Each day here keeps getting better! This morning we were able to sleep an extra 30 minutes, but some of the guys decided to get up a little earlier to walk around the lake. We got to sleep in a little bit today because we went to the children’s mass, which starts more around eight. The mass was very interesting, cool, and a little different than what we are used to in the States. One of the most obvious reasons it was different was, because of the language then spoke. Also, all the children there knew all the songs by heart and they were singing very loud and passionately. Following mass, we went and had breakfast. The menu consisted of amazing French toast. Next, we all headed to our work sites. The group I was in went to work at a wood house. It was the same wood house we have been working on since Wednesday. A few people worked on assembling the roof of the house, while most of the group worked on transporting dirt to the house. Also, we had to transport gravel to a different part of the house, so we made this giant train/assembly line, to help get the bags of gravel to the spot, without getting too tired. After we finished working, we drove straight to the Women’s Center for lunch. We were also joined by another group of people from Eagan, here on the same mission. The women cooked an incredible lunch. We had tamales, herb patties, guacamole, stuffed chili peppers, flower tea, and other traditional foods. For dessert we had a cooked plantain with beans in the center, topped with a cream sauce. Before we ate, they played some songs on the marimba. Following lunch, a group got together and played a friendly match of soccer, the teams were up boys against girls. After the game we left the center to play more soccer in town, only it was a bit more competitive. We split into four teams. There were people from the town, workers, the Eagan group, and some of the long-term volunteers who came to play. One of the teams was mostly made up of locals, who were amazing. They won most of the short matches. After the matches we all headed back to eat some dinner. Some of us walked back, while others rode in a tuk-tuk. Tonight, we had tacos for dinner accompanied with banana bread cake. We had the cake to celebrate Chester’s birthday! Next, we split up youth and adult and did our reflections. Following the reflections, we surprised Chester with a chocolate birthday cake and a present! The present was authentic Guatemalan style shirt. To top off the night we played a very competitive game of CatchPhrase. This concludes day three in Guatemala.
God Bless,
Olivia