Day #4 - Tuesday June 28

This morning we awoke around seven thirty, got ready and headed down to breakfast at eight (which it was at every morning). For breakfast we had crepes, French toast, Guatemalan yogurt, homemade granola, and assorted fruit. After breakfast we all assembled and boarded the boat. We arrived in San Marcos and took our daily route to the work site. We began working on the projects that were still works in progress. My partner Payton and I worked on sanding out the pattern we made for the benches that are for the local school. While using a jigsaw to cut out the flower pattern on the other bench leg we discovered a long end check (a crack coming from the top or bottom of the wood) we talked to Nate and he helped us come up with a solution. Eventually we ended up using a bow tie; which is when you draw a bow tie; or sometimes known as a butterfly on your wood with the crack in the middle and you chisel out the wood within the bow tie outline and you hammer in an identical shaped bow tie, then you cut off the top and sand it down. After lots of work we got the bench to be sturdy so those children at the school will have a reliable bench to sit on. Anne another lady working with us cut hole patterns in the other bench legs because we needed to repair the legs for the broken benches from the school. After Anne cut the patterns and we finished sanding our bench legs we took turns sanding down the wood. We used either hand held sanding techniques or the electrical sander. We used three different types of sand paper we used the 80 which is the grittiest, the 120 which is the second smoothest, and the 220 which is the finest sand paper. We use the 80 sand paper to sand away the rough imperfections on the wood. We use the 120 either after the 80 or if the wood is relatively smooth to begin with. Then We use the 220 last to make the wood super smooth. For a hand held sander we use a block of wood small enough to hold and you wrap the chosen sand paper around it and when we use the electric sander we attach the sand paper on it and clip it in and then we guide it steadily to sand away the stuff we don't want. We then headed down to lunch which we ate at Konojel, San Marcos' nutrition center. We had vegetables, rice, tortillas, tamales, and Hibiscus tea. After lunch we all worked together to carefully sand down everything and make things even we stained them. We take this substance and a cloth and we wipe the wood, it's called staining because it gives the wood that darker color and it also is a great protector for the harsh environments outdoors. After the wood pieces were drying some girls from our troop and Fatima; a local, helped make the table top of a table they started making yesterday. Claire and Kennedi finished the table frame and then they stained it and let it dry, and then we added a second coat to the bench leg pieces. To make a table top you have to glue pieces of wood together. After an hour of the glue drying we took chisels and chiseled off the soft glue. After an hour of drying is the perfect time to remove glue because it's not too soft and not too hard, so chiseling the glue off the surface is no problem. A little before we finished chiseling the bench pieces were done drying and we could use them to repair the broken benches. After the pieces were done we attached them using a screw driver and we checked if the benches were sturdy and when we got them study using a hand planar we tried carrying them to the school. Much to our dismay the school was closed. On our way back to the work site one of the dogs escaped from the work site; Charlie has a total of eleven dogs and a few he is looking after. After a few failed attempts at yelling in Spanish for the dog to stop, Ellen swiftly ushered the dog back in using her be-known dog skills. As we were getting the dog back inside we were careful not to let out anymore dogs. A dog with a blue collar was near the door with the other dogs, as we tried to get it further inside Lucas, Charlie's son who is helping us with the carpentry asked,
            "Who's dog is that?" We all paused in our tracks. Ellen then asked the question we were all wondering
            "Is that not your dog?" Lucas shook his head. We all looked at one another and laughed and then we all ushered the dog out of the door pointing it in the direction of the path. That dog clearly belonged to someone else in San Marcos.
             After we took the boat back that evening we played cards with Nate and Corrinne; a couple of adults that are working with us on the work site, while we waited for dinner at seven o'clock. After dinner we played some more card games and read a couple chapters of the books we brought along with us (ranging from Harry Potter to The Sun Also Rises). Before we went to bed at ten o'clock we set out our clothes and prepared for the day ahead of us.

Day #3 - Mon. June 27th, First Day of Service in San Marcos

Day 3, Monday, June 27, 2016

   Today was the first day at Lake Atitlan and we all woke up to a clear and warm day around 7:30am. Breakfast was at 8:00am and we all sat on the outside tables of La Iguana. The food served at breakfast included a delicious fruit salad mixed with granola, yogurt and filled with strawberries, bananas, pineapples, watermelon, and cantaloupe. We also ate scrambled eggs, beans, and toast. After breakfast all of us Girl Scouts anxiously waited for the boat to arrive and take our group to Saint Marcos. Miguel (the boat driver) helped all of us climb into the boat for a beautiful and scenic ride to the work location.

   It was a pleasant 25 minute drive to Saint Marcos. When we arrived I realized that is was the same place that I had been to three years ago. We first walked up the path and went to the school that ATC has done many projects with including building a couple walls, a stove, and helping out with other materials. It was pretty neat to see that in one of the walls plastic bottles filled with trash were used to be the interior of the walls. Nate explained to us that the projects that we were doing throughout the week included working/fixing up the school’s benches and tables. So our entire group lugged about 3 benches and a full size table up the road and all the way to the ATC workshop. I remembered the same route that we had previously taken three years ago.

----- Lucas, Charlie’s son also joined us in these projects.

 

 

When we arrived at the workshop, Nate went over many important safety rules and the plan for the rest of the day. We then were given a tour of the entire workshop space and all the different buildings that were around us. After the tour Nate then talked for a solid amount of time just about his experience and love of WOOD! He LOVES CHERRY!! Next we were put into our working groups and I was grouped up with Ellen and Anne. Our task was to build another long bench for the school. Nate equipped us with all the safety knowledge and notes for our building jobs and let us off to venture into the world of carpentry and building all on our own. Morgan, Ellen, and I began discussing our plans to build the two benches. Different ideas and perspectives were brought out in the collaboration to build these benches and we began to cut our wood for the project. During the process of making the benches, ideas were changed such as the length and how to cut the wood.

   Around 12:00pm everyone was becoming a little bit hungry so we stopped for a 5-minutes water/snack break. Then we picked right back up again in working with our materials. Working on these projects there were two Guatemalan women who were participating in this workshop. Their names were Fatima and Clara. They only spoke Spanish; so communicating was sometimes a bit difficult. But Nate did most of the talking. Finally, at 1:30pm we walked down to Konojel which is an organization that primarily focusses on the intellectual well-being and nutritional intake of the women and children around in the community. Andrew, who is the main director at Konojel (but not the boss of the place) fed us a very healthy and tasteful lunch that consisted of a boiled egg, beans, tortillas, plantains, and a radish/cucumber salad. The director explained to us the history behind the organization and the many branches of groups that come off of Konojel. It was really interesting understanding the background behind the all the goodness that Konojel serves their community.  See www.konojel.org for more informatio

   Following lunch, we all headed back to the work site and proceeded with our wood workings. By the end of the day (around 4:30) my group had completed the cutting of all of our individual wood pieces. We all then headed back to the boat and came back to La Iguana. While we were waiting for dinner, Corinne, Nate, Kennedi, Payton, Ellen, Claire, Morgan, and I all played canasta on the outside table. Dinner then came and it was first an eggplant soup, then salad, falafel, tahini and tzatziki sauces, and homemade bread. For dessert there were these raisin granola cookie bars that were pretty good to eat. Then after we all just talked hung out and played cardsJ

Having a great time out here in GUA,

M. Millette

Day #2 - Sun. June 26, 2016 From Antiqua to Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan

Day 2 - Sun. June 26, 2016 From Antigua to Santa Cruz, Lake Atitlan

   We woke up in Antigua, Guatemala in the very comfortable El Hostel. For breakfast I had watermelon juice with homemade bread and jam, with a side of fruits (I tried papaya for the first time and it was gross).

   After breakfast, our guide, Rubin (mmm… sandwiches), took us on a tour of the city. He told us about the history of the city and how it used to be the capitol of Guatemala, Guatemala City is the capitol now, before a 7.9 earthquake hit and destroyed the city. He showed and told us about the 19 churches, 12 of which are still active. We heard the church bells ringing for mass to start and we saw the people waiting for church to start. Rubin took us to one of the inactive churches and it was in ruins. The ruins were beautiful though. So beautiful that people often come down from Guatemala City just to get married there. Next he took us to the markets where people in amazing, very ethnic clothing were selling homemade goods such as, headbands, blankets, paintings, dolls, clothing etc. This part of the tour was really hard because I wanted to buy everything I saw. We also saw a lot of dogs on the streets… adorable.

 

After the AMAZING tour, we hit the road on our way to Atitlan Lake. If I am being honest, I slept most of the way. It was kind of an off and on type of thing. So the things I did see were very mountainous and green with trees, which I personally appreciated greatly because you don’t get to see as many trees in other places in the world. For lunch we stopped at a roadside restaurant with very traditional, and good Guatemalan food. Most of the girls had tortillas with chicken and Guacamole. But I had a crepe with lots of fruits grown around the area. Then we hit the road again. 

   When we got to the lake we were driving downhill, fast, so it made our ears POP as if we were on an airplane. When we got to the bottom on one of the mountains surrounding the lake, we came to a town where we unloaded our things and loaded them onto the boat. We were going to ride to the other side of the lake. The boat ride was really fun because the water was choppy and made the boat bounce up and down. We could also see the water spraying behind us. When we got off of the boat we arrived at our new hostel, La Iguana, and it looked truly magical. There were so many plants I had never seen before growing so many beautiful flowers- even the leaves were interesting. There were also trees growing bananas and limes which was really cool. All in all, it looked like the hostel was plopped in the middle of a paradise. I guess It kind of is. What made the hostel even better was that it is right on the edge of the Atitlan Lake, so you could hear the water slamming against the shores and see the volcanoes in the distance. 

  

   Once we settled in we got to explore the hostel a little more and I saw a dog and a cat. I played with the cat. I don’t know why as I am a dog person, but I named it Penguin. My sister didn’t like the name much. We also saw a most curious room titled Dress Up. So of course we went to investigate the room. Inside we found a whole bunch of dress up clothes people could try on if they wanted to. It was cool, and weird. It was cool and weird. After exploring we went on a hike up a really, really steep mountain to the village of Santa Cruz. My sister and I reckon that the earth was trying to do us in because going up the mountain it was hot. But going down it was cool. The opposite of what we needed it to be. The town was really different. I thought it was especially amazing because of how trusting the town was. Small children could wonder the streets by themselves because the town is completely safe.

   When we got back from Santa Cruz I got ambushed by our troop leader to write an entry on this blog… I hate writing and I am really bad at it. Surprisingly, writing this was really enjoyable. It usually takes ages for me to write. But this was really quick, surprisingly. Oh and we saw a rainbow.

   After writing the blog, we had dinner and it was a really enjoyable meal. We had chard soup with homemade bread, then homemade pizza which was really different as it didn’t have any pizza sauce or cheese. Well it kind of did. It was bread with green seasoning then one slice of mozzarella cheese, on top of one slice of a tomato, on top of one slice of meat. We had that with salad. Then for dessert we had homemade orange cake that was just heavenly. While at dinner we made friends with some people who were here on vacation. They were nice people.

   After dinner I wrote the part of the blog about eating dinner, then I went outside to play cards. – Goodbye

-      K. Johnson

We're here!

We arrived safely on three separate flights into Guatemala City (GC). The ATC crew picked us up and we headed to Antigua.  While driving in GC, we were mesmerized by the colorful traditional dresses of the women at the airport, the heavy traffic, the chicken buses, the number of motorcycles driving between the lanes, the heavy exhaust of the stop & go traffic, and the available American food chains, including Chucky Cheese and Taco Bell. As we finally ascended out of GC towards our destination of Antigua, we noticed the shanties built with corrugated steel sheets with the beautiful back drop of the mountains. Many of us caught a little shuteye during this hour+ commute.

The cobble stone streets immediately awaken us to entering Antigua. Most of the buildings in this ancient tourist city are one story due to the history of earth quakes. Ruben got us unloaded, and Nate & Corin got us checked in at El Hostal, a very quaint accommodation. We are all staying in a 5 bunkbed room. The common area is open to the outdoors and the girls quickly spied the wifi access code :-).

After dewatering our bodies, we headed out for a late lunch at Rincon Tipico, where we ate a tradition meal of pollo (chicken) or chorizo, whole roasted baby potatoes, a slaw with cabbage & cucumbers, flour tortillas and hibiscus tea. Our tummies were full! Then, we headed out to explore, mix, mingle, and experience the local markets.

After a couple hours and a tasty ice cream treat for some, we headed back to the hostel to kick up our feet after a long travel day.  The gals played a card game together for a bit. Later, a couple took advantage of reading in the hammock in the common area.  We also ordered our breakfast for the next morning (7 options), and then settled in for the evening, showering reading, writing, emailing, texting and at least one still working on a proposal for work. As I write this entry, most of us are already sleep, but we are being serenaded by mellow live Guatemalan music from Cafe No Se across the street (our room is at the front of the hostel).

A good start to the trip for all us as I sign off and say "Good night" and we all look forward to learning more about our surroundings tomorrow. I'll add in a few pictures from today soon!

The blog is up!

Only one day to go. Guatemala, here we come!