Day 8 & 9

Greetings All From Guatemala!

We headed to Antigua on Tuesday all us in the van with our wonderful driver Tom.  Here you have to drive using your race driver helmet.  We toured the area seeing lots of old buildings, cobblestone roads and much poverty.  Zone 3 is the name for an area that is so....bad. The poverty and corruptness runs rampant. The team prayed as we approached the area but it was  an eye opening experience and one that we will not forget. The Basurera is the name for the garbage dump where many people make their living by scavenging anything they can sell or recycle.  It is the largest dump in Central America, and many people live there.

We then went to the central market area to do some  fun shopping. (our outing day away from the orphanage). Jill showed us the booths owned by Christians that she has bargained with in the past and we went crazy purchasing gifts for sponsors, family and friends. Some of the team took a while learning that you don't just take the price they want- you tell them what you will pay.  We named Peter the shopper of the day!  I would like to go back again and see how some of the vendors make the items.

Jill, Mike and Tom then took us to a Coffee plantation called Filadelphia for a nice lunch. The country side was just beautiful and they even  do weddings there. (Of course that interested me). Amy went crazy when she saw an old fashioned wood teeter totter.  Some of us played on them for a while and lots of pictures will be available for all to see when the team returns.

We then went back to do more shopping, but this time we saw the market where the Guatemalans actually shop, not the tourists.  The meat is just hanging out with flies or bugs on it. There was lots of chickens and beef sitting out all day.  There was a lot of produce, clothes and flowers, but it was very crowded and enclosed.   I am not sure that I would like to shop for my meat that way. Mike took another group to do a tour of one of the old Catholic churches in Antigua.  Then home to the orphanage for dinner, debriefing and rest for the next big day.

The guys continue with the plumbing project and it interesting to see the little helpers they have working with them.  They really surprise me, one carried a big basket of clothes down to the clothes line for me, very heavy and many steps down. I wouldn't want to do my laundry that way!

~Judy