Welcome to the Jungle

Blog Post for Thursday, May 26, 2016  
     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!

Blog Post #2 (May 25)

Hola! Blog number two of the day coming to you from Ashley and Kylie! After lunch at our homes, we traveled by bus to La Democracia, a private hospital in Xela. Throughout the week we have learned that while treatment at private hospitals is  superior to what one would receive at a public hospital here in Guatemala, it is also very expensive, limiting the number of people who can access this type of care. La Democracia was small with only 25 beds, but very pretty and well-kept. The hospital also has 21 different outpatient specialty offices, three operating rooms, and six private rooms in the emergency room. This year, La Domacracia is celebrating their 25th anniversary (just like Ashley's parents--"Happy Anniversary mom and dad! ❤️ Ashley"). Seeing only two people occupying rooms during our visit, it represented just how difficult it is to access affordable and sufficient healthcare in Guatemala.

 

 

After the tour of the hospital, we returned to the language school before going to explore Central Park. On our way, we happened to run into a precession for the celebration of Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi is tomorrow (May 26), however Guatemalans have been celebrating all week with firecrackers! The women seen in the pictures below are wearing traditional dress called a traje. Upon watching the procession arrive at the only Catholic church in Xela, we ventured to La Luna café for some delectable hot chocolate. Along the way, we saw Giovanni (a gentleman who shared his story with us during the migration presentation yesterday) and invited him to come along! While we drank our hot chocolate, Giovanni (also a musician) rapped for us in Spanish. Most of us had no idea what he was saying, but we were all pretty impressed! The evening was filled with a lot of laughs and great company. 

 

 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for more! Adios! 

Hola! Mary and Madison checking in after lunch. We had a wonderful morning and met awesome people. First we visited Fundabien, an NGO that provides services for children with disabilities as well as a few adults. Upon arrival, Megan befriended a young boy who was there waiting to see the doctor with his parents. Sean happened to have a beanie baby bear that Megan used to entertain the little boy! Soon everyone gathered around to play with the boy and he loved the attention! Soon after, we started our tour led by the doctor at the facility. The facility was surprisingly advanced and very comparable to what we see in the United States. The facility was not large and did not have many resources but the doctor said they humbly try to help everyone they can. There were many different rooms for different therapies-speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and special education. We learned about a new therapy technique used by the speech pathologist that was so simple yet very effective and easy to apply in one's home. This was a box filled with confetti and covered with tulle that children would blow on and make the confetti move all around; this was used to improve linguistic abilities. Next we entered an occupational therapy room and saw a nine year old girl, Ema, who was missing parts of both her arms slightly above the elbow as well as her leg. They were amputated upon birth. She acquired quite the fan base among us! All of the sudden, she took off her shoe on the foot she still had, took out markers, and started drawing a flower with her foot..better than most of us..(all of us). It was incredible!! Madison was especially moved by the abilities and beautiful, happy personality of this little girl since she is also missing part of her left arm below the elbow. Before we left, she asked the mom and Ema if she could take a picture with Ema, and she showed them that she was similar to her. They agreed. (Madison speaking): It was such an amazing moment for me. Her spunk, spirit, and determination reminded me so much of myself when I was her age. I gave her a hug after the picture, wished her good luck with all her endeavors, and had to leave as I was on the verge of tears! It was a beautiful beautiful experience for me❤️

While we were leaving, Lauren smiled at a baby and the mom thrust the baby into her arms! Sean also left the toy bear with the little boy to keep. It was a fantastic visit! 

After this, we went to Landivar University, a Jesuit university in Xela. They greeted us with extreme kindness and gave us a tour of their school. We saw the chapel, their classrooms, and the library. The technology at the school was very advanced and modern, the microscopes in the labs put Alter Hall to shame, in look and in odor (they didn't smell like cats)! We then sat in an auditorium and mingled with other students our age. We watched videos about the school and they gave us a gift bag with a t-shirt, a pen, and a keychain! After this we all got a picture with the students and the faculty, and of course threw up the X; the Guatemalan students were confused but went along with it anyways. Then we had leftover time to continue talking with students and viewing the school and taking selfies, of course. After this we returned to the school and headed back to our host homes for a delicious lunch and great conversation. 

Check back for another post tonight! Adios! 

Hola everyone! Kate and Megan here. We've been having a blast here in Guatemala! Yesterday we started our day off with Spanish class. We practiced songs in a group and impressed the locals! Then, a local nurse came to teach us some Spanish medical terminology. We were able to role play as patients in a Guatemalan clinic and the performances were superb👌🏼! Next, we visited a midwife. She was small but mighty with 51 years of experience! Just before we got there, a baby was born into this world and fireworks were shooting off left and right. It was quite the celebration! We even got a photo with the dad!

Next, we all went to our home stays for lunch. Our host families filled us to the brim with authentic delicacies ranging from fried cauliflower to an entire fish (eyeballs and bones included). After lunch, we left for a talk on migration. We learned about migration and the hope that the migrants wish to find in their restaurant, rather than guerilla tactics from the past. They were very knowledgable and we were privileged to have the chance to speak with them. It definitely gives us a new perspective on immigration in the US! After getting some ice cream, we headed off to play in the biggest fútbol (translation: soccer) game of our lives against a local Guatemalan team. Special thanks to our amazing cheerleader, Carol, who was constantly advising us from the sidelines with loudly shouted directions and praises. Also, a shoutout to our goalie, Mary, and our center mid, Allie Demboski, for keeping our team alive. Your commitment made it all worthwhile! Our professor, Diane, really took one for the team when taking a head-on collision with a 31-year-old soccer player. However, she bounced back and we continued strong! Parents, no worries: we were safe, we were strong, and we finished a 4-0 loss. In our hearts we were the true winners, and we have faith that we would have made a comeback had the game continued. Unfortunately, our game came to an anticlimactic end when the ball flew over the fence and was run over by a car.

After the game, we returned to our school to have a movie night. We viewed a documentary about the coffee farm that we will be visiting Thursday. More on that to come. We then went our separate ways to stay with our host families, the loving and caring environments that have already taught us so much. We love and miss you all! Adios, Megan and Kate. 

Coming from Sean and Katie. On Monday we were given a history of Guatemala. We learned that Guatemala means the place of the forest. Guatemala has endured much suffering through from 1960-1996. More than 150,000 were killed, 400 villages destroyed, and 40,000 disappeared, 1 million internally displaced, 150,000 refugees, and 50,000 in resistance. Much of the destruction was due to the civil war between the people and the government.
Next we split into two groups: weaving and the Mayan sauna and alternative medicine. The weaving is an association for over 400 women who are victims of war. The women founded this group to come together and weave as a means to forget. We were able to practice on a traditional backstrap loom and afterward shop at the store to help support the women. The textiles were beautiful and well made. The whole group enjoyed themselves!
The other group visited a traditional Mayan temascal, or hot sauna, and learned more about natural medicine in Guatemala. We were introduced to these home remedies by Vanessa, an expert in the medicinal properties of native Guatemalan plants. Vanessa's family then treated us to homemade guacamole and herbal tea while we took turns in the hot sauna. We all felt very cleansed and refreshed by the experience, and we felt incredibly welcomed by Vanessa and her family!

Day 3. Blog #1

Hola familias! We have been having technical difficulties the past few days so we apologize for the delay with the blog but we should be good from here on out. Expect future blogs to be posted in the mornings when we have access to wifi!

On Day 1: we arrived at airport and were greeted by Rolando, Fidel, and Gloria! It was chaotic but we figured it out and started on our journey to Antigua! We stayed at Hotel Posado San Vicente! It was very beautiful. We explored Antigua and had dinner with our telecollaborative partners. They were very interested in showing us around Antigua so we were able to go in a huge group and explore the city with them for a while! It was a lot of fun to see them!

On  Day 2: We woke up very early for our 3 hour drive to Xela! We saw lots of wonderful and sad things on our drive! When we arrived in Xela we went to the house of a Shamon (also an anthropology professor at the college) to participate in a Mayan Ceremony. We all thought it was very peaceful and beautiful. It involved different colored candles and incense to pray for our families and safe travels! We were happy to be able to share that moment with one another and the Shamon. For lunch we are at a restaurant in Xela! Had absolutely delicious pineapple juice!! Then we went to the school to meet up with our families! They were excited to meet us and we took off right away with them to stay the night. A lot of people were nervous and stressed because we don't know much Spanish but we managed as best we could and hopefully it will get easier! Overall, all was well and we look forward to the adventures of today!

Blog as soon as we can!

Coming to you from Brianna and Olivia :)
Adiós!!!

All is Well!

Hello, this is Leah Dunn and I am stateside until next Monday. I have been in touch with the Guatemala gang and they are with their host families in Xela. Everything is OK! We are working out the technical difficulties with the blog to allow those in Guatemala the ability to post their stories and photos. Stay tuned!