Guatemala!

So on Wednesday morning I flew from SeaTac, back to Calgary where I caught a ride into Three Hills, Alberta...flat land of cold, dry snow and little college called Prairie Bible Institute  We spent Wednesday doing orientation for the classes we are doing in Guatemala and also a final Discover session prepping for Guatemala. That night we packed up and certain people stayed up to watch the World Junior Hockey Championships...in Canada it really matters to them that they beat the U.S. in this Championship...and as it so happened we sent those Canucks home crying!

Early...like two forty-five in the morning early, we loaded a couple vans and drove to the airport...as it turns out we had a surprise stop at Eric's house where we got to eat a breakfast of incredible egg sandwiches and coffee. We had two three hour flights the first to Dallas-Fortworth and the second to Guatemala City. We finally arrived in Guatemala around nine in the evening, stopping for a bite of dinner at Pollo Comparo...equivalent to Chick-fil-a except in price. After around an hour on the bus, we found ourselves at CEMI a compound in the mountains outside of Antigua.

In the evening as we arrived there was an incredible smell of flowers, smoke (some from woodstoves, some from cigarettes, and probably a little weed in the mix), and trees. I had a feeling it was going to be pretty amazing in the light of day...the next morning my expectations were validated as I could see three volcanoes looming around the compound, which had a luscious lawn and a wide variety of flowering bushes and trees. Suffice to say a humid seventy-five degrees at 5,000 ft. and this scenery is pretty close to paradise.

The next day was mostly spent touring Antigua and becoming oriented to the town where we'll be staying for the next couple weeks. During our stay we will be doing four hours of language school each morning, ministry during many of the afternoon, and staying in host homes for the end of our stay.

Today we took the bus into Antigua to visit a bi-lingual church in downtown, which is attended by a variety of tourists and locals. After church we ate at a crepe restaurant run by a French couple where we were able to sit on the roof and hangout for a while, before we split into groups who went shopping at the grocery store, the market, or simply returned to CEMI. I'm currently sitting in a hammock writing this and contemplating a nap.