My Reading Blog

Our week is over our last day a day to sightsee a day to remember and reflect a day spent with my brother a day spent bonding friendships made during the week a day to learn more history a day that completes a journey that I will remember and that I can share. a day....  One of the many churches in Antigua that is being renovated and restored.  They were having a wedding reception in this building.  This is part of the ruins of Santa Domingo - formerly a convent.  Santa Domingo is now renovated and is a Five star hotel in Antigua.  There were several crypts still containing  remains.   The water fountain at Santa Domingo.  The flowers were beautiful and found in many different areas of the city.  Another church that we discovered across the street from the Jade Factory. Yes, I did some shopping in their store - beautiful jewelry. And it was such a beautiful day, we decided to walk to San Francis...

 Our trip was not all work - we got to play in the middle of the week.  We took a boat ride across Lake Atitlan to One of the volcanos San Juan La Laguna.  It was a beautiful day to travel by boat and we got to shop while we traveled. San Pedro Willie (our Thrivent Build Coordinator) knew two gals who needed a ride to San Juan to sell their wares.  Margarita had table runners - long, rectangular, or square and shawls - all handmade and beautiful.  The colors are very vibrant and yet there are some that are subdued.  As you can see, we had a difficult time deciding which item(s) we wanted to purchase.  After arriving in San Juan, we walked up the hill, around the corner, up another hill, through a corn field and finally arrived at our destination - New Dawning Christian School.  Willie has had an integral part in the building, growth and sponsorship of students at this school.  Two of our group also sponsored students t...

Goodreads Summary:  " The author of Bird in Hand and The Way Life Should Be delivers her most ambitious and powerful novel to date: a captivating story of two very different women who build an unexpected friendship: a 91-year-old woman with a hidden past as an orphan-train rider and the teenage girl whose own troubled adolescence leads her to seek answers to questions no one has ever thought to ask. Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she has one last chance. Just months from "aging out" of the child welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing keeping her out of juvie and worse. Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A y...

Goodreads Summary:  "Sadly, death at the races is not uncommon. However, three in a single afternoon was sufficiently unusual to raise more than one eyebrow." It's the third death on Cheltenham Gold Cup Day that really troubles super-sleuth Sid Halley. Last seen in 1995's Come to Grief , former champion jockey Halley knows the perils of racing all too well-but in his day, jockeys didn't usually reach the finishing line with three .38 rounds in the chest. But this is precisely how he finds jockey Huw Walker-who, only a few hours earlier, had won the coveted Triumph Hurdle. Just moments before the gruesome discovery, Halley had been called upon by Lord Enstone to make discreet inquiries into why his horses appeared to be on a permanent losing streak. Are races being fixed? Are bookies taking a cut? And if so, are trainers and jockeys playing a dangerous game with stakes far higher than they are realistic? Halley's quest for answers draws him even ...

 Our build site is located in Nauhaula and the people are Mayan and speak in their own Mayan dialect - so whatever was spoken had to be translated into Spanish and then English.  Even though we had a language barrier, we communicated with smiles (and eventually with hugs), and sign language.  The kids were able to understand some English.  As I've said previously, they are very Godly people, very quiet and unassuming and so appreciative of everything they have. The kids (and adults) were very shy the first day, but by the second day, they were smiling and waited for a camera to appear and then turn quickly away - until we showed them their pictures on the camera.  The girls knew that I kept my camera in my pocket and when they saw me reach to my pocket - off they went.  I think these pictures will tell more than my words can express. Boys watching the work on the house Maria - the youngest daughter This young entrepreneur brought his masks t...

Our work site was about 50 minutes from Panajahcel. Our driver stopped along side of the busy highway and we got out looking around to see where we'd be building.  Our Habitat coordinator pointed up the hill (?) and so we started climbing up, up and up.  The path was at about a 45 degree angle, leveling off and them another 20 degree angle for about 1/8 of a mile upward.  I thought I was in fairly good shape, but I was gasping for air when we arrived at the work site.  The altitude was about a mile above sea level.  They told us we would be starting from scratch and this is what we saw - a flat area with string outlining the perimeter of the house - approximately 10' wide by 20' long with a 3' x 5' section off the back for the bathroom. We had an opening ceremony, introducing the masons, the family and us.  The family spoke in a Mayan dialect and had to be interpreted into Spanish and then to English.  Thanks and praise to God was foremost in...