March 2013- Nicaragua “Potters for Peace” Trip Day 3


We all woke up on the morning of March 9th earlier than anticipated because of the hotel’s dog. He was tied up and had been whining since 4:00am. At breakfast Jorge took the extra pancakes and gave them to Haley saying, “I’ve seen that girl eat.” We packed the van with our luggage and said goodbye to the Hotel Zoy as we drove back to Las Curenas for one last day. Now that the new mortar we had mixed had cured for over 12 hours we were able to begin building the platform and inlay. These two elements to the kiln allowed the ladies to lay the hot pieces down to cool and cover them to smoke. These did not take long to build. Mid-way through (more…)

March 2013- Nicaragua “Potters for Peace” Trip Day 2


Our room woke up early, perhaps because of the bustling city or the barking dog. We sat out in the patio drinking the decadent coffee and waiting for breakfast. Eventually the rest of the girls woke up and joined Hazel and my room in drinking coffee. Haley and Maggie must have had 8 cups each. I asked Robert how high up Jinotaga was. He said he thought it was at an altitude of around 4,500 ft. I think I looked it up later and found out it is at an altitude of about 3330 ft. Robert is quite the charachter. His physical mannerisms are that of a circus contortionist. My favorite thing about Robert over the week was his laugh. It was so genuine just like his vision and passion for Potters for Peace. After a breakfast of tortillas, eggs, rice and beans, and fruit we headed out for a day of work. Our first (more…)

March 2013- Nicaragua “Potters for Peace” Trip Day 1


I wasn’t as inspired to write about Nicaragua, perhaps because Hazelgrove was urging us to write. Whenever I opened  my journal most everybody else began writing too. That’s not my style. Now that the trp is in the past, there is so much to write about. Anyway, my day started at 3:25am. I was one of the first people at the airport, ready for the flight. When I found my seat– 17B I was relieved because I had dodged sitting next to an overweight old man that smells of cheese (which is my usual seat buddy.) The girl next to me (more…)

July 2012- Guatemala Day 6 (and onward)


After breakfast we hiked up onto the side of a hill and planted 150 trees. Kayla was not the best at getting all of the plastic off of the roots, which Caty saw so tried to teach her. It went by quickly because of the large number of hands we had working. We returned to Chuicatama to pack and finalize our departure. Our ride came and it was an even larger van this time. On our way out we stopped in a village far on top of the mountain called Chikixis so that Lupe could take a picture she needed. It was quite the adventure seeing this huge van trek up a steep gravel road. We soon headed back down the mountain on our way to our next destination: the Mayan ruins. The ruins were (more…)