I might have mentioned that it’s cold here, unlike most of Guatemala. We’re at about 10,000′ above sea level (twice as high as Denver) and it gets into the 40s every night. That’s nice weather, if your house is heated. But for us, we see our breath as we boil water to fill the hot water bottles for our bed. Then we put on our thermal underwear, then our fleece pants and tops, then we get in our bed and put our down blankets on top. This keeps us warm through the night, but does NOTHING for the awkward hours between nightfall around 6:00pm and when we actually hit the sack at about 10:00pm (WAY later than the locals).
We talked briefly about building OURSELVES a stove after the Peace Corps model, but that won’t go in our house because it’s a wood house on stilts (an anomaly in Guatemala) and the heavy masonry of the stove would go crashing through the floor. Then I remembered that I once looked into portable woodburning stoves for hunting outfitters and yurts. Maybe that would work! 
So, I was dumb and started looking on the internet. I soon found the dream stove I remembered: a Cylinder ™ Hunter. Emily and I are now obsessed with the idea of being WARM in the evenings. It’s compact, heats a tent about the size of our cabin, holds heat for 5-6 hours, and is super efficient with firewood. Nothing remotely like it is available in Guatemala (Cylinder Stoves are made in Utah).
There is but one problem with this otherwise GREAT idea to get us through two winters: cost. The stove runs about $250 with the minimum accessories, and in Quetzales, that’s nearly 2,000. To make it worse, I emailed the company and the cheapest shipping to Guatemala they could find is $300. We would have to take a loan out to get that stove! Now I know how the locals feel.
So, if anyone has a clever solution to this dilemma, let me know. I toy with the idea of spending the last of our money in our US bank account and having it sent to my Dad’s house. Then, if I somehow am able to come back for the holidays, I can carry it on the plane back to Guatemala (it only weighs 30 lbs) and save the $300 shipping. That’s still three months of freezing my butt off, but better than nothing
OR… if you want to help us keep warm this winter, you can donate to our personal Stove Fund! I want to make it clear that this is not money to help any Guatemalans or other charitable deal, this is purely for us. Though I guess it helps Guatemalans in a roundabout way; if we survive the winter, we can keep helping them. If you feel like donating something, click the button. You can donate as much or as little as you want, through PayPal. Thanks!