Day 2 - Travel to Tactic

Hello All: Mike Stacey here with 11-B again. We didn't have internet until this morning, so I will post twice to update you on yesterday's events and today's events.

Yesterday (Friday), we went to the market in Antigua after touring around a little bit. We first visited the cathedral (central church) and walked the streets of Antigua, taking in the sights one by one. We walked all around Antigua until we came to a church where many previous Bearspaw groups have set foot. We walked down underneath the church itself, and sat down in a large underground room that has perfect acoustics for talking and singing. We had a semi-brief period of worship in the room, and as we were singing, the light in the underground room went from dark to shining bright. It was as if God was listening to our worship, and parted the clouds to let the sun shine through for our time of worship to Him. It was quite an experience. People commented that the sound of the person sitting across from them in the room reflected so that it sounded like that person was right behind them singing. Definitely a highlight among the group.

We then ventured to the central market in Antigua, and we were introduced to the concept of "haggling" and "bargaining". The leaders told us that in Guatemala, if you can't lower the price offered by the vendor to you on an item that you want, your shopping experience was unsuccessful. =P People had items originally priced as high as 400 "quetzals" (dollars) and managed to haggle the price down to 90 "quetzals." It became a bit of a contest between people to see who could haggle the greatest price difference. All in all, fun was had in great amounts.

The drive to Tactic was a grand adventure to say the least. We stopped at a fast food restaurant called "Pollo Campero." It served fried chicken and french fries, and everyone loved the food! Sam Hogman (11B) commented that KFC could take lessons on how to cook chicken from this restaurant, so that might give you an idea on how good the chicken tasted.


We then proceeded on the drive to Tactic. In Guatemala, the dividing lines on the road we were told were mere "suggestions", and every driver in this country does not obey the lines or road signs. We had a couple of close calls on the 2 lane highway leading to Tactic, as crazy drivers passing in the other direction did not care about whether we were heading directly towards them in our one lane. Large buses even pulled out to pass people. Quite the crazy experience, but we were kept safe by the skills of my van's driver - "Israel." In my van, we sang songs such as Journey's "Don't Stop Believin", and worship songs. The whole trip was filled with songs and car-ride games, but no one once complained.

Once we got to Tactic, we quickly settled in and were invited to a youth event put on by the community. We got to worship with the local youth, and we then had wide games such as Tug of War. We also had eating contests, and Leah Verburg won for the girls, and Sam Hogman won for the guys. We were then served " bean tamales", little pastries with bean and jelly inside of them. They were really good!! The group also formed a soccer team and played a little 5 v 5 match with the teens of the community. Brina Martens, Samantha Temple, Emma Pedersen, Ali Oliverio, and myself consisted of "Team Canada", and we ended up winning 3-2 in "overtime." Fun again was had by all, as all of Bearspaw was cheering on Team Canada, while the Guatemalans were cheering on their boys in the game. It was an atmosphere of fellowship, friendship, and tons of fun.

Today's events, which included home visits to sponsor kids, and manual labor at the local school (moving rocks by wheelbarrow and shovel) will be included in the next blog.

God Bless,

Mike Stacey 11 - B