I spent 8 days in Guatemala... Nothing like any place I've ever been. Not like Ecuador, or Mexico. I was received in the tiniest little arport in Guatemala by Armilda and Benjamin Alonzo. This was the journey: I drove to a plane that took me to a taxi which took me to a 6 hour bus ride. We then took up truck up the side of a mountain. I ended up in the last house on top of a mountain outside of Chiquimula,: I drove to a plane, that took me to a cab, that took me to a 6 hour bus ride, that put me into a pic
Guatemala.
The following days I climbed even higher on the mountain...
I saw la carabana de zorro which is when motorcycles come from all around Central America and drive from Guatemala to
Esquipulas for a mass. Thousands of motorcycles came from all over, and I saw them the whole trip to the city and throughout the day. After going to mass with the whole family we went to eat, to
the zoo and to see the cristo negro that has hundreds of miracles connected to it.
We went to a zoo, but the
best part of that was that I had time to spend with baby Jesslie Liseth Alonzo!! She's only three months and she's precious!
The rest of the week I spent in the village of San Juan Ermita, El Zarzal, and another just outside of concepcion. There I learned how to make tamales (the real way), how to make bread inside of a big rock, and tortillas!
One of the neatest experiences in these eight days was going to a small aldea called SOS.. this was not a village like the others I had visited. It was beautiful, with Spanish style Guatemala hosts about 10 villages for children throughout the country. In Guatemala, if a mother passes away and there is no Aunt able to care for the child(ren) then they are placed in a village such as this.houses (not Guatemalan). There were playgrounds and gardens everywhere. This 14 house village was home to about 200 children.
It was beautiful. To just live simply for a week. The family I was with lives even MORE simply when I am not there. I would love to spend much longer than a week there. What else can I say? I loved it and it made me so happy. :-)
