Tuesday, April 1

This is the first blog entry. Sorry we were unable to submit one yesterday due to time constraints. Last night we stayed the night at the seminary in Guatemala City. This is the largest seminary in Central America. This morning we set off for some tourist activities, before we got there however we stopped at Pollo Campero for breakfast. Our breakfast could consist of pancakes, an omelet or a croissant. After breakfast we departed for the central square. The central square is a popular meeting place for Guatemalan people to sell goods and to gossip. The presidential palace is located on the square as well as the central cathedral. Les had arranged for a tour of the presidential palace. This tour provided us some insight into the Mayan culture of Central America, as well as allowing us to view the beautiful art, stone and stain glass works of the presidential palace. The Central Cathedral consisted of a columned path leading to either the Black Jesus or the Biblical Jesus. The Black Jesus however is the idol that the majority of Guatemalans worship; they believe that the black Jesus has the power to correct their problems.

When the tour of the central square was finished we traveled for a miserable five hours in a cramped, sweaty bus. The road to Tac Tic was less than ideal, winding through the mountains for hours on end. When we arrived in Tac Tic the men and Women separated, the women going to the spacious guesthouse. We gathered our luggage and the men traveled up the hill to our hotel that has cement boxes for rooms. On our way to Les’ house Aly had an unfortunate accident in which she fell into a bog. Lucky for her it was only a foot deep and just Aly’s ankle was covered in mud. We continued onto Les’ house and ate dinner. Tommorrow team one is set to do childrens ministry.

- Chris Horback

Greetings parents, relatives, teachers, and friends of the Grade 11 class in Guatemala! Adam Sylvester here sending out the first blog entry from Les Peters’ living room. I apologize that I wasn’t able to send out a blog about yesterday’s events so this blog will cover the events of today (April 1) and yesterday (March 31). Lets get started!
We all arrived at the airport very early in the morning. The majority of us had to wake up around 4:00 just to make it to the airport in time. After our luggage got taken we all said goodbye to our parents and headed into the gate. We all did well in the security check but it seemed like Eric Belt got a little nervous when he set off the metal detector. “It just kind of shocked me” said Eric reminiscing on the event. “I thought they were going to frisk me or something. That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me”. It turned out that the cause of all the alarm was just Eric’s stud belt and just like that he got let go.
We then had a four hour flight to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. The plane was not that big so I felt very squished, as did everyone else. I spent most of the flight sleeping so I cannot really report what the others were doing. For the hour that I was awake I read the comic “Pearls Before Swine” and talked to those around me.
When we arrived at the airport, we had five hours to waste. I spent most of the time just wandering around with my friends, as everyone else pretty much did. To break the boredom, we got to ride on the skylink, which is basically a small train that takes you around the airport. We were finished surprisingly fast after covering the entire airport. After this we had (surprise) more time to just hang out. By the way, to put things in to perspective about how big our terminal was, it was almost as large as market mall! We finally boarded our plane for another four hour flight. I spent almost the entire flight talking to those around me and listening to the plane’s classic rock station (you can’t say no to Led Zeppelin and ELO).
When we finally landed, our whole team was quite excited. “The whole team just cheered” said Catherine Kesteven. “There was a little boy helping with luggage and begging for money and it just made me pretty sad”. Several others noticed poverty rather quickly, as for the second you left the airport there was a man missing his legs trying to sell squiggly pens. We then all crammed into different vehicles, with all the girls going into a tiny school bus, and all the guys going into a van. The only exception was Eric and me, who had to ride with the leaders due to space constraints. We traveled through Guatemala City and went to a local bible school, which Les Peters got us a few rooms at. After he laid down the groundwork for how this trip would work, we all went to bed.
When I woke up the next morning I found out I had a hilarious case of bed hair and decided to leave it be and wear my shades for the rest of the day. I got several unique compliments. But that is not totally important. We all got back into our same vehicles as yesterday and went to a local restaurant for breakfast. The different choices were pancakes, a breakfast sandwich (my choice), or an omelet, all with a very large hash brown for a side with a cup of orange juice.
After this we went to take a tour of the national palace and the cathedral. The national palace was very cool and had several neat sites such as the official location of where a peace settlement was made that ended thirty years of civil war. There were several murals that a tour guide explained through Les Peters many about the history of the Mayans and the Spanish Conquistadors. We than went to the cathedral where we discussed the corruption of the Guatemalan Catholic Church. They mix Mayan beliefs with Catholicism, such as having a image of the sun god directly behind a crucified Jesus. I do not know about anyone else, but it was a little awkward for me because everyone who was in the cathedral was looking at us as if we did not belong there.
After the tour we than stopped by a gas station, got some goodies, and prepared for a very long bus ride. Everyone began swapping vehicles, so Eric and me wound up on the bus. This was not a fun experience! The bus had no air conditioning and even with all the windows open it was very hot and sweaty. The ride was four hours long, with a lunch break in between. We had lunch at a restaurant in the middle of nowhere that served us chicken with French fries along with a soda or water. The meal was fine, but the fries seemed to have a pinch of cheddar on them. After this we all went back in the vehicles to make the final trek
We finally made it to the guesthouse where our bags were waiting for us (they must have been transported there earlier). After all the guys got their bags, we were sent off to the hotel up the street to our rooms while the girls got to prepare their rooms inside the guest house. The girls seem to have it better off for the hotel rooms us guys got are very tiny with no features. Just beds, nothing else. After this we went for supper at Les Peters’ house where I began writing this very blog. After he introduced us to his family and others, we began a good meal, which consisted of rice with a nice tomato sauce, churrascos (a mystery meat which tasted good nevertheless), and a salad. After we were done Scott Bennett, Eric Belt, and Trevor Maekelburger led some impromptu worship in the living room. Les Peters interrupted this to tell us what the plans look like for tomorrow which feature visiting a sinkhole and meeting children. Once he was finished we went back to the guesthouse where the girls will sleep and the guys headed up to the hotel.
I would love to stay and write longer, but I need to get to bed myself, so I must make this the end. I will write you all tomorrow!

- Adam Sylvester

As you can see, we had an exciting few days just getting to TacTic. We will be adding pictures to the blog site to "spice" up the stories that are posted here. Encourage your family & friends to check it out daily.

- D. Werth