For the longest time, I did not know for sure we would get to Guatemala. In a way, the timing did not feel right. Real and artificial barriers seemed to be put in our path, not the least of which was the requirement for a negative covid test administered less than 72 hours before arrival in Guatemala City. That was very difficult to find.

October 29, pre-trip

Because of the uptick in Wisconsin positive cases, and the stress placed on the state’s healthcare system to keep up, PCR nasal swab tests were taking 3-7 days to come back, on average — and I was worried that the PCR test wouldn’t come back in time. BUT, at least in Wisconsin, the rapid antigen test was hard to secure because those were being reserved for the select few that were exhibiting certain symptoms or whose doctor had ordered it, for a patient pre-surgery, for example. We had finally found a place about three weeks ago called Passport Health. They specialize in vaccines and travel consultations for people traveling outside the country. We had a 9am appointment for this morning and showed up 10 minutes early. After waiting in a dark corridor in front of an office whose doors were locked and whose lights had not yet been activated, we called the phone number attached to a regional scheduling center for Passport Health.

When the person answered, we asked why no one was available at our appointment time and the person responded “That office closed two weeks ago. You should have received a message canceling your appointment.” Well, not only did we not receive that message, in fact we received an email reminder yesterday that our appointment was confirmed. Ugh! How frustrating to know that your ability to travel to Guatemala was hinged on getting a negative test result and the appointment to obtain that took me weeks to coordinate, as the antigen test is not readily available to a healthy person not exhibiting symptoms! Fortunately, one of the other families scheduled to travel with us shared the resource they found for their antigen test. With a call to ArcPoint Labs, and the assistance of a lovely woman named Michelle, we were squeezed in at 10:45. The test was quick, painless, and I was never more thrilled to fail a test in my whole life! With negative test results in hand, I allowed myself to joyfully pack my bags for the trip I was so anxious to take. In addition to our personal things, my family of three travelers had seven checked bags of donations: hundreds of Spanish language books for the libraries we were inaugurating, hundreds of pair of eyeglasses and reader glasses, a month’s supply of multivitamins for children living in Panimache Quinto Alto and Panimache Quinto Bajo, diapers and feminine hygiene made by the sewing ministry at St. Jerome’s of Oconomowoc, and much more! With each bag carefully packed and weighing less than 50 pounds, we were finally ready to rest around midnight. A 7am flight the next morning meant that I had to set my alarm for 3am. I routinely enjoy more than three hours of sleep on a given night, but I knew I would run on adrenaline and excitement.

October 30, Day 1, Travel

Before the crack of dawn, there was not much activity on the interstate leading to the airport. When we got to the airport in Milwaukee, the process was similar to previous experiences with the exception of having to produce our covid test documentation. While I thought this documentation would only be required upon arrival in Guatemala, American Airlines wanted to make sure all of the travelers heading to Guatemala would not be rejected at the airport for failure to produce the right documents. (The airline learned the hard way that if they did not ensure their travelers would be allowed entry into Guatemala, the cost to return them to the US was the responsibility of the airline!)

The flights, themselves, were somewhat uneventful. There was no cabin service on the leg from Milwaukee to Dallas, and only a singular choice (prebagged water bottle and biscuit cookies) from Dallas to Guatemala.

It was necessary to wear a face mask from the moment you stepped into the airport in Milwaukee until you reached the hotel at your final destination. Because John and I work from home and Sarah is a virtual student, it was the longest continual amount of time that we wore a mask. While that was a little uncomfortable, it was certainly worth the ability to travel.

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When the three of us and our travel partners from Milwaukee (Tammi and Alyssa) reached Dallas, we spotted Mike waiting for us at the connecting gate. He had traveled from New York to meet us there. In Dallas, there was yet another check of the proper covid documents (the negative test result and the Health Pass required by the Guatemalan government) and there was a separate line set up for that so that our boarding pass could have the big red “OK” written on it to show the agent at the boarding gate.

Despite the extra logistics time, both of our flights departed on time and we arrived in Guatemala just a couple minutes past our scheduled time. Once inside La Aurora International airport in Guatemala, we were met by another blockade ready to review our documents, take our temperature and stamp our customs form indicating that we passed by that checkpoint.

The rest of the airport arrival process in Guatemala was fairly similar to previous travel experiences except that only one person can wait for you outside the airport.

Thankfully, and faithfully, Diego was there to flag us down when he saw us exit the airport. The ride to Chichicastenango was smooth, the conversation delightful, and the sunset amazing.

It feels wonderful to be at our second home!