HONK!!!!
HONK!!!!
It was 6 AM and the sun had not even began to show itself when we were all awakened by a loud car horn honking. We then hear Samuel our local contact start yelling things in Spanish and then naming all of our team names. I ran up to him and got an envelope with our race rules on it. It said you are leaving right now and heading to Antigua, Guatemala. It also told us that first we had to go and jump in the river and all of our team except for one had to be submerged up to our necks.
We hurried as fast as we could to get packed up and then all changed clothes to jump in the river. It was pretty crazy everyone running around like madmen. We took our picture in the water, dried off, got dressed and took off. We had made plans to have a van take us to the border of Guatemala. We were a little worried for awhile becuase we got a note on friday that said that we could not leave until 12 pm and our destination was Lake Atitlan. We had made the arrangment for 6 because we thought that is when we would be leaving. And they also told us that if we left before 12 we would incur a penalty so we never canceled our plans just in case they were thinking about playing a trick on us. Like they like to do most of the time.
So we ran up the road to our contact and ended up leaving at 6 Am. We were the first team to leave and had a pretty good head start. We had a beautiful drive through the mountains of Southern Mexico. It is absolutly breathtaking how beautiful it is there.
We got to the border and we had our driver run across to try and find us a ride to get down to Antigua from there while we went and got our visas. We got our Visas and came back to the van. Our driver showed up about 5 minutes later and told us he had gotten us a ride and it would be here in 15 minutes.
A couple minutes later Team 61 showed up in their Taxi. We were a little nervous because now they were right behind us, but we figured we still had a decent lead on them. The L.O�Ls pulled up a couple minutes later which was crazy because they left at 7:30 an hour and a half after us, but their driver was so much crazier and faster that he had made up about an hour and ten minutes over the course of a 5 hour drive. So that was absolutly crazy. So now our nervousness became even more.
We got our bags down and took off across the border into Guatemala. We found our van and he informs us that he has to change all four tires before we can leave. Our driver who was all about the race yells to him. “These people are in a race in the name of Jesus these tires are fine, Lets Go!!”
We were a little more relenting and told the driver he could change the tires if he so felt the need. Well we thought that after all the discussion he was only going to change one, but when we got to the shop about 4 guys come running out and they are changing all four tires. It was really funny, kind of like a nascar pit team. It went pretty fast but it felt like forever knowing the next team could have been just a couple minutes behind us.
We finally got all our new tires on and so we thought we would be leaving, but they wouldn�Lt get in the car. We finally realized they were switching drivers. So finally our new driver gets in the car and we take off. We go about 2 miles and then he pulls over to pick up his friend to ride with us. We were all getting nervous again becuase his friend was taking forever. He finally comes out and is almost to the car, when the driver tells him to go back in and grab a coat because it could get cold. So he is gone for another 5 minutes and we are just dying of stress from another team passing us, but we finally made it out on the road.
We had a good 5 hour trip to Antigua and we also had an advantage because Amanda used to live there. So we knew exactly where we had to go to this coffee shop called the Higher Ground. We jumped out of the van and ran to the place to win the race, but when we get there, they tell us there is more to the race. They also tell us that we are to early and they were not expecting us so soon.
We opened up our new envelope and it tells us that in the morning at 7 we have to run to the top of this hill where there is a cross overlooking the city and we have to take a picture and pray there for an hour. We then had to run down the hill and across town to the town centre and take a picture by the fountain.
We were staying in a church that night so we all grabbed our bags and went to the church. There was no other teams there so we went out to eat as a team. We found this really nice little restaraunt down the street and a nice meal there. We were just finishing up our dinner when Katy from Team 61 comes into the restaraunt to ask for directions to the coffee shop. We yell out to her and she comes over and says they have been driving around forever looking for the coffee shop and just stopped at this random restaraunt to ask for directions that we just happened to be eating at. How crazy is that!!
I jumped in the van with their team and took them to the coffee shop and the church. All the other teams were there also.
We were up in the morning pretty early to pray and stretch before the race at 7. All the teams were lined up at the door to take off running for the hill with the cross. They opened the doors at 7 and we were off. We ran about 2 blocks and then jumped in a little took-took which is a 3 wheeled taxi that looks like a crazy golfcart car thing. I will show a picture later when I take one. Anyways they have room for about 3 people and we crammed six in it so it was a little tight. We got the bottom of the hill first and started running up the stairs to the top. We were followed right behind by Team 61. We finally got the top and got our picture taken a couple seconds before team 61.
We spent our hour in prayer and worship over the city. It was a beautiful spot that is for sure. In the background of this city is just a huge volcano that towers over the city.
We finished our prayer and then back down the hill to our Took-took that was waiting. Team 61 had this bright plan because we only need 4 people of our team to participate in the race. And Josh is a crazy fast runner. So they sent 3 people and Josh to the top of the cross and then sent 3 other team members to the fountain finish line. So not the whole team had to race just him. So Josh and Hannah who also was on 61 passed us running down the hill. Our whole team crams in this little took-took that has a moped engine in it and is way over capacity and take off after them. They are probably about a half a block ahead and we are not gaining on them because Antigua is all cobblestone streets and a speed bump every couple of feet. We finally catch a straight away after 5 or 6 blocks and pass Josh up. The took-took can�Lt go all the way to the centre so our whole team gets out and sprints the last block to the fountain and claim the victory by one minute over Team 61.
It was an amazing adventure and we were really excited to win Guatemala because Amanda used to live there and my two sisters Jenni and Emily are both adopted from Guatemala. It was also neat because when I was 9 we went to pick up Jenni and we went to Antigua on that trip. It was an intense time race, but very fun.
