Day 6 - Friday Part 2

Friday and Final Thoughts

By Al

Village of Hope is located between Guatemala City (the capital, with over 10% of Guatemala’s population of 15 million), and Antigua Guatemala, which was the capital until 1773 (with a current population around 30,000). Both the old and the new capitals are at about 5,000 feet elevation, and they are only a little over an hour’s drive apart, but to get from one to the other you have to climb over a range of mountains. Village of Hope is in these mountains at an elevation of around 6,500 feet. 

On Friday morning, while Andy and Gordon slaved over the last solar panels, the rest of us (who were conveniently less competent and essential), got to go to Antigua Guatemala to tour the city.

It took us about 40 minutes to drive down a canyon to get to this historic place. The reason the city is so popular is because it is an extremely well-preserved Spanish colonial city. The city experienced many earthquakes in the 18^th century, which caused the Spaniards to have to continually rebuild. Finally, in 1773 an earthquake hit that destroyed so much of the city that the Spaniards decided to move the capital to another place. Apparently they heard that the earthquake hadn’t affected a large valley not far away, and so they ordered everyone to abandon the capital and move to this new location, which is the present site of Guatemala City. Not everyone left, but the effect of this order was to leave the 18^th century city pretty much as is, and it is a fascinating place to visit. The streets are all cobblestoned (so that you have to expect some rattling around as you drive), and the streets are also narrow with very little parking, but with few exceptions all the buildings around you were built before the Declaration of Independence was signed. Another notable thing about the city is that it is adjacent to a massive volcano, the Volcan de Agua, which rises up to 12,300 feet.

Beautiful view overlooking Antigua with the volcano, Agua, in the background

beautiful view of Antigua with Agua 

Cerro de la Cruz

Our first stop was at a large cross the Spaniards put up on a hill above the city, which gave a terrific view. From there we went to the main square and began walking around. The Antigua Cathedral was partially destroyed during the 1773 earthquake, and we were able to tour this site with the aid of an elderly tour guide named Oscar, who appeared out of nowhere, and soon began rattling off dates and other pertinent information, and so we suddenly and magically had a tour guide. He was very informative, although we had a slight disagreement at the end of our tour about how much he should be paid (which wasn’t discussed in advance). Ironically, although the cathedral was badly damaged in the 1773 earthquake, and everyone was ordered to move away, there wasn’t another big earthquake until 1976. The parts of the cathedral that fell off during that earthquake are continually in the process of being restored. From the cathedral Oscar led us to the “mui importante” second square, and pointed out several other interesting churches and sites, including a building that was built last year, but was made to look exactly like the 18^th century buildings that surrounded it. Eventually we were running out of time and had to part ways with Oscar, and we made our way back to the main square. Mark was excited to notice that one of the magnificent colonial buildings actually contained a Wendy’s restaurant, which was so exciting that we all had to go look. It was a little unique to see a Wendy’s counter and brightly-lit menu in a 300-year-old arched stone building. Fear not—we were not lame enough to have lunch at Wendy’s, however.

I should also add that in Antigua we saw a strange sight: Americans. In fact, about 10% to 20% of the people on the streets were Americans or other foreigners, who were either twenty-somethings or retirees (there are many retired Americans who live in this part of Guatemala). 

After viewing a famous Arch across one of the city streets, we made our way to Café Sky for lunch. It is called Café Sky because it is a two-story building that has a rooftop bar with a good view of the city.

view from upper level of Cafe Sky

We had our final lunch of the trip at this establishment (owned by a friendly Canadian), and Andy and Gordon were able to join us, having completed the work the rest of us were shirking. Gordon and Mark were particularly pleased to see that lunch consisted of several large platters of meats (and not just chicken), along with quesadillas, and chicken taquitos, and onion rings, and chips and guacamole and all kinds of other great things (even a few vegetables that went largely untouched). It was a very satisfying final lunch, and we were able to give our leftovers to a street person (we could have fed a few more, but Mark had been particularly hungry…).

We concluded our visit by going to the Antigua market, which is a massive maze-like market, with indoor and outdoor sections, and an amazing amount of goods. The sellers know enough English to make a sale, and they usually ask for twice as much as they really want. We all bought things, and Gordon ended buying things he didn’t really want, just for the fun of bargaining.

And so ended our day in Antigua Guatemala. You might think this was something of a sideshow from helping the orphans, but actually I found it to be a good part of the overall experience. Traveling to some exotic and unusual place, and seeing the people that live there, and how they live, tends to open up your mind and make you think more deeply about our common humanity. Our translator, Miguel, asked me about my favorite verse in the Bible, and we had a little discussion, and it struck me how people even in an exotic place, and even in a different language, all read the same Bible as I do, and hear the same call from God’s word.

On Saturday, it was time to say farewell to Village of Hope. Just to give us one last bit of torture, our flight was scheduled to leave for Dallas at 7:20 AM. So we had to wake up a tad early (at 3:30). We got to the airport in plenty of time, and sat down for breakfast at the airport McDonald’s around 6:00. Soon We learned that our flight was delayed 40 minutes because of “volcanic ash” (don’t you hate it when your flight is delayed because of volcanic ash? I know I do). Soon we found the flight was delayed another two hours. That was too bad. Oh, and look—now it’s delayed another hour. Well, that’s no problem. And then…well, to make a long story short, we were delayed 5 hours and 20 minutes by the volcanic ash. We noted that Delta Airlines let its plane take off an hour before our American Airlines plane, which either means that American Airlines is more safety conscious, or they’re just fonder of inconveniencing their passengers [Editor’s note: the pilot (and flight crew) explained it was the volcanic rock that was the concern. When volcanic rock gets into the engines, the flight attendant said you “stop flying.” In that sense I am glad they were cautious.]. Christine assured me that a flight delay from Guatemala had never happened to them before…

compliments of the airlines in Guatemala

When we arrived at Dallas Christine further assured me that the Customs line was always very quick, but when we got there it looked like we were trying to get into a Raiders game 20 minutes before kickoff. It was kind of a madhouse, and Mark and I and Linda had the special pleasure of being pulled aside for an extra review. We barely made our rescheduled flight, which then landed a half-hour late because of headwinds…but you know what? I wouldn’t trade this entire experience for anything. It was exciting and meaningful, and, all kidding aside, I must thank my team leader, Christine, for her meticulous planning and constant good cheer and encouragement throughout the entire event. I pray that our efforts had an impact on the children of the Village of Hope, and it is an experience I will never forget. - Al