The Kennys Counquer Antigua

Picturesque of Volcan Agua under the arch

We had a great time seeing Antigua through our parents' eyes! Antigua was wonderful with Mom and Dad Kenny because 1) we visited some places we have never gone before 2) it was the week of Semana Santa, and we had the fortune of seeing 2 processionals and multiple alfombras being made 3) It is the dry season and the weather was perfect for their visit.

Mom Kenny and Beth under the Antigua arch

Arriving into the city was much easier than it was a few weeks ago when James and I went. In fact, there was no traffic at all, and we were able to find our hotel and a parking spot with no hold up at all.
We left Dad to a nap while the three of us wandered over to the main cathedral in the Parque Central and visited ruins of an old monastery that had been partially destroyed by an earthquake, and subsequently abandoned to build onto the new cathedral that stands today. We had a great time, and all of us were amazed at the beauty of it. They were also making some processionals on the grounds, and one that we saw was going to weigh over 4,000 pounds! WOW!

Old Monastery ruins destroyed in a 1773 earthquake

The San Francisco church was holding a vigil. Partly regal, partly celebratory

Once we picked Dad up after his beauty rest, we walked over to the San Francisco church to see a vigil taking place. Inside the church were alfombras, huertas (shrines with flowers, food, pictures, alfombras, and candles), and large religious displays. Outside the church was more of a subdued carnival atmosphere with vendors selling Guate goodies and families milling about.

An Alfombra preserved from one of last year's stencil designs

We then went to the Cafe Sky to see an alfombra art exhibit (some artists had figured out a way to preserve the alfombras), and catch an awesome glimpse of Volcan Fuego ("Fire Volcano") billowing with smoke on the horizon. Pretty cool! We think Mom and Dad were impressed with the beauty of the skyline -- surrounded by volcanos and steep hillsides.

Afterward, we went to Hotel Casa Santo Domingo for dinner. Santo Domingo is a hundreds of years old monestary-now renovated hotel. The grounds were spectacularly beautiful, candlelit, and serene.

A candlelit alfombra on the entrance to Casa Santo Domingo (above)

The dinner could not have been better tasting or better presented! We all enjoyed our meals immensely, and Mom and Dad claim it was one of the nicest places they've eaten.

After dinner we walked home in a bit of a daze after such a wonderful dinner and first day in Guate.

"5.6 on the Richter Sca-ale!"

Last night around 8:00, Beth, Jacob (our friend from Peace Corps. staying the night with us) and I were hanging out watching an episode of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" when suddenly the apartment began to sway. We all looked at each other startled, waited for it to die down, and then it go worse! So we all ran over to the laundry room, which, conveniently, had a doorway for each of us! It only lasted probably 20-30 seconds and the most it did was shake our sliding doors, but it definitely freaked us out.

We immediately got online to look for news and check out our favorite seismology web sites ; ). It took probably 15 minutes before anything was reported, but then we learned that there was a 5.6 quake about three hours from us near Quetzaltenango. From what we read it didn't seem severe, but it certainly got our hearts racing. That, coupled with having to land against 40 m.p.h. winds Wednesday, made for an exciting first week back.