Days 1 & 2

Hola Amigos!

The team arrived in Antigua yesterday beginning at the crack of dawn and ending late in the evening. For those with a head start we enjoyed the opportunity to poke our heads around town and get a feel for a beautiful city alive with history but obviously decaying with age. The colors of the houses are amazingly vibrant yet appear to have not been revived in several decades -- reds, yellows, blues ... contrasting against the cobbled roads yet complemented by the rich blue sky broken by the volcanoes pluming billowy white smoke.

After a trip to the local watering hole last night, we jumped into the "learning" portion of service learning with a tour of Antigua this morning and an afternoon lecture on development, with the highlight being a chat with a local development hero -- Rigoberto, who has founded learning centers and libraries to deepen an educational system that's most stunning statistic is that 60% of 1st graders don't proceed on to 2nd grade.

Tomorrow we'll head deeper into Guatemala where we'll stay on a coffee farm cooperative -- where roosters will replace car horns and a community bunkhouse instead of hotels.

Cheers

Itinerary

Hi folks,

Here is a brief overview our trip's first week itinerary:

Wed 12/27:
Arrive into Guatemala and head to Antigua

Thu 12/28:
Tour of Antigua (former capital of GUA)
Lecture on Sustainable Development (Dr. John van Keppel)
Meet with Rigoberto (founder of PROBIGUA)

Frid 12/29:
Travel to Santa Anita
Meet with owners of Santa Anita plantation (former guerrillas in land distribution resistance)

Saturday 12/30:
Work on plantation
Afternoon with plantation children at their school
Dinner in the homes of plantation owners

More to Come!

Books and Toys Drive

Thanks to all that contributed to the Guatemala Toys and Books Drive. We are looking forward to delivering these to children in Tzanchaj.