On May 8, I left my house in Salisbury, MD to travel an hour to meet my parents so that my mother and their Pastor, Tom could take us to the BWI airport to get on our way to Guatemala. We had a great flight and arrived around 3:30 p.m. Guatemala time (5:30 p.m. by our time). We made it through customs very easily... waved right by... got some money exchanged for our trip here and went out to find our friend Oscar, ready to take us to our hotel and for a tour of the city. Oscar is the brother of the pastor of the Hispanic church that meets at the Easton Church of the Brethren, in Easton, MD. My father has developed a friendship with both and Oscar was our tour guide!
The hotel was very nice, but we were escorted to our room with an armed guard and he even looked into the bathroom and closets to make sure all was well!!! What have I gotten myself into... LOTS of armed guards all around the city as we toured it.
We went to the Presidential Palace where Oscar arranged for an English speaking tour and then saw a cathedral and a cement model of Guatemala. Notice the height of the mountains and the rough terrain. Then we rode around the city... crossed one bridge and saw lots of shacks (homes) on the hillside... even down almost to the river below.
This city and this country is one of extremes... not unlike ours... but GREATER... nearly presidential houses and shanties. Lots of armed guards... LOTS of street noise and a very rowdy neighborhood.
All in all it was a great first day!
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