Day 3- Retalhuleu, Abaj Takalik, Tecun Uman, Caterina

Here is our hotel room for the night.  Another room with twin beds...

We went and visited several members in the city of Retalhuleu.  We were happy to find the Miranda Guzman Family.  This is Henry with Tyler.  Guess how old he is?  Well, Tyler baptized him when he was 12, so he is now 22!  He still looked 12 to me.  



 Here is some of the family.  The girl in the blue skirt just had a baby girl 3 weeks ago. (Her sister is holding the baby.) She delivered at home.  Their home was probably one of the most humble that we visited, although these simple dwellings are VERY common in this 3rd world country. 

There were plenty of animals around at people's homes. Ducks, chickens, pigs, dogs, and a few cats.

 We then went and visited the Maldonado Family.  The girl in the red shirt, Luci, works for the family and it just so happens that Tyler also baptized her.  She is now 26.  Hermana Maldonado would make lunch for the Elders everyday.  (Yes, they had lunch ladies and laundry ladies!) 

 The upper story of this apartment is where Tyler lived.  He said they were robbed in their sleep twice while they were there.  Tyler was the lucky one and just his companion's stuff got stolen both times. The little red 3-wheeler vehicles are new to the area since Tyler's mission.  They are taxi's that can fit 2-3 people in the back.  There were tons of them around.  

About 20 minutes outside of Retalhuleu, are some archaeological ruins called Abaj Takalik. They are still actively being uncovered.  They charged 50 Quetzalas for each of us, which equals about $6 to $7 U.S. Dollars.  If you were Guatemalan, they only charge 5 Quetzalas, which is about 65 cents!  This was an alter where they did religious sacrifices on.  There were many of these around, but this was the biggest one.

 
 Most of the rocks had symbolic pictures carved in them:

 These are steps that were uncovered to one of the many temples that are still underground.

 Part of the grounds:

 A crocodile.  There were many rocks symbolizing animals.

 This shows how much was excavated... about 3 feet down. 

 We went to a town called Tecun Uman, which is right on the Mexico border.  Tyler claimed it was the best place to buy a hammock.  Right when we got into town, we asked for directions.  The gentleman spoke English and offered to show us around.  (Of course, he expected a tip, as does everyone down there!)  Hammocks weren't as easy to find and we only found one shop that had the one Tyler was looking for.  Good enough for us.

We visited the Cardenas family in the city of Catarina, where Tyler served his last 6 months of the mission.  His wife would also make lunch for the Elders.  Brother Cardenas came home from work to see us.  His wife was at the Stake Center helping the youth practice for the Temple Cultural Celebration. 

Afterwards, we drove about 2 hours and arrived in San Marcos, where we stayed the night.