A Once in a Lifetime Easter Experience

The hype about the cultural traditions during Holy Week leading up to Easter turned out to be accurate!  We spent two nights in the popular city of Antigua, where literally millions of people travel to during the week to partake in the festivities and cultural traditions.

What are the traditions exactly?  Imagine a processional (parade-like) of thousands of men, women and children walking in lines throughout the streets, wearing all purple (and in some processionals all black), walking in these lines for sometimes up to 12 or 14 hours.  Processionals were scheduled throughout all hours of the day, one for each Catholic church in town, some starting at 4am, others not ending until 6am.  Along with the processionals themselves were 'alfombras', or carpets made of colored sawdust, flowers, fruit or pine needles.  Why do people do this?  It's a sacrifice, it's sacred, and it's inspiring.

 

There were thousands of church members walking in front of the large Jesus and Mary processional statues, but they did not walk in the center of the street but rather along the sides of the roads.  Then those (between 90 and 100 people) carrying the large float portraying Christ and other Saints walked over and through the alfombra carpets, literally destroying hours of intricate work...then followers would pick up the flowers or fruit to keep because the items were 'blessed'.

Before the processional:


After the processional:


To be an onlooker was interesting.  I was tired just walking to the streets where the processional was going to pass by, and I didn't have a huge statue resting on my shoulders.  Look at this picture in particular capturing the agony this young boy was going through while participating in the processional:

Notice the man on the corner is supporting the statue on his shoulder AND holding his baby son!

It was really cool being able to see the festivities in phases, because people building the alfombras would start during all hours of the day, too.  So we got to watch how it all happens.

Stencils were used to make intricate designs with the sawdust!

It was absolutely incredible to watch the masterpieces being created, step by step.

They watered down the alfombras to prevent wind from blowing pieces away.

WATCH this video of the processional happening right in front of us!!!

 And at the end of our time in Antigua, our host family made their own carpet, which we were able to help assist in the formation of!!!

 

 The end of our Easter week was spent with the family from Parramos, whose young girl recently passed away.  We stayed the night at their extended family's home, and I practiced making tortillas (last time it was Jenny that did it, now it was my turn!).

 It was a really nice time, there were many kids to play with.  Some of the youngest girls even sang us a song.  Listen in...

We are very grateful to have had these experiences and to be able to take in the Guatemalan culture.  And of course we were very pleased to be able to share in it with our 'extended Guatemalan family'.  We hope you can get a good glimpse at it too!

Full Immersion

As many of you may know, there is a Guatemalan family that Jenny and I have been connected to for several years now that has been of special interest to ours.  In the past year, especially, given the nature of their year-old daughter who suffers from severe dietary restraints and is now considered a 'miracle' surviver.  Anyway, we don't live close in proximity to the family, but we visited with them last weekend in their hometown and stayed the night at their parent's home...meaning we finally fully immersed!

It was great to visit with the family and see the baby:

We brought some games and played Phase 10, dice-style:

I got to practice my Spanish.  The visiting turned out to be quite the family reunion because most all of their  relatives live in the same area.  It was very comforting to be around multiple generations...there will never be any replacement of our own family, but it was very nice to be welcomed in and treated so nicely by this family:

Jenny learned how to make tortillas from scratch, which is the custom here for all the women:

And notice how we simply put a chair in front of the open flame oven to prevent the baby from approaching it!

This is a picture of the group gathered around the table in the kitchen.  It was fun to teach some of the adults some English words. The moms particularly asked us how to say "she is sleeping", because the daughter was sleeping on her mother's lap.  The food was filling, but not provided with the typical table manners as what would be expected in the States.  For instance, there was a jar of salt in the middle of the table and people would lick their fingers and dip them into the jar to consume the salt with their food (fyi keep in mind that for many impoverished families living in this part of the world, a typical meal is made up of only tortillas and salt).

The homes are most commonly built with cement blocks, so no insulation, etc.  Here's an image from above the homes.

The terrain is very mountainous and beautiful.  We went for a walk with the family to their old house.  Along the way we got to play with the younger kids and listen to the stories of the adults when they were kids.  When the family left their old home they abandoned it (didn't try to sell it or anything).  So when we stopped by it, they went in and, much to our surprise, there was still a lot of stuff inside!  The family actually took out some clothes to take to their current home.

The girls were just so cute!

  

We miss you all very much, and hope all is well with your current endeavors.  The first few months so far have been full of many great experiences and humble challenges.  We are thankful for the interactions we have here and are so glad we're able to stay connected to you all even when we're not close in proximity.

It's Not Goodbye

Our destination has arrived.  During our travel transition, the process of receiving support and love and communicating goodbyes to friends and family really impacted me.  There is nothing like hugging someone and being unable to speak words due to being overwhelmed with emotion.

To ease the tension of emotions, I was filled with joy and laughter to partake in humorous picture taking with some family members.  Take a look at these...we built great memories and experienced cries of laughter.

Prior to our departure, I enjoyed meeting up with close friends such as Jason, where we did our traditional meal in Zionsville at Big Dave's Deli, and with Ryan, where we walked the mall and enjoyed company.  I will miss those types of interactions, but I hope to gain interactions with native Guatemalans in potential athletic events or market shopping.  In fact, as I began to write this blog (sitting in a coffee shop), a 10 yr old Mayan boy came up to me to sell his bracelets (which I didn't buy), but I showed him pictures of my family on this blog and described to him (in my broken Spanish) the different stories in this blog and had him listen to music from the menu tab above and described the reason the "prayer box", which I could only translate as "talking to God".

But leaving our comforts and loved ones is not goodbye.  We have been very blessed with the opportunities and desires within us to pursue and strive to experience other cultures and living standards, and we will indeed maintain our ties and see you later.

I strongly anticipate that our time in Guatemala will feel like we will be impacted more than we impact others.  But here we go, setting ourselves in position to impact.

And as quoted in the great film production 'John Q', "it's not goodbye, it's see you later."

Family Fun!

For our last weekend in the US we enjoyed some time with family. Saturday night we went to an outdoor Lee Ann Womack concert. We arrived early to have a picnic on the lawn. I love outdoor picnics, they feel so simple and natural. It was a really fun evening and I do love me some country music.
I look mad in this picture, but I'm not...I promise
And I look like I'm sleeping in this picture, but I'm not...I promise

Then on Sunday we went to Flat Rock with our "extended family" (the Klines) and enjoyed some good food and adventure. We were able to climb a high ropes course and swing through the air by dropping 50 feet! Adrenaline rush...and several screams.

Chris and I getting ready. Game face.This is me coming down from my climb. You can't see it, but my hands and legs are shaking.David making the climb up.Swinging through the air!

It was a great weekend with lots of great loved ones! We feel very blessed by all the support we're receiving from our family and friends!