ShareHim Guatemala Update:
All Night Bus Ride takes its Toll

We left Guatemala City at 5 pm, at the height of that city's notorious rush hour.  Words simply cannot adequately describe the overwhelming cacophony of horns, crush of vehicles and noxious cloud of exhaust fumes that is rush hour in Guatemala City!  For the next 10 hours a 24-passenger Toyota bus was our home.  It was just after 3 am when we finally arrived at our hotel in Flores.

We are staying at the Hotel Casa Amelia, rated by TripAdvisor as the 3rd best hotel in Flores.  I've provided a video clip of our lake front hotel, and the view from rooftop terrace.  We will have our daily group worship and meeting on the terrace at 9 am.


Breakfast each morning is provided by the hotel and is far better than the uninspired breakfasts offered in most hotels in North America.  This morning I enjoyed three tortillas stuffed with scrambled eggs, tomatoes and cheese, with a generous helping of exquisitely seasoned black beans on top.

ShareHim has arranged with a nearby restaurant to feed us lunch each day.  Today they served us a toasted sandwich stuffed with a wide assortment of grilled vegetables, everything from eggplant to radishes.

Given our early morning arrival, most of the group slept in, or took naps today in between exploring the town and working on the first three sermons.  The plan is to preach 19 sermons in 16 days.

At tonight's orientation meeting I learned that the church to which I have been assigned was not expecting to begin the ShareHim series on Friday night.  In fact, they are ending a youth rally Friday night and Sabbath and I will begin my series Saturday night.  This came as a surprise to our ShareHim coordinator, Jeremiah Weeks.  Thus, the plan is for me to observe the Friday night meeting, attend church services Sabbath morning, and begin the series at 7 pm.

It's now 10:12 pm the students are all headed out with our group leader Julio Davila to eat authentic Guatemalan food purchased from street vendors.  No amount of Pepto-Bismol would get me through the night if I were to join them.  As a result, you have been able to read this blog post.

Yesterday I failed to post the following video showing how tight the security is at banks in Guatemala City.  Only one person at a time can enter or exit a bank.  He does so through a double door entrance would make it extremely difficult for any bank robber to vacate the premises quickly.  Shown here is Michael Hall leaving Banco Industrial through the bullet proof entrance.