Trail Work

Two of the most important words in the English language.
And this little guy put in a solid 90 minutes of work. Moving rocks, raking trail, throwing sticks.

Then we ran back to the car. 

Good male bonding.

Don't Cry for Us Guatemala

We spent the day in Antigua walking through the markets and listening to the people saying:

"I give you good price"

We met a lot of people these last two weeks and did relatively small things for them. 

But those small things meant a LOT to those people!

And what we gained, as cliche as it may sound, was far more than what we gave.

What an amazing experience. 

We hope that there are more like them in the future.

For now, we can't wait to squeeeeeeze our kids and be with them again.

Pampojilá y Cerro de Oro

Second floor in a nice little comunidad.

Tight quarters, but relatively nice.

Is it necessary to have gross pictures? 

(this was nowhere near the grossest little cartoon)

Was it necessary to post it here?

Cerro de Oro. Older, but kinda nice again. Up the stairs!

"I want you to want me" in spanish was blarin' on the stereo. I had to turn it down. Couldn't concentrate.

This photo does not do the view justice. So perty.

Ruffians. Hoodlums.

Sweet Maria came every night to get food and shook EVERYONE's hand and growled in a sweet voice "Buenas Noches."

We will miss hearing the little catolicos signing at the tops of their little lungs.

This rig has a cot in the back...y nada mas.

Jesus Antonio runs everything in the rural community outreach program. He loves us.

Final walk back. Goodbye San Lucas. You will be missed!

Providencia y Panimaquip

Strong Wood Indy! This bridge was built just last year. It creates better access for the small community of Providencia. It also provided a nice hike before and after clinic.

I swear each community has more and more poverty (as if that's possible.) 

We commandeered a classroom at the school.

The view from up the trail a bit. See the bridge?

 Panimaquip. Yes, even more remote and imporverished.

 There was no building for us, so we were on this outdoor covered area. Cats, chickens...

And dogs.

Lunch time hike in the jungle.

 Tough to look at. Here is an example of one of the super sick kids. The nurses flushed his feeding tube. We gave his mom some new steroid eye drops. He's 8 years old! Poor little fella.

 

Dia de Diabetes y Panajachel

We saw 30 patients real quick in the morning. 

Blood Sugars, BP checks, Foot checks, med handouts. I promise, we worked today. And then...

Chillin Poolside.

Sarah trying to make tortillas Guatemala style. They laughed.

Chillin in the jardines. Check out the top of the fountain!

Then a little trail run. I wanted to keep going and going. But I didn't. I was the only one on the trail without a machete. Or a 2 ton load of wood on my back!

This little dude just came up and put my glasses on his face while I Google chatted with mis padres in Provo. 

We started the next day by going to a bautismo! In the San Lucas chapel. Chatted with the missionaries and even brought an "investigator." Very nostalgic.

Then a tuttut and a lancha across the lago Atitlan. We could actually see the volcanos today! there was a much lighter haze. Johnny was right, one of the most beautiful areas in the world!

Then it was adventure time in Panajachel. The nature preserve provided an amazing hike by the monkeys across 7 hanging bridges (strong wood Indy! or Light as a feather) to 7 crazy ziplines!!!!!!!!!

Cables extremos!!!!!!

Go Sarah Go!!

Rope fun at the end.

Poor poor Megan spent the day in the Casablanca with bad guts. Sorry you missed it friend! 

We missed you. 

Now back to work!

Agua Escondida y San Andres

Agua Escondida is so beautiful!! 

We went up and up and up in the farm truck to a cute town with great views of the lake in its valley and whatever else lies on the other side. It was still pretty hazy from all the open fires that everyone cooks on.

Cute little first patients of the day and their aunt. 

This little guy's name is Andy!!!!!!!! (So is the big guy's)

 Nice building. Nice people.

Stopped for a photo op on the way home. Sarah got on top of a rest stop to snap this one.

 This is the view up the skinny street to the hospital each morning. We load the truck with our supplies and head out to a community. This was the first/best we saw the volcano. Pretty cool. 

San Andres was destroyed by a mudslide 3 years ago. The survivors were given land and a new San Andres was built in a new place. They all converse with each other in their native language of Ketchaqual or something like that.

 San Andres was packed! We saw like 50 patients with maybe a 20 minute break to eat lunch. It was awesome.

 Sorry, Sarah! I had to. Just imagine a doobie instead of the roll and the bottle having something else.

 Went for a run in the morning and made sure we passed a familiar site.