October 2004

Hola Amigos, Friends and Freunde:
"Happy Thanksgiving,eh?" There are so many gifts to be thankful for.

Yesterday we had our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration at our home to which we invited Norma's and Jose's family (Guatemalan neighbors who also work at the school) as well as a retired couple from Illinois, who are at the school for short term work.

Even though I didn't find a "pavo" (turkey) with the traditional "relleno" (stuffing) w! e made due with a "gallo" (rooster) filled with "Wild Rice Poultry" Stuffing. We spent a joy filled time, with eleven people crowding around our extended kitchen table, laughing, trying to communicate in English, Spanish and Sign language, and just enjoying each other’s company.

It somewhat reminded me of the times in Canada when we hosted international potluck suppers.

Living in a developing country sure brings out the innovation in each individual pretty fast. For instance, last week the city of Mixco/Guatemala had turned off the school campus' water supply without prior warning. Also, all the cisterns were drying up. Thus, in the evening after school hours, only a trickle of water remained for dish washing, bodily hygiene and so forth. Fortunately October still falls into the rainy season and thus, when the downpour happened, we quickly gathered buckets, pails, even dish washing basins to set up under sloping roofs. Within minutes those vessels were spilling over with rainwater, which we used to wash our dishes as well as sponge bath ourselves. (No, we didn't dare to take a shower with the cold water :).)

Another item which requires innovation is the leaky roof. Yes, you read correctly, our roof leaks. Not when we receive a "Chipi-Chipi" kind of rain (drizzle), which happens during a tropical storm in Florida, but rainwater gushes through our roof during the heavy down pours. And when I say "It gushes" I mean torrents of water pour down!!! The entire entrance into the living room/kitchen/hall way is covered with water. Fortunately there are tiles as floor coverings and I save my floor moping for that time of the day.

This is what Charles has to say regarding our newly "adopted" home land and the area we live in:
"The area of the city is relatively modern but with many signs that it is still a developing country. The roads are a patchwork of continuously enlarging potholes and patches there of. The parking lots, stores and even the Coke truck are equipped with armed guards! AirCare here would only be a pipe dream. The buses are all followed by plumes of black diesel smoke and are piled high with a ll sorts of baggage (mostly produce of the passengers on the way to market). The baggage handlers of the bus often are on top before the bus stops to get baggage down and are still on top when the bus pulls away, busily fastening the luggage down before swinging in the door! Don't think for a moment that the buses are slow. I think every bus driver pictures himself as Mario Andretti driving a Ferrari. Consequently bus accidents are not uncommon. Traffic signs are merely suggestions as no one stops for stop signs or follows the speed limit. There is a cacophony of dogs barking, roosters crowing and firecrackers being let off at night (we had a tough time sleeping for the first few nights because of the noise). The Spanish churches often have services every night of the week for two or three hours. The Guatemalan's love LOUD amplified music at church and you can often here the churches! all evening! Most churches are small by our standards, with capacities of 50 -100 people, but there are lots of them.

The public services are also of a developing world standard. I've had to run the schools emergency generator already a couple of times due to loosing a phase of power, thus causing the school water pump to stop working and another time due to a threatened power disruption during an evening program by a dissatisfied group from the past civil war that had taken over a dam in the northern part of the country (you can read about it on CNN under the "Americas" archives).

The school had speed bumps installed to reduce the speed of traffic past the school, but we had to provide the material to construct the speed bumps before the city would build them. I'm told that if you want your street repaved be prepared to pull out your wallet or it won't happen!

We visited our World Vision sponsor child several weeks ago. They live about an hour and a half from us, yet seems a world away as far as living, road and service conditions are concerned."

Yes, indeed, there are so many gifts to be thankful for. We are especially grateful for your partnership with us. With! out your sacrificial giving and constant intercession many things would go unaccomplished and many lives remain untouched. "Happy Thanksgiving, eh?"

Love from,
Charles, Petra, Keith, James & Jonathan Wirrell
serving at:
Academy Christiana de Guatemala (Christian Academy of Guatemala)