Resting at Breakneck Speed

Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Guatemala is synonymous with the beach. 

For the La Senda kids, it was no different--Hermana Zucy planned a trip for the kids to a beach house on the Pacific, and I got to accompany them.  Besides playing in the biggest waves I've ever seen (and, along with Lito, serving as live life vests for some of the kids), we swam in the pool at the beach house, saw beautiful beach at the estuary, observed the salt beds, and took a boat out to waters where sea turtles swim.  And with frequent applications of SPF 50, I actually managed NOT to get burned.

La Senda at the Beach 

 Pool time!

 Observing the sea salt harvest

Headed out to see a few sea turtles

On Thursday, Anita invited me to accompany her to tour the Easter celebrations in Antigua.  We attended mass at her church, where the homily was most enlightening, and ate dinner with her family.  At 9:30 in the evening we began our walking tour of several Catholic churches that feature scenes from Jesus's life during Holy Week.  After the first church, we ran into a drenching rain and attempted to wait it out under the eaves of a neighborhood bar, but the water never quite abated.  So, we continued to the other four churches.  Later, we witnessed parts of the late-night processions, including gigantic floats (of sorts), carried by parishioners, entering a church, and later, men dressed as Roman soldiers running in formation through the streets to stop at intended locations and announce the death of Jesus. After observing this, we toured some of the sawdust rugs families were creating in the streets, an Easter tradition here.  Normally they'd be completed by this time, but with the rain, the artists were just beginning their labors. We returned to her house at 1:15 in the morning.

 My favorite church display

 The Roman guard traipsing through Antigua--on horse and on foot

A sawdust rug in progress

Friday night the five youngest boys stayed at my house for a sleepover.  We made pizza, and they had a pillow fight and watched the movie Robots.  I had intended to have a campout on the roof, but the rain cancelled those plans; hence, the boys constructed forts of sorts in the living room.  This morning we dyed Easter eggs, used Resurrection Eggs to tell the Easter story, and had an Easter egg hunt.  My neighbor Litzy joined us for this part, which made all of the boys fall over themselves in their shyness of having a pretty girl their age among them.

Pizza making 

 Pillow fighting

 Egg coloring

Manhunting the last egg

So, I learned very quickly that a house full of boys is quite the experience.  After the third time of going into the bathroom and seeing a seat wet with what I'm sure was not water, we had a lesson on how to use the bathroom at someone else's house.  And tonight I'm pretty sure it was a booger I cleaned off the bathroom wall.  I guess they thought they could take a mini-vacation from all the good hygiene skills they teach at La Senda. Nevertheless, it was a good time with them.

I got to relax with friends--Vero, Christian, and Heidy--this afternoon.  They wanted to show me Tikel Futura, a large mall.  I'm thankful to have people to laugh with and who are quite patient with my Spanish.  They can tease me mercilessly when I say things incorrectly, but they are also quick to help me figure out how to say stuff and ultimately wait for me to make myself clear.  That's nice.  Our highlight of the afternoon? Climbing into the glass elevator in the adjacent hotel and riding it to the top floor and back down again. Felt like I was 15 again. :)

Tomorrow I look forward to church service and Sunday dinner at La Senda.