Thursday - coming home

   
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Airport Guatemala City - early morning



It is 4:21 pm and I have been up since 3:30 am - seems like days ago.  Victor woke me up as he was preparing to go to work and Joshua from the God's Child Project picked me up at 4:00 am. 

The drive to Guatemala City was easy and the flight to LA okay but of course I was held up at immigration because I had a temporary passport, another line-up and wait. 

I count 8 line-ups I have been in already today and still not anywhere near home.  I lost it at the United Airlines check-in because it cost me $60 to check two bags - will never fly United again.  In LA for 6 hours and then 6 hours home as I have a stop in San Francisco.  It will be nearly 24 hours by the time I get home.

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Jose, Ivan, Ceasar, Dora nad Maria - my host family



I was sad to leave Antigua this morning - the Posada party with Dora and her family was interesting - we went to her son's place in another town, they live in a very uninteresting gated community of small non-descript little row houses.  If it hadn't been for the Spanish Christmas songs being sung, I could have been in any little town in any community in North America, but as we were following the procession around the small community, I looked over and saw a guard with a semi-automatic machine gun.  What a strange site it was - I just wish I could have taken a picture but I know guys with guns generally don't like having their pictures taken.  Even more interesting, would have been a picture of him coming over for a sandwich and a hot drink.

This family will always be special to me.  The children are beautiful and watching them play the same way children do eveywhere (rolling down hills, playing tag, doing cartwheels)  reminds me we are one race, just slightly different colours.

I will miss them!