Sunday, July 20 - Zacapa

Wifi has been spotty - going to try to jot down the high points of the last week.

The kids and I finished language school strong.  The girls and I finished and graduated book A.  Wil finished book A but didn't "graduate"  whatever that really means.  Our last week of language school we buckled down and really plowed through our lessons and homework.  We didn't take any more excursions or tours so there wasn't much to write about.  We just went to school, found a cool place to eat and do homework and then went to bed and did it all over again the next day.  We checked out the other language schools and questioned the students of the other schools and we all believe that CSA is truly the best in Antigua and worth the extra $$.

We left Antigua on the afternoon of the 18th and found Steve at the Barcelo that evening with no problems.  We had a nice family reunification dinner and swim.  It was the first night in two weeks that the kids and I didn't freeze half to death during the night - Antigua gets really cold at night and the houses don't have complete roofs so the rooms get really cold.  And, we had really missed having pillows.  If we get to return to language school next year, we are bringing a gift of pillows to the host family.

Sarah Mae came down with a troublesome guatebug over that Thursday night (our first hint at any troubles this entire trip) so we had to change our plans up a bit to accommodate her recovery time.  We ended up leaving her in our room under the supervision of the hotel manager while the rest of us went ahead and traveled to San Lucas to meet with KidsAlive Guatemala director Corby Dukes.  Now, reflecting on that simple statement "we traveled to SanLucas" I feel I must expound on that a bit.  Unless you have been in a 3rd world country you can not possibly appreciate the "we traveled" part.  And really to arrive anywhere safely is a cause to take a moment and send praises up to our Father in heaven.  For lots of reasons,  we simply can not get out of Guatemala City without undue duress and hassle.  We have been coming here for 10 years and we have come to accept the fact that we will never be able to leave the city without narrowly escaping death or calamity,one time we even ended up driving across a pedestrian skybridge.  Anyway, I digress, we did make it and we spent the better part of the entire day on the pristine and beautiful campus of Oasis in San Lucas.  Wow, what an amazing operation that they run there.  Their facility is at maximum capacity with 50 girls who have all been rescued out of the human trafficking trade.  In the US we hear a great deal about the trafficking in Cambodia and here in Guatemala it is just as prevalent and organized.  It is truly a victory to celebrate when you can find a facility that is doing the rescue and rehabilitate operation well.  Some of these girls were 5 years old.  Really, let that last sentence sink into your head for a moment . . . more than one little girl we saw with our own eyes was 5 . . . 5 years old . . . not through kindergarden yet.  www.KidsAlive.org if you want to read more about the work for the Kingdom that is taking place there.   Sorry no photos for obvious reasons.
When we got back to the hotel we found Sarah feeling much better.  We all walked to a local Guatemalan restaurant and then back to the hotel for a swim.
Saturday we were up and around by 5 am checking out and heading through the mountains to Zacapa.  (see note above about trying to leave city . . . yes, yet again, we ended up lost in the dreaded zone 1 - murder capital of the world)  It took us 1.5 hours to get out of the city.  Then the always hair raising drive through those mountains but we made it to the government orphanage in Zacapa and through answered prayer we were admitted inside to see Dulce for the first time since last year.  She was pretty quiet when we first saw her but through the blessing of Sarah Grace's violin talent she warmed right up to us.  The girls had her giggling and laughing and the whole experience was a blessing to her and us.  She looks amazing.  She is eating well and her hair is a rich dark color again which is a great indicator of her overall health.  She remembered us.  We were able to spend about 2 hours at the orphanage.  Sarah Mae and Sara Grace were even allowed into the infant room to help hold babies.  After we left there we went with one of the missionaries here to a traditional Guatemalan lunch and then she took us us to an aldea that we had never been to before.  It is a little village slightly behind LaFrogua (where we were last year) and the entire village has no water.  None.  I guess I will never be able to comprehend in my American raised brain how these villages form around no water.  No clean water anyway.  They do have a dirty brown stream running behind the aldea where they get their water, bath, and wash clothes but seriously the water looks like chocolate milk.  Anyway, we met with pastor in his home.  What an amazing guy.  They don't have a church but they are raising money bymaking