La Basilica

Over the weekend, our daily schedule was pretty much the same. We are still struggling with Spanish but learning more everyday. Everyone says that we will be amazed at our abilities in 3 months and that we will be more or less fluent in at most 6 months. That keeps us optimistic as we fumble our words and sound like 2 year olds.

One exciting thing did happen on Saturday. On Saturday morning, we got a tour of the Basilica, which is the largest in Guatemala. Some basic information about the Basilica. It was built 250 years ago and took 19 years to build. It contains el Cristo Negro, a wood carving or Jesus that was carved from black wood. This figure is the reason people come to the Basilica. It is over 1400 years old. Pilgrims come from all over Central America to visit el Cristo Negro and give thanks. Also, I learned the difference between a cathedral and a basilica. A cathedral is for a Bishop and means seat. There is only one cathedral in each bishops area. A Basilica is for pilgrimages and will contain a special relic or statue or something that pilgrims venerate. It wasn't just a basic tour. We got to go up into the bell towers and walk around on the roof of the Basilica for about an hour. Hermano Jorge gave us the tour. He is 29 and very fun. We sat on the roof and chatted for probably 20min about school, the US, Esquipulas, and languages. He helped us with some Spanish and we helped him with some English. It was really funny to hear him say ¨whats up dog?", a phrase that he said he learned from last years volunteers. All in all, it was one of the highlights of our first week in Esquipulas.

Tomorrow Theo and I will start our work in the monstic citrus orchard. We are both looking forward to it for several reasons. First, it gives us something to do and will make us feel like we are helping out. Second, i'm excited to learn about citrus trees and what it takes to maintain and orchard. Lastly, it's a great opportunity to learn Spanish. The volunteers from last year began working in the orchard and learned a great deal of Spanish from their fellow workers. Our boss will be Leonidas and we are told that he is a good teacher and will help us with our Spanish.

In addition to starting our formal work, Theo and I will be taking on an active roll in the community and as such will be attending prayer twice a day. Once at 6am and the other at 6:15pm. The 6am service will take some getting used to. I think I may be in a sleepy daze during prayer for the first week or so. But, its going to be good to. It will help us become more active members in the community.