We Bean Drink'n Coffee

check out these coffee locations and links and note Jeff's rating 

10 - Café Barista

 Jeff loves a good cup of coffee!  

As soon as he arrived, we started keeping a record of ratings from all the Guatemalan coffee locations that Jeff would try.

0 - 3.5 Poor

3.6 - 6.9 Good

7.0 - 8. 4 Excellent

8.5 - 10 Superior

 9.5 Casa Palopó

 coffee 

We learned that this Restaurant serves Mike's coffee

from Cross Roads Cafe

 6 Cables X-tremos

Jeff grabbed a cup of coffee just before he and Kathy did zip-lining in Panajachel.  I'm wondering if it was to calm his nerves?  But the coffee wasn't as good as specialty café here in Guatemala.

 8.7 Fernando's Kaffee

We were told to try Fernando's Kaffee in Antigua. The Patio atmosphere was nice.

Then we tried

8.0 McDonald's

Jeff was a little hesitant to stop at McDonald's in Antigua and have a cup of coffee at the very quaint McCafé near the plaza!

 Jeff never did try Starbucks coffee here in Guatemala.

  Jeff and Kathy met our friend Caroline and her husband who have a coffee business right near the Guatemala City airport.  Jeff purchased some bags of  Godoy's , so he will have to rank it himself.  It was fun to watch them roasting the coffee and smell it too.

9.8 & Cafe

 Just as Jeff and Kathy were leaving, we had him try the coffee shop upstairs at the Guatemala City Airport, & Café.

 6.9 Pilandros Café

 Glenn served Jeff coffee from Jope coffee (medium and dark roast) (7.9) and Cafe Altura   (8) here at our house.  His least favorite was Pilandros cafe which is a coffee shop and a candle making location too.  We understand that scents from candles just don't mix with coffee.

8 El Cafetalito

Jeff's first cup of coffee here in Guatemala was at El Cafetalito. He was impressed even though he was drinking out of a "to go" cup.

What is your favorite Guatemalan coffee?

~J

Long Time Bolivia Friends

Jeff and Kathy came to visit us recently for 10 days.  We had a blast!  It was also fun to re-connect with some old friends too, even though we were in Guatemala - we made some connections.

Marj served in Peru for many many years with South America Mission.  Now she is retired and lives with her daughter here in Guatemala.  We enjoyed going over to visit her and recalling precious days when she worked in Peru.

Jordan grew up as a missionary kid in Bolivia and now he serves here in Guatemala with his wife and 2 kids.

Tom and Mariellyn served in Bolivia for many years and now serve here in Guatemala.  They worked at SCCLC, the missionary kid's school where our kids attended, and Mariellyn was Ellen's kindergarten teacher.
~J 

Blog Away

A friend asked me the other day "Are you still alive?  I haven't seen blog posts from you recently."

Yes, I'm still alive but I haven't blogged in several weeks, however that my goal to get back on track in the next few days.  As a matter of fact, we are in Guatemala.  We've just been busy with ministry and life.  We've done some traveling to Panajachel and here in the city.  We've been blessed to have good friends, Jeff and Kathy here for a short visit. 

In the next few "posts", I will be writing about some of the ministry we shared with Jeff and Kathy.

~Judy

Rains in Panajachel, Guatemala

Rain, Rain and more Rain

We arrived here in Panajachel on Monday night, having come the "back way" because the main road from Sololá to Panajachel was washed out.  Fog, potholes, landslides and rain made the back road challenging and scarey at times.

Yesterday, we ate breakfast at Casa Del Mundo (notice how high the water is...over 18 feet higher than normal).  Delicious!  Then we had lunch with the Foote family. What a sweet family. 

We had to introduce Jeff and Kathy to Mike at CrossRoads Café in Panajachel.  Jeff loves Coffee, so this was special. The coffee was only "outdone" by the entertainment. :)

All day today it CONTINUED to rain.  We have had a fire going in the fireplace.  We hear dynamite blasts off in the distance where they're working on reconstructing the road between Sololá and Panajachel.

We don't know what the road conditions will be like tomorrow, but hopefully, we'll be able to get out.

To view more videos about the recent rains in Guatemala, check out YouTube.

~J

Our Friend, Jesse

Jesse is Number 4 out of 11 children. 

His mom and I attended Moody Bible Institute together back in the 70's.  Over the past 30+ years, we would run into Jesse's family either in their beach home in Florida, cabin in Wisconsin, Founder's Week and Moody Alumni Reunions in Chicago.

Back in the summer, Jesse came to Guatemala for a 3 month visit to do various things, such as reflect, study the Word, study Spanish and learn the culture.  When he arrived, we introduced him to several dear friends in Antigua.  We loaned him a cell phone that had recently been donated to us. (Thanks Richmonds!).  We didn't see much of him during his 3 month stay.

Just a couple of days before Jesse returned home, we hosted him in our home.  He was able to help Glenn set up 2 computer monitors down in his office.  We showed him different ministries here in Guatemala, such as Casita Benjamín, SETECA, TGN and even gave him a "birds eye view" of the city dump.

And we served him our traditional Bolivian Monday night dinner - Beans and Rice!

~J

Photo taken in 2009 at MBI Founder's Week.

7 of the 11 kids.  Anybody else know them?
~J

Cheezy Chower

 If you have these ingredients, you can make a delicious soup!

I cut the recipe out of an old 1980's Good Housekeeping magazine during our first year of marriage.  We love it.  I have served it many times to my family.  It is easy to make, quick and simple. It is delightful for a rainy day.

1 Chicken Bouillon cube

1 1/2 cups boiling water

2 cups chopped potatoes

1 10oz pkg frozen mixed vegetables

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 can Cream style corn

1 8oz. jar of Cheez Wiz or 1/2 lg box of Velveeta cheese

1/2 cup of milk

Dissolve bouillon cube in hot water;

Add potatoes, milk, vegetables and onions.

Cover, simmer for 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked

Stir in remaining ingredients;

Heat until cheese is melted and chowder is hot

Makes 6, 1 cup servings.

~J

Hang On for Dear Life

This is a normal occurrence.  Small mini-van/buses that are full of passengers, even have some passengers hanging on for dear life.

We were literally going 70 kilometers (42 miles) an hour.

This young fellow collects the fares as folks get off the vehicle.  He might try to get inside if there is room and if the driver stops long enough.

That is one way to travel.

~J

Junk or Treasure

 

One Man's Junk is another Man's Treasure

Earlier this week Glenn and I were driving in Zone 3 near the Guatemala City Dump and I couldn't help but notice the trash that was gathered on the street.

These guys were literally stripping the car apart, salvaging any possible part to re-sell.

"Junk is stuff you throw away, stuff is junk you keep."

In this case they scavenge for everything.

~J