Today, we woke up to a view of a steaming volcano. The sky was the clearest so far, so we got to see all three mountains in our front yard. After breakfast, we headed back to Antigua marketplace. Highlights today: people were polite, some of us discovered good bargaining strategies, some got our hair rapped, and we all listened to two men playing different flutes and small percussion instruments to ABBA!
We returned to Common Hope for an authentic lunch where the portions were large and the strawberries delicious. We had some free time, so some of us played soccer with the kids who lived in the compound. Some of the kids who played soccer with us were Miguel, Gabby, Eric, Brennan, and Ezuardo.
After soccer, Bridget Brehen, a woman from NISGUA (nisgua.blogspot.com) came to talk to us about Guatemalan history, specifically statistics of the internal armed conflict. We learned that 200,000 people (mostly in rural areas) were killed during the conflict, only about 2% of criminals actually get arrested in Guatemala today, the Hijos are a group of orphaned youth whose parents were unjustly killed in the war (hijosguatemala.blogspot.com), and that the Hijos annually protest the celebration of the military, who killed many Guatemalans without valid reason.
After our discussion, we played soccer again, until it rained, had a few ping-pong games, and ate tacos for dinner. We finished the day off with devotions, discussing our being citizens of the world.
Tomorrow we go to Lake Antilan, participate in a boat tour of three villages, and, hopefully, visit a weaving cooperative. This trip is amazing!
Today’s blog written by Kellie (recorder), Anna, Vance, Nora, and Brenda
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