Zip lining and the HIV orphanage

It was a lovely day--much cooler than yesterday. We "slept in" today into the 7 AM hour. The horrible hotel saga continued with the same girls who got locked into their room finding 2 cockroaches in their bathroom.

But we're told it's pretty common here. 

We had a nice breakfast nearby, then drove the quick 5 minutes to the zip lining  place. 6 of the 10 of us decided to do the excursion, plus Monica who had finally gotten the courage to do it in her time here. We all opted for the new Extreme course which is apparently one of the longest in the world. We were zip lining on a mountain overlooking Lake Atitlan and the views were AMAZING. It was a bit intimidating to make the jumps off the platforms half a mile in the air, but the trip was well worth it. Perhaps the worst part was all the hiking between platforms that had us gasping for breath and taking scary rope bridges. But we all made it!!!

From there, we went back to the BK for lunch, then on to the HIV orphanage. It is relatively new, founded in 2006, and is run by nuns. The children-ages 0-15 years-have lost parents to the disease, or been removed from homes where neglect has been reported. Everyone a year or older is HIV positive. Those under 1 are waiting to be tested, and will be sent to another orphanage if cleared. 

The place was very well run, and the children all seemed happy there.  Katie, Carissa, and I spent most of our time with the infants and Gregorio-an older child with cerebral palsy. Everyone else had a blast playing with the older children outside. It was very hard to leave the orphanage for most knowing these precious children do not have parents to love them. 

The low of the day is that I am the first casualty of our group getting sick. We have done so well so far! So you can pray I recover quickly for our last full day in Guatemala at the women's prison. 

¡Hasta mañana!