Yo no soy corrupto...

A small portion of the mall where we ate lunch today.  It is a little ways away in Guatemala City.  It even has a movie theater.

The police officer that pulled us over was wearing a pin “I’m not corrupt, are you?”  Interesting, and often irrelevant to the actual corruptness of said officer.  Now I know, some of you are still stuck on the we got pulled over part, but don’t worry we were just passengers.  It was while we were out searching for a car with a Guatemalan staffer from the school.  I had overheard him say something on the phone about police, but was not really listening (cause that would be eavesdropping - even though he was talking right in front of us in a very small truck that my hips could barely fit into...)  I later figured out what he must have been talking about when we got randomly selected to pull over at a police check point.  His license had expired.

He should have gotten a huge fine, and had his license taken away - and we could have been stuck on the streets of Guatemala City (not on my bucket list!)  However, since our police officer was not corrupt (yeah, sure) they worked out a deal.  He got a 100Q (about $15) ticket for driving while talking on his cell phone and we were allowed to drive away.  Thing is, he wasn’t talking on his phone.  So apparently being corrupt means that you will accept a bribe to be able to drive away, and has very little to do with actually following the law.

We also find it quite amusing that people can get randomly pulled over for not wearing their seat belts, because the law is that if your vehicle HAS seat belts you have to wear them.  So, you can cram 15 people into the back of a pick up (and that number is on the low side I think) and drive around with no problem, but if you are trying to be safer and ride inside the car - then you can get a ticket.  Go figure!

We have been very busy for the last few days.  We knew that we were going to have a lot of work to do, but we hadn’t planned on all the extras.  Friday we spent 3 hours looking for 2 things, a keyboard and a car.  Most of that time we waited, or sat in traffic, or twiddled our thumbs at the police checkpoint.  It really does take a lot longer to get anything done here.  We did find some cars, well actually a van, which we think can work for our family.  Vehix (that car check thing on line) is going to become a quick client of ours though as most of the cars sold here were previously totaled in the states.  Hey, at least they are safer and better than the chicken busses with no brakes and holes in the floor.

Today we went to church at an International Church in the city, and then had lunch in a huge mall (at Chili’s.)  I mean huge, this mall had 3 stories and a carousel, and most importantly a Cinnabon.  We also found a store similar to BJ’s that sells Cranberry Juice - something we thought we were going to have to give up in order to move here.  Still haven’t found any Moxie - big shocker.

This afternoon we are going to look at a property that will be available this summer and is fully furnished.  We will see similar properties tomorrow as well.  This evening we are going to a contemporary English service and then having dinner at Pizza Hut with the principal and his family.  It really is so different here than in the rest of Guatemala - it must be something to do with that 2 million person city right around the corner.

Blackout in the sky

Our future home.  Some of you have heard us talk about the smog in Guatemala City - well, now you can see it!  Those are high rises in the distance. not very far from the school - almost obscured by smog.

So, we can’t do anything without a little drama - apparently even when Abigail and Emma are not around.  Our first flight was relatively uneventful, we had a tight connection due to deicing, but we made it without having to sprint through the Houston airport.  All was well.  An hour or so into our second flight Kenneth began to feel ill.  We were close to the front of the plane, so the flight attendant told him he could use the first class restroom.  I let him out, and was getting ready to sit back down when I saw a lot of movement in first class.  I look up to see what is going on, and there is Kenneth face down in the aisle with a bunch of people hovering over him.  Face down!

Praise God there was a physician sitting in first class who quickly took charge of the situation.  It appears that he passed out, they aren’t sure why - it could have been a combination of things.  But he is FINE now.  We got a brief upgrade to first class while Kenneth got an oxygen treatment, but were soon back in our normal seats and good to go.

We now understand why they call this town “Little America” as the house we are staying in is much more American than Guatemalan - we can even flush our toilet paper!  They are not all like that though, and we will be seeing a variety of houses in the next few days.  Each night we are having dinner with a different staff family, and then on Monday we are actually going to see some properties that may be available for us to rent when me move.

Today Ken is getting acquainted with the computer system, while Joy is interviewing some students.  We have also been able to sit down with the staff and really define our roles and jobs here at the school.  Tomorrow we are going to go look at cars and Ken will be working hard on computer stuff - Joy might go shopping???  We are trying to be flexible and work with the staff doing what they need and when they need it.

The weather is of course beautiful, and this blog was actually written sitting outside, listening to the chirping birds, and absorbing the warmth.