Day Away in Guatemala City, plus

Hello all....

well, this was a very different day for us as we went to Guatemala City for a day away. We were excited that we were all able to go, though admittedly a couple of students seemed pensive as they were not feeling 100%. But they prevailed and we were willing to go at their pace.

We had hoped to go to Antigua, but due to the fact that it is Holy Week, Antigua would have been so overwhelmed with the tens of thousands of people - it would have been havoc for our group. So we went to Guatemala City. Once we arrived, we tried to exchange our money in 3 places so that we would have enough for everyone to go around. We arrived at the city square, where our group of 26 gringos, led by 2 Guatemalan men from Casa Bernabe stood out like a bunch of obvious tourists. But it was fun being noticed!

Some of the things we saw:

An old Catholic church, which was full of pilgrims on this day before Good Friday. There were people in the pews praying. There was a statue of Jesus carrying his cross and people were standing close to it, taking pictures, touching the robe that draped the figure, and even kissed it! As they left that little corner where the statue was, they genuflected and mumbled something. There were actually many little altars and chapels imbedded into various nooks and crannies in the church with various statues, shrines to saints. Interesting to see this part of the culture.

Another thing we saw: Lots of people dressed in purple clothes and hats. They are people who pay to be a part of the holy week processions, perhaps as a way of pilgrimage or penance. They were EVERYWHERE! We saw some processions in the distance, but we also got to see up close one of the areas that had been prepared for the procession that was to arrive in 30 minutes. The road was covered with a long rectangular patch of sawdust with coloured icons at various points along the patch. When the procession arrives, they will walk over what took so long to create. Much of their holy week celebrations involve so much procession and elaborate preparations. It looked very beautiful and so many people got involved in it. Along with all of that, of course, come the street vendors, the hawkers, the gawkers, and the predators. We were always in groups and made sure no wallets, passports, and of course, our students were at risk, as much as it was up to us. The Lord kept us in his care, and we were very grateful! It made for an afternoon of enjoyment.

One of the highlights of our trip was to go to the mercado, the market, and look around at the different booths. After a while much of what was being sold looked similar: jewelry, tablecloths, hammocks, t-shirts, knives, machetes, purses, etc. But our kids found some pretty good deals with quite a few machetes, bracelets, trinkets, and baubles finding their way onto the bus! The time went very quickly...too bad the mercado wasn't closer. It would be fun to go back.

After mercado and procession watching, we went out for a very nice lunch at a restaurant that offered us three choices to make ordering much simpler for our large group: steak, chicken, or fish. The fish plate was veggies, rice, and of course, fish. The chicken plate included potatoes, some au gratin bowl, and chicken. The steak plate was amazing, with fried bananas, tomatoes with cheese, refried beans, guacamole - see the picture below. Everyone was given a plate of flan as a dessert...the house choice, but maybe too different for our group?

Following lunch, we toured a very impoverished area of Guatemala city called La Limonade - it is a slum built on a garbage dump. The streets were littered with refuse, and people were carrying sacks of stuff they'd pilfered and hoped to sell, or use to build. What a way to live...it broke our hearts to see it. When we pulled out on a different roadway, we saw the slum from a different area - a few pics should be below to see. Houses built into the hillside and upon each other, made out of whatever materials they could get their hands on.

The day was a day of contrasts, because after going to the old part of the city, seeing history, religiosity, commerce, poverty, we found ourselves heading back to the orphanage, but on the way we stopped at a Guatemalan Walmart. It was fascinating to see the similarities and the differences between the store we are used to. Different products, and of course, the language. And Pinatas. Pretty cool.

When we returned to Casa Bernabe, the orphans held a program with various skits, as a way to say thank you to all of us. It was a touching presentation that brought tears to many of our eyes, especially when they prayed over us. Wow...

Tomorrow is our last day. We're all clamoring to try and spend whatever moments we can with the children, because we know that Saturday's a'coming! Not that we don't want to come home - but this has been a very special time for each of us.

Buenos Noches - until next time.