On Saturday, Aug. 22. we went with the Newcomers club from school to Guatemala City. The above picture is of one of the settlements that continues to grow out of the central city. This is much steeper than it looks.
To help show the steepness. Many of these areas have no electricity. They start out as people put up cardboard sides with tin roof, then as people have a little money they start with the concrete. Once these areas are settled then the demand for electricity makes the city have to deal with their homeless. These areas have limited to no sanitation and are unsafe for many reasons (mudslides in the rainy season, pollution, no security, and disease). Thousands of people live in these situations because they move to the city to get a few cents more for working.
The valley here is called a barranco (ba-ron-co). The barrancos divide the city into sections and make for interesting travel. You can be walking or driving along and suddenly there is one of these very deep valleys. This one is quite wide but most go down at least 100 yards or more. It also makes traffic bumper to bumper most times of the day because everyone must go over bridges like this to get around the city.
This is the center of Guatemala City. Central park is to the left. To the right is the National Cathedral, and straight ahead is the Palace (used only on formal occasions, not for an actual residence.
This is one of the side streets to the Central Market (Central Marcado). The real market is actually inside. The Street level is textiles, leather goods, and knick-knacks (Guatemala pens & magnets...tourist stuff!), the next lower level (yup it's underground folks!) is produce & meat market, and the lowest level is the whole sale level...everything from dog food, to woven baskets, to candles to clothes. It is at least a block square and Aaron had to duck quite a lot!
I think this is Volcan de Agua (Water Volcano). We can see this from near our house as well. I'm not sure if it is active or not.
Caden & Lily relaxing in our purchase from Central Marcado...a new hammock.
Eat your heart out Dad! This corn is huge...but I believe it is field corn. Every extra scrap of land has something planted on it. This field is less than an acre surrounded by condos near our neighborhood.
The barranco located in our neighborhood. It must be about 100 yards (probably more) literally straight down. Those are full sized houses on the far side. Muy grande!
Caden with some sort of Grasshopper he found. Standing near the edge of the barranco! I can't believe how these pictures lose the extreme heights and depths of this land.
Here is one of the homes on the edge of the barranco on our way to the top of the hill from our condo.
About 100 yards down the mountain is this house also near the edge of the barranco. Amazing the disparity of income with in feet of each other. This house is very unusual also because it doesn't have concrete walls around it with a gate...highly unusual here!
Sisters. Maya reading her homework to Lily. The kids even in Elementary School have 20-40 minutes of homework each night. They really make them work.
Sunset from our bedroom balcony. This picture does no justice to the view. Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our world again. God bless! At His feet, The Klandermans
On Saturday, Aug. 22. we went with the Newcomers club from school to Guatemala City. The above picture is of one of the settlements that continues to grow out of the central city. This is much steeper than it looks.
To help show the steepness. Many of these areas have no electricity. They start out as people put up cardboard sides with tin roof, then as people have a little money they start with the concrete. Once these areas are settled then the demand for electricity makes the city have to deal with their homeless. These areas have limited to no sanitation and are unsafe for many reasons (mudslides in the rainy season, pollution, no security, and disease). Thousands of people live in these situations because they move to the city to get a few cents more for working.
The valley here is called a barranco (ba-ron-co). The barrancos divide the city into sections and make for interesting travel. You can be walking or driving along and suddenly there is one of these very deep valleys. This one is quite wide but most go down at least 100 yards or more. It also makes traffic bumper to bumper most times of the day because everyone must go over bridges like this to get around the city.
This is the center of Guatemala City. Central park is to the left. To the right is the National Cathedral, and straight ahead is the Palace (used only on formal occasions, not for an actual residence. 
This is one of the side streets to the Central Market (Central Marcado). The real market is actually inside. The Street level is textiles, leather goods, and knick-knacks (Guatemala pens & magnets...tourist stuff!), the next lower level (yup it's underground folks!) is produce & meat market, and the lowest level is the whole sale level...everything from dog food, to woven baskets, to candles to clothes. It is at least a block square and Aaron had to duck quite a lot!
I think this is Volcan de Agua (Water Volcano). We can see this from near our house as well. I'm not sure if it is active or not.
Caden & Lily relaxing in our purchase from Central Marcado...a new hammock. 
Eat your heart out Dad! This corn is huge...but I believe it is field corn. Every extra scrap of land has something planted on it. This field is less than an acre surrounded by condos near our neighborhood.
The barranco located in our neighborhood. It must be about 100 yards (probably more) literally straight down. Those are full sized houses on the far side. Muy grande!
Caden with some sort of Grasshopper he found. Standing near the edge of the barranco! I can't believe how these pictures lose the extreme heights and depths of this land. 
Here is one of the homes on the edge of the barranco on our way to the top of the hill from our condo.
About 100 yards down the mountain is this house also near the edge of the barranco. Amazing the disparity of income with in feet of each other. This house is very unusual also because it doesn't have concrete walls around it with a gate...highly unusual here!
Sisters. Maya reading her homework to Lily. The kids even in Elementary School have 20-40 minutes of homework each night. They really make them work.
Sunset from our bedroom balcony. This picture does no justice to the view. Hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into our world again. God bless! At His feet, The Klandermans
3 comments:
Read your update and seen the beautiful pics! Please send an e-mail with any item we can easily (and legally) send with Chad without burdening him too much.... Jif? Anything else? Please let us know so we can do this simple thing to help out!
Great pictures - the kids are looking healthy and brown-skinned! Good to hear what you guys are up to and feel closer because of the marvels of technology! Keep them coming...XOXO Aunt Jen
Hi Klandermans,
the pictures from your blog are amazing!
I'm glad to see that you guys are having fun and being blessed every day.
I'm having a great time in middle school and all my sisters are having a great time too. My mom says Peach Plains seems strange without you.
I was wondering if you are going to be able to vote from Guatemala.
Have a great week! My family says hi too!
Sincerely, Amber Keefe
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