" I was borned here, I am home now....well sorta"

Those were Marissa's words as our plane touched down in Guatemala yesterday. I love that she feels so excited to be here and I think it is pretty cool that she feels a connection. She was saying that to the lady in the seat next to her. I, of course was on the other side white knuckling it and praying to God for another safe landing. I know it is all good when the passengers start clapping the minute the plane touches down...I, for one don't think it deserves applause until I am safely in the gate..if at all. We are greeted by Joe Collins the Founder and Executive Director of FHTH's. He is standing in the crowd with a piece of paper about the size of 1/3rd of a 5 X 8 card with all of our names in it. Quite funny!! They have hired a medium sized white bus to take us to our desitnation. The driver is of course a typical looking Gutemalan, brown skin, short in stature and I realize quickly that he must not only drive for the bus company but also on the Nascar curcuit.
 It is a very interesting ride in a country that has little if any laws in regards to driving. Its like a big free for all in a place like NYC, absent are the chicken busses of course. If it is your first time here it is a cascade of amazing snap shots, You see things here that you would never see in New Jersey. I think the speed limit is, "as fast as you can go, try not to kill anyone in the process."  I guess that works most of the time. Little frightening for this Jersey girl.  Guatemala City is really no different then any other city with tall buildings, malls and traffic. It is a mountainous country and the mountains are polka dotted with what looks like thousands of little shacks that are made of tin and sometimes cardboard boxes. People walk along these highways as if they are walking along a country road, occasionally you will see them make this dash across the highway between speeding trucks, busses and cars.  They clearly must have alot of faith in God that they will make it. FYI: pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in this country...not by any sense of the imagination. Many of the cars and trucks that travel these roads are probably cars that we would call for a trip to the junk yard, they often just putter along like they don't have a care in the world. The roads wind around the mountains as we make our way to Antigua.
Marissa says you will know when you are in Antigua by the bumpy road. She is right because Antigua is all cobblestone streets. It is always a beautiful place to drive into, surrounded by 3 volcanoes, the streets are lined with colorful casas, and lush flowers and vines of many colors. Antigua is visted by tourists from all over the world. There are many choices for lodging here, from host family stays , hostels and an array of hotels to choose from. Eveyone in the bus is excited to be here as we pull up to the Hotel El Carmen where we will spend the next week. It is great to arrive as we have been traveling since 3:30 AM...it will be nice just to relax. As I have said many many times I love it here, I just love it here!