Day 4 - Day 6

On Saturday, after breakfast, we all traveled to Antigua, Guatemala. This was definitely our highlight of the weekend. Our first stop in Antigua was to Cerro de la Cruz. This location is a bluff that overlooks Antigua. From here we could see all of Antigua as well as two volcanoes, Agua and Fuego (Water and Fire). This was an amazing view!

Our second stop was at an old convent in Antigua. Here we learned about the Catholic Church and its role in Antigua as well as in Guatemala. Our final stop of the trip was downtown Antigua! Once we arrived here, we broke up into groups and hit the open market. This was an exciting time as we had a chance to practice our Spanish with native Spanish speakers. Bargaining for great prices for items was a great experience in itself!

Yesterday, we attended a Mennonite Church in Zone 6, here in Guatemala City. This was interesting, not only because all 2 hours of the church service was in Spanish, but because it was different then what I am used to. This church, as many in Guatemala are, was more evangelical and Pentecostal than what I am used to. Everyone in the Bluffton group sang a song for the congregation. After practicing several times during the van ride to church, we were able to sing the Doxology pretty well. :)

After church, we went to a church members house for lunch. This was our first lunch in a Guatemalan home. Although the food that was served to us was very similar to the food that we get here at Semilla, the lunch was interesting as we were able to be in a Guatemalan home. This short experience has "prepped" us for our home stays later on.

Today we visited two organizations. The first organization is a human rights organization that helps victims (those who lost loved ones during La Violencia) to overcome their emotional and mental trauma incurred by the loss of love ones, and helps to bring people to trial for their crimes of terror they committed.

The second organization that we visited was a forensic anthropology lab. This was a very neat place, but at the same time, a very sad place. Here we saw the remains of many people that have been located and dug up from graves all over Guatemala. Here at this particular lab, scientists work to piece together the bones and so forth. This allows for families to give their loved ones proper burials.
Unlike my last blog, I can now say that it has rained here. It poured quite a bit today! We had our clothes out on the line drying while we were at the first organization when it started to rain. It is a good thing that someone from Semilla was kind enough to move our clothes in under the roof!