Mark, Dayle, Johnny, Tristan, me, and Dania at a restaurant
Johnny and Tristan posed as tough guys - but when they got close to the lava they couldn't hide they amazement of being this close to the mouth of the lava flow!
We were so close to the lava! We heard and watched it crackle and pop and roll and fall - crazy!!!!
Great times in Antigua!
We're having a really wonderful time hanging out with the Annands - Mark and Dayle and their three kids - Alicia, Baily, and Christopher.
Sunday we went to their church where they do everything bilingually - so they switch back and forth in the singing between the songs in English and Spanish, and then the sermon is also translated. I really like having it in both languages, that was neat. The church was packed because there was a group from the states that arrived to do some missions work. There was also some adopting mom's who were here to pick up their babies that they've been working to adopt... I got teary... After church we toured some ruins, walked all around town and had some lunch. We then went back to the Annands and relaxed. In the evening we went out with Mark and Dayle to a great restaurant that had live music and really good soup!
Semana Santa is being celebrated here and so the entire city is full of tourists and also all the natives to celebrate. Their celebration includes doing gigantic proccessionals where 40 men carry a HUGE 'float' all day long through the town and outlying towns that depict Jesus crucifixion. They've been doing this all month but during this week they do it every day. I guess on Thursday night they do it all night long. Then there is another float of Mary that the women follow with. There are also bands and incense that follows along too. All day long people work to make alfombras which is saw dust art that looks like giants rugs on the ground. The smallest ones are 6 feet by 20 feet. It's really incredible and they spend hours and hours decorating these huge pieces of art and the purpose is for them to be trampled on by the processionals when they walk by. The catholics do this as a way to take off years of time in purgatory. It's hard to explain all of this, but really - it's incredible and something that you gotta see to understand. There were hundreds of men walking by the 'float' to wait their turn to be able to carry this giant 40 feet, hundreds of pounds statue around town. I will post pictures as soon as I get home and you'll understand better.
Monday we bummed around, walked around the market, the town, ate icecream, read books, hund out with the Annands. It was very relaxing!
Tuesday we got up at 5:00am to catch the bus into town to catch our shuttle to the Pacaya volcano. (Antigua is surrounded by volcanos - two of them - Pacaya and Fuego are active). Unfortunately the shuttle was super late and we didn't get picked up until almost 7am! So, we arrived at our hiking point around 8am and started our hike - hiking sticks in hand and a guide in front. The trail was straight up! Man it was hard - but it was fun. When we got to the top, we looked out over tons and tons of lava - some dried and some still running. Pacaya is the most active volcano in Guatemala in terms of lava flowing constantly. So, we hiked from our look out point down to the lava and we were feet away from it! It was hot and crackling and falling... crazy! Tristan and Johnny took off to find the 'boca de lava' - mouth of the lava and the guide joined them. They went right up to the river where the lava was flowing from and played around a bit. It's so crazy to be that close to hot, running, lava!
Tomorrow we leave around 5am in hopes of reaching Tegucigalpa by 8pm or so tomorrow evening. So, we'll be on the lookout for pot holes and speed bumps and be praying for easy border crossings and safe travels.
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