International Cooking Day

Recently Lizzy worked with one of the teachers at one of her schools to plan an international cooking day. The students were spread throughout the hills of the village at different kitchens with Lizzy and Hendrik going to each kitchen to teach them how to make the different items. In reality it was Lizzy doing the teaching and Hendrik checking for flavor...at least that's what he called it. When the students finally finished cooking all of their masterpieces they brought the final product to the school to be graded and eaten by the teachers and other students. Lizzy had a blast but was extremely exhausted after traveling and cooking and of course eating all day.

Three of her students in a typical kitchen here.

Hendrik with the students as they prepare Bangalore Chicken Curry, a recipe sent to us by my amazing sister Stacia

Cutting the chicken

Putting the pepper and cilantro puree in the pot to complete the curry

The finished project...we were very impressed with the presentation and the garnish

A student putting the moves on Liz.

Lizzy and her boys. 

Making Tortillas a way we have never seen before

Burritos! Surprisingly they hadn't ever made these before.

Lizzy receiving the final product getting ready to give them their grade

The students with their finished products.

One of the other kitchens. Notice the walls that are smoke stained. A major health problem here come from cooking over wood burning stoves without adequate ventilation. This is a prime example of that.

Making Pad Thai

Tortillas and Pad Thai...a possible title for the day.

Preparing Pizza Dough

Making the mini pizza crusts. With their tortilla making skills this came almost as second nature.

The Pizza...with extra meat.

Lizzy's Women's Group

For the last few months Lizzy has organized and been meeting with a group of women from the community to share what it means to be a woman both in Guatemala and in the United States. Lizzy has been teaching the women new cooking techniques and ways to use local foods in new and nutritious ways. Pizza has been a big hit here, especially with the kids who sometimes tag a long with their mothers.

Odie, the woman holding the bread has enjoyed the cooking classes so much that she has shared them with the students she teaches in a neighboring community.

Completed Pizzas in the back with everyone anxious to dig in.

The best part of any cooking class is tasting the final product

After Lizzy taught them about cooking, they taught her how to strap a baby to her back, the preferred way to carry a baby here. They even let her borrow little Felix to practice with.

Computers for Hope

Hendrik, one of the teachers and a member of the parent group picking up the computers.

We recently worked with an organization that sends refurbished computers from the U.S. to developing countries and were able to get computers for schools in two of the communities we work in. The organization previously was called Computers for Guatemala but changed their name to Computers for Hope as they have expanded to assist other countries. We were very proud of our communities for working hard to raise the money themselves for the computers as opposed to looking for someone to give them the funds. It was so great to see the initiative taken by everyone involved. 

Hendrik with Kirk, who runs the Guatemalan office.

The director of the school with the secretary with the computers after they first arrived at the school

The director gave Lizzy this tapestry in thankful acknowledgement for her work in making this project come to fruition

We also arranged to get computers for one of my schools. Unfortunately we only had an open bed truck to pick them up in and it was a very rainy day...so after buying a lot of plastic sheeting we were able to haul them up the mountain to the school.

Three of the teachers in the loaded truck as they dropped us off at home

Here is the director of my small school presenting the new computers to the parents who worked to get the money together. They all came up and touched them and were very excited about them, although the majority have never used a computer in their lives and most cannot read. The fact that they were willing to put in what little money that they had to improve the access of their children to technology was very touching.

Kyle Turns 29!!!

Birthday Breakfast of German Pancakes with bananas, peaches and fresh squeezed orange juice.

I turned 29 back on the 27th of August and we celebrated by going to one of our favorite places around, Lake Atitlan. We were planning on going to the beach but were literally stopped by roadblocks put up by protestors in three different areas. At any rate, we finally got to the lake and enjoyed a nice weekend eating good food and relaxing.

My favorite view from the couch at the Iguana Perdida.

Talking to friends and family on my b-day.

Relaxing.

Birthday breakfast #2

We went looking for a dock to swim from and a woman we know in the town said we could use her little house and dock.

Working on my tan...and practicing using myself as an emergency reflector mirror.

Shallow diving. The air was hot and the water was 72 degrees. It was awesome.

At birthday lunch.

Hanging out in the hammocks.