Hola! Greetings from yours truly, Leeah and Lauren! We apologize for the delayed post as we were having technical difficulties with the internet connection! After eating another delicious breakfast made by our host families, we started the day heading to a special education school called Xelaju. The school offers education to several children with various disabilities from the area for individuals of all ages. The group brought along our singing skills and Spanish books and paired up into groups of 3 to assist the classrooms. The groups had a great time playing with the children in the classroom and out on the playgroud. We felt much more confident in our Spanish songs and books as the children loved hearing them and insisted on us repeating them over and over again. It is safe to say that we will probably be singing Pulgarcito in our sleep for the rest of the trip! In addition, our group was fortunate enough to bring along and donate various supplies to the school. Special thanks to Allison and Sarah for gathering and coordinating the supplies! With their help, we were able to donate coloring books for each student, crayons, pencils, pens, notebooks, and much more to the school!
After saying goodbye and giving our thanks to Xelaju, the group began their two hour journey to the coffee farm located in Santa Anita. When we arrived, we were welcomed by the director of the farm, Gloria, and served an authentic meal of chicken, vegetables, noodles, and of course, tortillas at the hotel on the farm.
After our stomachs were satisfied, we were led by a former guerrilla fighter, Julio, through the coffee farm learning about the logistics of planting, growing, cleaning, roasting, and grounding coffee. We braved through the battle with the mosquitos as we drenched ourselves with bug spray and got in touch with mother nature. Overall, our experience at the farm was definitely one for the books. The farm did not represent what one would think an average farm would look like. Walking for two hours, we trailed behind Julio as he took us up, down, and around what could be comparable to a jungle. The view was unexplainable and no picture could do its justice for how beautiful the scenery was... we may or may not be featured in the next Jurassic Park.
In addition, we were also able to take a brief tour of the village and a museum of the guerrilla fighters. During this time, Gloria humbly shared her story of being a guerrilla during the civil war. It was very moving to hear her experience of fighting for justice in Guatemala. To end our day at the farm, we were able to buy some of the local coffee. You could tell how excited we were as we cleaned out all the coffee off the shelves!
We are sad that today is our last day in Xela and with our host families, but are very blessed for the experiences and the people we have met! We are off to Panajachel tomorrow to explore Lake Atitlan. Check in on us tomorrow! Adios!
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