Spencer's "News from Chiquimula"

January 31, 2010

Dear family,

The second part of January hasn’t been too newsy. I’ll bring you up to date a little about this area. I’m sure you’ll find it enlightening:
• Onions here have more than doubled in price this month. They were Q150 a hundred weight in December and they are now Q340.
• The quetzal has gone from Q8.20 to Q8.45 and now it is down to Q8.36 against the dollar. I’m sure you needed that information.
• Cooler weather in January has caused some sickness and has affected harvests in western Guatemala. That is information for your knowledge base!
• Ex president Portillo is now in jail for allegedly laundering money through the banks in the United States.
• Gasoline is down 40 centavos (or $.05) this week.
• Honduras has a new president in place (Lobo) and the ex-president has been exiled to the DR.
• You may not know it, but Haiti is in a mess. People here who have so very little have turned their hearts from themselves and are following the news about people who are even less fortunate.
Now for more domestic (local) news:
• We’re grateful that Adam is on the mend. He is home from the hospital and doing well with his IV antibiotics. This has brought us great relief. Now maybe Jeanine will be able to sleep at night. Their ward is being wonderfully supportive.
• This week has been one of preparation and coordination at CUNORI. We do testing this week for the placement of students and we start our faculty classes.
• We’ve been pulled into the dissemination of information, arranging a fireside, arranging for members to be treated and lots of logistics for the group of LDS dentists who are coming in two weeks. There has been some breakdown in communication this time. It is a wonderful service that volunteer dentists and assistants provide at their own expense. They come twice a year to give services to the very needy people. I can’t imagine a service much greater than that.
• Our classes at the church are filling up without any advertisement. We are glad to provide this service to so many people.
• We are glad to hear of the birth of Blaze, Amy and Tim’s sixth son and grandbaby number 37 for us!
• Other big news! The mushrooms (fungus—or athlete’s foot) between my toes has supposedly cleared up. The dermatologist pronounced them clean! You know, I have carried that crop (or should I say “crap”) around since I left this area at the end of my first mission in January 1965.
That’s it for the news from Chiquimula.
May the Lord bless and keep you,
Dad/Spencer
PS When we arrived home today we didn't (and still don't) have water. It is turned off until they can repair a broken pipe somewhere in the apartment complex. It is all or none. No individual shut-off valves. Welcome to Guatemala! :)