day 3 Our first Sunday

By this time we had been in the country for 2 days and I had still not been to Los Robles and seen all the progress our projects had made. I wanted to so bad, but it was complicated. Pedro's "resignation" had not been under the best of terms and I did not want to see him. I was not sure who had Jose's loyalty and the first time I went up there, I wanted to make sure Jose understood he either worked for us or Pedro, not both. I did not want him telling Pedro our every move. So I needed Robert with me when I went and Robert could not go until Monday , so I waited and planned all I would do while we were there. It was hard esp. this Sunday.
I tried to rest as I knew once I got going, there would be no rest. Took a couple of pictures. The pretty one of the bougainvilla in the yard of the Pana house and the one of Juana. Spent time walking around Pana and Jucanya where we used to live with Jody and the kids. Went to church in San Andres and collected some medical donations the missionaries there had been keeping for me so they would not be stolen. Had a stupid fight with Jody over something small. And read. I was reading " Stones Into Schools" by Greg Mortenson trying to figure out how to bring in more money for our projects.
I spent time thinking aobut Juana. She is 70 and if you have the pleasure of staying in our Pana house, she will clean and possibly cook for you. She goes strong all day from 5am until the supper dishes are done and then crashes. She is humble and smart and never raises her voice and always has a smile for me and the kids. She has no formal education and can not read or write, but she can think. Education is very important to her and she works to help make sure her 37 grandchildren have a chance at it. The jobs for the elderly basically do not exist as the younger Mayan girls have more strength, but I love Juana and if given a choice will always pick her. There are no social service programs for the elderly in Guatemala and Juana will never have a medicaid card. She will always have to buy her own medicine and pay for her own doctor and when she can not do for herself, she will have to depend on the good will of others.She was our personal maid for 3 years and when we moved back to the USA, I could not find her. That was because Pedro did not want me to find her as she would tell me that he had sold my dogs instead of what he did tell me. We are back into each others lives and I hope that will continue for a long time.
And finally, I found three quotes today that I liked so I am going to pass them on.
1. By Elbert Hubbard, "Down in their hearts, wise men know this truth; the only way to help yourself is to help others."
2. D&C , "Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness"
3. Albert Schweitzer, "the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve."

The next blog starts all the things that happened. They happened fast and furious for the rest of the time we were there and it was good I had had this Sunday to reflect and rest.