Greetings from Guatemala: The Weekend

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The Weekend

We had a pretty great weekend. It was fun from start to finish. We kicked it off with a visit from the Lubecks. They joined us for supper on Friday night. It is always a blessing to have them in our home.

Cruz, Mrs. Diana, Mr. John, and Ben

On Saturday morning we had Bible study in the village of Lagunetas. We also spent some time making plans there for our upcoming team. On the way back down the mountain I noticed off in the distance some men making adobe bricks. Since we had just studied that in Science I thought it would be nice to stop and let the boys watch them work. The men, although caught off guard, got a kick out of showing the boys how bricks are made. It was very interesting for all of us.

new adobe bricks that will soon be used to make a house

they were large!

Cruz and David watching the men mix up the dirt to make the bricks.

The mixture is then placed in this wooden frame. They smooth it out and then remove the frame to form a perfect brick.

extra water is used to smooth it out

brick making

Once formed they leave the bricks sitting in the sun for about 10 days to dry out. They are then ready to build with. Many of the mountain houses in our area are built from these adobe bricks.

a video of the man forming a brick

My boys loved getting to play with the men's tools. As we were walking up the hill to watch the men work Cruz said "Daddy, we should do a Bible study". He then said, "Daddy, you can teach, mama can take pictures, and me and Ben will play with their tools". ha Here's a video showing them do just that. Oh what fun!

We spent Saturday afternoon watching thousands of motorcycles pass our way on their way to the neighboring City of Esquipulas. It was the annual "Caravan of the Foxes" motorcycle rally there. Beginning early on Saturday morning and continuing all day long motorcycles passed by us while traveling there. Then on Sunday they all returned again coming right in front of where we live. My boys really enjoyed watching them. It's loud and definitely a sight to see!

Many wear masks and costumes. The boys favorites were Batman, Spiderman, and a gorilla.

a video of some of the motorcycles that passed our way on Saturday afternoon

David led Bible study in the village of Nearar on Sunday morning. He had a good turnout and a great service there. That afternoon we got ready to watch the Super Bowl. My Super Bowl plans generally consist of picking a team to cheer for, planning a menu, and picking out team colors to wear. With that being said we chose Denver to cheer for. The boys leaned a little towards the Panthers. Ben told me "I like black panthers because they have claws and long, sharp teeth". ha We ate pizza for our meal and I baked a chocolate cake for dessert. We wore orange and blue shirts and had a fun night.