School, Dancing, and Bombas

So we began the day as is customary now.  Lori and Lily go to Fernando's next door and get coffee to start the day while Eve and I chill in bed.  We then get ready and take off for school.  I must say, that the teachers have been really great.  Lily's teacher keeps her interested, and even though she won't tell me what she learns each day because she is just so excited, throughout the day she lets slip what she learned by shouting in Spanish words that we know are new.  It's amazing to see how quickly she picks things up.  For Lori and I, we are getting truly challenged, and it is quite draining to keep up with the teachers.  They really push you and challenge you to grasp the language.  It is 99% Spanish and only 1% English.  At times I do ask for an English comparison to better understand uses of words, but otherwise it is crawling through the labyrinth of the Spanish language.  It's been great, and I'm excited to go every day.  

Once Class was over, we took to the street and strolled down El Calle Grande.  It holds El Arco de Santa Catalina, and is the home base for the celebration in the streets of Antigua.  They close down the whole street from Parque Central to La Merced which is about four blocks worth.  They have multiple mini shows going on of dancing and music, and Lily loved it.

She must have been tipped off to the photo below.  :-)

An example of the many music displays.  Check out how young the drummer is on the left!

El Arco de Santa Catalina

Some very tall ornate costumes dancing in the street!

I think we have an identity crisis!!!

Lily morphed into a glowing Minnie Mouse.... after bartering with the other kid selling them.  She struck a great bargain!

Our family partaking in our Spaghetti made by Lori and shared with the staff on hand at the hotel.  They said they rarely ever see such kindness and care from people that stay there, and they were very grateful.  Carlos is one of the guys that work the front desk, and he happened to be working last night.  He said that he has been sober for 6 years after praying for help and guidance from  God.  He said since he sincerely gave his heart to the Lord, that when he has truly been thirsty or hungry, he has received what he needs.  Last night we got to be Jesus to him, and that made things truly special.  You never know the impact you have on people when you do the smallest thing.  Even offering leftovers to those around you can send shockwaves through their lives.

As we were waiting for mom to get back from class, Lily said that God told her to draw a picture for him on her stomach.  After contemplating the art on her midsection, I then asked, "so why did you paint a picture for dog?  :-)

To end the day,we used our free wifi to get in touch with our friends and family.  Lily was excited to talk with her best friend Ellie, we face timed with our best friends in the Sowers, and also got to face time the whole Mathiowetz clan at our cabin ice fishing!  We miss you all very much, and think of you often as we pass each day here.  Once the calls completed, we watched the fireworks from the hotel.  The pregame was about 5 minutes around 10pm, which was the equivalent to one of the largest shows I've seen in my life, followed at midnight by true and utter firework mayhem!  They didn't shoot them off from just one place.  They came from everywhere!  LITERALLY!  It was something I will never forget!  They truly throw down here and celebrate!  I uploaded a video to youtube to allow you to somewhat witness what it's like.

I was originally going to post this yesterday, however some editing and uploading through our sleep time pushed it back until now!  I hope you are enjoying our sharing.  This in a way allows us to share with you, but also to have and look back on when we are down the road in time.