A Visit from Jessica's Family (Oct. 19)

The mom, sister and brother of Jessica Vanessa (our little one in malnutrition) came down to visit her today.  Dick has found someone willing to provide food for this family on a monthly basis, and so we needed to open a bank account for her.  I really am getting to love this mom, and we got to spend quite a bit of time together today.

You'd think opening an account would be a simple matter, but, it sometimes seems that nothing is simple here.  We did take her to the bank I use, and they were willing to open an account for her, but there was a snag in that she has neither electricity or water in her house, and so had no way to prove her address.  So, because Bethel Ministries would be depositing into this account, they agreed to accept their phone bill as proof of their address.

The only snag was that Bethel's shop is in Chimaltenango, a twenty-five minute drive from Antigua.  Since Dick still doesn't have his Land Cruiser back, we all piled into the pick-up (yes, the kids rode in the back. . .illegal but commonplace in Guatemala.  We talked with Carlos in the shop, got the needed papers, and actually tried to open an account at a bank in Chimal.  We had NO luck with this, and decided we needed lunch, so we went to (where else) Campero's. 

Hector, Jessica's brother, seems to have fallen in love with Dick.  His dad died about a year ago, and it seemed he really enjoyed getting attention from a guy.  It didn't seem like Dick minded too much either.  Blanca, Jessica's sister, is a beautiful young woman, who absolutely adores her little sister and helps care for her.  These were two of the most well behaved kids I've ever eaten lunch with.  I'm sure that the chicken they had was more food than they usually have to eat in an entire day. . .and they each took a piece to save for later.  It was a good reminder of just how well off I have it, and it was a pleasure to watch them enjoy their meal.


After lunch, we went back to Antigua, and, thankfully, the bank there opened an account for her.  So, all things considered, it only took about 4 hours to open one bank account.  But we did it!  I was rather satisified with my ability to navigate this system without help, and feel like I'm starting to acclimate to the way things are done here.  Jessica's mom only had to help me out with understanding the bank officer one or two times.  (No, she doesn't speak English, but is very good at explaining things in a way I, or any three year old with equivalent language skills, can understand.)