Day One

We landed in Guatemala City around 9:00 at night.  Our first "Guatemalan" dinner was at Pollo Campanera, which Steve Otto told us was the Guatemalan Kentucky Fried Chicken!  An hour later, we arrived at our hotel, Hotel Casa De Las Fuentes.  When we woke up in the morning, everything was in Spanish: 

 It's a good thing that Crystal studied up on her Rosetta Stone :)

The view from our hotel offered up a stark example of the differences in living here.  Right next to our hotel are a bunch of tin homes with roosters (which we've come to discover do NOT just crow at daybreak!) and geese.  It's strange to hear a mixture of city noises and "farm" noises. 

We also have a good view of the mountains.  There is a HUGE volcano that you can see as well. 

We took a walking tour of the city.  There are a few cathedrals that we were able to visit.  The vast majority of people here are Catholic.  This cathedral was having a service when we went in. 

This is a second cathedral that we visited.  This is also where Jeff met a VERY tenacious flute salesman!  An hour and several blocks later...the salesman wore him down.

Towards the end of our walking tour, we were serenaded by one of the locals.  He actually knew of Panama City, which was interesting, and had lived in Miami for a while.  His rendition of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" stuck in our heads for a loooooong time. 

And the streets of Antigua?  They are all cobblestone.  The "colonial" portion of the city, where we are staying, is a 10x10 block square.  The roads are pretty narrow and we've already been impressed (a.k.a. scared to death!) by the local's driving!

The best part of our day?  We attended the Sunday Worship Service at the Iglesia del Camino church.  The service was bilingual.  The praise songs AND the sermon were in Spanish and in English.  It was truly amazing to see how God is working in this community.  Entire families coming in to worship the Lord.  The service was contemporary and there was a definite passion in the worship team and in the congregation.  This was truly a unique experience!

Towards the end of our day, we toured through the Spanish Embassy in Antigua.  Our guide, Clay, explained to us alot of the history of Antigua and Guatemala. 

By the end of day one, we were all exhausted.....but we were definitely looking forward to day two, which held in store a special needs orphanage and our first kids club! 

Please continue to pray that we can effectively share the love of Jesus to these amazing people. 

Blessings and love from Guatemala :)