Sunday

We arrived at the Retreat Center about  10 pm last night after a long day of traveling.The sisters welcomed us with a nice snack and hugs all around.

Sunday morning found us split into two groups for the morning. The first group went to visit the ruins at Lubantun.  There were no tour guides available that early on a Sunday morning, but Chris and Mary were happy to step in.  There was some speculation that they were embellishing their facts, but everyone learned something about the ancient Mayans.

The rest of the group headed straight down to San Lucas for Mass.  We arrived about 11 am (for noon Mass) and most of the villagers were already in the church singing hymns in their beautiful Ketchi language.  The priest who said Mass is newly ordained ordained and from St Louis!  In typical Belize fashion, noon Mass did not start until about 12:20, mostly due to the fact that it was the third Mass that Father Derrick had said that day with many miles between each  village.  The hymns, prayers and readings were all in Ketchi, it was an amazing experience for all. At the end of the Mass,Father asked us all to come forward and be blessed by the parishioners. Powerful moment indeed.

The rest of the day we spent visiting old friends in several villages.

We came back to a delicious chicken dinners which energized us for an evening of organizing supplies and planning lessons for Monday.

Best quote of the day: Cathy when asked how the ruins were: "They were gray, they were rocks."