By Allie Carscadden, Executive Assistant

We woke up early today to take part in a walking tour of Antigua before heading out for a shopping excursion. Our tour was led by a woman named Elizabeth Bell and even though she was born in California, she has lived in Antigua for more than 40 years. She was very insightful — we learned about the history of the city, the government, the various churches, the people, and the local art. We meandered through the central area of the city until we decided to branch off on our own to experience some of the local markets.

The city of Antigua has many markets. The largest is on the edge of town (similar to Seattle’s Pike Place Market) with row after row of booths selling local goods — we found chocolate and coffee, hand woven blankets and linens to hammocks, paintings, and hand carved flutes. The coffee here is outstanding! No matter where you go it seems that everyone, everywhere serves local coffee. We have all become very fond of Fernando’s. We will be making sure to stop by before we leave to stock up on their delicious beans and heavenly homemade granola.

We spent the rest of the day exploring and making sure we took as many pictures of the town as we could. Before long it was time to head back to the hotel to get ready for our last dinner together in Guatemala. We enjoyed a reception of wine and cheese at a local residence where we all made sure to reflect on all of our memories from throughout the past week.

We then walked to the edge of town to an amazing historic location — ruins from an old monastery called Santo Domingo. The site has been turned onto a wonderful venue and restaurant — and there was even a wedding taking place as we arrived. Our group was seated and we all enjoyed each other’s company with great food and great wine toasting to the team and their work and to future trips with Hearts in Motion.

Antigua is a charming city and has such a rich history that we were a little disappointed to learn that we were missing one of the largest celebrations of the year on Sunday (because we are heading home). Purple banners are hanging from windows and balconies to prepare for the annual Lent celebration. Each year a large procession goes through town and the locals make “carpets” of typical Guatemalan scenes and art from materials such as flowers and foliage. These are displayed all throughout town.

As we prepare to head back to Seattle, we just can’t put into words the experiences and connections we’ve made with the local people of Guatemala. Serving them has been inspirational! We’re also so thrilled to have met so many generous and supportive volunteers from around the world. People who gave up their vacations and donated their time and energy in helping so many. We look forward to building on these relationships and experiences in the years to come.

Thanks for reading our blog posts each day and staying connected with us while we were on this journey. Until next time.