July 2012- Guatemala Day 5


I woke up from either Denise or Melissa tapping my shoulder. I had been in the middle of a dream that consisted of stoves, fire, the FBI, and a Nikita’s Division sort of operation. We started off the day with a hike up one of the neighboring mountains. Naturally, the group set off at different paces up the hill. I tried to stick with Evan and Grey however the altitude was hard to adjust to. The three of us made it to the top with a less-than-triumphant feeling because of the lack of a great summit. The best view had actually been farther down the mountain. We soon heard Melissa calling out our names. She was afraid that we were lost and went looking for us. In her McGiver-like thinking she placed her water bottle on the ground in order to mark her path. She eventually caught up (more…)

July 2012- Guatemala Day 4


Day 4 of the trip started off on a good note– I did not wake up until twenty minutes to 7:00am. My goodnight sleep can be attributed to Glen’s offering of his beanie cap; my head was much warmer. We had pancakes and honey for breakfast. We were being spoiled for our meals. We made our way to the village to find out that each of our homes for the day had concrete floors except for Sheila and Grey. This, in theory, makes the stove building process easier. Kayla and I were on a roll in the morning. Our family was very nice and helpful. There were three little girls that were bashfully peeking around the corner at us working. Luckily, Kayla and I finished (more…)

July 2012- Guatemala Day 3


The previous night we arrived in the village of Chuiqatama and were warmly welcomed by the villagers. Lupe had brought us to the one room house that we would be staying in for the following three nights. It had four sets of bunk beds and two single beds on the ground. Somehow both Nancy and her daughter got the single beds. I slept in a bunk above Kayla. I proved to have gotten the best night sleep that first night. Neither the barking dogs nor the bawking chickens kept me awake. I did however wake up towards morning miserable because of how cold my head was. It felt as if I had been stuck in a freezer. I eventually buried my head down far into my sleeping bag. This did not seem to help defrost my head so I got out of bed and got dressed. The morning (more…)

July 2012- Guatemala Day 2


I woke up at 6:20am and put on my jeans, the ones with all of the holes. After eating a delicious breakfast at the same restaurant we had had dinner at we made our way down to the lake. Next, we took a boat ride across the lake to the town of San Pedro. San Pedro is known for it’s local artists– we gallery-hopped as we walked up an enormous hill. We finally arrived at a cotton shop where the ladies were demonstrating their dying process.  Their demonstration was interrupted (although quite pleasantly) by a school parade. We all gathered by the doorway to watch. School children were dressed in their uniforms dancing, singing, and staring extra long as they marched past us. We made our way back down the hill, each of us at our own pace. Kayla and I arrived (more…)