Safe Travels

It is my pleasure to report that the group (and our luggage) all arrived safely in Guatemala.

The day began quite early for us, most of us were up by 2 am and on the road by 3 am. If you happened to be driving by the church around 3:15 this morning, you would have seen our small flock of bleary eyed parents and excited, yet tired, participants. We went through our morning check list. Everyone's luggage was nicely under the weight restriction and no one forgot their passport. That is what I consider an exceptional departure.

Thanks to the early flight, getting through Detroit Metro was a breeze. Some got a coffee or juice, most of us were eagerly anticipating naps on the flight.

Our plan was right on schedule in Houston. As we had been up for so long, many got lunch at 8:30 CST. We had time to wander, check out the shops, and pick out some food to take with us on the flight to Guatemala City.

Before boarding the flight, we had to have our passports checked again. Once we all were on the plane, there was more napping, some reading, and the inevitable joy of filling out the customs form.

What might surprise a few of you is our relative ease going through customs here in Guatemala. There was only one other flight so the lines were barely in existence. We got our luggage and none of us had to have it inspected.

Matt from International Samaritan and our driver were right there waiting for us. We hopped on our little bus and headed to the retreat center. Once we arrived, we carried our luggage up stairs and had just a couple minutes to put things in our room. The fantastic cooks prepared a light lunch. Their definition of light: chicken, potatoes, mixed vegetables, and pineapple juice. It was fantastic.

Next up was a short orientation from Matt, a surprise visit from Angelica who is the coordinator here for all of Central America, and then a trek to the grocery store. Our group walked a couple blocks to the grocery store where we bought enough groceries for our lunches. The rule was only Guatemalan brands - bread, peanut butter, jelly, chips, soda, tea, cookies, and apples.

Now we are on a bit of break before dinner. Our group is socializing with the group that is here until Wednesday from a Jesuit high school. They are getting along quite well. I think our after dinner plans will be fairly simple as everyone is a bit tired.

Tomorrow we tour the school and a bit of the city. I hope to be able to upload some pictures of what we see and do.

Look for more posts in the day to come!

~Jennifer

P.S. Posts are likely to be before 6 am or after 9 pm local time (Mountain time).