Because of our late start, we walked part-way to Ciudad Vieja before picking up a chicken bus. To our surprise, Driver stopped in Ciudad Vieja by the gas station for some reason and got off the bus. Soon, another bus came along and we jumped off our chicken bus and took the one that was moving. We just made it to church at the Ciudad Vieja cathedral at 10:55 a.m.
Mass this morning wasn't as elaborate as last week, there were only 10 altar servers. Father Andre was the celebrant and we understood more of his sermon this week, not all, but more.
After Mass, I examined the processional barge that was stored in one of the side chapels of the church.
It's really quite a massive structure.
It may be hard to believe, but it takes fifty men (changed about every block) to carry this structure through the streets of La Antigua (starting and ending in Ciudad Vieja) from about 11:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m.
As we had planned last Sunday, we joined Fathers Andre and Bernard for lunch in LA. We went to a small restaurant, La Cuevita de lo Urquizu (The Little Cave or Cellar of the Urquizu, whatever that is?), that had probably 12 meat choices (stewed, roasted, fried, etc.) all cooked in traditional clay pots and an equal number of vegetable and salad choices. Of course, there were corn tortillas. It was quite good.
Following lunch, we continued on to Santo Domingo, a former Dominican monastery that has now been recreated as a Five-Star hotel. In addition to the hotel and dining facilities, there are also colonial museums and preserved ruins.
At one time the chuch that stood on this site (now only a shell with a tent-like roof) was one of the largest in La Antigua. It was a fully functioning monastery that was destroyed by one or more of La Antigua's many earthquakes. Here's a view of the monastery crypt
and here is what's left of the monastery kitchen.
After enjoying coffee and chocolate con leche and enjoying the parrots,
they took us back to our apartment, as we have to be packed and ready to leave to meet our bus in La Antigua at about 6:15 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Since Linda has not been feeling her best and I'm basically lazy, I decided to ask Art if he could find us someone to clean our apartment after we leave. One of the downsides of living near an active volcano is the presence of volcanic ash. At dinner last night, Art told me that he had someone lined up for us and that it would cost Q45 ($5.60). Sounds to me like I made an excellent decision. Unfortunately, I didn't have change, so I had to walk into CV to get some. The simplest way to get change is to go to a tienda (small store) and buy something, so I did. I purchased some diet Coke (600 ml or 20 oz) for Q5 (60 cents) each. On my way, I called my mother and chatted with her until I lost the connection for the second time. It took me a while to realize that I had run out of minutes. I'd have to call back on Linda's phone when I returned to the apartment.
On my way back, there was an older policeman on my side of the road. He asked where I was walking, so I told him to our apartmento. He asked if I was from the EEUU (los estados unidos), and I said that I was. I also said I was from Iowa, which usually leads to a blank stare, so I said oeste (West) of Chicago and he nodded. He asked what the lump on my backpack strap was and I showed him my anti-nausea wristbands. I told him they were for enfermo de montana (use circumfex on second n) or mountain sickness.
Back at the apartment, I used Linda's phone to call my mother and Bill. they had just returned from Amarillo, where they had attended a family funeral. I suggested that Los Angeles and a visit with Syd, Nic and the twins wasn't much farther. We soon started packing and decided that it would be a miracle if we could get everything to San Antonio Palopo (accent on final o) and eventually to Xela. We are definitely going to have to jettison some stuff before we return to Iowa.
