We were up with the sun this Sunday morning which is not all that hard to do since we have a window up high that catches the early sun and lets it shine in our space. Don fixed our breakfast of oatmeal with banana and hot tea. Then we dressed for church and collected the books we needed to be able to follow the Mass and understand the readings. That is one book in English and one in Spanish. We caught the bus and got out on the street near the church in Ciudad Viaja for the 11 am service. Since we were just a wee bit early Don took some pictures which at this point we can’t post since our Internet service is a bit on the flaky side.
We went into the church a bit early so we could read the English version of the readings before Mass began. Soon we received a visit from the priest as he made his way up the side isle. His name is Bernard Lee from Toronto by way of Korea and is Don‘s age. He spoke to us for several minutes and before he moved on we had plans to have lunch with him in Antigua. He got our names and welcomed us to their church at the front of the congregation.
After the service we met with him and he said we would be taking another priest with us. The other priest Father Andre another Korean who has been here for two years and speaks Spanish with the Korean sing-song quality when he gets going. We had a great lunch of Shish-ka-bobs, with salad, rice and mushroom gravy and fries served rather dramatically with the skewers hanging from a loop with saucers with the rest of the meal attached to the center pole -- rather like a Christmas tree or condiment server. Other people in the restaurant asked permission to take pictures of our table. Don had gotten cash the day before so he picked up the tab for the meal which turned out to be a good thing because this was the day the pick pocket snatched Don’s wallet. Lucky for us he only carried one debit card and about $50. The wallet was stolen while we were involved in the Lenten Procession in a crowd of people. We know it was a tiny little woman, not a Mayan, who probably was the pick pocket. At any rate we were reminded to be more vigilant and not let ourselves be sidetracked so easily.
After the meal we went with the priest to a plant nursery/coffee shop and enjoyed walking among the plants. We were able to put names to a couple of plants we see a lot around town. Don had hot chocolate since he is not a coffee drinker. It was very pleasant sitting amongst the plants and various flowers and greenery while we chatted and drank our coffee. We drove to a spot near where the procession would pass and parked the car, walking the rest of the way. This float took over 50 people to carry it. It really is an awesome sight. Except for the lost wallet it was a very nice day. The two priest drove us right to our door and they have invited us to be their guest next week for lunch after Church. We leave Antigua on Monday for Lake Atitlan for about 4 days before going on to Xela (shay-la).
