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| View of Volcan Aqua from our room |
Breakfast was scrambled eggs and pancakes with fresh fruits, cold cereal and toast available. It was nice visiting with our teammates over breakfast although many of us, including Mary and I as well as Kent, are feeling the effect of travel and being off schedule. We don’t think that we are ill just tired and perhaps adjusting to unfamiliar antigens.
Like most mornings here in Guatemala City, the morning was sunny and in the low 60s. Temperatures promised to warm into the upper 70s or low 80s but with a distinct possibility of rain over the next few days. We sat outside on the porch enjoying the view of the volcano until time for church.
The service at Access Church in the main hall of the CRI compound was very crowded. All of the people here for missions were at the church, as well as, expatriates living in the area and local Guatemalans. About a dozen young people were in and around the compound with welcoming signs. The first half hour of church was music in English and Spanish with a praise band. Two young women led the singing with lyrics projected on three large screens. Rev. Fontaine delivered a sermon nearly an hour long with scriptures displayed in both English and Spanish.
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| Markets in Antigua |
After the service we went to our rooms and changed for our visit to Antigua. There was pizza on the bus for us as we made the nearly two-hour drive from Guatemala City although it was less than 25 miles. Fontaine’s adopted daughter, Allison, joined us to assist in guiding us through town and interpreting as necessary. Edgar let us off at the market where local weavers and other makers sell their goods. Jerry knew a woman, Teresa, who has quality items at good prices and our group purchased a number of blankets and other weavings from her. We went to another booth where Carlos sells T-shirts and mostly Chinese made items but at good prices. We laughed because Carlos was wearing a University of Kentucky T-shirt. The market was very typical of towns with a lot of tourist traffic. Countless small stores selling everything from bumper stickers to jade jewelry. We went out into the town square where a marimba festival was taking place. We watched for a while then took a quick walk around the town that had been Guatemala’s capital until a series of earthquakes in the mid-1700s prompted the country to move the capital to nearby Guatemala City. The Antigua Guatemala Cathedral still stands in the town that was constructed in 1541. Portions of the church were destroyed in the 1700s but much has been restored. Rain threatened a few times, but the weather was otherwise perfect. The air was cool and dry at the over 6000-foot elevation of Antigua making it perfect to walk through the town.
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| Markets in Antigua |
We met up with the group at the town square and walked to El Adobe, a local Guatemalan restaurant. Mary ordered a bowl of tomatillo based stew with a chicken leg and thigh. I had an appetizer of two chili rellenos that were very different from Mexican chili rellenos. We split a pitcher of locally made lemonade. Several in our group has papian similar to the meal we had on Friday night for dinner. Matthew (16 years old) had chicken nuggets with fries. A lady in the corner of the restaurant was hand making tortillas from blue corn flour and everyone had tortillas with their meal as well as from baskets on the table. We all enjoyed the meal then boarded the bus for the ride back.
As usual, the bus ride was a punishing slow ride in heavy traffic. At one point we saw a sign indicating 8 kilometers to Guatemala City. We timed that it took us one hour to travel the 8 kilometer distance.
We had an abbreviated debriefing in the lounge area when we returned then we all turned in for the night.
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