The weekend!

My experience of the weekend was clouded with an overall feeling of malaise, which today developed into an official cold. Nonetheless it was a wonderful weekend full of memorable experiences. Saturday we met Don Filiberto and his family in his home in San Miguel Escobar. We started the morning with sweet bread and delicious hot chocolate. Steve, who I met last year when Jen, Jen's mom, Mandy and I toured Common Hope, was our translator. After our breakfast snack we hiked up the side of Volcan de Agua. It was a beautiful hike. We learned a lot about corn and beans. I was struck by the juxtaposition of the living and dead plantlife - it was breathtaking (and that wasn's just from the steep climb). After an hour or so we reached a flat field where Filiberto shared his story during the times of the army and guerrilla while we enjoyed freshly made tortillas, guacamole, frijoles, and tamarindo (a local drink).

As Chris already shared we spent the afternoon wandering Antigua soaking up the culture and the group enjoyed their adventure with the broken van.

On Sunday we headed to Iximichi, but were only slightly postponed by a very long screw that wedged into the tread of the tire causing it to leak air. Personally, I never have experienced such a quick repair. After it was noticed at the gas station we crossed the street to a conveniently located tire repair shop where within 10 minutes the tire was patched! WOW! We toured the grounds of Iximichi, which were impressive, but paled in comparison to Tikal. I won't say much about our tour of the grounds because I wasn't feeling well so only partially listened to our energetic guide Luisa and I have no doubt Chris will do it more justice than I in his blog posting. We had a wonderful lunch of tortilla and goat cheese (the spanish name escapes me). Oh, I should mention we learned there are four types of corn and each color represents a part of the body according to the Mayans. White (the bones), Red (blood), Yellow (the skin), and Black (the hair and eyes). At lunch we met a dynamic Nurse Practioner, Kathy, who has done so much for the area in terms of family planning and education around nutrition in children. Her story of a woman who was left with five hungry children including an infant to feed after her husband died in December brought to tears to my eyes. The stories rip out your heart and I am left wondering how people like Cathy do this on a daily basis without breaking from the suffering that touches them on a daily basis.
We spent the afternoon again absorping the culture of Antigua and waiting for the procession. While we waited to see the procession we went to La Merced Church to see the sand carpets, which were not unlike the sand mandalas created by the Tibetan monks.
All in all a truly wonderful weekend. I feel so very fortunate to be here.