Behind the apartment in Antigua, Guatemala were the ruins of a church (above). The apartment ($16 per month) had a courtyard, an outdoor kitchen under a tin roof and an enclosed bedroom and bathroom. The back of the courtyard had a door into the space above. The door didn't close and the remains of the church were so beautiful that eventually I took the entire door off and made it into a table using some of the broken pillars as the base. The church space became my dining room. The only other church entrance was this opening about 5 feet off the ground.
About a week after getting the apt, I added an oven and a fridge. Suddenly the neighborswith their flocks of children and their friends children came knocking to ask if they could use the oven and it seemed to always be cooking something. I had to buy a gas bombe (canister of gas) nearly every week but the breads and casseroles coming out of the oven were worth it. I also loved having all the kids around and started up an ad hoc dance school to entertain them and keep choreographing.
(more photos coming..)
