Day Two (Dos) - Tuesday, March 27

Woke about between 5:30 & 6:00 this morning.

In Guatemala, birthdays are celebrated by firing off fire-crackers... early in the morning of your birthday. 3 people who must live right outside the seminary walls were having birthdays this morning! Hello to the new day.




Everything is so green here. The morning is warm.

The team heads out to Pollo Campero's for breakfast. They have this great spicy green sauce that goes good with just about anything (except pancakes). We had our first taste of Gautemalan coffee with breakfast. It is so smooth! Even those who don't normally drink coffee are enjoying it.

Today, we visit the main square in Guatemala City. This area used to be the center of all of Central America at one time. It has a huge square with a Catholic cathedral to the south, the Royal Palace on the east side & various business buildings on the west side. First we visit the cathedral.



Because it is the week before Holy Week, the church has huge purple banners on it's pillars & various displays of Jesus at points leading up to his crucifixion. Lots of candles are lit & a few faithful are praying. One man is sitting in the pew next to his praying wife, reading the newspaper.

In the main hall of the cathedral, we can see Christ on the cross. But, directly behind him is the Mayan sun god. Also, in one of the alcoves, a black Christ hangs on the cross.



We are told that throughout Latin America, when Catholicism moved in with the Spanish invasion, the indigenous people embraced the Catholic church. However, they did not give up their Mayan religion. As a result, the Catholic church in Central America has "syncrotized" Christianity with Mayan beliefs. In Mayan religion, there is a "black" god & this is syncrotized into the church with the black Christ on the cross. We watched as a lady lit candles at the base of the black Christ and then proceeded to wipe some substance in her hand up & down the black Christ's legs. In the cathedral is a plaque indicating it was built in 1534. Wow!! Another plaque speaks of John Paul II's visit to the cathedral in 2003. Past & present history on facing walls.



We leave to the cathedral to visit the Royal Palace. This is the seat of goverment in Guatemala & lots of tourists are visiting; much like we would visit the Alberta Legislature. We see traditional & modern Mayan works of art, as well as huge tapestries with images of the Mayan-Spanish clash and ultimately the joining of the two cultures into what is today Latin America.

As we walk through the main square, a man brings his 7/8 goats to wander around the fountains. He controls his small herd with a huge whip (Indiana Jones style) that cracks like gunshots. There is no grass for the goats & they can't get at the water in the fountain, so we weren't sure why they were there. Tourists, women in local dress selling Guatemalan blankets, goats & huge flocks of pigeons. All the while cars, buses, mopeds & trucks honk their way through narrow streets around the main square. The new world & the old world are side by side all around us!

After this taste of the old & the new, we begin our journey to Tactic. Where we will be staying for the majority of our time in Guatemala is only 184 km's from the main square in Guatemala City. But, due to the mountaineous terrain & volume of traffic on the two-lane highway, it takes us over 4 hours to make the trip. 31 of us are packed into three 12-passenger vans for the journey. We pass through desert, mountains, lush forests & plains on our way to Tactic. But, what amazes the team most is how Guatemalans drive. Most of the highway is two lane, with a solid line down the middle, and curves every few hundred metres. Everybody passes everybody at any moment! Sometimes there are three lanes of traffic on the two lane highway. We dodge oncoming traffic to go around slow moving trucks & buses, who are usually moved into the middle of the highway to avoid hitting people of all ages walking along the side of the highway. It's an amazing dance, all to the tune of honking horns & flashing lights to say "we're passing you", "thanks for letting us pass", "hi", "move over" & "here we come"! Every day activities for Guatemalans, momentarily terrifying for us Canadians (many moments). The rule of the road, is that there are no rules of the road; just don't hit each other.

We arrive safely in Tactic to our guest house which is brimming with luggage that was delivered earlier in the day. The new tenants move in & then it's off to Les & Rita Peters home for dinner, our hosts with Impact Ministries. We get to walk along the highway we just drove on, where it straightens for the first time in 184 km's. It's a great place for all traffic to pick up speed! We are so relieved to reach our destination 15 minutes later with all of our team members.

The evening is spent with introductions, eating our 3rd chicken meal in 24 hours & learning about the ministry opportunities in store for us. Welcome to Guatemala!

When it's time to sleep, we sleep!