Today was a very eventful and long, but all around amazing day. We began by loading in the van at 7:00 AM sharp, with our granola bars and juice boxes in hand. Our first stop was the Volcano Pacaya, and it took about two hours to get there. We got to the site, and rented walking sticks for 5 quetzales a piece. There were many men on "horse taxis" offering us rides up and down the volcano, for 125 quetzales each way. However, our group happened to be in tip top shape and we were able to stick it out for the entire journey. It took us about two hours to make it to the peak of the volcano, and we came across some interesting stops along the way, like the highest shop in all of Central America: The Volcano Shop. Here there was a man selling various colorful pouches and beautiful jewelry crafted from the last erruption. Sure enough, there were some buyers and proceeds went towards building houses for the people of Guatemala. Another rather memorable experience taken place on the volcano was our opportunity to roast some marshmellows on hot magma! There was even another group we ran into, and one man was making grilled cheese, HOW COOL IS THAT?! After taking about 1000 pictures, we made our 1 hour journey down the volcano. The trek down was much quicker as it was down hill and we took fewer breaks. Once we reached the bottom of the volcano, we piled into the van with our sweaty selves, and made our way to the Guatemala City landfill. There, Beth gave her presentation on the history of the landfill. Also, we heard from Steve's good friend Joel. Joel gave a lecture on the importance of not generalizing the residents of the dump, but instead looking at each as their own individual, while also appreciating their survival tactics. Also, as a bonus we were able to check out the local cemetary, even seeing a decomposing hip bone! WOW, now that's neat. After chilling by the dump's overlook we drove to the largest slum of Central America: La Limonada. It was a very eye opening and humbling experience for our team. We also got the chance to talk to a former gang member, and Guatemalan celeb, Shorty. He told us many stories, one specifically being when Christ came to him, saving him from committing suicide and ultimately turning his life around for the better. Currently he works in La Limonada with gang members, specifically the youth, in preventing their participation in the gang and all the crime it involves. He mentioned that most youths of the slum do not expect to live past 25. The stories he told us were very touching and put things into perspective for us. It was the perfect way to end our week in Guatemala.
Some of the therapists chose to stay back and explore the city of Antigua today. They began their day by going to breakfast in Parque Central at a restaurant called Cafe Condesa. At the cathedral in the park they were celebrating the Catholic holiday Corpus Cristi. There was a procession out of the cathedral with the consecrated host and all of the people who attended mass. There was live music, fireworks and a parade that they even got to take part in! WHAT A TREAT! The ceremony was very special because they were able to participate in something that the Guatemalans highly value. The rest of their day consisted of going to the runis and putsing around the city doing some light shopping and networking with another. Additionally, it was Sally's birthday which included cake, and it was the cherry on the top of their day (no pun intended).
So, everyone met back up at the Lutheran Center for dinner at 7:30 sharpish. We had a typical Guatemalan meal consisting of soup, chicken, rice and torillas. It was nice to hear about eachother day, share experiences, and process. We were also sad to say good bye to our amazing translators and drivers this evening, Norma, Milton, Gerson and Darvy. To bid farewell, we prsented them with chocolates, a card and a line of hugs. We will miss them a lot! We also gave the Lutheran Center staff a "shout out", accompanied with chocolates for their delcious food and accomodating service! All in all it was an amazing day, and even better trip. :-)
-Beth SOT, Andrea SOT, Nicole OT & Tracy SOT ;-)
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