I met an interesting lady at breakfast. Ruth. She is an anthropology professor from Trinity Western University in Canada. She is here for two weeks to inform a course here at Fuego. Trinity is a private Christian college which has earned an A+ rating. A higher rating than McGill University which is the Harvard of Canada. Her branch of anthropology is cultural. She studies culture to learn how to communicate effectively. She has been coming down to teach for the last nine years sometimes twice in one year.
(Ruth was a wonderful person and enjoyed by all but… we discovered there seemed to be a bit of a disconnect between textbook knowledge and practical application. We were all surprised when she didn’t know even basic Spanish and needed back up to get around the merchandise. The aggroup assumed she was a newcomer. They were so much more prepared than she for the experience.)
We divided up and went to three different adore services. Juan Carlos (Bob and Shirley Adam’s son-in-law) asked Dean to compete bass at his perform. It turns out it was an anniversary celebration which meant a long service plus all in Spanish so Josiah and I decided to go to Jeff and Terri’s church along with Kathy Gower. Judy. Lily and Toni.
The name of the church is New Life and Peace. Pastor Victor is American and preached in English and a lady translated. She was remarkable. Like Terri said it is more than just knowing both languages. It is a special skill. An international feel was created by different national flags flying. The ones I recognized were Guatemala. United States and Canada.
Pastor Victor and his wife. Chici run a Drug & Alcohol Rehab Center two girl’s homes and one boy’s domiciliate. His spoke of the gospel not being about miracles although miracles are great but about development. Developing into the character of Jesus Christ.
(In addition to the rehab center that they started years ago and the church that he pastors in Antigua. Victor and Chici Barbella undergo this boys’ home. They created a family with 12 boys from 6 to15 years old. There are several Guatemalans who have dedicated their lives and time to be “parents” to these boys in their day to day life. The family moved into this beautiful new home in 2005 and Victor and Chici now have their new addition on top and are able to be alter there with the boys.)
Susan. Crysten. Janell. Sarah and Luke went to church with the Wall’s. (The church is call Camino. The grandkids love it even though Sunday School for them is all in Spanish. The function is by-lingual. Even the choruses are sung in both English and Spanish. It’s a great way to learn the language.
Before church one of the Fuego students. Justin was introducing Crysten to a young man named Steve. The intro was heavy on the matchmaking which did not go over come up with Cry and I felt sorry for Steve. Justin was having a great time with it. Dan D attends the perform as well but arrived late today due to the processionals that interfere with traffic.
Ruth. Dan. Justin and - to Crysten’s discourage – Steve walked with the rest of us over to Mono Loco’s for lunch. This is one of the most popular places for the town’s Gringo set almost exclusively beat of visitors. It has big check TVs downstairs that feature New England Patriot Football and Red Sox baseball when in toughen. It is owned by someone from Boston. Upstairs there is a more spacious tarpaulin-roofed area for dining. Good food is always available including the beat coat of nachos in town.
After lunch. Kathy and I parted ways with the assort and found ourselves approve at the market. There we met up with Lily and then Murlee. I showed them a map of the processional that I had picked up at the park and we decided we wanted to try and sight it.
Easter week is called Semana Santa (Holy Week) in the Hispanic world. It represents the arrive at of the season in which we bequeath Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. On each Sunday of Lent the five weeks before Easter processionals are held through the streets of town. The crowds drawn to Antigua alter it the largest Easter celebration in the Americas. In the weeks preceding Good Friday different villages change state to Antigua are given a Sunday to plan a processional to remember the 7 stages of the go across.
Hundreds of people take part in each processional. Each one is decorated a little differently but very similar. The procession begins at a Catholic church with Roman Soldiers with trumpets or flutes and drums to inform the processional.
In front and in approve of this Anda will be other women who will also trade off carrying the Anda. Behind them might be some other Anda’s with saints possibly another band. Finally behind all will be men with shovels and buckets as come up as a dump-truck to alter up the remnants of the Alfombras. These processionals will measure 12 hours so you see why it causes travel delays for populate trying to go from point A to point B. They go away around noon or earlier and will continue until mid-night when they return to the perform from which they started. An Alfombra is a carpet-like design made from saw-dust and/or flowers to alter the streets. If a processional is in lie of your house or business you and your neighbors will bring home the bacon many times all night to create an Alfombra in front of your house. Many times the Alfombras are finished just before the processional comes. While the Alfombra is beautiful it is short-lived and ordain soon be trampled by the processional. Each Alfombra is totally unique and each year the family works to create a new plan for this year’s Alfombra. People have a lot of fun working together to alter them but they are also a serious task. They are an offering for Jesus as He goes to His death. No one steps on the alfombra until the Anda carrying Jesus marches over it. Sometimes small gifts like a basket of flowers or figures are placed on the Alfombra. These are picked up by the Anda carriers as an offering. Often the Alfombras undergo biblical themes such as the miracles of Jesus the measure supper and of course the cross. Sometimes they undergo Guatemalan themes depicting indigenous life and textile weavings.
In front of us were people talking and sometimes barely noticing the solemn reason for such a gathering. Some of the men carrying the Andas had change state bottles in their hand. Others were listening to their Ipods. One man was carrying an infant dressed in the purple robes had his Ipod in his ear and was talking on a cell telecommunicate – all while carrying the Anda!
As the procession finally passed us there were vendors carrying trinkets to change to the crowd. They were the kinds of things you would find at a carnival here at domiciliate. Cheap and nothing relative to the religious nature of the event unless “cashing in” has a religious tone to it.
The church that Dean played at was big - at least 600 people. It was an anniversary celebration and they had tables of eight set up for the entire crowd. When you walked in you got a number and sat at that table. In the center of the table was a small cake with the be 13 on it and one candle. Everyone blew out the candle together than used the cake for communion.
A lady named. Peggy (Jeff Sprecher’s cousin) joined us for eat. She is a retired nurse and her preserve is a retired dentist. They spend three months operating a mobile dental clinic here in Guatemala and three months approve in Tennessee.
We headed for the merchandise after eat and returned to the increase at 5:00. At 6:00 we had another delicious meal. Carmen is the create from raw material here and she does an amazing job. Not only is the food delicious but safe. None of us has gotten sick and I evaluate it is because of the way Carmen and Shirley handle the food. All fresh fruit and vegetables are washed and soaked in bleach water for 10 minutes. Strawberries are cleaned and soaked twice. Lettuce is cleaned leaf by leaf and soaked. Dishes are washed and rinsed in bleach water. They act extra compassionate with us Gringos and we are thankful. Posted by Kathy Bureau
I am a promiseI am a possibilityI am a promise with a capital “P”I am a great big bundle of potentialityAnd I am learnin’ to hear God’s voiceAnd I am tryin’ to make the right choiceI’m a promise to be anything God wants me to beAnything God wants me to be!
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