Begin the work

The last month was very packed. After I arrived back in Guatemala, I purchased a motorcycle, a Suzuki 125. In order to be careful riding it, think to myself that I’m just as vulnerable as if I was walking down the middle of the road, only much faster. The process of buying and registering the bike was a little more complicated than it would be back home. First, I had to get a tax ID number, called a NIT. That process turned out to be pretty easy, except that the first time around, they thought I needed two last names instead of two first names. (Everyone here has two last names, one from the mother and one from the father.) So that required two trips to the local tax office. Then an attorney had to be present when we signed the old title, in order to notarize it. Next, I had to make a complete photocopy of my passport (every page), and of the title, the registration card, and every other scrap of paper that accompanied the bike. Then, I had to go to the capital. First, to the police office, to make sure the bike had no outstanding fines against it. Then, I had to fill out an absurd amount of paperwork (I had to write the VIN number in about six or seven places). Then, after paying a number of small taxes and fees (each at a different window), I had to make copies of each of the receipts I received. Finally, I handed it all in at the final window, only to have to come back three days later to pick up my new registration card. The government never mails anything. All things considered, it went off without a hitch.

The team that was here when I sent out my last newsletter the first week of January had a great time. They worked with the agriculture, appropriate technology, clinic, and social work (hospital) sites. This was my first time working with Oscar with students. We poured two concrete floors in a house in El Gorrion. Our work went rather quickly, so we had plenty of time to get to know the family. There are twelve people in the house, including the ten kids who still live at home.

After the team left, I had a few days to help out with a couple of house construction projects in Buena Vista, the next town to the east of Magdalena with a great sweeping view of the capital city. I helped finish the floor in one and dig the foundation for the other. I also had to opportunity to repair an angle grinder, doing something I had never before attempted: I uncrimped and reused two solderless connectors.

During one of my trips to the capital, I stopped at a large hardware store to buy a soldering iron. So far, I’ve used it to repair all of the microphone cords at the church (no more popping and crackling), as well as a signal light on my motorcycle, and the insides of a microwave oven.

I also began work with Oscar building a new mold to pour concrete containers for sand filters. We are building a round wooden mold. Round so that we don’t have to use rebar, wooden because we don’t have a metal shop. Wood here, though, is at least four times what it is in Oregon. Most wood in this country gets cut very young for firewood. Still, I only spent about $35 on the wood.

Last week, all of the Guatemalan staff members who are not proficient in English began afternoon classes in Antigua.

This weekend, an excavation company gave us a really good deal to level the lot for the new community center in El Gorrion. They were Christians and excited about the work we are doing in the community. They worked with a large backhoe and two dump trunks for three days for about $2200. They moved close to a hundred loads.

Yesterday, I began a week of work in the school in El Gorrion with two of the Bethel University semester program students. They arrived late last week to Guatemala, and all eleven of them plus their leader will be here until sometime in May. They alternate between just classes, and work in the morning plus classes in the afternoon. I didn’t have to spend much time with the children yesterday, though, as I spent most of the morning rewiring the school. The building was built quite a few years ago, and one of the two wall receptacle circuits (the one that happened to feed the office and kitchen) had never worked. It had a short in it. The lights in the kitchen had also never worked, as whoever had wired the switch sent two neutral wires to the light. Both were easy fixes, but it took me awhile to track down the problems.

Today, however, I was in the classroom. Marcos, the two Bethel students and I were all helping to sub for a teacher who was out for the day. This was so far out of my skill set it was funny. I have three more days of this. Please pray for me.