A day in paradise

Hoy fue fantastico. Today was fantastic!  It was so full of experience and learning. We visited several sites sponsored by the mission including the women's center, the coffee project, the reforestation project, and a hospital. All places offered vast amounts of knowledge. Personally I made a friend, and his name was Samuel! I met him in the hospital as he was pretending to be un tigre! The day's experiences culminated, at least for me, on a rooftop sight to see as a silver lining setting sun revealed the ominous Toliman volcano looming in the distance as clouds rolled into the valley. It was a view I will never forget, and the air held an encompassing radiant glow filled with tranquility and life that encaptured the attention in Guatemala's soft clutch. A feeling not soon to be forgotten. 

As written by Josiah

You Don't Grow Unitl You Break Out Of Your Comfort Zones

Our journey started with many different emotions. However, we could be nothing but excited after gazing out at a beautiful sunrise on out 1st flight. 

After a 13 hour journey of rock planes, bumped bus rides, and most importantly bonding, we finally made it safe to San Lucas Toliman, Saturday 2/27. 

We started off this morning(2/28), with not to mention surprising hot showers, but also with a Spanish spoken Catholic mass. At mass the people of Guatemala filled the church inside and out. People were gathering on the steps to hear the Gospel after it was filled to the max inside. 

We had the opportunity to take a boat tour around the lake Atitlan. San Lucas Toliman is right on the lake. The lake is known as the most beautiful lake in the world and also the most unknown and the deepest in Central America. "Atitlan" actually means where the rainbow gets its colors. It is in a valley surrounded by 3 volcanos, 1 is still active. We were able to absorb the vibrant pink, yellow, and blue colors. It is surrounded by many towns. We stopped at 3 including: San Antonio, Santa Catarina, and Santa Cruz. Each was filled with different stands of hand crafted art and jewelry. We are now all expert barters. We stopped for lunch in Santa Cruz at a lake side restaurant. 

After the the boat tour, we wanted to explore San Lucas on foot. About half of us went on a hike. We explored many different parts of the city but one of the most intriguing things we stumbled upon was the cemetery. It wasn't like what we see at home. It was filled with vibrant colors and above ground graves due to water that way they can't wash away. 

Once we explored the cemetery, locals pointed us in the direction of small nature trail leading up a hill to get a better view of the city. 

Here is what we saw. All the bright "buildings" are the graves in the cemetery. This depicts how their graves represent the celebration of life instead of the on going grieving. 

We finished off the evening with a games of tag with local children after dinner, in front of the mission. It started with Shelby (one of the students) asking a little boy may what his name is. He is name is William. Shelby then started a game of "la lleva" or tag. Two other boys were with William and played with us. They were so happy with giant grins and bigs laughs. We made plans to meet again after dinner tomorrow to play soccer with William and his friends. 

To end this post we would like to leave you with a Guatemalan proverb:

"Everyone is the age of their heart"

With love from Guatemala,

Annmarie, BethAnn, and Shelby