Today was the highlight of my trip to Guatemala. Today my group visited the burrow of La Limonada. The state of the burrow looked like brick-style grey legos stacked on top of one another. From what I learned from one of our guides, the area is thick with gang rivalry and poverty. Also, there is a bridge that separates two sections of area. This bridge is called "The Devil's Bridge". The bridge is made of crumbling cement; below the bridge is an open sewer river. It is filled with discarded personal belongings and lost items that were washed away by torrential rains.
As the day moved forward, our group moved to a tour of one of the public cemeteries. The trip to the cemetery is where I found my calling for this trip. (Some background: I was not feeling this trip Monday and Tuesday. My pastor knew I was not happy and although I felt bad, I made no effort to hide my feelings). Our tour guide in the cemetery was "Teddy" from CMT and he looked just like a teddybear :-). He is Guatemalan and he shared a beautiful yet tragic story of Guatemalan history, which tied perfectly into why La Limonada is the way it is.
Short story: There was civil war in Guatemala between men with political interests, greed in their hearts for land and money, and divided religious views (Evangelistic and Catholic). The war was being fought in an area of the country-side that forced people to flee and the result forced the people to flee to La Limonada, which was created by the government as refugee camp. Teddy referred to this effect of each cause as a 'wound'. Wounds of war that have been left to fester and kill the lives of many in its path.
