A casual arrangement of buoys from the omnipresent lobster traps paint a picture of life on the North Eastern Seaboard. It was a wonderful trip. 
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Down East Flavor
Visiting Family 3 - Me with my brother John
During my stay, my brother John flew in from Calgary to spend some time at his summer cottage. He came to the bus station to see me off.
Visiting Family 2 - Mom with my brother Herb
We passed through St. Stephen to visit my brother, Herb, en route to Fredericton, where I stayed and visited with Mom for the next several days.
Incredible View from the Porch
From Maine, we took the ferry to Deer Island where Mo and Kathleen have bought out and renovated the family house overlooking Lord's Cove Harbour. Mom joined us here and we all spent a few fantastic days living in front of this view! If you, too, would like to spend some time beachcombing and eating lobster and salmon in this paradise, you can see more pics and contact Mo and Kath through www.haddoncottage.com.
Visiting Family 1 - Mo, Kath and Billy
I recently returned from a short trip to New Brunswick to visit family and I just have to share a few of my favorite photos.
I flew to Boston, from where my brother Mo, with his wife, Kathleen and son Billy (who had just arrived that same day from England to visit) and myself drove up along the eastern seaboard. Here they are shown on the banks of the St. Croix River which forms the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. Off in the distance I'm sure you can make out St. Croix Island, made famous as the winter camping site of explorers Champlain and DeMonts in 1604.
Fence and Gate
Thanks to a Guatemalan/Canadian partnership, the land of the clinic and library now has a new fence (courtesy Eduardo Cofiño), and the cement frame is almost ready for the double gate (Alberta Group).
Architect Volunteers Services
Last week we were visited by Architect Luis Mendoza from Guatemala City, who has volunteered to assist the women's group by drawing up the plans for their new "Center". Here he is shown with (L to R) Sandra Van den Brink of Foundation Ayudamos, Juana Melendez, president of the women's group and Cyra Lopez, vice president of the women's group as they discuss the group's needs and dreams.
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Interviewing the Patients
Judy Schwank and her team work with Enrique to determine what surgery is most needed amongst the people of this and surrounding areas.
Line-Ups at Clinic for Surgery
Today, about 50 people came to the clinic to see if they qualify for free surgery through Dr. William and Judy Schwank's surgery team that is to come to Guatemala in the fall. Unfortunately, there is no adequate place in Peten to do volunteer surgery, so the patients that are chosen will have to find the way to and back from Guatemala City or Antigua, 10 to 16 hours from here.
Finishing up the Library Corridor
This past week Eduardo sent Santos and Alfonso, two of the Gringo Perdido employees to finish the paving stones of the corridor around the front side of the library building, so all will be in readiness for the Inauguration by the president on September 30th.
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Cataloguing Books
We now have another volunteer ... Julie Bedford from Alberta. Julie will be staying for almost 2 weeks getting the library organized, cataloguing books and preparing to offer library services to the youth of the village.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Angel
Over the past couple of months, we lost two of our three parrots to virus and accident. That left R2D2 alone, for the first time in his life, and he didn't like it much. We were happy when, on 6-6-6, a young boy asked if we wanted a baby parrot. We have named her Angel. She's building up strength in her toes and legs by practicing on the branch we hung from the ceiling in my office. She started prying open peanuts and sunflower seeds over the last couple of days ... she will soon be ready to join R2D2, who is once again singing above us in the lemon tree!!
Monday, June 12, 2006
Triathlon Hombre Maya
As the participants in this years Hombre Maya Triathlon head off to the first buoy of their swim, you can see in the background the promontory of land that has been called since Mayan times "El Cerro Cahui" ... Crocodile Mountain (note its shape like the snout of a crocodile).
Eduardo and Eduardo
This is the 17th year that Eduardo Cofino has hosted the Hombre Maya Triathlon ... a competition that begins with swimming in Lake Peten Itza, followed by bicycling to Tikal, and finishing up by running through Tikal Park to the finish line in front of the famous pyramids at the Central Plaza. Here Eduardo, and his youngest son, also named Eduardo, are announcing the beginning of the event (June 11, 7 a.m. Sunday morning).
Waiting for Dinner
It is traditional at this yearly dinner, after the athletes have been served, to serve up the leftovers to the kids of the village, who wait patiently in line for their turn.
The High-Carb Dinner
Gonzalo´s food service crew are all ready to serve the yearly "high-carb" dinner to the athletes on Saturday evening. After the participants for the Hombre Maya Triathlon have registered, they receive a dinner of pasta, bread and salad.
Local Triathletes
Since its inception, the local children have been encouraged to participate in the Niño Maya Triathlon. Our local kids are naturally strong bicycle riders and runners, but need instruction in swimming ... we are looking for a volunteer to teach them.
Niño Maya Triathlon
On Saturday, June 10th, the 6th annual National Niño Maya Triathlon was held here in the village. Here, the youngest children begin their swim, following which they bike towards Santa Elena and back to the beach, then run towards Tikal and back again to the beach and the finish line.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Cleaning Up
People who live close to street lights were out early this morning with brooms, shovels and wheelbarrows to clean up the piles of crunchy beetles ... called something that sounds like "drone-droneys" to my untrained ear (roll those r's) ... before the smell overwhelmed the neighborhood.
Jungle Lemmings
Once every few years, like lemmings running off a cliff, these hard-shelled beatles take wing and fly to the closest light source, where they bang and crash into each other, falling flailing to the ground, never to rise again.
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