Wednesday (3/10/2010)

Today’s blog is going to take more the form of a picture book:

We kicked off the day with a tour of the Shalom Surgical Center. An old home converted into a facility completely devoted to providing surgical care to children. It is currently under construction, so we had to use some imagination (and hard hats). Construction crews are working seven days a week, often double shifts, so the center should be completed in August. This group picture was taken outside the surgical center after the tour.

After our tour, we piled into our van and Steven, our driver, chauffeured us over to Antigua, where we will be spending the rest of the week. After having some trouble finding our hotel, we pulled up to what is hands-down the nicest place we have seen in Guatemala. Here, Chris is posing on the stairs leading from the courtyard up to the second level and his room.

We dropped our luggage off at the hotel and had a lunch (graciously provided by our hosts within the Shalom Foundation) in the hotel’s lush courtyard. While eating, we enjoyed the warm weather and radiant sunshine as well as each other’s company. Despite appearances, it is not required for us to match. This picture just shows how good of friends we are all becoming.

After long, hard days of work followed by nightly activities and early mornings, Lora isn’t the only one who has been caught dosing off in a brief bit of down time.

We ate dinner in an open-air café in downtown Antigua, a short walk from our hotel. Despite the constant “boom” of fireworks, we enjoyed the food and the lush flora of the courtyard dining area. No expense was spared since Dr. P picked up the tab.

We walked around Antigua’s central park for a little while to work off our dinner. We listened to live music while watching some brave tourists dance as well as enjoying the beauty of the park. We even met some other Vanderbilt students, quite by chance. In the background, there is an exquisite fountain and church.