Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 24

Saturday Kirk and Matt went back to Gomera to check on the pump. It was still lurching along, but may need some attention when the next DCC group comes down in November.

Then it was back to Guatemala City via Antigua, where we stopped for a little shopping and sightseeing. I was too tired to get my camera out very often, so this last day's offerings are a little meager.

The city was founded by the Spanish back in 1543, and was the third capital of the country. It has a ton of cobblestone streets and old ruins of colonial churches, like this one.

The Santa Catalina arch is supposedly one of the most photographed structures in the world. So I took a picture of it.

The center of town had beautiful gardens and fountains.

Saint Joseph Cathedral. Matt apparently felt like he hadn't been in enough pictures.

Part of the ruins of an old monastery have been turned into a five-star hotel, the Casa Santo Domingo.

A part of the inside was being prepared for a wedding. Really not a bad setting for one.

We rolled out of town around 6:30 and headed back to the Mennonite Seminary where we had spent our first night. After some very satisfying Domino's for dinner, it was an early bedtime in advance of our 4 a.m. departure to the airport on Sunday. And a fairly uneventful nine hours and two planes later, we were back in Denver.

Despite the tummy troubles, cough and fatigue that still haven't quite gone away, I'm incredibly happy to have had the opportunity to go on this trip and contribute to the projects. The experience was something I'll absolutely never forget, and I hope the people in Azatlan and Gomera both get to enjoy their new wells for years to come.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 23

Guatemala Mission Trip, Oct. 23

Once more back to Gomera on Friday to finish that well. Sorry this is a few days late. We lost wireless internet at La Colonia Friday night, never had it on Saturday in Guatemala City and when I got home yesterday all I wanted to do was relax with my family.

Reduce, reuse and recycle was the theme here. We took the existing pump and Mark and Kent worked on splicing new wire for it.

Kirk went up to the existing cistern to make sure all its wiring still worked, which it fortunately seemed to.

Our already ample manpower was augmented by extra help from the villagers to get the pump connected and dropped down the hole.

And there was water again! Unfortunately, the sand that bogged down the original well already seemed to be plaguing us with the new one, too, as the pump ground and stalled repeatedly.

Wildlife sighting! David spotted a bird called a white-bellied chachalaca.

While we let the pump run to try and clear out some dirty water and hopefully unclog some sand, we headed 30 minutes to Champerico and the Pacific Ocean. Matt encountered some bigger waves than he's used to in Colorado.

Florentine, Hugo Jr. and Mark kicked back on the beach. After working in the sun for five days, I thought the shade of a nearby cantina sounded like a much better idea.

I always thought Antonio McDyess looked much bigger on TV... Seriously, this was one of four North American team jerseys I remember seeing along with an Atlanta Falcons Michael Vick, a Charlotte Hornets Larry Johnson and a Dallas Cowboys Roy Williams. Sadly, no "Colorado Rockies 2007 World Series Champs" paraphernalia like I'd hoped.

When we returned to Gomera it was evident that the pump had been running, so we capped it off and buried the ground wire.

Really, I could have just posted nothing but pictures of the local kids and this would be a good entry. Mark took this one.

While we finished up Gloria led the kids in some songs.

There was consternation over the pump's repeated stalling and grinding, but no good solutions. So we connected it to a gas-powered generator to give it some extra "oomph" and set it up to run overnight in the hopes it could muscle through whatever was ailing it.

Other entries:

• Oct. 18
• Oct. 19
• Oct. 20
• Oct. 21
• Oct. 22
• Oct. 24