by Keli Shipley
Intern at Porch de Salomon, Guatemala
"I can do anything through Christ who strengthens me." -Philippians 4:13
June 14th, 2012
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| bible study in Concepsion [same village where
we are building a house for Olga] |
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| all the children held up the masks that they
decorated. the bible study lesson involved "the lost sheep" |
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| adorable siblings under a piece of plastic to
protect them from all the rain |
June 15th, 2012
This was the group's last day in Pana and to start it off, some of us
went zip lining through the mountains. It's relatively inexpensive and
is set up so that there are 8 (i think?) different zip lines that you go
across. You wear gloves (one of them having leather on it) and use the
gloves to physically slow yourself down before the guides help unhook
you.
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| Zip lining with Element 3! The place is about a
ten minute drive away from Pana |
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| area at the bottom of the zip line course |
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| the starting point |
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| Element 3 zip lining group! |
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| harnessing up |
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| almost all ready |
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| at one of the 8 "take off" points |
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| tons of bridges |
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| beautiful scenery |
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| elizabeth getting ready to go across one of
the zip lines |
here are my attempts at taking pictures while on the zip line. i may or
may not have gotten in trouble for paying more attention to my camera
and less attention to slowing myself down..
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| yes, i realize that this is upside down |
After a morning of zip lining, the group packed up, grabbed some lunch,
did some last minute shopping, and we headed to the docks [about a five
minute drive].
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| trying to avoid the rain... |
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| Pana from the lake |
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| Carl & Evan had to hold down the tarps
over the luggage in the lancha |
Our destination: La Posada Santiago [
http://www.posadadesantiago.com/]
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| view from the lake |
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| unloading the lancha |
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| tons of stone buildings to stay in |
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| where we all stayed. there is a dorm area on
the top and then single rooms below for the married couples |
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| camp "element 3" as we called it haha |
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| Lloyd's band played that night after we all
enjoyed a wonderful dinner with fresh lemonade, beef curry, and homemade
bread |
Because I have become a grandma, I was in bed by 10:30 p.m. Guatemala
has definitely turned me into a party animal...
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| After a delicious breakfast, we had to say
goodbye to the Element 3 team. They were the most amazing group that I
could have asked to have as my first "mission group" in Guatemala (and
anywhere for that matter). They had such a wide variety of people coming
from all different paths in life, but they all could come together with
the mission of helping Olga's family and working in the medical
clinics. I will miss them and hope to cross paths with them in the near
future |
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| loading up the van to go to the airport |
After they left, we ended up staying a bit longer and enjoying the
beautiful weather in Santiago.
Side note: Because Guatemala is so
close to the equator, the sun is so much stronger; therefore, always
wear sunscreen...
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| star-shaped, reminds me of MC |
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| beautiful
landscaping |
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| small grill area |
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| stairs on the way
to our lodge |
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| palapa. you can
order snacks and drinks or just lounge with a book |
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| pool area was
amazing |
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| walking down
towards the sauna |
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| dock area |
After a morning of relaxation, we travelled on a took-took to the dock
and then a lancha to Pana. Was a little bumpy, but the trip back was a
lot faster than the trip there.
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| Santiago Atitlan |
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| supposedly where
the Mayan's used to hide their gold |
This week has been absolutely amazing and it was wonderful to spend the
first part of my weekend with the Element 3 group at La Posada Santiago.
I hope that all the other groups are as wonderful as this one and I
hope to keep as busy as I did this past week. I enjoy feeling useful and
keeping busy makes the time go a bit faster. In one way, I want the
time to fly by so I can get back to my friends and family, but I also
want to enjoy and appreciate the time while I'm in Guatemala, an
opportunity I may not have again.
