Erin comes to visit!

Today was a beautiful day in Pana! My friend Erin Jackson who is spending a year traveling the world as a part of the World Race is stationed in Guatemala this month, so today she took a shuttle from Antigua to Pana to visit. She could only come for the day, but it was so special to have someone from home here to share my Guatemala world with.

She arrived around 11:00, and we spent some time just walking around town and catching up. We walked down Santandar (main tourist street that leads to the lake) then spent some time looking out at the lake. It was a little cloudy today, but the lake was still pretty clear. I love that she got the chance to come see the lake. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, so I love showing it to people.

After walking around the lake we took a tuk tuk (see picture below) to the Reserva which is about 10 minutes outside of Pana.

When teams come in they usually go to the Reserva and zipline. Neither of us wanted to do that today, so we just did the hiked around and mainly spent time taking pictures and playing with monkeys.

I have no idea what the name of this animal is, but it looks like a cross between a raccoon and an aardvark. The monkeys were taking awhile to show up, so we fed this little guy most of the bananas we had bought at the cafe.

 

Finally this little guy showed up. I go to the Reserva all the with teams, but I never get tired of the monkeys.

Along the hike you have to go over several suspension bridges. There are signs at the beginning of each one that that say only 6 people at a time. I really hate it when team members jump up and down on these bridges when we walk over them. It was much more pleasant today with just Erin and I walking across. :)

It really was great to have Erin here even if it was only for the day. I always say about our friendship that she is my best friend that I talk to the least meaning that we can go such a long time without talking then when we do I am reminded how much I love her. She is going to have such an amazing year traveling the world and I can't wait to be updated on all of her ministry and travels. 

Tonight my roommate and I are going to go over to Kasia and Lungi's house and have a slumber party. It's fun to hang out with those girls and to pretend we are still teenagers like they are. In the morning we have church at their house which is beautiful. We just sit around in a small group and sing songs then watch a sermon on the computer. I have gotten really close to the Robert's family who own the coffee shop in town and love that they have invited me into their home. Not only for the occasional slumber party with the girls, but to worship in their house on Sunday morning. I am beyond blessed to have this constantly growing community around me. Now off to the slumber party!