Update #1 from Visit (Day 1--visiting Antigua)

OK. So I've been home two weeks and haven't updated my blog. Well, I sort of did. I redid the formatting and added a link to my pictures over on shutterfly. It allows much larger files and is easier to organize and upload. Still not happy with the colors and whatnot on the new blog format but I will keep working on it.

So, my bestest friend in the world and I set off on an adventure two weeks ago. We flew from Kansas City to Houston and then Houston to Guatemala. The flights were pretty smooth and just ran into one nutcase on the flight to Guatemala. Probably the reason that DHS had their sniffing dogs and questioning everyone as they got on the plane. We were an hour leaving Houston and thus an hour getting into Guatemala. We got there about 11:00 pm and we were pretty tired. We were told by my agency who setup the hotel that the shuttle would be there to meet us. Well, it wasn't. Thankfully I spoke Spanish and there was a helpful man (airport employee) with a cell phone that called the hotel for us. It only cost me a $2.00 tip. I initially gave him $1 and he came back and said that it was a $2 tip for the phone. Oh well. He was pretty nice and he moved our luggage out of the way next to a post so it was secure. The shuttle showed up about 10 minutes later and we only had one little girl come over to beg from us. Again, speaking Spanish and having lived in the country has its advantages.

The hotel was very nice. Large 2 room suite (living room and bedroom). We settled in and the next morning got up and went down to a very nice breakfast buffet. We then walked around the area a little (window shopping and just getting a feal for the area). I took Peggy down to the big main street so she could see the buses and traffic. Such a difference in the sound level. We then went to the bank to change some money. It was an different experience. We weren't allowed to take bags in but they had little lockers outside the bank that were free. I'm sure they were secure with the guard standing there with his rifle. Then only one of us were allowed to enter at a time through an entry way. It must have had some sort of security between the two doors because as soon as I entered, they let Peggy in. We were a little worried that Peggy was gonna have to go it alone in the non-English speaking bank. We changed our money (better rate than the hotel) and then headed back to the hotel.

Well on the way back, it started to rain a little. As we were walking I slipped on some tile and twisted my ankle. Lucky I didn't fall and take Peggy down with me. Well it was hurting pretty bad but I figured I could just walk it off. We went back to the hotel and changed into tennis shoes. Then we went down and setup a tour to Antigua with the concierge. It was a pretty good deal. The tour company van picked us up at 10:00 and we were dropped off around 7:00 that night. There was just one other couple from Mexico on the tour with us. The tour guide was very informative. We went to places we would have never found if we had done it on our own. Fortunately, it was mostly a driving tour (except for the last couple of hours). My foot got worse and I could hardly put weight on it when we got out at our first stop to walk around a beautiful cemetary. I had been there on a previous trip so I hobbled into the cemetary and found a bench to sit on while Peggy went with the group. Got a few nice pictures from the bench.

Antigua is such a nice and peaceful town. I really like it there a lot. It has a lot of beautiful architecture. I really enjoyed watching the people in their daily activities....gathering water, selling their wares, doing their laundry at the public "pilas." Pilas are rock/cement sinks that are used for washing clothes. In front of the pilas is a large well of water that the women use to scoop up into their pila to wet and rinse their clothes. They wet the clothes, rub them down with a ball of orange soap; scrub them on the rock surface of the pila; rinse them; ring them out and throw them into their clean pile. They then take them home and hang them on lines usually from the rooftops. This is a place that the women gather to socialize while they work.

After seeing many tumbled down churches in the morning, we stopped for lunch around 1-2 pm at a little restaurant off of the main square. It was really nice. We had a sampling of "tipico" food and a yummy Jamaica drink. I have been craving Jamaica for years. I haven't been successful in locating it in the states. It is made from Hibiscus. I always drank it as an herbal tea when I lived there before but it is just as good cold we discovered on this trip.

After lunch we went to a Jade "factory" where they create very beautiful jewelry made from Jade. Guatemala is one of I believe 5 countries where Jade is found. During the last hurricane (Stan) a new variety of Jade was discovered. It is a translucent purple color. Very pretty but expensive since it is so rare. It was neat to see how they work with the Jade. They have to use diamond tip tools to shape and etch it because it so hard.

After lunch we walked around the square for some more history lessons. I was ready to shop so I stopped in a couple of shops and bought some cute outfits for Miss Evelyn. I also bought a few things from some of the street vendors on the square. Our tour guide took us to the public artisans market and we had a little while to pickup some gifts and souveners. My foot was dying. Walking on uneven sidewalks and cobblestone didn't help too much.

By the time we reached the hotel at 7:00 we were both beat. We didn't even eat dinner, just put our stuff away and settled into bed. I went to sleep thinking that I would be meeting my baby girl the next morning. I was nervous not having confirmation of all the details and not having received a call from the in-country contact. I did have the foster family's phone number if anything went wrong though.

So glad that we were able to visit Antigua so that Peggy could get a feel for Guatemala. Just driving there allowed her to see how the people lives and how neighborhoods are laid out.

I will add another post about the wonderful time I had with baby Evvy.