Baby owls and the governor of Zacapa

The elusive orange bird!

Friday.  I started the day on a mission.  That elusive orange bird was going to get his picture taken.  I got up early (5 instead of the usual 5:30)  I skipped the laundry and sweeping, loaded up my camera and my coffee and some reading material and headed out in search of that bird.  I wasn't two steps out the door when my owl friend caught my eye sitting on "our" house - my hands were too full to get his picture but I did note that he was acting a little different.  I journeyed to the back of the campus and was preparing to settle in to wait and watch for my little friend when out of the blue - bingo - there he was - there were like 4 of them!  They are very shy and I had to very slowly get all my things put down and get my camera situated - all the while realizing that I forgot to bug spray so I was being breakfast for many.  It was not a calm or serene event which is how I always picture good bird watching to be but, clumsily and while swatting bugs I got the photo in like 4 minutes instead of the hour or so that  I was willing to wait.  Also, now I know where those birds hang out so I think I will go back and try and get a better pic tomorrow (with bug spray a priority).  By 5:10 I was headed back to the house in victory when I spotted the owl again still acting strange.  Then I spotted the owl mate.  Two owls acting weird . . . there must be a fledgling owl around here somewhere . . . so I began a new hunt.  Marching around in the weeds and gauging my hunt by how those owls were acting and all the while being munched to death by bugs . . . but bingo again!

So precious!

He's thinking he's hiding . . . 

She kept a close eye on me.

This guy showed up to watch too - these guys like to have their picture taken.  Every time I get my camera out one of these flies in to get his picture.  They act like little kids.

 
It was a very cool morning and it wasn't even 5:30 a.m. yet.

The kids and I went to Oasis to see Dulce and then went to la tela (fabric "store") for more curtain fabric.  We met a great guy named Mario - it was his store.  He spoke some English - he was telling us how dangerous Zacapa and Chiquimula had become because of the drug cartels.  He said that there had been an assassination every night for the last week.  He said when he closes his shop at 5:30 pm he heads straight home and stays home.  The only place his family goes in the evenings is to church.  He was a typical nice Guatemalan.  These are very relational people.  Face to face conversation is important and evident everywhere you go here.       Mario gave us a good deal on the fabric - I bought 12 yards for 250Q - about $32.  And then he went out and stopped traffic on the street for us so we could get our car out.  We grabbed lunch in town.  Bought 3 boot legged movies for $2 total and met and gave a street girl and her baby money for food and headed back to campus the long way to avoid the continuing funeral from yesterday.

The BAM guys had peeled out early this morning for appointments with the Guatemalan Chamber of Commerce, a local coffee roaster/exporter, and a congressman.  Well, in true Guatemalan fashion, these events somehow end up with them sitting and having dinner with  the top aide and advisor to the Governor of Zacapa and THE First Lady of Guatemala. This is so potentially life changing for so many lives.  Our 20 named babies that are waiting to come here are still languishing in the overcrowded city orphanage lost in the mire of red tape . . . all the prayers and fasting coming out of the New York and other prayer partner churches may be answered in this meeting . . . little lives could be impacted greatly out of this meeting . . . time for intense prayer.

* Steve will have to fill in the blanks on this meeting in an edit later **

It was a very cool day.  As cool as a blazing hot day in Guatemala can be . . .

While the guys were walking into the Governor's office Steve sent me an S.O.S text for prayer coverage.  After that prayer I walked out of House 6 and this is the first thing I saw . . . a rainbow arcing over the entire campus . . . how many times can I mention how cool this day was . . .