"your task is not to seek for love..."

by Keli Shipley
Intern at Porch de Salomon, Guatemala

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it." -Rumi


notice that it's lipton tea
Today, I woke up feeling much better than yesterday, but continued to be cautious of what I decided to eat. Anyways, I met up with Lena for breakfast at the Patio. For 19Q, I got the Americano breakfast which consisted of: hibiscus tea, homemade bread and jam, eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. It was a great way to start off the day and it was nice hearing her perspective about interning in Guatemala. This is her third time, so her advice is super helpful. Afterwards, we decided to take a took took to the cemetery. This may seem a little odd, but the Mayan people take a lot of time to honor the dead.


allows for additions
There multiple options for how they burry the dead. First of all, you can rent one of the places in the permanent burial slots. These are the one in the first and second picture. They can be painted; however, if a family stops paying for the slot, than the coffin is removed so another body can be placed in it. There are also larger plots that can be purchased where tombs can be placed. These bars can be placed on top of the first tomb, allowing for another family member to be buried on top of them. Many families take a lot of time, effort, and money to ensure that the dead are honored and respected. During the day of the dead, near about the entire city come to the cemetery and brings flowers and other gifts to give to their ancestors. As seen to the right, marigolds are one of the symbols of the day of the dead. Lena was explaining that some of the seeds from the marigolds that were brought on the day of the dead probably dropped and ended up growing next to the tomb.
"This tomb hold your body, God your soul, and we your memories. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. -Philippians 1:21"





























After we went through the maze of different tombs, we travelled down a road towards the lake. It wasn't too far of a walk and there were dozens of boats along the shoreline. A lot of the gringos who come from the states come here to get away from the politics of everything and simply relax. There are massive houses with huge lawns and large fences/ gates that surround them.


Lena standing on the bridge that we crossed. Sure, we could have used the safe bridge a hundred yards away, but did we? nope. 


massive houses along the lakeshore. many gringos live in this area
After some ice cream, a nice visit to the panaderia (bakery) and then time meeting some new people at the porch, it was time to head back for some rest. The weather in Pana is interesting because it goes from being absolutely beautiful in the mornings to storms in the afternoon and into some of the nights. Takes some getting used to, but it's nice to notice patterns. Only a few more days until the first team comes, which is exciting and should liven up the pace a bit down here.