Hola!
Bien! Uno! Los Siento! Gracias!
Those are about all the Spanish words we know by now.
Just kidding, we know like four more words, or in the case of Jade, like 7. And the nice security guard at the restaurant taught us "damas" (dames) so we knew which bathroom to use.
Today was our first full day, and by full day I mean bursting at the seems!
We started the day by eating our first breakfast of beans and tortillas, and it was delicious! We got all sun screened up and went on our way to MCC Guatemala and El Salvador (Comite Central Menonita Guatemala y El Salvador). There we learned about the history of Guatemala and the role MCC plays in the countries it represents. We also talked logistics and how to not get diarrhea which is gonna be pretty beneficial.
After MCC we took a wild ride to the restaurant we ate lunch at. We marveled at how gated this city is. There are gates lining every street, not giving any hints to what is behind them. We are starting to see that behind every gate could be any type of oasis. Here, at Semilla (our home base of sorts), behind the gate is a little compound full of trees and flowers. The our lunch spot was also a wonderful surprise as we walked into this patio with tree branches as a ceiling.
Following lunch and after we established a buddy system to make sure we don't get horribly lost, we walked into the square with the National Palace and the cathedral. We walked through the cathedral and were taken aback by the architecture and beauty of the building. Outside the cathedral there is a memorial to the Indigenous lives lost during the civil war that is very moving. We continued walking to the market and told Alexa that it is time to reapply the sunscreen! Don't worry Anita, we are working around the clock to make sure your daughter does not burn to a crisp!
After 10 minutes in the market turned to 20 and then to more we got back into the sweltering van to go to our next stop, a museum entitled, "Why We Are The Way We Are". This museum takes you through the reasons behind why Guatemalan culture is the way it is. This was a very moving exhibit that outlines the oppression that the Indigenous people of Guatemala have and are experiencing. We have all taken pieces that we learned here to heart and are working to understand the sheer multitude of the history of this country.
It was a full day, but we learned a lot and saw a whole lot of new things. According to Jim "you're only writing about one day", so I'm gonna chill out on the detailed descriptions now. But like to the parents- we're doing great, or you could say we're doing Guat! (classic jokes yo)
All in all it was an incredibly enriching first day for all of us!
(Written by Katie Rempel; hi mom and dad! [Everyone else says hi to their moms and dads as well!])
