​We woke up in the morning in time to meet Estuardo and his family.  They delivered to us a copy of the video that was taken yesterday at the school.  They burned a copy to a disk and applied a label.  It was quite the professional production!  I can’t wait to get home and see the entire video.  I know that I, as president of the nonprofit and the one that was primary contact, was given the limelight for much of the time.  However, I’m sure that the videographer moved around a bit and captured some things that I was not able to see myself.  I wanted to be “all over” at once, and didn’t want to miss a thing.  The video will help me have a better eye and see points of view and activities that didn’t involve me.

Estuardo came around 9am.  Our transport to Panajachel was supposed to arrive at 10am, but we received word from our driver that due to unexpected traffic the arrival would be delayed.  That’s ok!  That gave us more time to interact with the birds!

It was the last possible minute, but thankfully the beautiful birds of Hotel Santo Tomas in Chichicastenango were brought out before we left.  The bird keeper brought them out on metal poles and placed them on their regular perches, with food cups nearby.  They were loud, but their beauty was even more impressive.  We just don’t see birds like this at home, out in the open, for us to appreciate and enjoy.

We struck up a conversation with a few of them!  It appears that they could only say “hola”.  If their vocabulary was any larger than that, we didn’t hear proof.  At first, we were a little hesitant to get close (those beaks are sharp, I’d imagine) but the longer we stayed in their presence, the more comfortable we got.

When our transport finally arrived, we shocked  them with the number of suitcases we still had.  They knew to account for nine people, but had no idea that we still had an ultrasound machine, vitamins, surgical supplies, bandages and more still packed.  After a few attempts at arranging them, we packed into the nice van (this one even had air conditioning) and headed back down and around all the winding roads headed for the department of Solola and the city of Panajachel.

As we passed through Solola, it was a market day.  Whereas market day in Chichicastenango is Thursday and Sunday, in Solola it is Tuesday and Friday.  Also, on the 15th there is going to be a large fair in Solola, and already they are getting ready.  The ferris wheel is up (which I assume is just for the fair but might be erected all year, I don’t know) and the fireworks are being stockpiled.

When we arrived at our hotel in Panajachel, we were met by friendly staff at the Grand Hotel.  From the front, the place doesn’t look like much.  There is a motorcycle dealer right next door and a contemporary church with open doors (and a band that plays for passersby outside).

But, once you get to the interior, you are treated to a wonderful explosion of flora and fauna.

The owner/operator at the hotel said that he was going to give us a complimentary upgrade on our rooms — that the ones closer to the road were a little too noisy for most guests.  I’m guessing that they are not booked, or that they wanted to show us a favor because we are staying five nights.
After getting settled in, we were ready to start our service activities.  My kids were delighted to see that we would be able to ride, standing up, in the back of a pickup truck.  There would be plenty of more opportunities to ride Guatemalan-style to and from San Jorge to deliver stoves and water filters.

When we arrived at the office, we saw a dry erase board welcoming us to the headquarters.  We offloaded our luggage and moved to an area with tables where we could spread out and separated the donations we made.  In addition to the wonderful gift of an ultrasound machine purchased by Girl Scout Troop 4712 from our home state of Wisconsin, we brought multivitamins and prenatal vitamins, two nebulizers, a fetal monitor, several blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes, diabetic supplies, gauze pads, sterile bandages, swabs, ointments, and more.
Trent and John put the ultrasound machine together, as they were the ones that worked so hard to disassemble it and put it in four different suitcases.  I was so happy that everything arrived safely, and nothing was damaged in transit.  I had been so worried that baggage handlers would have destroyed the heavy parts, and even though I took the diagnostics and the wand in my carry-on, wrapped multiple times in large bubble wrap, I was still very nervous.  I didn’t want anything to invalidate the efforts of the girl scouts.

As it was being assembled, a crowd of staff drew closer to see what was happening.  When it was completely together, we took photos with Doctor Sylvia and then wheeled it into her office.  They were so thrilled with this donation!
When our time at the office was done, we went back to the hotel and made plans for dinner.

We ended up at Jose Pinguinos and I had pepian for dinner.  We had Miguel and his daughters put on a show for us and it was very entertaining and educational!  He has a good sense of humor, too!

We were entertained by the marimbas.  I even heard three of the songs that are on my Chapinlandia CD, so I particularly thought they were wonderful.  We also had a tortilla-making contest.  Out of the 30 or so people in attendance, Scott was one of three people who were chosen as having made the best tortilla.  As a prize, he got a woven fabric water bottle cover that had PANAJACHEL on it.

It rained this evening, but it did not put a damper on the day, as we did not mind walking back to our hotel in the rain.  Although it is the rainy season in Guatemala, we have been fortunate that all of the rain has happened  in the evening or overnight.