central america

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…)

July 2012- Guatemala Day 1


The trip started as we traveled from Miami into Guatemala city. The girl sitting next to me on the plane took out a box full of letters from her boyfriend— one for each day she was going to be away. This landed her a spot on my obnoxious-list of course. I looked around– Kayla was already zonked out behind me. The obnoxious girl next to me took out her journal. She wrote in purple pen, “Today has been SO long already.” I remember rolling my eyes. After landing in Guatemala City we traveled by van to Panajachel. I remember the first thing that I noticed was the clarity of the air– there was something so pure about it. The trip took about 4 hours but luckily I got the seat with the most leg room (how did that happen?) We made multiple stops for stretch and bathroom breaks. After arriving in Panajachel we checked into our hotel and walked around the city. A drunk Guatemalan started talking to me in spanish insisting on taking a picture with me. He was saying something about my hair (or lack there of) but even Kayla, our Spanish guru, couldn’t understand what he was saying exactly.