Xunantunich

Pronunciation: Zuh-nan-too-nich.

We woke up Monday morning, and it had been raining. We were disappointed cause when it rains they sometimes close the ruins cause they are dangerous when wet...thankfully it stopped raining and the sun came out. So off we went! We walked into San Ignacio to catch the bus that takes you near Xunantunich. It wasn't a very long ride. When you get there you take a ferry across the river. After that you walk. Maine decided to go the hard way...

Crystal and I went the easy way.

It was probably about a mile up the hill to where you by the tickets to get in......

After getting tickets, $5.00 US, you walk further up the hill to the actual ruins. Everything was so beautiful and green.

There are 3 large structures. The first one is the Kings old house, then there is some sort of temple (I really think everything was a temple to them), then the 3^rd and largest is the King's new house.

We climbed to the top! The views were AWESOME! These pics don't do them justice.

You could see into the jungles of Belize and Guatemala. In fact the palace actually sits on the border so we were kinda in two places at once. :) We ate lunch at the top. Which was pretty cool. To think that we were eating lunch on top a palace that most ancient Mayans weren't allowed to enter.

After lunch we hurried down the hill because the last ferry across was at 4 and we were cutting it close...turned out we had plenty of time. Maine got to crank the ferry though.

We were disappointed not to see any monkeys, though we think we might have heard a howler monkey. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. Maine is convinced it was a monkey though. We did see a couple of other animals.

For more pictures of Xunantunich click HERE.

The rest of the week was just a normal week. Service everyday in the morning. It is getting hotter and hotter so afternoons are kinda hard. We were able to go to Spanish Lookout again on Friday. So we got a nice long day then. Maine went on a study with a young man who not long ago couldn't sign well. Now he is doing awesome. Maine got to draw some of the pictures for the study. He said Maine's pictures were OK. :) Pictures are so important as everyone in sign knows. They are even more so here where many don't know sign or only know home sign. We have visited some deaf here that we used pictures and lots of acting out to make our points. While in Spanish Lookout we went to the Mennonite version of Walmart... it seemed more expensive. :/ Had lunch at the restaurant with WIFI!

Met a brother from the Creole congregation. FYI they are having there first Creole assembly Feb 4^th and 5^th! I got to go on the study with the deaf family again. Meet Elizabeth. She likes my glasses.

As we drove home we saw a beautiful sunset.

That's pretty much it. We are looking forward to Tara and Millie getting here. We are planning a trip into Guatemala with them to see Tikal! The center of the Mayan empire.

Coming soon to the blog:

Building a meeting place for the Creole congregation. Maine's awkward preaching experience. Our trip to Orange Walk, Belize City and San Pedro for talks and preaching!

Bye for now!

-Becky