~ By: T. Bertrand '08
Thursday, January 17
¡Hola amigos!
Our group has just arrived in Guatemala City and we are all tired beyond belief! Our day started around 8:00 a.m. when we took our last two exams for the semester. We barely had time to rub the weariness out of our eyes when we piled into Mr. Ziebarth and Mr. McCarthy´s cars and were shuttled to the airport. We were happy to get rid of our luggage at the baggage check, because our bags were packed to the max and were quite cumbersome. The next seven and a half hours were spent in an airplane with the exception of our transfer in Houston. We passed the time by playing card games, listening to music, and reading. We arrived in Guatemala City around 10:15 p.m. and were immediately shuttled to our hotel.
The hotel is called The Swiss Hotel and is located in the middle of the city. We can tell they have problems with theft, because they park the cars inside the plaza at night instead of on the street.
The overall atmosphere of the city seems friendly, but we have yet to experience anything. Tomorrow we are to embark on a three-hour car ride into the hills of Guatemala on our way to San Lucas Toliman. It should be an adventure!
~ By: M. Wangen '08
Friday, January 18
Today the group awoke around 8 a.m., had breakfast, and then left for a three-hour car ride to San Lucas. Traveling through the town, we were frequently stared at by the locals because we are now the minority. The car ride was extremely hot as temperatures rose to about 85 degrees. We arrived in San Lucas at about noon and got situated in our hotel, which is extremely nice. We have a whole complex just for our group.
After eating our first lunch at the mission, we were put to work filling a huge hole to level out the surface for a new building. After two hours of carrying 50 lbs bags of dirt back and forth, we went back to the hotel, and ate dinner. Following that, several group members headed down to the local plaza and played soccer with the locals. Although our skills didn´t match those of the Guatemalans', we had a few dangles of our own.
~ By: A. Gould '09
Saturday, January 19
Hola Amigos!
It is day three here in Guatemala. Today was very eventful. We did not do much work but got a tour of all of the missions projects. We were guided by a man named Andreas who showed us the projects including; a women´s center, the coffee co-op, medical center, and a tour of the town of San Andreas.
Later today we climbed a mountain that was right next to our hotel. It took us about an hour to get up. When we got there the view was amazing. We could see the whole city plus most of Lake Atitlan. On the way down we did some free climbing on the cliffs. It took us about twenty minutes to get down.
The rest of the day we pretty much relaxed and checked out the city a little more. That´s it for today. I look forward to going on the boat trip tomorrow.
Adios!
~ By: D. Zimmermann '08
Sunday, January 20
Today started with Mass at 7:30 a.m. at a 400-year-old church. It was all in Spanish and many people from different cultures attended. After everyone was ready to go, we boarded a boat and traveled across the lake to Santiago. We were solely there for shopping purposes. This smaller town was much different than San Lucas; it is constructed on a much steeper hill. The cobblestone roads and pathways were steep and difficult to climb because of yesterday's mountain climb.
After spending an hour in Santiago we boarded the boat again and traveled to another town, Panajachel. This town was very touristy and much larger than San Lucas. We found different restaurants to eat lunch at and spent three hours there. We all bought many gifts and greatly enjoyed our time there.
After we arrived back in San Lucas, we met at the church for dinner. All of the boys ate their meals quickly so that we could return to our house to watch the Green Bay vs. New York football game. Our meeting was postponed to watch the final outcome of the game.
~ By: E. Lee '08
Monday, January 21
Today we had our first actual work day. We ate breakfast and were on our way to San Andres, where we would dig two-foot deep holes and about two feet wide. We dug about 13 holes, but the work was more intense than it actually sounds, as we faced many tremendus rocks and tree roots. As our digging became more successful, we began mixing cement and later filling in those holes with this cement. I never knew that mixing cement was actually pretty hard. We work on this project from about 9 a.m. until about 3 p.m.
We brought our own lunches to the town so that we wouldn't have to drive back to the mission and come back. After a hard day at work, our group went to do some cliff diving. It was a hike away but it was well worth the time and pain of walking. It was about a 35ft drop into the clear Atitlan Lake. Everyone was fond of this and everyone jumped. It was a good bonding moment for us. Since we have been here in Guatemala our whole group has come to be one, and we all get along really well. I had never really talked to most of these kids, but I have been enjoying every second I spend with these guys. Now I am going to go to our group meeting which occurs every night. Peace out.
~ By: D. England '09
Tuesday, January 22
Today we continued to work on the church at San Andres. We dug trenches and filled them with rocks in order for cement to stick. A.J and Erick went to the dentist and helped Dr. Hoffmann pull teeth. While we were working, Father Greg came up to congratulate us on our hard work and progress.
We once again enjoyed our homemade sandwiches and fresh piña (pineapple) for lunch. After lunch we enjoyed a nice siesta in the sun although Drew got badly burned and I slept in the wheelbarrow. After working we listended to Father Greg and his ideas about the Guatemala society. After we ate dinner we returned to our home for the night.
~ By: D. England '09
Wednesday, January 23
Today we continued our work on the retaining wall around the church, beginning by mixing the cement that we had prepared Tuesday and filling the trenches with it. today, Andrew and Ben went with Dr. Hoffmann, and each said that it was a good educational experience.
Back at the church in San Andreas, we had a nice hour and a half for siesta, during which Drew got even more badly sunburned. After siesta, we finished pouring cement and moved all the cinderblocks to prepare for tomarrow´s job: building the actual wall. We came back to San Lucas, and went shopping. Yes, some machetes were purchased.
~ By: L. Segl '08
Thursday, January 24
Today we woke up at our usual time of 8 o'clock. We did our usual thing, breakfast, dishes, and then we made our lunch for the day. We all hopped into our truck and headed to the work site. We got dropped of for the last time at this work site because it was today was our last day of work. We arrived and immediatley started to work. We mixed cement and started to lay the bricks for the wall of the church. At noon we ate our lunch and had an hour and a half siesta. We then started back up and finished strong.
The workers at the site decided to do something that was amazing. They brought us down the street and bought us all cokes. While walking down the streets, there were little kids that started walking with us. This was an amazing experience because they spent basically all the money they made that day on us, for a few cokes. This was their way of saying thanks for all the help and this opened my eyes and made me think that we aren't just building a wall, we are building a church and this is how much it means to them. We finished up our cokes and walked back to the church while playing with all the little kids. The smiles on those kids' faces made everything worth it everyday. We got back, said our goodbyes and then headed back to the hotel. We hung out the rest of the day and then had our usual meeting at the end of the night. This whole trip was made clear by today.
Adios
~ By: M. Diaz '09
Friday, January 25
Today was our last full day in Guatemala. We awoke at the usual 8 o'clock and headed to a normal breakfast. After breakfast, however, we left San Lucas. We said our good-byes to Father Greg and all the people of San Lucas. It was a very different feel leaving the city because over the past days we as a group had grown very close to the community. Again we all squeezed into a van and set off towards Antigua. It was about a 2 1/2 hour journey there, but most of us sleep most, if not the entire way. The ride was filled with the beauty that all of Guatemala has, including multiple volcanoes and gorgeous mountains.
We arrived in Antigua about 12 o'clock and set off for to discover the new town. It was far different that San Lucas, with a much more Spanish feel to it. There were vast markets and many little shops and restaurants. We shopped around and enjoyed some new food. It was nice to have a break from the good, but repetitive food of San Lucas. It was a fun day that was far different than our others working in San Lucas. We also met up with the exchange student Jose who spent time at STA this past winter. He spent the day with us in Antigua. We departed from Antigua at about 4 and had a quick trip to Guatemala City that only took about an hour.
Our friend Jose called and offered to take us out to dinner and show us around the city. We accepted with great excitement and we all crowded into another van. Jose showed us a view of the entire city that if it had not been so cloudy, would have allowed us to see all tree volcanoes that surround the city. He invited us into his gorgeous home and we were all stunted at his generosity. In a matter of one day we had traveled from the houses of the poorest of the poor to one of the upper class Guatemalan houses. It was amazing how quickly the tables had turned. Then, Jose took all of us out to a pizza place to have dinner. We were overwhelmed with his generosity once again. It was amazing to me that he would give up one of his days to come and show us another part of Guatemalan culture that we would not have seen without his help.
Jose then dropped us back off at the hotel and we had our final group meeting of our trip. It was hard to imagine how much life was about to change in less than 24 hours, but it was also exciting to think about all the things we were about to return to. We all went to bed pretty early dreading the 4 am wake up call we would all receive that next morning.
See you all soon
Back Row: Mr. Jurkovich, T. Bertrand, D. Zimmermann, M. Wangen, E. Lee, M. Diaz, 1SG Hernandez
Kneeling: D. England, A. Gould, A. Housh, R. Litwin
Sitting: B. Fohrman, L. Segl
