Feb 20, 2011 "...Saturday."

Well. Today was long. I was brilliant and had coffee with my dessert last night, so I was a little wound up to say the least last night. While everyone else was in bed well before ten, midnight was closer to the time I hit the hay. After goofing off with Rayann, some SERIOUS toilet troubles, some music, some food, and some devotions, I popped in my earplugs and hit the hay. Rayann got the big bed, so I was stuck rolling around on the twin. But that’s okay!
This morning we got up around seven thirty or eight, (well Rayann and I anyway), threw ourselves together, and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of eggs, tamales, beans, pancakes and jelly, chips and salsa, and wonderful fresh fruit. After I was finished eating, I grabbed my stuff and hung out by the back gate. I turned around and saw Miguel (who worked at the orphanage last year)! I ran to him and was greeted by a great big Guatemalan hug and a kiss on the cheek! It was great to catch up with him, but I was sad to know that he won’t be joining us at the orphanage this year.
Then, before I could catch my breath, I turned around and saw Bindy! I had to get in a LINE to give her a hug! After the hugs and catching up was done, I took a breath and looked around. I realized, this is why I went back to Guatemala back year. Because I left family here. Guatemala last year wasn’t just a “nice experience” for me. This is where I’ve planted some roots, and I felt a calling to come back this year, and watching all of these old relationships re-bond made me appreciate that I was able to come back here.
After some laughs with Chad and a bandana – you’ll see pictures later – we were about to load up on the busses, but became preoccupied with a few motorcycles sitting outside of the hotel. Well, they call them motorcycles here, but they would be compared to … small dirtbikes or mopeds back at home. Jennie claims to have seen six people on them at once, but we maxed on at four.
We loaded the busses and headed to Antigua. We first stopped at a coffee plantation, a different one than last year. I was quite excited, because I have found my love for coffee over this last year, so I paid special attention this year. The process is an interesting one. The plant takes years to grow, especially after what they call “grafting”, where they put two different plants together to form a new kind of coffee, blending the qualities of the coffee’s like body, flavor, bean size, etc.
After that, we went to an old cathedral. The cathedral was made for “Brother Peter”, a saint well known in Guatemala. The Cathedral was an almost mustard orange, with white accents. The Cathedral was built for Brother Peter, and was made for poor people, so there were minimal accents, unlike most cathedrals. The art inside was gorgeous, and there was something I’d never seen before. There were little black, almost cart looking things, with a bunch of different sized, shaped, and colored candles that were lit. People from the town would come into the cathedral and light a candle, symbolizing a prayer. Each color means something different. I learned them all last year, but obviously I forgot. All I remember is that white means thanks to God. Outside the Cathedral were two GIANT palm trees…they were gorgeous. I decided to uproot one of them, throw it in my suitcase, and plant it in my back yard. Dorothy overheard my brilliant plan, and instead of commenting on the huge size of the tree, she says “good luck getting them through customs”. I giggled. On the other side of the Cathedral was a tree that Brother Peter planted, where the flowers are said to have healing powers when made into tea. The tree was planted…oh gosh I don’t even remember how many years ago! We found a little gift shop outside of the cathedral, I bought two postcards (the same one) and I bought a multi colored candle, with all the seven colors of the candle’s lit in the cathedral. I also bought a rosary (I’m not catholic, but yes, I bought a rosary. Callie, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re proud of me (; ) The rosary is made out of the seeds of this magical tree and smells amazing!
After that cathedral, we went to another cathedral, this one for richer people. Please note that almost all of Guatemala is catholic. This cathedral, again no camera’s allowed, had amazing architecture and detail. They were actually having a church service when we came in, but all of the doors to the church were open, so it seemed as if people could come and go as they pleased. They, again, had the little booth type things with the candles in them. Oh how I wish I could have snuck a picture!
After the cathedral, we ate lunch. Unlike last year, we just sat in one of the parks and ate pre-packed sandwiches that Lydia made for us. I am not sure if that is how you spell her name, but anyways, she’s the owner of the hotel we stay in. If you look up HOSPITALITY in the dictionary, her picture is right there. The sandwiches were very good, and after that we went to the Jade Factory.
If you don’t know, Jade is a type of stone, it comes in many different colors and can only be scratched by diamonds. The colors are many types of green, usually medium to dark, lavender, and black. (I think that’s all). The Jade Factory is the same one we went to last year, but they had all new jewelry. Bindy works there, so it is fun to watch her talk about it. When we were there last year, I bought a real Jade bracelet, with just a little black Jade on it. This year, I fell in love with a ring. A pretty honkin ring at that. It was something like 585 Quetzales. I remember the number so well because I stared at that stupid number trying to convert it into American dollars. We don’t exchange our money here, because everyone takes dollars, but prices are still always written in Q’s (as we call them), but I like to pronounce out QUET-ZAL-ES. (:
I caved. I bought the ring. And it’s not my fault! Barb talked me into it! I got the ring sized and I love it. After that we went to the great big outdoor market, but only for a little while. I got a few key items, like a new scarf, a birthday present for Natia, and mug (I collect mugs), a tiny painting that I love, and probably some more things I don’t need.
After the market we stopped at a Coffee Shop, which was AWESOME. I bought CHOCOLATE covered COCOA beans. No, not chocolate covered espresso beans (which are great), chocolate covered cocoa beans. Sounds right up my alley, huh? I haven’t tried them yet. I also bought a mocha, and didn’t put ANYTHING in it. It. Was. Good. Strongest stuff I’ve ever ever hard. Dark as night and super thick. Hence why it is one in the morning, and I am still writing this stupid thing.
After the coffee stop, we went to the grocery store in Antigua. Now, if I were explain this grocery store, I’d say, “Take super wall mart. Put it in Madison’s Dollar General.” I’d say that’s pretty accurate. The isles are barely wide enough for an American to fit through. There is also an upstairs. You can get food there, there is a pharmacy there, you can get beauty products and office supplies and clothes, you name it! We bought water and some candy. Well, that’s all I bought.
At some point in time, I believe during the Jade Factory visit, Alejandro appeared. In all the hustle and bustle, I only had time to give him a quick hug. He was behind me at the check out in the grocery store, and thank goodness, cuz I couldn’t understand my poor cashier worth a toot! After I paid, he said to me, “Haley, why do you not know Spanish?” I said, “Alejandro, do you not remember last year!? I knew nothing!” He says, “But you promise me you come back next year and know Spanish.” Now, I remember nothing of the sort, but I’m not surprised. Alejandro asked me if I wanted to ride back to the hotel with him in his car, and I was enthusiastic to get off that van. I hopped in the back of his little black mazda, after he so kindly opened the door for me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched Chad slink into the seat next to me. Matt (the plumber, as he’s known best) hopped in the front seat and off we were!
We first stopped at a coffee shop that had a computer, and Matt hopped on to check something important. I looked out the window into a super cool shop and commented on how much I LOVED one of the dresses in there. Alejandro told me that Ceasar owned the shop, and Chad, who knew Ceasar, was thrilled! So then after that we had to go see Ceasar, which was very interesting for me. Alejandro says he is one of the richest people in Antigua, but he seemed very kind and gentle when I met him.
We came back to the hotel, and I rushed to put sweat pants on. Rayann and I sat down and wrote our devotion, and then ate supper. Supper tonight began with a soup. What kind? I was unsure. It was very orange, but tasted like nothing I had had before. The texture was similar to school’s tomato soup, which is…interesting. Surprisingly, I loved it! We figured out it was a mixture of squash, carrot, broccoli, califlour, etc. I was surprised, cuz I hate all those things! The main dish was lasagna, and I’m not a big lasagna person, but it was pretty good. Dessert was a giant flower shaped cookie with some kind of sorbet or something with it.
Devotions were led my Rayann and I. We talked about going out of our comfort zone, because for most people, flying to a foreign country and leaving everything behind is slightly out of our comfort zone. We talked about how important it is for us to follow God, especially when he leads us out of our comfort zone because that’s where miracles happen. Look at the bible. Noah, Moses, Mary, Peter, were they in their comfort zone? God is our comfort all the time, he can comfort us even when we are out of our PERSONAL comfort zone. I asked them to split into groups with people they didn’t know well (no family or spouses) and shared something that has been on our heart that is maybe out of our comfort zone to share. Everyone looked at me like I was pure evil, then slowly shifted into groups. People were slow to share, but I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room after 20 mins or so. It was really awesome to see God break down some walls for us, and let us connect with people we might not normally. We sang a few more songs and headed into our rooms. Katie moved into our room with us tonight. She’s an 18 year old from the twin cities. We all laughed in our room, and soon the adults were off to bed, but Rayann and Katie and I stayed up talking and looking at pictures. We decided she could be our cousin too, except for the fact her skin is near black…. Well, if you haven’t noticed…we’re white. Anyways, they drifted off the sleep a while ago and I suppose I should too. Tomorrow is cross on the hill and church, and I don’t know after that. Sweet dreams everyone, comment it UPPP. Love you. Night (: