Day 03 January 26th

A Day of Celebration and Adventure in Antigua

This morning the Maranatha students were blessed with a late breakfast at 9:00 meaning we students got to sleep in (rather than waking up and being ready for the day at 6:30 like the other mornings). At breakfast we sang happy birthday to Matthew who turned 18 today. After breakfast, we drove to church where we had a very uplifting and spiritual service. Students got to experience a different style of worship that was very upbeat and full of movement. After church we drove to Luna de Miel, a restaurant in Antigua, where we had crêpes and smoothies to fuel us on the hot day. From the restaurant, we walked through Antigua and up numerous flights of stairs to reach the tourist destination Cerro De La Cruz (Mount of the Cross), a lookout over the city with a large wooden cross. After posing for a group photo at the look-out, we trekked back down the hill and through the city to a market. Students thoroughly enjoyed bargaining with local shop owners. Some students,  who thrived in the marketplace environment, got better deals than others. Students bought items such as bracelets, keychains, necklaces, magnets and paintings as gifts and items for themselves to bring home. Exhausted from the day’s excursion, we returned to The Casa where we ate dinner followed by a fire where we sang worship songs and shared our highs and lows of the day. The newest 18-year-old Matthew got to hit a Mario pinata to celebrate his special day. Tomorrow, we begin a full week of working at the school teaching English classes, helping with medical examinations and installing new internet components for better Wi-Fi access as well as planning VBS. 

-Andrew, Danmara and Leandra