2007 Guatemala

 1-4-2007

Jay and Roz, who serve a mission here, invited us to come.  It's not a long flight and just a couple hours time difference.  What an eye opening experience.  I feel so grateful for a country with laws and enforcement of laws and for people who have respect for others.  I also feel blessed to live where you can drink the water and where there is cleanliness!  

Introduced to Horchata - a good drink of vanilla flavored rice milk and cinnamon. 

We had a city tour with a friend of Jay and Roz.  They went with us as well as Danny (Roz's son) and Lori Wakefield who were also visiting.  Central market was packed with vendors and I bought a few things to bring home.  Very inexpensive. A boy followed me all the way down the street until I finally bought the bamboo drum he was selling. We learned from the Br taking us around that it's very dangerous riding busses here because gangs jump on and demand money from all.  Anyone not giving $ gets shot.  Many bus drivers have been killed.

5th we went to Tikal.  Julio was the tour guide through Lehi Tours and had a vast knowledge on Mayan history, plants, birds and animals.  There were ancient pyramids everywhere and many dwellings of grass roof shacks.  Saw spider moneys swinging from the trees and big howler monkeys with their young.  What a treat!  There were Toucan birds in the trees and by the pool.  Also super interesting are little tiny black frogs, a little smaller than a house fly! We thought they were little black bugs hopping all over the walkway.

Stayed at Tikal Inn which only has electricity from 6-10pm and again at 6am for a couple hours.  It's pitch black after electricity (which runs by generator) goes off. We were grateful for the full moon shining through the window. The Inn has a lovely pool that looked so inviting to our hot sweaty bodies but our suits are in the bag that got lost...never made it on our plane out of LA. 

Museums had artifacts from some of the temple tombs and "stelars" which were large white engraved stones as tall as us used as signs outside of temples. From the air you can see tons and tons of mounds covered in growth...still waiting to be excavated which is a slow process. 

6th - we did Canopy tours zip line.  It was a series of platforms and cables and we such fun zipping from line to line like a monkey...and yes there were Howler monkeys in the trees with us!!  Awesome!  

Jay picked us up and we enjoyed a lovely home cooked dinner with Sorensen's and played a fun dominoes game called Chicken Foot.

Sunday 7th - no piano or organ so the lady conducting sings the first line to give everyone the pitch. A baby was blessed and carried up by the grandmother who was dressed in traditional colorful Guatemalan clothing and had long braids, braided with long fabric strips and tied together at the bottom in a bow.  A cute little girl with braids all over (like a little black girl) came over and gave me a hug. After church we got lots of hugs and a kiss sound by our ears from ladies and children.  They are so gentle and sweet.  They seemed curious about us.

Rosalind introduced us to a single mother with 10 children.  Many of her children & 1,000's of others are unable to go to school because they have no school supplies which are required by the government in order to attend.  That made me want to help - service project coming up!

A most amazing evening at the gorgeous Mission Pres. home. I felt blessed to be able to go with Sorensen's to this monthly Sr couple potluck. We were all given a gift - even Chris and I!  It was a dough sculptured missionary couple made by a local wife of a bishop.  She is making me a nativity set!  I loved being there with these amazing people - such a great feeling there.

Observations:  little shacks on dirt with something laying on top or grass for roof. One had an electric cord running down the outside with a cell phone plugged in. Clothes lines stretch across the dirt - must drip and make mud.  Dogs, pigs, horses, men with a rifle.  Men with machete wacking the grass along the road. (why doesn't it grow in the yard?)  We never see anyone smoking.  Many men with rifles to guard stores and personal properties.

Kids aren't allowed to go to school without supplies so many don't go. Nobody wears a watch.  I asked Roz if we could send watches, but no, they get stolen and cause trouble to those who have one.  But I am going to send school supplies!

Monday - Antigua - Robbers steel anything - taillights, rearview mirrors even doorbells have to have a metal grate to help prevent theft. They broke into a narrow window at the church and stole tp, detergent, & swivel chairs (disassembled them).  There are dynamite explosions every morning for some reason.  Terrible drivers, trash all over, horn honking...it's crazy like bumper cars! 

We had an adventure with Jeff Burrows who took us in his car to Coban - streets filled with people selling...dirty smelly market... guys with machete or rifle and they don't look afraid to use it.  Macadamia farm...quetzal biosphere sanctuary hike - sacrificial cave - very dirty children.  Saw coffee growing and also cardamom, which we purchased.  Went to Semuc Champey. Very beautiful.  A Guatemala man hitched a ride with us.  I was a bit nervous of him - we couldn't speak each others language.  Jeff's car couldn't make it up the steep hill so how blessed we were to have  the hitch hiker!  He got out and with Chris also, they pushed the car up the hill! I felt bad for being nervous of this nice man riding with us.

Stayed at Park Hotel...lovely.  Saw a stelar and the guide said it says "and it came to pass".  He said the 2nd coming will be like a woman in travail - pains far apart at first but labor intensifies and gets closer and closer until the end.

Antigua:

Doing laundry