Guatemala :: Day 2

You know the trip is going well when you're ready for bed at 8:30! We have reached the end of our first full day in Guatemala, which was one primarily of acclimating and absorbing the culture. I've realized my tendency to compare everywhere I travel to other places I've been, so I'm doing my best to observe Guatemala for what it is, not how much it reminds me of Spain or Uganda or Florence. There are certainly similarities, but this country has so much of its own to offer. 

We had an early morning breakfast in the garden of our hotel before our Guatemalan affiliate, Myra, picked us up to take us to church. If you've been hanging around this blog for a while (aka only my mother and maybe Riley Brandon) you know that worshiping in another language is one of my very favorite parts of traveling. My most recent exposure to Spanish was quizzing Taylor on words like "zapatos" freshman year, so I couldn't necessarily participate in the worship, but being surrounded by people worshiping the same Father in their own language just gets me fired up. 

Grantham and Myra walking to church 

The city square in the EARLY morning 

After church we stood in line to exchange our USD, and I thanked the kind woman for her help in German because I'm an idiot. I'm choosing to believe that it makes up for the time I thanked the German train conductor in Spanish. We got to explore the square a little more after it had come to life post-morning worship. 

We changed out of our church clothes and ate a DELICIOUS lunch of authentic Guatemalan cuisine at a restaurant close to the square, which is within walking distance of our hotel. We had a little time to kill in the markets before our vans came to pick us up to go to San Cristobal, a little village situated above Antigua. 

We climbed up the hill and our driver set us up with a little tour guide of a beautiful co-op focused on organic agriculture. The views from the top were astounding, and it gave us a neat glimpse at the lifestyle of the people in this community. 

Dr. Baldwin taking a break 

The view from the porch of the main home in the complex

HUGE avocados grown at the co-op

Our drivers very carefully drove us back down the mountain to our hotel, where we had some down time before dinner. We found some ice cream (and some Americans) back in the main square after dinner before heading back to the hotel for the night. We are settling in early tonight in preparation for our first day of interacting with our Guatemalan partners tomorrow. 

I cannot thank my home team enough for all of your prayers and words of encouragement this week. I am so grateful for this adventure and the heart changes at work. 

Buenas noches!