a little late...

So I am taking the time to write in my blog because I have plenty of time due to the sickness that has hit me. I got sick last night and can’t seem to shake it today. I missed out on ministry sites and class because I am sick. I didn’t realize how hard it is to speak in Spanish when you have a headache…my host mom has been taking care of me, and asking me what I need and it takes me a few seconds to process what it is she’s saying and how to respond.
This last weekend was the best time I have ever had in my whole life. I don’t think there is anything else that we’ll do while here that will top last weekend. We took a 8 hour road trip to this place called semuc Shampey. It is a natural park here that lies between mountains. The park consists of mountains, hiking trails, fresh water pools, waterfalls, and caves. We hiked up a part of the mountain to a lookout spot where we could see the fresh water pools from above. Though the hike was “muy dificil”, it was totally worth it, I have not seen anything more beautiful in my lifetime. From the mountain we could see the freshwater pools and waterfalls moving in-between mountains. We stood up there for a while and took pictures then we went down the mountain to swim in the pools. The pools were amazing; you could see everything in the water, including the tiny little fish that bit some of us. We swam in there for a while, and used one little waterfall as a water slide. After the water pools we went to this huge swing, where we swung into the water. I was sooo excited when I went I ended up landing on my side, but it was amazing!
After the swing we all went to get candles and made our way into the cave. We were in there for an hour and a half. Inside of the caves there were waterfalls and big pools of water. In some parts there wasn’t any water, but in others there was water that was so deep that you couldn’t touch the bottom. One of my favorite parts inside the cave was climbing up a waterfall, it was amazingly fun! At one point we got to a place in the cave where our guide had us blow out our candles and told us to be completely quiet. It was the weirdest thing to be in pitch darkness only hearing the sound of water flowing. After a minute or two, someone started singing the doxology and we all joined in. After this, we made our way out of the caves and tubed down the river back to our truck. We all piled into the back of this flatbed truck and made our way back to our hotel. The ride was also amazing! We rode through mountains and as we did so, I sat on the edge of the truck and just took in everything that I saw. The rainforest covered mountains were an amazing sight. The whole trip was absolutely amazing and filled with new experiences… I wouldn’t trade this weekend for anything!