Day 3

Today began with a two hour beautiful drive to Coatepeque, a municipality near Quetzaltenago. The windy steep roads were mostly accompanied by dogs and cows grazing, with the occasional chicken and duck. Once we all arrived at the hospital, we promptly formed two groups and split up in order to be most efficient in the diagnosis of broken machinery. Each group explored a section of the large hospital and examined the tools and machines that were currently not functional. When an instrument was deemed broken, the students’ objective was to create a list of possible reasons as to why the equipment wasn’t working properly.

When we returned after lunch, we attempted to fix a few machines for which we had the proper equipment. Dr. Rust’s group was able to fix a cast saw and a compressor nebulizer system. Dr. Northrup’s group investigated surgical and anesthetic equipment. Once we had finished fixing as many tools as possible, we started our journey back to Xela, now driving up the steep windy road. We arrived back at Hotel El Centro at 6:30 pm and immediately started getting ready for dinner at 7:30. Once ready, the whole group walked a few blocks down the road to Utz Hua and enjoyed dinner and dessert. Afterwards we all walked back to the hotel for a relaxing evening of free time.

-Kalyn Robbins & Erin Farrell

Day 2

Today provided an opportunity for the students to learn a little bit about how different things can be in Guatemala. Our plan was to visit a hospital in Huehuetenango, including touring the facility and working with the technicians for maintenance/repair of medical equipment. However, the road leading to Huehue was closed due to a protest involving the lack of resources devoted to healthcare in Guatemala. So unfortunately, this prevented us from reaching the hospital to complete our work. While waiting in hope that the road would open, the students spent some time playing various ball games. Once it became apparent that we would not be able to complete our work, we headed back to Xela and spent the afternoon exchanging money, having lunch/dinner, and shopping at the market. The students also attended a lecture given by our host in Xela, Victor, regarding the challenges facing the people of Guatemala. Hopefully we'll be able to reach our hospital destination tomorrow!

-M. Rust

Day 1

The trip started bright and early this morning with our first team meeting at 4:00 am at Bradley International Airport. We checked in, went through security and boarded our first flight of the day to Atlanta. After a quick airport meal and a short layover, we boarded the second flight to Guatemala City. For a couple of students these were their first flying experiences, and for others it was their first time out of America. We all made it through Customs, claimed our luggage and met up with our tour guide, Jose. Then we strapped our luggage to the roof, piled into the van and began our road trip to Quetzaltenango.

On the way, we stopped at a local restaurant, Chichoy, and sampled some local cuisine for lunch. Students ate an array of different entrees like rabbit, pork, beef, fresh guacamole, and chicken and rice soup.  This was our first experience with the local food, but the consensus was that our first meal was a great success. When the meal was finished, we packed ourselves back up in the van and were on our way to the hotel. The remainder of the ride was about three and a half hours, and after a long hard travel day, we finally got to the hotel, checked into our rooms, showered and started to get ready for tomorrow!

-Steve and Jess

Day 11

Our last day at the Mission began with an early breakfast. This allowed us to join in the procession that led from the church up to the cemetery as part of the remembrance ceremony for Padre Greg. The walk was beautiful, and the cemetery was very different from the ones we typically have in the States; very colorful.

After lunch, we listened to a talk at the Mission by Andres, a member of the community. Andres talked about his life working on a coffee finca. It was a very moving talk, and it really opened up a number of questions from the students regarding life in Guatemala.

We finished the day with our third soccer match of the trip, a new record! Good thing we are heading home tomorrow because we are officially exhausted. Looking forward to the long day of travel and return to our homes. See y'all soon!

-M. Rust

Day 10

We started off our morning with a breakfast of eggs and beans. Then we walked to the docks and took a short boat ride across Lake Atitlan to Panajachel.

Once there, we rode in little carts called tuk tuk’s up to the Reserva Natural Atitlan, a gorgeous reservation where we went zip lining. When we were ready and strapped in our gear, we proceeded to struggle up the mountain. The view was worth it though. The longest zip line was about 2,822 feet long, and many of us got stuck midair, but the view was magnificent. In total we rode 7 different lines, each varying in length and speed, yet all equally exhilarating. We raced our tuk tuk's back down to the town, and the two of us and Kate won!

We ended up getting lunch at Pollo Campero, with some of us eating in and others getting take-out. We explored the city of Panajachel which is a big tourist area, completely different from where we have been staying. The streets were lined with shops filled with tons of jewelry and souvenirs. It was very overwhelming how many stores there were, and unfortunately, due to lack of time, we were unable to go through even half of them.  Eventually, we loaded back on to the boat to return to San Lucas for a choppy, bumpy water ride. Back in town, we went shopping again. Dr. Northrup’s friend Moices was kind enough to stop by the hotel to show and sell students hand carved spoons. After our long and exciting day, we all rested and dressed up for our last fiesta!

Our dinner was held at Hotel Toliman and we enjoyed the company of the long term volunteers as well as Lisa and Larry, the parents of one of the long term volunteers. The restaurant was beautiful and empty, perfect for our last outing because we are a rambunctious bunch. The nachos were “da bomb” and the rest of the food was also delicious. When we were finished with our meals, it began to hit home that we were leaving in only 2 days. We began to share our thoughts about our experiences and how we ultimately became a little family in less than 2 weeks. We all appreciate everything Dr. Northrup and Dr. Rust have done for us over the past days and how welcoming and accommodating the long term volunteers have been. With their help, we were able to immerse ourselves in the Guatemalan culture as well as aid those who needed our help. We will definitely be leaving this incredible country with a new perspective on life. But our journey isn’t over quite yet!

 

-Erika & Marlena

Day 9

Today started with breakfast at the Mission: eggs, bread rolls with peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal, and bananas.  Shortly after eating, we boarded a cargo van that took us to the work site.  Needless to say, it was a tight squeeze (i.e., we got really close on the ride).   Once at the worksite, we played with the children before receiving instructions for our duties.  Today we had to dig up sand and transport it across a suspension bridge and up a steep hill into a backyard.  The soil could be used for various different applications, such as mixing cement.  We accomplished this using 20 gallon buckets and a small wheel barrow.  It took effort from everybody, but we managed to move a lot of soil.  We worked for about three hours, and everybody was grateful to take a lunch break back at the Mission.  Lunch was very good today: pasta with alfredo sauce and beef cutlets.

After lunch we listened to a quick presentation about Guatemala given by Heather, one of our long term volunteers.  After the presentation we headed to the Women’s Center.  Our first lesson was to make tortillas, which is much harder than it seems.  The women are responsible for all the cooking, which includes having dry firewood and feeding her family before they leave in the morning.

We also learned to wash clothes by hand in a pila.

We then struggled to carry a small basket on our heads, which is an extremely common method Guatemalan women use to carry heavy objects, such as corn masa (corn flour used for tortillas) or laundry.  Finally, we learned how the men gather and carry firewood.  It is common for some men to carry up to 200 pounds of firewood on their back for two to three hours.

We returned to the Mission for dinner, which consisted of green beans and beef, with squash soup, and bread rolls.  After dinner we return to the hotel where Dr. Northrup organized a small concert given by a mariachi band.  The music was good and we had a great time.  We are looking forward to the boat ride across the Lake and to zip line tomorrow!

-Wil, David, & Becca

Day 8

For breakfast, we had scrambled eggs with tomatoes and onions with rolls, beans, juice, and coffee. After breakfast, we split into two groups; each group went to different sites for construction work.

Becca: Upon arrival to the site, our group split up again. One group went to sift dirt to prepare cement for stove construction. The stoves are important for the health of the family, because without them they will cook with an open fire in the middle of the house, which leads to upper respiratory issues. Wil, Dimitri, and I worked with Juan and Marvin to finish a stove that was close to completion. We started by sifting dirt to add to the cement mix. Wil and I started doing that, then Wil and Dimitri helped Juan put a chimney on the stove. After they finished, we mixed dirt and cement with water to finish the stove.

When he had some down time, we bonded with the local children. I found that it was much easier to communicate with the kids in Spanish than I had expected. Around 3 pm, we finished up with the stove and headed back to the hotel. At 4 pm, we played soccer with some of the Parroquia workers. As per usual, I was terrible, but I had fun. We went straight to dinner after soccer. We had potatoes, stew, and cake. The cake was for Alex, a long term volunteer, because today is her 23rd birthday. After dinner, we watched a video about Father Greg, a priest who spent most of his life working with and helping to improve the lives of the people in San Lucas.

Kat: Our group was led by Dr. Northrup and Alex. We embarked on a 20 minute drive in the back of a pickup truck (a common form of transportation here) to a remote area in San Lucas. Once at the location, we were greeted by a wooden suspension bridge, built in 2012 by volunteers at the Mission. After many jokes and overcoming slight fears, the entire crew successfully crossed the bridge.

We trekked half a mile up a steep mountain and through the forest to arrive at one of the Mission houses in the community. It was there we were assigned jobs. Half of us stayed to sift gravel, used for concrete stove mix, and to participate in building the stove while the other half walked up the road to another house built and donated by the Mission. There, gravel was also sifted for future stove projects. We helped the families in any way we could, whether it be hanging clothes, dancing with the children, and exposing them to our music! After our duties were over, along with the rain, we walked through the small village. The roads were made of dirt and grass, and houses not built by the Mission were composed of disheveled wood and corn stalks. A group of young boys approached myself, Karissa, and David asking us to play a game of futbol; however, the ball was missing. They explained that they didn't have one to play with. The group continued on, while many other children greeted us from the open entrances of their homes. As we ventured toward our exit, the children entertained us, delaying our departure. Once we crossed back over the bridge some students helped a family bring soda and food, which were delivered by van, back over the draw bridge. As we left, the group reflected on the impact volunteers can make in a village.