Guatemala Day 1
Most people do not realize I have several blogs, but they especially do not know about my travel one, since pausing my international travels for 5 years with everything that’s happened since getting married, it was and still is a bit nerve racking but it was nice to realize, when God’s leading the way, it always works out.
I arrived in Guatemala the night of April 5, which for the most part made for an uneventful night, with the exception of eating a meal at the sports bar in the hotel. Despite my initial disappointment, I found a couple of things on the menu that were Guatemalan instead of burgers and typical American bar food. In addition I was able to watch most of the second half of the Houston comeback in the NCAA basketball final 4. It was the first sports I watched since the Superbowl.
My first full day began with speaking to my daughter and wife, then a nice buffet breakfast in the hotel. I’m always on the hunt for local cuisine and indigenous products. Everything was great, except the coffee ironically, from the automated machine. The average person usually wouldn’t care, but this is what inspired my concept and when you are in a country that produces your product, you want to experience it. From here we went to the cathedral in Guatemala City. For those who wanted to attend mass, you could, the others walked around and enjoyed the view. I appreciated the liturgy as it was very devout and reverent. It really brings the Holy Spirit out when you see the great devotion of others. After mass many then gathered for more prayer in their Blessed Sacrament chapel.
After the cathedral visit, and a protest which blocked the street and caused us to be stuck for nearly an hour, we began making our way to a town that UNBOUND works with. They currently support 73,000 people in Guatemala, in many different areas and 90% of every dollar contributed goes to the cause. The local community welcomed us with some local performances and a nice meal. As usual I met a handful of people, I had small connections with. A family from Charlotte, NC, a man from Virginia Beach who’s church I’ve probably visited and he’s from the same part of Brooklyn as my mom’s boyfriend. They made lunch even more enjoyable as I texted my friend in Charlotte who recognized them immediately.
After lunch the community broke into small groups and shared how they work with the organization and community to help each other learn and basically lift themselves out of poverty by goals, education and working together. From here we took a similar journey to the headquarters and lodging center which was filled with winding roads as high as 8-9000 feet above sea level. I’m humbled that it didn’t really bother me. With all of the driving through challenging areas I was content the entire time not allowing my fear of heights to get to me. We wrapped up the night having dinner as a community, found even more connections with others and now it’s time to recover from all the traveling.
