Good evening blog world! Day 2 started with three of our volunteers signing up for a local 10k - about 5 minutes before the race started. No, I was not one of the runners, mostly because I had slept in. By the time I was up 'n at 'em, the race was well on its way, so I spent the morning enjoying a lovely breakfast in a flower-filled courtyard chatting with the rest of the gang. Then we went out to explore downtown Antigua. Most of the streets were lined with walls - each building/compound had a wall around the yard, garage, etc. There are bars on the windows, but lots of flowering plants behind the bars. Most of the buildings look like they're made of concrete. There were several incredible churches and a town plaza in front of the main cathedral. We arrived just as church was getting out, so the square was packed with families picnicking, playing, and enjoying the day. Of course, there were vendors and shops all over the place. Sandy had brought a dress for our welcome reception tonight, so it suddenly became necessary for competitive me to go ahead and haggle a deal on a dress for myself. So I did. Tom (our vet from Alabama), it turns out, is a great haggler and kept trying to help me get the price lower even after I was done. After our shopping, we headed to an Inca restaurant for lunch. I would like to state, for the record, that fried cheese with guacamole is amazing! Then we got into a couple of vans and headed off on a 3 hour ride over the mountains. The view promised to be spectacular, but some fog kind of got in the way, and a few people put on jackets for the second half of the ride.
Sandy, Jason, and Erica - World Vets 10k Competitors:
Horse cart and kids selling ice cream in downtown Antigua:
So there was this shop called Diva, and Becky and I just sort of, well, we're kind of alike...
Woofie and Randy chill while we wait for the bus:
And the rest of the photos from today aren't loaded up yet, so I'll have to post them tomorrow.
After we got to our new hotel by Lake Atitlan, we headed off to a reception hosted by local rescue group Ayuda. They had set aside an art gallery for our food, fun, and some local music. The food was fantastic! I've never had salad, black beans, yellow rice, and chutney all on the same plate before, but I was very pleased. We met the gallery owner Tomas, his gallery cat and dog, and some of the Ayuda volunteers. After the reception, several of us headed out for a bit of local nightlife. We found another local band, and some dancing opportunities, of which I'm sure I'll be able to post photos tomorrow... probably after we kayak around the lake and see some of the villages where we'll be starting surgeries on Tuesday.
Have a great night, world!
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