Today we headed north from Guatemala City to a town called Huehuetenango. A lot of Rubens family lives here, and he bought some land to build a house on. I got to go see the land and give my opinion on where the house should be built. It is in such a peaceful and secluded area in the mountains. All of his neighbors in the area are family, and oh my gosh are they the sweetest people ever. I absolutely fell in love with his fathers 78 year old cousin and his grandson Josue. I really feel we got enlightened into more of their culture and lifestyle. These people live sooooo simply and took so much pride in serving us coffee that they picked, roasted, ground, and brewed all from their own coffee trees outback. Not to mention the abundance of orange trees surrounding their small houses. Soon after the hot meal of rice and beef (i of course made rubens brother eat my meat) Josue hiked us around in the dark with a flashlight so excited to show us all of the flowers around. he tried to pick me one but the trees were too high for him to reach (he is in 5th grade). Oh man these people are so full of joy and their joy is contagious beyond words. I could have stayed there for days and days with them in the tranquility. (hopefully there are pictures to come soon) It was a GORGEOUS ride through the mountains, however it was also 6 hours long.
Soon after we left the city Josiah started feeling a bit strange and as the day progressed he felt worse and worse. he was burning up with fever, and then his hands kept clamping up. he could not keep them stretched out on his own accord. he was pretty freaked out as was I. So in short, we think he has acute mountain sickness due to the altitude at almost 7,000 feet. I looked it up and indiana's altitude is 715 feet so you can imagine the difference. Pobrecito, i feel so bad for him. Tomorrow we are supposed to go another town, Xela and its elevation is almost 8,000. I'm not sure if we will go if he's not much better. we will take our time and feel it out.
As for me, i'm doing well. I just find myself a bit more fatigued due to the elevation but no illness. :)
2 comments:
i love the story about the coffee...so cool. And that land is beautiful! I saw the pics on facebook.I am glad you are loving the people.
I feel so bad for josiah. Hopefully it will wear off after a while. love you guys!
ps....my dog and cats are getting along now. we are all sitting here in the living room in peace:) just thought id let you know. thanks for making us smile last night.
My poor boy Josiah. Leah says the water filtration may be causing the sickness with Josiah because it is different from the US. Angie he may need to slow down a bit and relax in order to recuperate from the long trip. Awesome story about the coffee beans its like picking home grown vegetables out of your back yard to make the homemade pizza. Can't wait to see the pictures. Tell Josiah that we will be contacting him soon.
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