We are at the Guatemala airport and sitting in a lounge above our boarding gate. The airport is very busy this first day of passenger service since the volcano erupted last Thursday and Friday. On the tarmac, there are two Continental planes, two American Airlines planes, two Taca planes – but no Delta planes at this moment. Our Delta departure time has been delayed for 1 ½ hours.
After our great meal at Café de la Bourbon in Antigua, we stopped by the café with the Flamenco guitar player. The three women from Australia we met there on Tuesday night with whom we sang and danced, were there with five more of their friends. Of course we had to sing at least two more songs before we returned to our hotel to pack since our shuttle was picking us up at 4:00AM.
A great trip with lots of adventure.
Love,
Liz and Mark
June 3, 2010
June 1, 2010
Another beautiful day here by the lake. Early morning sunlight is highlighting the western valley with just the tops of the two volcanoes peaking above the narrow band of gray clouds. Some villagers are gathering the abundant wood floating near the shore left behind by the storm.
There is a large amount of damage done by the river as it undercut its banks at the peak of the storm. The river still runs furious with churning mud as large pieces of trees and other debris seem to race toward the lake. All three bridges are either gone or unusable. The main bridge that we crossed several times in our van and tuk-tuk has a thirty foot section missing with a truck laying on its side at the bottom of the twenty five foot gulch. Rumor has it that the drunken driver ignored the makeshift barricade and unwittingly drove into the chasm. The rather large concrete building that used to be the grocery store by that bridge has also slid down the newly muddy slope and seems to be waiting its turn to join the other debris being claimed by the storm. Many riverside structures were either destroyed or severely damaged as the river undercut the mud bank. Even a car had one wheel dangling in the air as the rest of the car seemed to be leaning toward the edge of the cliff.
No way to reach the office of Mayan Families or the Mayan Foundation. We are meeting with a micro-finance firm today as well as another Fair Trade group.
Mark
There is a large amount of damage done by the river as it undercut its banks at the peak of the storm. The river still runs furious with churning mud as large pieces of trees and other debris seem to race toward the lake. All three bridges are either gone or unusable. The main bridge that we crossed several times in our van and tuk-tuk has a thirty foot section missing with a truck laying on its side at the bottom of the twenty five foot gulch. Rumor has it that the drunken driver ignored the makeshift barricade and unwittingly drove into the chasm. The rather large concrete building that used to be the grocery store by that bridge has also slid down the newly muddy slope and seems to be waiting its turn to join the other debris being claimed by the storm. Many riverside structures were either destroyed or severely damaged as the river undercut the mud bank. Even a car had one wheel dangling in the air as the rest of the car seemed to be leaning toward the edge of the cliff.
No way to reach the office of Mayan Families or the Mayan Foundation. We are meeting with a micro-finance firm today as well as another Fair Trade group.
Mark
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