Earlier this month we traveled to Antigua, Guatemala, to celebrate a dear high school friend's wedding. I had traveled to Antigua once before to visit artisan cooperatives with the ladies of Nest. It felt special to return to Antigua five years later - this time with Dave, his first visit to Central America. We stayed at a lovely hotel - Meson Panza Verde, that instantly made us feel relaxed after a long day of travel.
We had a couple unexpected surprises over the weekend. The first was running into my friend E at one of the local markets. The last time we saw each other was two years earlier in D.C. And now she and her husband and son are living full-time in Antigua! Amazing. We both said no surprise we would bump into each other while browsing textiles, etc. We became friends through our work with Nest.
The second surprise was that a volcano erupted an hour before V's wedding ceremony! Dave discovered that something was up when he was reading on the patio and couldn't figure out why his phone, book, the table were covered in what appeared to be … ash? He quickly googled "Antigua + volcano + eruption" and only found old articles. Our suspicion was confirmed by the front desk. Yep. Volcan Fuego, about 10 kilometers from Antigua erupted. We asked the young lady at the front desk if this has happened before. Her response? Not in her lifetime. Our next question, "Should we be concerned? Should we leave?" She replied, "No, I don't think so." Ok! We proceeded to leave our hotel, and cover our face/eyes from all the ash that was pouring down on us. We both commented that it felt like we were in a sand storm -- which we also haven't experienced -- but imagined this would be similar.
The setting for the ceremony was incredibly dramatic -- it was an old church which had been destroyed in an earthquake in the 18th century. The earthquake destroyed the roof of the church, but the facade and the side walls were spared. Thankfully, by the time the ceremony started, it was only lightly pouring ash. The setting was also incredibly romantic -- hundreds upon hundreds of small votives were placed on the stadium like steps in front of the church. You can imagine the view when we exited the church doors - pretty breathtaking. The reception took place under the open sky in a courtyard that was formerly a convent. We sampled food from the bride and groom's combined backgrounds -- American, Swedish, Colombian (plus Guatemalan, the host country), danced to lots of Carlos Vives, and were surprised by not one - but two! firework displays! Pretty spectacular night!