The Odyssey Continues; Good Food, a Spiritual Blessing and More..

After we visited one of the families who would be attending the clinic we went to San Luis Jilotepeque Municipality. Well, to be honest, we really didn't know where we were going. We followed Carlos in our cars and buses.  We knew somewhere at the end of the winding roads and dusty rainbow there might be food and we were hungry. I wasn't sure if the road we took to get there was the shortest route or if we were getting the scenic tour.

We pulled into a small town and parked our vehicles on a narrow street (they're all narrow in the small towns). We weren't sure if the chicken bus would make it out after lunch. There was a lot of discussions going on about it...

 

We were escorted down a street to a restaurant and were grateful to get out of the vehicles, stretch our legs and get a bite to eat.  Chicken appears to be the dish du jour every day in Guatemalan restaurants. 

University of Missouri Students


 

 



Me, Dick, & William

After lunch/dinner, we thought we were heading back to the vehicles, but instead we were escorted to the San Luis Jilotepeque Town Hall.

 

 

 



Inside, we were invited to have a seat. There were some families with children with disabilities already there. It wasn't long before the University of Missouri students were cuddling them and talking to their parents. There was one child who was 8 years old but was smaller than her 4 year old brother.

 

It turned out it was a spectacular occasion for the town for our group to be there. I met a handsome young man from the town who could speak very good English and he explained that we were going to receive a cultural presentation. He had been to America as part of a youth leadership group.

 

 

 

It wasn't long before we began to hear music..

 

 





 

The evening was a beautiful blend of music, prayer, traditional dancing and gift giving. The spiritual leaders placed a Cross of flowers just below the stage, lit candles and burned what appeared to be sage. Perhaps the sage was used to protect us from bandits.  I'm grateful because we were safe during the trip and had no major incidents. What is  because of the spiritual blessing? I'm not sure, but I'd like to think it was.

 

There was a group of teenagers who demonstrated traditional Guatemalan dancing. The dance told a story--preparing for marriage. It was beautiful. If I can figure out how to fix the video option on BlogSpot then I'll post a few clips.

 

I remember Brad showed the teens his photo with "The Rock" (Dwayne Johnson) from the CNN Hero award show. They jumped out of their chairs and squealed and giggled with excitement. I think that was the highlight of their day. We met the town Mayor and received a clay pot from the Mayor's wife as a thank you gift.

 

Brad Blauser & Isabel Hodge with San Luis Jilotepeque Students

 

 

Returning to the Centro Diocesano in Jalapa was a challenge. The bus had left and the last two vehicles got separated. Dick was going to use a short cut but was told by a local that we shouldn't take that route because there might be bandits. After a long day of driving, driving, and more driving around, I thought a 20 minute ride would be much better than an hour long one but I wasn't sure what the survival rate was for people who encounter bandits.. It was best to play it safe.. Although, there IS the added danger of hitting wandering cattle and other things at night when you're driving on the roads of Guatemala!! We saw some huge cattle walking on the shoulder of the road but managed to avoid them!

 

Anyway, thank goodness we made it back to our rooms safely --the sage worked (and I'm sure there were lots of prayers that helped too!!).