes one” 2 seconds later there goes Matt too and
people thought it was the funniest thing to see them together on the floor
trying to get up. Man I really wish I had a video lol. As soon as Matt was able
to get on his feet he started looking for a place to sit, you can see him going
straight to this tiny open spot and there he goes almost sitting into another
guy’s lap. His face slammed into the guys shoulder and on his leg. From my
angle it looked like Matt was going in for an awkward teenage kiss. As soon as
that happened all the people were screaming “ohhhhhhhhhhhh”. I think this is a
ride I would like to see all the family doing. It would be awesome haha. All in
all, it looked like a pretty fun ride.
Colton and dogs have become pretty good friends.
Love, love, love, love his kisses and I'm so grateful he does too haha.
One of his favorite places to play at :D
Colton has learned to get from Layla's bed to Xavion's. Yes, he has fallen a couple of times but that hasn't stop him from keep doing it.
This kids loves bread, i gave him a little piece and he went in for the bigger one, he has also learn how to dip it into his milk.
Just being cool.
He can now stand all by himself, he still loves to be in the flowers and puts his hands up high and says "ohhhhhh, ohhhhh, ohhhhh"
Just a beautiful place we went to, it was so pretty but the water was so so so cold we couldn't stand to be in it for too long.
My grandpa turning 90 years old, so grateful he is still with us!
Some fun at the fair. Kids love it!
We miss Arizona! hope everyone is staying hydrated!
