We knew that we would be racing on Sunday morning and assumed we would start racing at 6:00am. We set up a taxi to meet us down the street from the palapa at 6:00am. Then, on Saturday when we arrived at debrief, they told us that we weren’t leaving until noon on Sunday and that we couldn’t change any plans if we had any already. On Saturday night, we were close to being all packed up just in case. We awoke at 5:00am to a honking horn and Samuel yelling, “Buenos dias amigos, buenos dias! Hay noticias. Let us go!” Andrew and Spano ran to grab the letter. The letter said that the race begins now and that before leaving we had to every team member except one jump into the river up to the neck. We decided to fold up our tents first. In record time, we had our tents down and our bags ready to go. We changed into our bathing suits and down to the water we went. The water was surprisingly warm. We hopped in, took the picture, and changed our clothes.
We walked down the street to meet our van which was waiting exactly where we wanted. We loaded up our stuff and we were off.
Six hours later we arrived at the Mexico/Guatemala border. We were convinced we were the first ones there as there is only one main road and we were pretty sure that we left way ahead of everyone else. We quickly got our passports stamped while our driver looked for another van to take us from the border to Antigua, Guatemala. As we were waiting for our driver to return, three other teams pulled up. We started to get a little anxious so we began walking to try to find our new ride. We found him and he said that he needed to change the tires. Our Mexican driver was all about the race and said in Spanish, “They are on a race and need to hurry. In the name of Jesus, the van is fine!” We cracked up laughing that our driver had become so hard core about the race. Our new driver didn’t fully grasp the whole “race” idea. We agreed for them to change the tires because if a Guatemalan thinks the tires should be changed, then we had better. We pulled over to the side and four men began working on the tires. They were working really hard and fast, but it seemed to take forever as we watched each van pass by hoping it wasn’t another team. Finally, we were on the road again, but then we soon stopped to pick up his friend so that he would have company on the ride home. I think a couple people almost had panic attacks. After that, it was a smooth five hour ride to Antigua.
We had a slight advantage, as Amanda had lived in Guatemala for one year. She directed the driver near the coffee shop where we were to meet. We hopped out of the van, sprinted down the road, and jumped into the coffee shop. Chad, our leader, was surprised that we had gotten there so early. They weren’t expecting anyone until at least 8:30pm and it was 6:08pm. He gave us another envelope, but wouldn’t let us start until the morning. We put our bags in the church and set out for a nice dinner.
The nice dinner was provided by our honorary team member, Casey Wells, before she left. The note said that we couldn’t start until 7:00am and we had to climb to the top of the hill with the cross, pray for an hour, and then take a picture in front of the fountain in central park.
We woke up at 6:00am to the gongs of a local church. Our team was waiting at the front of the church at 6:20am. We stretched, prayed, and strategized. At exactly 7:00am, we literally sprinted out of the church and found a tuk-tuk (small golfcart-like taxi) to take us to the cross. These things are made for 3 people and we squeezed in six. They were bodies hanging off all over the place. We got dropped off and attempted to sprint to the top. The stairs were a little more tiring then expected. We still ended up being the first team to the top. Team 61 was only one minute behind us. We took the picture
and then we were off to pray. It was a good time of praying as we prayed over the city, prayed for each other, prayed for our families, etc. We decided to send Amanda and Spano down to the bottom early to locate the tuk-tuk. At exactly one hour, we took another picture and sprinted down the steps. I was very cautious, mom. We crammed into the tuk-tuk again. Josh and Hannah from Team 61 were ahead of us and were trying to sprint to central park. It was close, but we ended up passing them. Our driver let us out and it was one final sprint to the end for a celebration of our second victory! Team 61 was only a minute behind us so it was very close.
We are in Antigua for at least the next 3 days until we can finalize our ministry locations. Your continued prayers would be appreciated as we look for the best ministry fit for our team!
