November

October 31
I really need to keep up on this stuff.  Well after shopping on the 31st, President (I think it was Sister President) decided to take us all to the giant MegaPaca.  We wandered around looking at all the "stuff" and found a cool heavy statue but decided we did not need the weight in our luggage so showed it to others.  Mays loved it and bought it. MegaPaca is a Deseret Industries type store.  In fact a goodly amount of their product comes from Deseret Industries and a lot of BYU stuff is there.

Mays with the Olive Wood statue.

President found a very practical sign that he bought.  Some of us have been working on losing weight so this was real appropriate.

Best of sign find.

We then went to the movies, Queen of Katwe, which was very good.  The mall was all revved up for Halloween with slides and bouncing equipment and of course Christmas decorations. 

Slide in the Mall

On the 1st we went with all the area missionaries in two buses to Supango for the annual Kite Festival.  The winds blow here from November to January and supposedly this is the best day for kites.  As it turned out it was not windy enough for the big kites.

Bathroom stop for all the missionaries. Q2 each.

Roasting a pig on the street.

Some of the smaller kits up in the air.

Kite "string".

More kites made it.

We were not there long enough to see if any of the big kites made it.

Back side of big kites.

Kites were very elaborate.

All types of dress.  A baby is in that bundle.

Ball of kite string.

More typico dress.

I love all these skirts and huipiles.

After we left Supango we headed to Antigua for lunch.  We also stopped at a typical Guatemalan Sweets store that has been in business since 1872.

Guatemalan Sweets Shop.

Typical sweets.  Many are Dulce de Leche.  Yummy!!

More sweets.

President has been way busy going places so Eldon has become our chauffeur.  We borrowed the temple van and went for an overnighter to Monterrico to release baby turtles.  We were able to take Reynas with us as one of the couples who had paid for the hotel couldn't go and the Reynas were ecstatic.  Each of us Americans pitched and bought meals for them while they were with us.  They said they had never expected in their entire lives to stay in such a hotel.  It wasn't that great either.  We were all pleased to give them that experience. We stayed at a cheaper hotel than Eldon and I did on our closure trip.  It was good and the food was excellent.  We went to the University rescue facility and bought our baby turtles (Q10) and walked out onto the black sandy beach.  They had everyone line up and release our turtles at the same time.  We had to turn some of them in the right direction.  And the race was on.  Huge waves caught them and took them to sea or brought them in again and they had to hurry on again for the next wave.  They have to crawl a certain distance on the sand to imprint on the beach to know where to return. The guide says that 50 out of 5000 will survive to return.  They have to float on top of the water for awhile before their lungs will allow them to dive so are prey to a lot of birds.

Brother Winkfield holding a three day old Caiman.

Caiman.

Iguana

More Iguana

Older Caiman

Brother and Sister Reyna.  He is wearing a wooden mask from the wall decor.

Reynas on the beach.  She was thrilled to be in such a wondrous place. 

The Mays

Our baby turtles.  They were anxious to be on their way and would not hold still for a good picture.

Next to a footprint you can see how small they are.

And they are off!

Waiting on dinner in the hotel.  It is pouring buckets outside and the people at the table behind us had to move to keep from getting wet.

Two young kids selling things made from shells.

On our way home we passed luffa farms where they were growing luffas.  They are used as a vegetable gourd and dried to use as bath sponges.  They grow on staked up vines kind of like grapes and then hung to dry for five months to make them into bath sponges.

Drying luffa gourds.

On the 18th of November Eldon and I took President Funes to a youth campout (President Funes does not drive so Eldon has become his chauffeur) where he was to light a campfire and give a little speech.  None of us really knew what was going to happen so the men wore white shirt and tie and since they did that I put on a skirt.  Big mistake.  I had not even thought about mosquitoes but apparently they thought about us.  I came home with at least a gazillion bites on my legs.  I have vowed never to go anywhere without my deet.  The campout was all priesthood age boys.  They did not let Funes light the fire.  Instead they had a dozen young men who spent over half an hour pouring on alcohol, blowing and piling on more and bigger logs.  Not a good boy scout in the bunch.  Any of my girls could have done better.

Pres. Funes giving his little speech

On the 16th Fuego did it's thing.  It can only be seen really good at night and from up in one of the high rises but we pirated some pictures from a friend who lives up high in one of those apartments.  It was quite spectacular.  Apparently Fuego does this several time a year.

Fuego doing her thing yet again.

On our walks we can see her smoking but not much else.  

Fuego is the really pointy one in the center

Strategically located bench.  I think it was there before the pasarela (traffic crossing stairs).

On the 20th we had our primary program.  This little girl who turns 3 on the 10th of Dec. was our star performer.  She sang the first verse of Praise to the Man in Spanish of course, as a solo.

October

We ended September with a planned farewell dinner at 6 pm for those missionaries of the area that are leaving.  We set off for Victoria Suites, which is normally a 20 minute drive, with Eldon and I riding with Fillmores and President with his carload, at about 5:15.  At 7 pm we were half way there so called to make our apologies and turned around to head back home.  Since we had the soup, desert and rolls with us we all converged at Presidents house and ate.  President had made a delicious radish greens and cauliflower soup.  It was great.

We began the month of October with a get together in Price and May's back yard for a quick dinner before Priesthood session and to celebrate Marilyn May's birthday.

Birthday and dinner.

October 3rd we had a mandatory training on putting out fires and how to use the fire extinguishers.  Everyone had a great time as the guards kept the fires going and we kept putting them out.

Putting out the fires

We then did our normal Monday shopping and President was good enough to drive Eldon and I across town to get a new razor head for Eldon's shaver.  Since it was lunchtime by the time we were through, we went to FGI Friday's.  The view from the top of the mall was great.

View of the city from Mira Flores Mall parking garage.

October 10th on our P-day, President took us all to Antigua.  He made reservations at a restored Hacienda there and we spent a couple of hours learning the history and seeing the villa.  Earthquakes had destroyed the original home and 5 families of squatters had moved in when Popenoe bought the place.  He worked very hard at preserving the colonial architecture and his wife collected pieces from some of the churches that had been destroyed.

There was some sort of celebration going on in Antigua and several high school bands were on parade.

Lots of Avocado trees and the inner court was beautiful.

Some of the preserved work.

Love seats where suitors would talk to the young ladies through the window

Brazier rolled from room to room with hot coals in it to warm the area.

Bench brought from Spain.

Popenoe's design for windows.  Wood instead of metal bars.

The first fireplace in the country.  Everyone thought it ingenious and now all the higher end homes have them.

The number of trunks you owned was how well off you were.  It didn't matter if anything was in them or not,

Stones that fell during earthquakes

And where they fell from.

Popenoe built a wooden structure for his family to go to during an earthquake.  Wood was not as heavy as stone I guess.

Outdoor ovens

Women's sleeping quarters.

Kitchen area.

Bathtub with hot running water

Pigeon homes in the upper house.  Used for meat, eggs and carrying messages.

Laundry facility.  Also equipped with warm water.

After Popenoe house we had lunch, of course and then went shopping at a huge shop that sells used clothing, new this and thats and all at decent prices.  Similar to a Deseret Industry store.

Store with hundreds of huipils and cloth and skirts and kites on the ceiling. 

Eating again. Eldon is taking the picture.  Me on the left, Prices,
Winkfields, Normans, and Mays.

Okay.  Enough for now.  I will put the Zoo trip on the next page.  I would not want to overtax you with fun.