New Places, Old Friends

I am a little behind on updating!  I've been home for about a week and a half now.  But I wanted to share pictures of one last trip I took after school ended.

Some members of the church that I grew up in are partnering in missions with a Guatemalan church by the Lake.  They invited me to join them, and so I met them for a few days.  It was awesome to see people that knew me from elementary school, but that I haven't seen in years!

  It was quite the adventure getting there-- much more difficult than I had thought.  First I took a shuttle van to Panajachel, the largest town by the lake, and one that I had been to before.
  I wanted to catch a boat- or lancha - directly to San Lucas.  But it turns out they don't run that route on Tuesdays (or Mondays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, for that matter).  So I took a boat across the lake to the next larger town, Santiago.  No lanchas from here, either, but there were buses! 
  This chicken bus was thankfully much more empty than the ones I occasionally take in the city.  It still drove just as fast though!  They dropped me off at the edge of town; after wandering through the market awhile, I asked directions and found my group!


Stopping in Santiago for something to eat



My hotel room

The Group

The school where they were teaching English
to the grade K - 6 students

Preschool / Kindergarten lesson

3rd grade lesson

Special birthday lunch

 

The church that they are partnered with:
La Esperanza

Digging and Building
the sanitation well

Mixing cement

Of course, I found a kitten!

Lake Atitlan





 

Getting back to Antigua proved just as difficult as getting there.  Thank you to JoHannah for helping me find a safe pick-up truck to take me back to Santiago.  That was the most amazing drive!  Flying up and around curves; the wind in my face; colorful farmlands sloping down to the sparkling lake, a vivid blue, out of which rose the volcano.  I try to describe one of the most beautiful sights I've seen in the country, because with about 15 Guatemalan men and me in the open back of a pick-up, I was not going to dig through my purse and take out my camera!

Another lancha and I was back in Pana to catch my shuttle van home.

Thank you to the missions group for letting me help translate and spend some time with you all!