Guatemala or Bust!

 Hello! The team arrived at the airport very early and our flight took off at 5:30 am!

 There was a layover in Chicago, so several of us had breakfast together.  Carol was showing off her creative skills with a bagel flower!  

 

We arrived in Guatemala City around 1:00 pm mountain time and were met by our host Nury and her grandson. Nury has been hosting mission team for many years with a true servant’s heart.

We drove through Guatemala City and it was so busy! We saw remnants of Mayan aqueducts that were built thousands of years ago, and the Spanish later added to. 

Our host told us that approximately 5 million people moved around the area at that time of day! We saw so many interesting things during the drive out of the city. 

A quick lunch break at a local chicken chain.

We also saw volcanoes along the way and our host’s home is at the foot of Volcán de Agua which is very picturesque. There is another volcano close by called Volcan del fuego which is currently active and spews lava and ash almost daily. The entire region is mountainous and lies over three tectonic plates, so they frequently have earthquakes. 

The team stopped at the church and set up all our eyeglass stations so that we would be ready to start in the morning.  We met the staff of the church and school, and everyone was so welcoming!  Check out the picture of the page from the church’s hymnal.  It was provided by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation, just a mile down the road from St. Peter!  Such a small world we live in!  We even got a tour of the kitchen.  The ladies were so thrilled to show us how they made tamales and tortillas.  We got to have the tamales for dinner before we left for the guest house.

Our Arrival at the host’s home was quite welcome is it is beautiful with lush vegetation and many rooms with unique furniture and decor. It was a very long day, so we went straight to our rooms and to bed.

Good night.