Prayer... everyone?

From our house we could hear the background noise of singing almost all day.  A couple of streets over, by the landslide on the main highway, there was an interesting get-together for prayer.  Everyone was invited:  the Catholics, the Protestants, and those who practice the traditional Mayan religion.  They were gathering together at the edge of the landslide to pray (to whomever they wished) for the edge of the ravine to quit falling away little by little.  Each group took a turn leading the event.  We were struck, once again, by how ingrained and accepted the syncretism is here.

Bus terminal

While they were working on making a detour around the landslide (which closed the main north-south road by our house), the "chicken buses" couldn't get to their normal bus terminal in the town to the north of Chichi.  So they went as far as they could and parked along the road right outside our neighborhood.

That meant I encountered scenes like this as I tried to go into town to go shopping.

Somehow, by easing in and out between the big buses, smaller buses, tuk-tuks, and cars, everyone succeeded in getting by!

Thankfully, they have now opened the detour, so the road is clear again!

Arise! dance group

I (Heather/Erica) have started teaching this year's Christmas dance to a group of kids from our church.  I couldn't believe it, but 25 kids showed up to join me this time!  There are 10 boys and 15 girls, mostly ages 9 to 13, with a few younger ones.  Our dance group is called "Levántate!" which means "Arise!"   It is so exciting to work with these kids!

Parades

We had fun attending two of the three Independence Day parades in Chichicastenango.   For three days, the main highway through town was closed for a couple of hours each day for the parades.

Waiting for the parade to start!

Guatemala's national flag.

High school students dressed up in
traditional costumes.

A smaller version of some of the idols
the Mayan priests transport from place to place.

Monkeys went into the crowds and messed up
girls' hair, which nobody seemed to like.

A Mayan priest.

There were also rows and rows of sweet school children, since every school in town participated.

We were grateful for several mornings of sunshine in the middle of rainy season!