Fun in Antigua and Beyond

So I need to catch everyone up from the last few days. On Sunday we went to church at Iglesia Del Camino. It is a bilingual church and cafe here in Antigua. It was a great experience. All of the songs are sung in both English and Spanish. Then we had a sermon about spiritual warfare, sang some more and were dismissed. Please pray for this church, they recently found out the owner of the building they rent is not going to renew the lease, so they will have to find a new home for the church.

After church it was off to Pollo Campero for lunch. I got a little crazy and decided to try the pollo parilla (grilled chicken), which was very delicious. On the way home, we stopped in a couple of shops and bought a journal for Christopher (he and Jenny are going to do a bible study together), a finger puppet for Luis and a key chain for Care. We spent the rest of the day playing Futbol and hide and seek and later Ghost in the graveyard on the apartment grounds.

Monday brought the return of school for the kids. While Jenny worked with Christopher and Caroline on their lessons, I used Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever with Luis to learn some new English vocabulary and have some fun. Then we played the memory game. He is very good at it and does not like to lose. After school we decided to go to the cross on hill above Antigua. We went to find a police escort, but were told that is only needed after 3pm. So we hiked up the hill staying on the road (which is the long way, but kept us off the trail through the woods). It was a long hike, but the views of the city were worth it. Here are a couple of pictures.

















I think I might try and take a jog up there one morning to get a picture of the Cross with Agua (the volcano) in the background.


The kids were pretty exhausted from the hike, so it was an early bedtime for all of us last night.

Today we had school in the morning. I worked with Luis on vocabulary, the memory game and playful patterns for our school day while Christopher and Caroline had English, Social Studies, Math and Science.

After school we headed into the city to visit Hiper Paiz. We needed costumes for the Halloween party we are going to on Saturday. When we walked into the store we were greeted with Mucho Santas, Christmas trees and lights. Luis was beside himself. He can't wait for Christmas. We found a small section with costumes and were able to get all of the kids a costume. Here is a preview of the costumes for Saturday. Jenny was very excited to find a number of things at Hiper Paiz that she could not get at La Bodagona, like muffin pans and mix, soy sauce, crisco spray (we don't have non-stick pans here) and shake and bake. It was a sucessful trip and Jenny is stocked up on food for a while.

Now it is raining and the kids are playing inside. Time for me to get back to playing with them.