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My weekly routine features long hours of work each day from Monday through Friday on the Bezaleel farm.  While I generally find most of my work enjoyable, I still make time for really fun activities unrelated to the school.  One of those activities is riding my bike.  I purchased a bicycle back in February and have been enjoying riding around the area and the freedom of travel that a bicycle offers me.  Bicycling here in Alta Verapaz is great exercise because it seems like I am always going up a hill or climbing mountains rather.  Because of the rigorous course, my machine must be in good repair with quality parts.  I am now on my third freewheel since I bought my bike.  The 50Q freewheels I had been purchasing just did not hold up to the trials I put them through for more than a month.  Most bicyclists here walk their bikes up hills, which I attributed to physical unfitness or the lack of knowing how to downshift gears properly.  Now I am beginning to wonder if people walk their bicycles up hills to protect their freewheels!  I have now purchased a 150Q freewheel and it his holding up much better.

Climbing the mountains of Alta Verapaz.

My free time between classes each monring has allowed me to begin a new hobby.  Learning how to use a sling accurately has been an interest of mine for years.  This past April,  I braided my first sling.  My accuracy has been improving over the past eight weeks of practice.  I am now able to group my shots within a 3 foot circle at 20 yards.  I am hoping to achieve groupings of 3 inches at 30 yards soon.  One of my biggest challenges with accuracy is finding quality ammunition.  Round or egg shaped rocks 1.5-2 inches in diameter are the most aerodynamic for the size of sling I am using.  Yet, it is difficult to find rocks meeting those criteria around the school.  I am planning some biking expeditions to find creeks with rounded stones.

My sling and stones

My host family provides most of my meals and I am barely expected to lift a finger to help, though I do occasionally help shell corn and beans.  Nonetheless, I miss rustling up food in the kitchen.  Galen and Phyllis permit me to relieve my pent-up passion to cook when I visit them on Thursday evenings.  The other week I used some of the vegetables I grew to make a colorful and tasty stir-fry.

The stir-fry.  How many vegetables can you identify?

Steamed Amaranth is very good.

Traditional Guatemalan cheese and toasted sesame seeds added the finishing touch.

Yum!

When I am finished with a day of work, I usually can relax in my room by napping, practicing my guitar, pencil sketching or reading a good book.  Usually, because I never know what ticks Tyson (Alfredo Jr.) or Ingri are going to play on me.  They receive much amusement by hiding in my room to scare me when I return, stealing my water bottle with the hope that I will chase them to retrieve it or sticking their fingers on my guitar strings to mute the sound while I am practicing (they seem to like the muted sound whereas I prefer clear notes).  While they are annoying at times, I do enjoy having them around (most of the time) and cannot imagine the house without them, then again, I guess it would be a lot quieter!

A sketch of my favorite instrument here in Guatemala.

Tyson likes pretending to play the guitar, but is unwilling to commit to regular practice.

Ingri, Stefan and Tyson