Just after noon on October 1, 2006, we landed in Guatemala City, the capital of Guatemala. It's the largest city in Central America, with a population of about 2.5 million. You might expect it to be hot, but the city's elevation is 4,900 feet, so the average highs are in the mid 70 degree range, year-round. I guess that's why it's called Land of Eternal Spring.
Outside the secure area of Aeropuerto La Aurora, a throng of children were waiting. As soon as Jodi mentioned "Marriott" a boy and girl grabbed our luggage (¡Para los dólares!) and took us directly to the shuttle bus. Ten minutes later we arrived at the Marriott in Zona 9. From the balcony of Room 806 we had a view of Agua, Fuego, and the mighty Acatenango, three of the 30 volcanoes in Guatemala.
	We also had a view of the golden arches (sí, Combo #4 was still a quarter-pounder with cheese. Mmmm... Ok, ok, ok, I know...hehehe...I'm getting to the part about Ana...
Not long after we arrived on Sunday, Ana's foster parent, Raquel, brought Ana to the hotel lobby. After only seeing pictures of Ana since January, it was awesome to finally meet her in person. It was also very sad watching Raquel say goodbye to Ana.
	Later, we caught up on missed time with Ana, playing... ...and sleeping!
	After she woke up, Ana had a lot of fun yanking on my nose and lips, and shoving her hand in my mouth.
Then, before bedtime, Jodi gave her a bath...
	...and a bottle.
Monday morning, Ana woke up once (really, really early), twice (pretty darn early), and then a third time. The third time, we were ready to get up, too.
	With sunrise hitting the mountains, Jodi got Ana all dressed up.
	Ana's foster mom told us she loves black beans, and every morning there were some cooked, mashed, and waiting for her at the hotel's breakfast buffet.
Wednesday, we had to wake up very early to get ready to go to the US Embassy. The adoption facilitator (also named Ana) picked us up at 7 AM, and guided us through the process of getting Ana's visa so she could return to the United States.
	We made it back by lunch, and, because we now had Ana's birth certificate (proof that we were her legal parents) we could take her out of the hotel...so we took a shuttle to Antigua! It took the van an hour to drive 27 miles over the mountains in slow traffic, but it was worth the wait. Antigua was the old capital of Guatemala, founded in 1543. But after the great earthquake of 1773 destroyed the city, the capital was moved to the present location of Guatemala City.
The van dropped us off at Parque Central just after 1 PM. We bought a small quilt from one of the many Mayan ladies selling hand-sewn goods, walked around the park, and then headed for the Catedral de Santiago, on the south side of the plaza.
	Inside the cathedral, a local man named Oscar took us under his wing and showed us around. Oscar said the cathedral was built in 1542, demolished and repeatedly rebuilt after the many earthquakes there, and only partly rebuilt after the great quake in 1773. He gave us a tour of the remains and showed us the underground crypt behind the main altar where there's a statue of Christ, blackened with ash from centuries of candle smoke.
At it's peak in the 1770s, Antigua had 38 churches and 60,000 people. But, after the great quake it was plundered for building materials. The city never completely emptied of people, though, and around 1830 it began to grow again. Today, Antigua has around 40,000 people and it's one of the most popular Latin American destinations for studying Spanish: students can attend about 75 different schools there.
	Oscar took our picture on one of the many streets lined up with a view of Volcán de Agua, or "Volcano of Water." The volcano has an elevation of 12,335 feet, but hasn't been active since the mid 1600s.
¡Mucha Cerveza Fría!
	Oscar also took us inside the Iglesia de San Francisco, and we saw the tomb of Santo Hermano Pedro de San José Betancurt--the tomb Pope John Paul II visited in 2002 when he made Hermano Pedro a saint. He took us by the Jades SA factory and showroom, too, where President Clinton visited in 1999 (and where Jodi got some earrings in 2006.)
Soon, it was time to head back toward the central plaza. Oscar took us there, showing us several more church ruins and cobblestone avenues on the way...
	Before the shuttle van came back to retrieve us at 5:30, I had time for a quick Gallo cerveza in a park cafe. Then we found an empty park bench and (a bit anxiously) watched three young Mayan girls take turns holding Ana. We chatted with a lady we'd met who was visiting from Germany, and just before the van arrived, the lights of the cathedral came on. Then we left Antigua behind with the dusk.
That night, there was an almost full moon over Guate City.
	After such a full day Wednesday, Ana woke up Thursday morning, got dressed, downed a whole bottle, then went back to sleep with her clothes on...
Thursday afternoon at 3:30, Ana (the adoption facilitator) went back to the US Embassy, picked up our Ana's visa and sealed envelopes to give to the US Immigration Service when we landed in Houston, and brought them back to the hotel.
	We went to the hotel's business center to get on the Internet and print out our boarding passes for the flight home the next day.
We were at the airport before lunch on Friday...
	...got a last look at Guate City when the plane boarded...
...and were in the air by noon.
	In a few hours we got a royal reception from Ana's brothers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends at the Huntsville Airport, and then we were finally back home.