“Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and celebrate the journey.” – Fitzhugh Mullan

Last Wednesday I completed the two SPU courses that I was taking in Guatemala, and to celebrate the end of this set of classes, myself, the other students, and our leaders spent the weekend at the retreat center of El Faro close to the town of Puerto Barrios on the eastern coast of Guatemala. It took us one van, one double-decker bus, one taxi (actually four taxis to fit all of our group), a boat, and six(ish) hours to reach our destination, but it was so very very worth. This resort was right on the Caribbean Sea and we swam, swung in the hammocks, and laid out on the dock for three days. I basically just lounged around and read and wrote all day every day. It was so hot and humid compared to central Guatemala, but it had nothing on a Southern Summer Day at home (or Camp Lookout where I work). On Friday we went hiking in the rainforest to a system of waterfalls, and other than this one planned activity, we are, slept, and relaxed the weekend away. I am so glad we were able to have this weekend, because we all started Spanish language school on Monday. From eight to twelve every weekday I take one-on-one Spanish lessons. In other words, I feel like an idiot every morning. I have two years of Spanish under my belt, but I am constantly confused and have to have things repeated. However, individual teachers are the way to go to learn a language, and as frustrated as I am sometimes, I can already tell a marked improvement in my Spanish, and I do enjoy learning another language. I hope Autumn and cooler weather is finding everybody!!

 View From the Retreat Center

 Sunset Over the Center

 This Parrot Lived Right Outside My Window

 The Beach Down the Hill From Where We Were Staying

 This picture is from our hike in the jungle, and it reminded me of the animated movie Fern Gully (if anybody has seen or remembers that film)

 This was taken on a trail at the Center looking North

 This is the Waterfall We Hiked To and Swam In

 Even this picture does not do the Center justice

 The rocks in the river and falls we hiked to were as stunning to me as the forest and water itself

This was just a cool shot that I took and did not realize how well it turned out until I was scrolling through pictures to post a few minutes ago

“As the traveler who has once been from home is wiser than he who has never left his own doorstep, so a knowledge of one other culture should sharpen our ability to scrutinize more steadily, to appreciate more lovingly, our own.” – Margaret Mead

Central America is absolutely fabulous, and I love it here!! Last Sunday was Election Day and last Thursday was Independence Day in Guatemala, and the city was ablaze with fiestas, color, flags, and exuberance. On Friday I and my global development class went into Guatemala City (which is about 45 minutes from Antigua) and visited a church supported by Compassion International, a non-profit NGO. This church is located in a very poor area of the city and does outreach ministry and services aimed primarily at surrounding communities that are established on and in landfills. People live and work in landfills all around this church, and my group and I visited one. The homes were built out of materials scrounged from the garbage piles and were constructed in and amongst piles of discarded materials. Children were running around everywhere, using the trash piles as their own expansive playground. It was heart-wrenching. No matter how many books you read, stories you hear, or pictures you see, the plight of others will never be apparent to you until you witness it with your own eyes. I blessed beyond belief for what I have been provided in life. As sad as this outing made me, it also confirmed to me that non-profit work is precisely what I need to do with my life occupationally and personally: helping people.
Yesterday I (along with the other students and our Professors) hiked the volcano of Pacaya, and it was incredible. The surrounding views from it were sweeping in scope and breathtaking, and the volcano itself was fascinating. This volcano erupted about a year and a half ago, but the eruption-side of the volcano is still newly formed barren volcanic rock with steam streaming from the ground every which away. The entire time we were hiking I was reminded of the scene at the end of Lord of the Rings Return of the King where Frodo and Sam were climbing Mount Doom, and you will just have to see for yourself the eeriness of the similarities between that scene and Pacaya.

In the landfill community

These two were so nice to us while we were at the landfill

 The community put a rainbow to shame with all of the clothes hanging everywhere, and I mean everywhere

An area of the landfill further away from where the people live

 This is on a cliff overlooking the landfill

 This is a picture of the landfill and people working in it from the cliff

 This is near the base of the volcano Pacaya

 This is about half way up Pacaya of the surrounding volcanos

 This shot is from about as far up Pacaya as anyone can hike safely

 Pacaya itself...I told you that it looked like the Mount Doom scene from Lord of the Rings. Haha

View from as close to the top of Pacaya as we could get

“A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse… and thinks of home.” – Carl Burns.

Hola a Todos!
Hello to All!
I arrived safely and uneventfully in Antigua, Guatemala late Thursday night. My total flying time was only about 4 hours, which was wonderful compared to my 12 hour flight to Europe one way. I will be in Guatemala until November 21. I will be in Antigua for most of my time here and I am taking Spanish and two other courses while here. I will be in the rural town of Magdalena for four weeks where I will be doing an internship with a Non-Profit Micro-Finance Organization that provides micro loans to low socioeconomic families. I get class credit for my internship, so in total I will complete 18 credits of classes while I am here. I am staying with a delightfully kind, funny, and patient host family who have made me feel right at home from the moment I walked through their door. The city of Antigua only has about 18,000 people, and the "main" part of town that we are staying in is geographically fairly small and compact (only about eight by nine city blocks). Antigua is ringed by three active volcanos, Agua, Fuego (which was spewing smoke yesterday), and Acatenango, which are sweepingly majestic and and ominous at the same time. Do not fret, though, they are closely monitored and have not had "true" eruptions that posed any danger to populations in several years. The city is so colorful and vibrant. There are stunningly beautiful flowers growing on every building and from every crack and crevice and the buildings put rainbows to shame. I love it here and cannot wait to explore and learn about it further. I send you all my best wishes and love!!

 Antigua, Guatemala

 Volcan Agua

The Moon Last Night