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Sister Liz booked our hotel room in Guatemala City…the nicest…and safest which is probably why she booked it here. It is gorgeous…first hair dryer, robes, safe etc….  The gated hotel had many stores, food choices and movie theaters.  We ate some lunch & wandered about waiting for Sisters Liz & Annie.  I am sure my heart missed a beat when I spotted them.  Eight months of emails back & forth and finally together.  They were excited as we were. They were also tired (after all, one is 84 & the other 69) so they went to rest and Rog & I went to the pool.  Three wine glasses & one Diet Coke toasted our rendezvous!  7 AM we were in their jeep with Annie at the wheel headed toward their mission.  We made several stops along the way to break up the trip…breakfast, groceries, hardware, pick up a hearing aide & dinner.  We were awed by the mountain panoramic views & by all the stories the sisters shared with us.  We learned about the background of the indigenous people they work with…how they have been persecuted, how the mining companies are destroying their land, how the drug lords take over their land, earthquakes & flooding devastations and the government crackdown on the religious missionaries that left many dead.  Sister Liz told me more about the Presentation Sisters, her earlier missions and we both laughed about family stories.  At 5 pm, we arrived at San Jose Clinic in Conception Talapa.

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7:30 AM we climbed into a nice van and headed to Guatemala City.  We were stopped by several people who told us there was an accident ahead so we turned around…only to be stopped a few more times…and finally we turned around and headed out the way we originally planned. There had been an accident earlier but now it was cleared up.  There were only 9 in the van…such luxury!  Two from Maine had been on a chicken bus when a guy on top had fallen off…he jumped off & checked the man’s pulse and wanted to keep him immobilized…but the driver & another guy, picked him up & held on to him until they got to a medical center where they dropped him off with a bag of money that the people on the bus had donated to help cover the cost.  Good people.  Another couple in our van was from Belgium and I learned a lot about their schools…4 ½ days a week with lots of homework, everyone learning at least 3 languages, tracked in HS and many trained for jobs…the less motivated go just 2 days a week meeting mostly with a social worker (which he was) who tries to encourage them toward a more positive life.  The girl worked for Red Cross in the refugee program.  Belgium accepts many refugees who can have unlimited stay with bed, food, medical & a small amount of money.  Most who get to Belgium were at least middle class in their war torn homeland and most were there because of some religious conflict.  That led us to a discussion about religion.  They said most Belgium churches and others in most northern European countries were mostly empty.  Belgians feel religion is a private matter and they do not need to go to a public church.  Most do not like the Catholic church as an institution…too rich & showy…which led to a discussion of money.  50+% of their income goes to taxes, 30+% goes to mortgage is they buy a house…which many young people cannot afford today.  Most like the Euro but realize that Germany & France control their economy.  The final rider was an older American man who has come to San Pedro for 7 years…plays his harp for dinner & has a local carpenter cut wood, an artist paint it and he brings them back to the USA so he can build harps.  As always, a huge part of what we love about traveling is the people we meet.

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Images not to be forgotten: 

-Old Barbie doll redressed in traditional clothing with accessories of flat pan & several tortillas

-As we sit at an internet café, an older man with a load of split wood on his back drops it in front of the restaurant across from us

-Terrace gardens which started at the lake and went up many yards up to a nice home

-one speed boat & two seadoos is all that we saw on the huge Lake Atitlan

-man peddling bike with cooler filled with ice cream treats attached on rear and playing a catchy tune while riding down the road