A lot of us spent some unhappy days in bed or the bathroom after our various trips around the country. We had great times, but paid a price for ignorance - or in some cases, lack of care from restaurants. Hermana Burk introduced me to a lovely native drink, "rosa de Jamaica". I didn't give a thought to how it was made. From now on I'll make it myself with safe water or ask for it to be made with sparkling water. I've been down since last Sunday morning!
2. The outdoor spotlight at the temple stays on the angel Moroni until the last presidency member leaves for the evening.
3. We bought a fuchsia plant and hung it on the spiral staircase outside our living room door. It got sunburned. It now has a new home in the shade.
4. I spent a long time scrubbing tire marks off the possible temple blouse I bought at Megapaca. I was proud of myself for my tenacity, but....considering the blouse cost $2, my two days of working on it make me a very low wage-earner!
5. I have an unselfish and gracious neighbour. I have admired the short crocheted cape-shawls we can check out from the roperia (clothing issue desk) and want to have my own for when I'm no longer here. Reva Allred is making me one for free! She brought four styles home from the temple on Monday and had me try them on.
6. January, or maybe just after Christmas, is the repair time for all around us. We've seen others in the city fixing their houses at the same time that our apartments, inside and out, have been getting a solid spring cleaning and general repair.
7. It may be smoky for awhile. This is the time of year that the farmers start burning off the old stubble in their fields.
8. Cole did a special thing for Cara. Check it out on Becca's Facebook page. For those of you with no access to our daughter-in-law's account, her story is listed at the bottom of this post.
8. Don't ask for someone's opinion unless you want it, as in with a yellow pad and pencil ready to write down suggestions. All right, that may sound extreme, but we did have an enlightening situation in FHE about that. Someone asked for suggestions but didn't really want them. The next morning, Dad asked me what I thought about an email he was considering sending. When I answered, he realised he didn't really want my thoughts. He just wanted me to agree with him.
9. Since I got to spend so much time in bed, I've been critiquing lots of poems, short stories and novels as part of my effort to become a better writer. I read some bad haiku but was intrigued by the form. I think the last time I wrote haiku was in junior high school. I tried it again. The form is easy but the knack of making the images magical is an art. Here are my first two efforts:
Standing in the sky Light upon the angel Beacon in the night Check out the post below Becca's letter. It's my last week's letter with many more photos. As you can see, we had a great time! I've also loaded a slideshow of our horse trip up Pacaya, an active volcano. You can see it under "Little Things," although it doesn't qualify as "little"! Love to all, Missionary Mom | Stems so delicate Pink and purple flowering Floating on the wind |
When we were in Guatemala we visited a HUGE market where they sold every type of Guatemalan product you can imagine. In the last booth on the end of the last aisle there was a little Guatemalan woman selling her wares.
This woman's shop differed from the other hundreds of shops in only one small way. On the top of the highest shelf was a porcelain doll...used, a little cracked, and WAY out of place. (...figures that the ONE thing Cara wanted in Guatemala was made in CHINA).
The woman saw her interest and quoted her 200 queztals. Cara asked me if she could have it and I said no.
Over the next 30 minutes or so, Cara continued to walk down to that booth just to stand and stare at that doll. She didn't say anything to the woman...she just stood there and stared...AWKWARD.
Each time Cara turned to walk away, the lady would call out a lower price. This continued until the price was down to 100 quetzals (about $13 US dollars). I told her if she used her own money, she could get it. (Buying something in Guatemala that was made in China is what you'd call a TRAVESTY. Kind've like eating at McDonalds while you are there...pretty sure I've destroyed any evidence that I did that.)
Upon returning home, Cara prominently displayed her doll on a shelf in her room where she could keep staring at it. (Something that seriously creeps Christina out...too bad we make them share a room.)
Upon retuning home, Cole took notice of how much Cara liked her not-so-new, slightly battered, un-Guatemalan, porcelain doll.
One afternoon he locked himself in his room insisting that -under NO circumstance -were we to let Cara enter. Hours passed.
Eventually, he emerged with something he'd made for her. A tiara for Mable (...she at LEAST could have given the doll a Guatemalan name for heavens's sake.)
Cara gasped. We all gasped. He'd made it out of some wire that he'd found amongst the scraps in his inventor's box (that's another story).
Cara ran to her room and placed it on Mable's head. It fit perfectly. (Cole confessed that he'd snuck in her room when she wasn't looking to measure Mable's head).
She may disagree, fight, and get annoyed with Cole to the point of tears...but she can never deny that her bothersome, quirky, sometimes maddening older brother...loves her.