A FESTIVE WEEKEND IN ANTIGUA
*The city was alive all weekend with the annual celebration of the Feast of St James, the patron saint of Guatemala.  Saturday began by sharing Mass at The Cathedral located in Central Park, followed by oversized human puppets dancing in the streets and throughout the city.
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* In the afternoon the festivities continued with a procession out of the cathedral with a very large statue of St James in top of a HUGE, ornately carved platform that takes 60 people, led by the priest, to carry throughout the streets of Antigua. I was fortunate to watch it twice. Once as they last the cathedral and once our family watched as it passed our house!

WEEK THREE BEGINS
*I am excited to be back at school!!!!
The break was good but I want to learn more! My way of learning is hearing, seeing and speaking in conversation over and over and over again.  My teacher, Lucia, is very patient with me!   This week was filled with walking trips around the city, preparation for my final presentation and visits to bakeries, museums, the mercado and hotels. My final presentation was presenting the sweet potatoe. In Guatemala, comote dulce is a  typical sweet treat made with sweet potatoes, sugar and cinnamon. I received my Completion Certificate. Hooray for me!!!!

*****  Now let me tell you about the other events of the week that left me quite emotional!!!!
Thursday morning at 1:00am I woke up with my bed shaking from an earthquake.  Since this was our second earthquake I was a bit more prepared.  I slept with my phone fully charged, shoes by my bed and my identification attached to my phone.  I grabbed it, rushed out to the courtyard with Michael-John joining me.  Michele came out as well at the other end of the house.  The others slept right through it.  I have no idea how!  Fortunately it ended quickly.  It said it was estimated to be a 5.0 off the coast of Guatemala.
*Then at 5:00am I woke up to many, many “bombas” exploding marking the beginning of the celebration of the feast of “drivers”. The busses and uber cars were all decorated. 
*Then at about 5:30 there was a HUGE EXPLOSION in our house!  Michele had tried to light the pilot light on the oven.  She checked back and it wasn’t hot so she tried again.  The gas had accumulated and exploded with fire all the way to the ceiling. Pushed the oven back from the wall and pushed the whole window out of its frame. The force of the explosion pushed Michele right out of her bedroom slippers about two feet back. I  thought it was another earthquake and the building was collapsing. Michael-John and I came running, me with my phone and ID so they could identify our bodies! My mind racing because I thought it was a volcano.  We found Michele standing in total fear and shock.  Michael-John just stood there and held her tight for a very long time!  She was pretty shaken up though! These last experiences have left me quite emotionally drained.  Thank you Lord Michele is physically okay. I could have lost my daughter, my family could have been buried in the rubble of an earthquake. But no we are all safe!