Casa de Sion

We arrived at Lake Atitlan safe and mostly sound. The last 29 minutes of the plane ride were a little hairy. Mostly because it is the rainy season and it was pouring. Our house was not ready for us as the last inhabitants were still in it. They are building a new one and the plumbing was not working, so we lived in a hotel for 4 days. Actually it was a nice break as we could go to our new house and unpack buckets that were stored there, but then come back to a nice orderly place to sleep.
We are in now and really like it. The last resident, an American, said he had lived here for 4 years and never had any safety issues. I loved hearing that. The kids love it as all their friends are in Pana and we now have between 10 and 15 kids here alot of the time. But they have all helped us unpack and move in. School starts today for all our children unless Hurricane Felix hits here as it is predicted to do. Last nights forecast showed that Lake Atitlan was in the direct path of the hurricane. The school my kids go to has agreed to take my down syndrome son which I am thrilled about.
We are supposed to go to the orphanage today, unless the hurricane hits. Pedro, our new director, has done a marvelous job. Several people are looking for land for the orphanage on this side of the lake. We will go look at one 7 acre piece next Monday. We need sponsors for the kids so we can start building. Several people on this group are doing talks to groups and one is doing an auction in Oct. Everything helps.
Well gotta go. It was two years ago that Hurricane Stan hit and destroyed many many homes and lives because of mudslides. The river in Pana flooded and destroyed many homes, so we are anxious about what Felix will do.
I noticed something yesterday as I shopped the market and the tiendas loading up on food and supplies. There were a few Americans doing the same thing, but no one esle. I asked an American friend why and he said it is always like that; they never shop until they run out and then the stores are empty. Wonder why? Maybe they just do not have the resources to plan ahead?
Vicki
http://www.safehomesforchildren.org