Tuesday - two more days

No pics today as the battery on my computer died, will post some later.  I have gotten into a nice routine and feel sad that I have only one more day.  Poking around Antigua, chatting to people and trying to get warm, freezing here, coldest it has been in 5 years but when I looked at the pictures of what is going on in Sarnia, Ontario, I feel blessed.  Plan to buy a few small gifts for Dora´s grandchildren and maybe something for her and I hope to take some pictures of the family later so I can send some from home.  Then I will hit a small second hand bookstore and buy some children´s books for Casa Jackson as the toys and other activities for the kids are very limited. 

It has been a wonderful experience being at Casa Jackson but it is hard sometimes as without the volunteers the children would be left in cribs all day and though many have gone home for Christmas, some will still be there.  I believe some are abandoned kids as well, three have cerebral palsy and two are blind and one blind and deaf.  When we put them down and leave at the end of the day they cry desperately. 

The one thing that is so noticeable all over Guatemala is the total lack of concern for safety, pretty different from our anal attention to this area at home.  The volunteers come and go and no one seems to be really in charge, at home they would need two criminal record checks, doctor´s note, TB and HIV test, two references, two weeks of training etc. etc.    The floors at Casa Jackson are ceramic tile, the bathing facilites are on the floor in small plastic tubs, the peeling paint on the cribs likely lead based, picture taking would not be allowed without parental permission etc. etc.  Yesterday, I was told a Swedish volunteer fell from the third floor while washing windows a few weeks ago, so they closed for a week.   A disasater management plan here would be 100s of pages long.  Excellent example of the hierarchy of need scale, safety being on the bottom of the list.

There are two other areas that make Guatemala dangerous - tripping and being hit by cars.  So far have only tripped and fallen - will be sure to keep a close eye on traffic, so I make it on that plane on Thursday morning.

 

 These are pictures of Sunday evening - the celebration of the Immaculate Conception - the boys dress up as devils and the girls as angels (I guess).   Catholic celebrations are numerous and the devil is big here - the night I had my passport stolen was called the Burning of the Devil - which they do between the two gas stations. in Antigua.  A group make the devil out of paper mache each year and someone told me this year he was dressed like a surfer on a bicycle.  Go figure!