Convention and bus ride, wrap-up

I told you a bit about our convention so far, but wanted to add a bit more, and some pictures of our travel and adventures!

The last day of the convention was quite uneventful, from outsiders.  I mentioned in the last blog post that there was a political rally in an adjacent venue.  Because Jehovah's witnesses are politically neutral, we wondered whether the rally could raise patriotic passions and become a flashpoint against our peaceful stance.  It has happened before in many countries, including the US in the 1940s.  But we had absolutely no problems.  (I joked that I wished maybe something would have happened, maybe a scalp would that bleeds a lot but leaves no scar... great photo op... but no, nothing, nada... )  Just a lovely peaceful day.

Overall the convention was amazing.  More like an international convention than I've ever seen, other than 'official' international convention.  The spirit of the friends, the excitement and joy of meeting one another was just almost palpable.

Lots of sad goodbye hugs to our new friends.  A great drama about Esther, and how she had to courageously take action to ensure the survival of her people, the Jews, now the basis for the annual Jewish Purim celebration.

On the bus coming back the next day, we had a nice time - sang some songs, did some reading.  Stopped a few times.  We left at 9:30 AM, and got in about 7:30 or 8 PM!

Here are some pictures in no particular order:

Morgana (at right, from Vermont) with our friends from Idaho,
the Hewitts

A bunch of us from Panajachel with our traje tipico (indigenous
garb, more or less)

Beverly Shockley, rehearsing an experience she gave of
her caring for her husband with Alzheimers,
and looking forward to his resurrection. 

Some sisters with traje tipica from El Salvador

  

Our bus was a big pink bus with a Hello Kitty sign in front!
We got a lot of curious looks!

Shawn and Renee Eisenhauer with Marlin (Marlene), heading
home to Panajachel. 

Little Judah, everybody's favorite little guy.  He and his
family live in the apartment above us.  

Me with Marlin in the middle, and some other sisters. 

Water is a HUGE deal here, to have clean water to drink ("agua
pura").  We appreciated these guys with the 5-gal jugs!

Shawn and Loren Eisenhauer. 

A sister with a Nicaraguan outfit.  (We gave her
a dinner role with peanut butter and jelly, and
she was absolutely ecstatic.  Simple things, a
taste of home, make us smile...)