Tuesday SOLSC - 10/29/13 - Mission Trip to Guatemala - #1

Before I begin my adventure, I will begin as our hosts did in Guatemala.  Thank you, Lord, for watching over us and blessing us every day.


Our group of seven left Fayetteville in the early morning hours before sunrise amidst lightening and low lying clouds.  Fortunately there was no delay and we were above the clouds quickly to see the sun rise through the clouds.  Off to Houston to meet my brother and then for our flight to Guatemala City.  Upon our arrival in Guatemala City, we met another member of our group and then the Habitat people.  People waiting, people talking, people shouting, noise abounded at this busy airport.  I think because it is a smaller and more congested airport, it seemed much louder, noisier and busier.  We were directed through the crowds into the pick up area where we put luggage in the van and were on our way into the traffic of the city.  Horns honking, cars, buses, vans, moving in and out from one lane to the next and back again (not much different than Chicago, but very intimidating - glad I was a passenger).  We weren't sure if our driver was giving us the "scenic" route, or if he wasn't sure where he was going, or just trying to avoid traffic, but finally we were out on the open road.

My brother, Allan, & me in front of Posada Los Bucaros, our hotel in Antigua

The stone streets of Antigua

Antigua was our stop for the night.  We got our rooms, met up with the rest of our group and walked to the downtown area of Antigua, following our leader and a map to get our bearings in this strange city.  The architecture is amazing - the facade, the windows, the doors leading into the garden area of the homes, old buildings  - some abandoned, some in ruins, some renovated. 

One of many unique doors

leadin

g

 in the courtyards

The streets are made of rocks filled with sand - some small, some larger - difficult to walk on.  The sidewalks are need of repair.  It was hard to take in all the sights because I was always looking down to see where I was walking.

The main square is the heart of Antigua.  Government buildings on two sides, stores on another and a beautiful church completes the square.

The main street thru the Arch, leading to the square

Government Building around the square

The square is also the place where the street vendors are in abundance and will not let you alone.  They know the tourists and keep after them to make their sale.  They say, "Look, it's only one dollar.  Maybe later.  You buy, I be your friend.  Feel.  Your husband buy for you."  Their English is quite adequate to push their wares.  It's a difficult life for them and their products are handmade and beautiful, but you can only buy so much and it's only the beginning of the trip.  At times I felt violate by all of the pushiness, but finally just smiled, said "Gracias, no" and moved on.

One side of the square

Cathedral

Fountain in center of square

Picture of mountains from the square

We had a wonderful dinner with ethnic cuisine and an early turn in.  Of course, my roomie, Julie,
and I talked quite a while after the lights were turned off.  Even though we had just met, we soon fell into a close relationship.  Her brother was also on the trip and he was rooming with my brother.

Sunday was another travel day by bus to our destination for the rest of the week - Panajachel on Lake Atitlan.  We drove three hours through very scenic areas.  We saw the mountains, field after field for farming - most of them on very steep hills.  We pulled off to see the volancos and Lake Atitlan and after many curvy, hilly roads (reminded me of Arkansas), we arrived at our hotel. 

One side of Lake Atitlan

Two of the volancoes on Lake Atitlan

Checked in, got settled (somewhat) and then off to eat another delicious lunch (huge portions - too much, wrapped it up and gave it to a hungry man on the street).

After a few hours of relaxing and browsing the market area, we headed to the Habitat Offices in Panajachel.  There we met with the Habitat staff, the families that we would be helping, and found out where we would be working.  Since there were 13 of us, we divided into two groups.  Our group would work with a family of eight - Juan & Katarina, 3 older daughters, a son and 2 younger daughters,  Juan and two of the daughters and Francisco (the nephew) were there for us to meet.  They spoke in their native dialect.

The rest of the group would be working with a young family.  He was a wood carver by trade, his wife and 3 children (8, 5 and 2 months). 

We would be starting from the ground up - the masons would have the outside perimeter of the house marked.  We met with our team, Thrivent Build coordinator (Willie) and our Habitat coordinator (Marco), to discuss our concerns, fears, feelings from the day, etc.  They told us to get a good night's rest, breakfast was as 7:00 a.m. followed by an hour van ride to the work site.  And so, our journey has started.  To be continued....

And, as we ended Sunday, we again praised and thanked God for his many blessings and bringing us safely to our destination.