were bittersweet. excitement about moving on toward the next adventure ... but reluctance to leave the dear people in guatemala and things that had become familiar. the weekend prior to leaving, i went with the group to Tikal... a place of mystery and history of the Mayan people. i was amazed by the ruins of these people's temples of worship and their ability to construct such structures having none of the equipment or "technology" we have today. (see if you can find me in the picture!) amazing indeed. it turned out to be a relaxing weekend and i returned to antigua with the group Sunday night to prepare to leave monday noon for guatemala city.
on monday in the morning, i went to a clinic in Chimaltenango (about 40 minutes from antigua) that is aided by my father's regional church organization (the Baltimore Presbytery). Ronaldo and his wife work at the clinic and showed me around and introduced me to various others who work there. they explained the different works going on there - health care, health promotion in neighboring communities, education and leadership development for adults, and a psychology/counseling service. the whole morning was in Spanish, thus a good test of my ability to understand and ask questions. i fared pretty well. the picture is of the room that was built through funds from the baltimore presbytery. (escuela de teologia y tecnica - school of theology and technology)
i said good bye to my host family and to the gals i lived with (philly, carrie and becky - all PA students from UNMC... a lovely group of new friends) and went on my way to la capital (guate city) for an afternoon of rest and puttering around before my 6 am flight to Qutio, Ecuador. i met a Guatemalan friend named Josue there for a late lunch at a wonderful taco place (buena comida en guatemala!!!) and then spent the evening enjoying a bookstore, the Holiday Inn's small exercise room, the pool (outdoors, warm water, under the stars... all to myself... dreamy!) and a phone call to home. my flight left as scheduled and i was on my way to ecuador.
farewell guatemala - i hope to return someday very soon. three weeks was too short!
No comments:
Post a Comment