Day 6

Today was the day we left Xela to head to San Lucas for the second part of our trip where we will be working at the mission.  We headed out early to leave time to stop and explore the Mayan Ruins in the city of Iximche.  We got a tour of the ruins and learned some of the important history of the Mayans.

After visiting the ruins, we stopped at the Hotel Restaurante Albergues de Tecpan for lunch where we walked around and explored the park for a while to get a break from the long bus ride.  We had fun playing on see-saws, swings, and other playground toys (releasing our inner-child and our built up
energy from sitting all morning).

We then got back on the bus where we had 3 more hours until we arrived at our hotel in San Lucas. On our way to the hotel we passed an amazing waterfall.

 After getting through the thick and scary fog, we finally arrived where we had to say our goodbyes to the friends we had made over the past few days in Xela. They gave us each a present to remember them by and to show their appreciation for our visit. They told us to always keep a part of Guatemala in our hearts and that we will always have a friend in Guatemala.

We then quickly got settled in our hotel and headed over to the mission for dinner and to meet other volunteers. At the mission we were given an overview of our schedule for the week and a brief orientation.  We concluded the night by watching a video of remembrance of Father Greg Schaffer, who recently passed away.  Father Greg served the San Lucas Mission for 48 years and had an tremendous impact on the people of the San Lucas area.  Everyone was exhausted after the long travel day and headed to bed shortly after the video. 

- Kara & Carli