Our first “normal” Sunday in Antigua

A couple days ago we spent our first “normal” day in Antigua. The previous Sunday had been the last day of our Caravan tour, so while we were in Antigua, we were still with the group, visiting places like the Capuchinas convent. (You know, all the stuff I mentioned in my last post.) The Sunday before that we were in Guatemala City, just starting the tour. So we were kind of excited to just have a normal Sunday for a change.

We discovered that there’s a Church of the Nazarene (or “Iglesia del Nazareno”) just a couple blocks from the house where we’re staying, and had walked over to find it a few days earlier. The person who answered the door told us that the service started at 9:30 on Sunday morning. Knowing that things don’t always run exactly on time here, we walked up around 9:40, only to find that something was already happening… and it wasn’t what we were expecting. One of our housemates had gone to a Wednesday night Bible study there and had told us that around 50 people were there and that the pastor was in his 20’s. Well, when we walked in, there were maybe 10 people in the room, and the guy up front was closer to 50 than 20. Were we in the right place? Yep, the sign out front says, “Iglesia del Nazareno.” There are chairs for around 60 people, and the 6 or so people sitting down are in the second row, so we pick seats about half-way up the aisle and sit down.

Of course, the service is in Spanish, so we follow along as best as we can. More people filter in behind us as the message continues. There’s a prayer, what might have been some brief announcements, and an offering. And then it seems to be over… and it’s only 10:30. We weren’t sure, but we were expecting that services ran a little longer here. Well, as we’re shaking hands with people, we figure it out…

What we’d just experienced was some version of a Sunday School class. We met the pastor, Josué, who is indeed in his 20’s, and told us that the service would be starting in 5-10 minutes. OK! No problem!

The service itself was great. The room was full, the band was rocking, the people were energized, the sermon was clear and engaging — and translated into English for us by the pastor’s girlfriend, Nancy! — and we ended with the celebration of communion. Afterward, we even stacked the chairs! It almost felt like being home at Living Hope!

It was great to meet Josué, Nancy, and Nancy’s sister Virginia, who was visiting from California. You’ll see them in some of the pictures below. We grabbed lunch with them at a place called Quesos y Vino (”Cheeses and Wine”), a great spot that I highly recommend. My lasagna was great, and so was Stacey’s pizza.

Another good spot, where we had dinner, is La Fonda de la Calle Real, which has three locations near the main city square. We ate there with new friends David and Bree. Bree’s a student at our language school, and they were with us on the Pacaya volcano climb. They love this restaurant and told us we really had to join them, so we did! Stacey had their Pepián (the main traditional dish of Antigua), and I had some pupusas. Both were good, but I just wasn’t hungry after all that lasagna at lunch! The restaurant’s claim to fame is that President Bill Clinton ate there when he visited Guatemala. They have photos from his visit on the wall, and his chair is marked! Apparently, lots of famous people have eaten there, because lots of chairs have name plates on them. So if you want to sit where an American president sat, you can!

I have to say, we thoroughly enjoyed our first “normal” Sunday in the city. We have two more of them before we leave on Saturday, July 26. Hmm…. which restaurants to eat in next?

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