Antigua, Guatemala!

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Ok next, a typical "I'm sorry I'm so late writing about Easter and Antigua but a lot has been happening and the blog slips down the priority list" statement. Well there it was.

So Easter! This is actually the time when I get "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" stuck in my head because a) it's my favorite Christmas song so it will sometimes sneak into my thoughts and b) I really do feel that way about Easter! Let me tell you how we celebrated.

Easter Sunday morning was when we were supposed to sleep in since we had been up until about 2 celebrating. Well that meant that this girl was up at 7. I told you, my body's idea of sleeping in means something completely different in Belize. It was really nice though because I had at least 45 minutes to myself reminiscing about the glorious events of the night before, getting teary-eyed again thinking of the kids being baptized, and I got to work on what's become the staple of me and Jack: buffalo chicken dip. Why was I starting buffalo chicken dip at 7:00 on Easter Sunday? Well why not, first of all, but there actually was a purpose. At 2, we were having a big food celebration at the Robinson ranch with all the staff of the parish, so all the priests, sisters, cooks, volunteers, people who work in the office, etc. It was a potluck and Jack and I were bringing buffalo chicken dip because we're pros at it and it tastes way stinkin good. So anyway, I knew other people would need our kitchen throughout the morning, so I got a head start with our dish. Though I have to admit that dissecting raw chicken first thing in the morning was not my ideal way of starting off Easter Sunday but alas the end result was well worth it. Then after a bit, everyone woke up and was over and we all had breakfast together which is always my favorite thing. And then it was time for everyone to cook! And pack since we were leaving for Antigua on a night bus at 8:00. Around 1:30, we all got in the trucks and headed to the ranch where we had a lot of delicious food and could enjoy spending time with everyone for a couple hours. But then we had to get back and we left Benque around 6 I think to go over to Melchor to wait at the bus station. Now when we first got on the bus, I somewhat foolishly thought maybe our 12 hour (that's right 12 hours) bus ride won't be so bad; it was a really nice double decker, cushy seated bus. I had my word search book, my other reading book, and my phone to listen to music, so I thought I was all set. Well then they turned the lights off, and our individual seat lights didn't turn on, so there goes any word searching or reading. By 9:30, Joe was trying to sleep, so then I was stuck trying to pass 12 hours by myself or at least until I was so exhausted I fell asleep. Naturally I thought I would listen to music to pass the time..only to find that my headphones were in my backpack which was under the bus. So then I got to sit and shift in my seat for hours freezing with nothing to do until I was so purely exhausted that I just fell asleep. I dozed here and there, but was only encouraged by the prospect of taking a nap in Antigua. Or drinking Guatemalan coffee. Well anyway, enough about the rough bus ride because when we got to Antigua, it was totally worth every minute of those 12 hours. For one thing, the weather was spectacular: sunny, no humidity, no warmer than 75 degrees. Needless to say, the most frequently spoken sentence from all of us that week was, "Why don't we just live in Antigua?" But let me tell you about the week.

So Monday we arrived and checked into our house. Oh! What we did is we rented a house. There was a big..neighborhood type place? It's gated and has guards at the entrance 24/7 and inside there are a lot of different plazas/houses, and so you have a key that opens the door into a shared courtyard between 4 houses. Our courtyard had a pool! And then we had this huge beautiful 2 story stone house, so we put our stuff there and then split off to explore a bit. Joe, Monica, Madeline, Jack, and I all wanted to find coffee and/or food. So that's what we did. We found a little place off the main boulevard and it turns out the downstairs was closed since it was before lunch, so this little lady who I think owned it and cooked ushered us upstairs and we ended up on this covered patio thing all by ourselves! It was so lovely! And our food was very good, I got some breakfast burrito type thing. 

This is technically Monica's perspective, but we ordered the same thing, so it's ok. After lunch, we slowly made our way over to one of the churches that had Mass at noon, kinda looking in different stores along the way. It was a good 25 minute walk or so to the church, but I really didn't even mind walking around Antigua. It looks a lot like your typical European, cobblestoned town. So we made it to San Francisco which is one of the huge old churches in Antigua (again, resembling Europe)

 I love that they have kept the outside non-rebuilt or restored. There are a few beautiful ruins interspersed throughout the city since it's so old.

It even has a lovely arch entrance!

After Mass, we went back to the house to meet Bill who was coming for the week. Bill was one of Joe's good friends from school and also someone we (Joe, Katie, Elisabeth, and I) were in Austria with. So total we had 12 people in Antigua which sounds like a huge crowd, but like I said our house was huge so it never felt overwhelming and during the day we were usually in little groups anyway. The only time we were all guaranteed to be together was dinner time and man, it made my Italian food-centered heart so happy. So each night 3 different people were in charge for cooking dinner and we all ate together! And dang, we had great food each night. For some reason you can get more things in Guatemala and it also helped that there was a HUGE outdoor market with super fresh produce as well as a pretty big supermarket. But just to be eating fresh, healthy food was a wonderful treat.

Tuesday I think I just read most of the day on our balcony that opened from our (me, Monica, and Madeline) room. This was our view:

Yeah that mountain is a volcano. Pretty sick.

So that's where any of us with books spent a lot of time, overlooking the pool/courtyard looking at the volcano reading. Or just soaking up the sun in perfect weather. We probably went out to the market or something, so now I will show you a couple of exploration pictures of Antigua.

Also worth mentioning is the fact that fast food is a thing in Guatemala. Remember when we went to Flores and there was a Burger King? Well our big excitement in Antigua was McDonalds! (They also had Domino's which I wanted so badly but it was ridiculously overpriced). But back to this McDonalds, Monica and I (and Jack too) were ecstatic. For those of you that don't know, I have a huge love for fast food though I don't often indulge in that guilty pleasure. But since I live in a country with 0 fast food, I decided I could indulge for the week. And what an indulgence! It was the fanicest McDonalds I've ever been too, and that's including the one in Vegas!

 So excited for our junk food!

And here is the ridiculous courtyard to enjoy your cheeseburger...

Crazy, right?

Ok what else did we do...Wednesday we actually left Antigua and spent the morning at Lake Atitlan which is a large lake a couple hours away that many people visit because it's stinkin gorgeous and has 2 historic towns on its shores. Oh, it's also got volcanoes. Here are some breathtaking pictures!

 So this is actually the view from a scenic lookout on our way to the town which you can see on the left side of the lake.

Yay look at us! Left to right it's Monica, Emily (Elisabeth's sister), Bill (Joe's friend), me, Elisabeth, Eric, Katie, Jack, Joe, Madeline (Jack's girlfriend), Jeremy (who we named grumpy gills in this picture), and Michael. Don't judge our appearance, we had to leave Antigua at 5:30 and some people were car sick. So we look great!

The rest of the day was actually spent on our own. Monica and I had a nice little date day where we spent some time down by the lake before heading up to town to do some shopping!

 Our favorite earring lady! I bought a pair from her and should've bought 12 more! They were beautiful and cheap!

Modeling my new earrings for Monica. Only 15 quetzales! Which is $2.50 USD

We returned to Antigua around 1 or 2 I think, so we still had the whole afternoon ahead of us which I spent of course eating some lunch at home and reading. Later in the afternoon though some of us went back to the market to get some more goodness and also to complete some of the items on a scavenger hunt list that Katie and Eric made before we went to Mass. Some of the pictures are hilarious because Michael and Monica were taking them, so I have to share some of my favorites.

 This one was with a street vendor.

 This just needed to be with a palm tree. Monica decided to...bond with the tree? Blend with the tree? Either way, it gets me every single time!

 This is another one that makes me laugh!! The item was to be in a fountain.

And I think this is actually a really pretty picture of Monica. Oh, the item was to be with a security guard of some kind.

After Mass, we slowly made our way back to the house stopping for ice cream of course. Or maybe that day we ate McDonalds again? This also could've been frozen yogurt day. As you can see, I'm having a little trouble remembering what exactly we did on which days. I think it's largely attributed to the fact that I really just spent most of the days waking up, showering (because there was hot water!!!!!!!), breakfast and coffee, reading, Mass, lunch, exploring, dinner, and then chilling back at the house. Obviously Wednesday was a little different because we went to the lake. But in any case, I'll post a couple more pictures from around Antigua for your viewing pleasure and my reminiscing purposes.

 Just walking around one of the coolest cities ever.

Another archway for another Church!

This is La Merced and it looks like it's just a plain yellow, but look closer...

It's like a big cake with beautiful piping!

I think that's really it as far as exciting activity things we did. Oh I forgot on Friday morning, Michael, Jack, Monica, and Jeremy hiked up one of the volcanoes The rest of us were either exhausted or having some...health issues that made bathroom access quite necessary. They had a great time though, said it was a little tough since you're hiking in ash. But there was one point where you could toast bread over the ground! Pretty neat! But here is one picture I would like to share from their experience just because it's really funny to me.

Ok well there's this nice one followed immediately by...

This special one. The best part is that neither really remember what they were doing.

Ok, I just have a couple of pictures from the little neighborhood/development our house was in and then I'll be done

 This is our living room complete with a fireplace (which we used one night!) and a happy Jack

 This is as if you looked right from the last picture. Our dining area and kitchen which is where Joe is of course

 So this is one of the streets inside our gated community thing. You see it looks a bit like it's own town

 Here's our street we lived on 

Ok once again I have no idea what is happening but it's so funny and it also shows the door to our main plaza courtyard area that we share with the other 3 houses. Right on the other side of those doors is where our pool is. But right now just enjoy Katie fake-beating up Jack. I sure am.

Alright, that's a snapshot of Antigua! There are tons more pictures and it was an incredibly needed week of getting away and relaxing and learning/using more Spanish in that one week than the entire time in Benque. We all wish we could go back, even now we still say, "Let's just go back to Antigua!" especially in those moments when you just can't stop sweating. I'm sorry, did I say moments? More like days.

Well now I will release you from the captivity of this Antigua post. Send some extra prayers my way. And happy feast day of Our Lady of Fatima!

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.

Belize to France

Ok you faithful readers, I have some big news. As some of you may know, when I studied abroad my sophomore year of college, I spent a week serving on a mission trip in Lourdes, France. I immediately fell in love with everything: the place, the work, the people I was serving, all of it. Long before the week ended, I knew not only that I wanted to go back and serve again, but that I would. 

Well that day has finally come! Or at least it will on June 15 because that's when I fly out to Lourdes where I will spend 3 weeks serving two different pilgrimages with the North American Lourdes Volunteers. This has been a huge desire of mine for 3 years now and in less than a month, this entire plan has come together which is both miraculous and a little overwhelming. It's mostly overwhelming because of the cost: as you know, I'm not exactly making the big bucks right now which means I have to raise $4,000 as soon as possible. The final payment was due April 15...my goal is to raise the money by the end of the month (because the NALV is being incredibly understanding as well as helpful in all of this). So now I'm pulling out all the stops to seek generosity anywhere and everywhere.

This is where I need your help! My cost includes the airfare, all my meals, accommodations, mandatory insurance, and dues owed for serving which is why it is no small number. Fundraising has never been my strong suit because I feel bad asking for the money, but my love for the pilgrims and mission of Lourdes overcomes my pride, and so I am coming to all of you. If you (or anyone you know, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc.) would like to help me out in any way (and I mean any. Even $20 is like BIG BUCKS to me), please let me know! Send me an email or comment on this post or any other creative communicative means with your mailing address, so I can then send you a letter with all the information about the missions I'll be serving as well as about donating. (And hey, it's tax deductible!)

You can write a check or if you're one of those get it done quickly people, you can donate online through PayPal by clicking here. Just make sure to include a message saying your contribution is for my payment on the mission. If you do want to write a check, all you have to include is my name in the memo line.

But after you say a little prayer about it and if you decide you want to help, again, send me your mailing address and I will send you the letter with all the information. 

So let's recap:
1. I have the privilege of going to Lourdes for 3 weeks to serve the sick and underprivileged who seek the comfort and healing of God
2. You have the chance to serve them with me! Firstly through prayers, and then financially
3. You want to send me your mailing address so you can get one of my really cool letters :)
4. Donating will also ensure that I will pray for you every single day for 3 weeks in the Grotto where Mary appeared to St. Bernadette. Hello. That's awesome.
5. Also feel free to spread the word! If you know of someone who is looking for a charity or cause to donate to, this is a beautiful ministry.

In all seriousness though, there is nothing more I want than to serve in Lourdes. So I'm already abundantly thankful in advance for your spiritual and financial support. May God bless you and please pray for me!

St. Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us.

Totus Tuus, Maria.