Another Amazing Day in Antigua

I feel like every weekend here in Guatemala I say, “Wow!  This had been the best weekend yet!”  Then I find myself saying the exact same thing the next weekend.  Well, this weekend didn’t disappoint.

 

Leah and I by some flowers at the ruins.



To start off my day I went to the Pacas (the huge Salvation Army-like part of the market), and I found this really cool purse for Q 3.0, which is about 40 cents!  I also found another cool bag for super cheap there as well. 

Ruins at the Cathedral

The Alfombra

Then later before lunch Leah, Sydney, Laura, and I went to visit some ruins.  We went to the main cathedral in central park first, and saw old parts of the church that are now ruins.  Then we walked in the actual cathedral to see the alfombra (which means carpet in English).  They make them out of flowers around Easter time for the processions, and they’re beautiful.  Then when we turned to leave the church, we realized that a wedding was about to start, and the bride was getting ready to walk down the aisle.  It was really random, and we didn’t really know what to do because we were kind of stuck.  So we just sat in the very back of the church with a few other tourists who were in the same boat as we were.  It was really weird for us, but the Guatemalans seemed like it happens often.  I thought it was really odd that the cathedral was open for tourists in the middle of a wedding.  Then we another church called La Merced to visit some more ruins.

La Merced

After lunch we went to the professional fútbol game here in Antigua, which was quite the experience.  I don’t really know anything about soccer; I was mainly going just to experience it because soccer is such a huge part of the Guatemalan culture.  The game was a blast, both the atmosphere and the actual game.  Antigua won 6-2, so it was a really fun game.  The fans were crazy, and I couldn’t understand most of what the fans around me were saying.  I think that was ok.  I’m pretty sure most of the words coming out of their mouths were words that are not part of my vocabulary in English! 

GOAL!!

We also found out today that tomorrow our family is making an alfombra in front of our house because a procession is going down our street.  I’m SUPER excited because Leah and I have the best view ever from our balcony.  This only adds to the awesomeness of the weekend!!