Our group with all the kids at the Cambiando Vidas school

By Sam Bondurant ’11 and Joe Powers ’11

We started off the morning with a visit to Cambiando Vidas, the school built in conjunction with From Houses to Homes. The kids were all happy to see us. We rejoined with our class helped them find certain syllable sounds in words. Their goal was to find 10 of the three letter combinations written on the board as fast as they could. Upon completing their goal, the kids received a small sticker that was their favorite color. While this may seem like an insignificant reward to us, that little sticker took on more meaning than any letter grade.

It was refreshing to see kids taking pleasure in the little things, rather than worrying about what’s next on the schedule.

Bloggers and Buddies, Joe and Sam.

Returning to the worksite, we had a short, but intense day, followed by some equally intense, but far more competitive soccer with the workers. All was pretty much as expected, Andrew had a few long shots over the fence, Bill continued to be as competitive as usual, but we also discovered a goalie hidden deep inside the confines of our very own Sam Bondurant, my co-writer on this blog. Until his ego got the best of him, accidentally causing a goal for the opposing team, Sam was a beast. Some of the most surprising things we’ve found on this trip have been in each other, not our environment.

Visiting the school this morning involved much more personal interaction between Guat members and school kids than yesterday. Today, some of the group was paired with a kid and assisted them in writing and subsequently solving mathematical word problems.

Watching the kids transition from complete focus on their work to playful cheerfulness was really, as Joe says, refreshing. They don’t seem to worry a bit about the next word problem, or whether they got the last one exactly right. They can shift gears, mentally change from calculations to friendliness in an instant.

One especially vivid image I have is of Taylor showing the kids her Silly Bands (bracelets that look circular on one’s arm but become shapes when taken off). The look on the boy’s face when shown the evolution of the bracelet into a turtle really epitomized our goal in this trip: to bring light to people’s world, through construction, or teaching, or simply making friends.

Westminster and Cambiando Vidas students with the Soloman Shelf bible stories

Today’s construction was especially hard because the volume of concrete that needed to be poured was approximately triple of that poured on a normal day. However, everyone managed to stay cheerful, whether the method was listening to Jose’s playlist of English and Spanish songs, playing with the kids, or simply watching Bill be himself.

Today we completed the floor and decorated the "front porch" with Julia Myricks leaf patters

Futbol with the workers was really an awesome experience for me because everyone was involved, and everybody got really into the game. Whether it was Carter’s rocket shots towards the goal or Henio’s (one of the Group 1 workers) bicycle kick, the game was representative of how our group has come together internally and also with the Guatemalan workers.

All for One! Bill jumps on the Guatemalan pile-up at the daily lunch wrestling match

While it’s tempting to sit back and look at the houses and feel extremely self-satisfied, our work is really desperately needed here. As Billy, the Spanish teacher at Academia Sevilla told us -all in Spanish, mind you- “This work that your organization does is really helpful, but for all the hundreds of people that it helps, there are always more who need it.” He told us a story about how a woman he knows has 3 kids but only one of them is a candidate for “long-distance adoption” as he described it. So one girl is gifted with more resources, more blessings, and more opportunities than her siblings. That inequality indicates to me the real need in this country. That’s why I feel really motivated to continue to help once we get back to the U.S. and, hopefully, come back to do more one day.

Sarah G. and Daniel learning to make tortillas with Olinda

Relaxing in the 'barrow: Harrison, Henio and Chuchi with Volcan Agua in the background

House 3 carefully selecting the photos to include in the family album

Boys will be Boys

Lauren about to receive the "BUCKET!" from inside the house as we put down cement for the floor

A view of the hillside where our groups are building. House 3 is bottom right and house 2 is top left.

by Andrew Webb ’11 and Harrison Larkins ’11
Today was a memorable day in Antigua, Guatemala. We started the day waking up an hour earlier to give us time to visit Cambiando Vivas, an elementary school built by From Houses to Homes. Although the visit was short, we were able to sit in on multiple classes, take a tour of the school, and sing the “itsie bitsie spider” with the kids. We had the unique opportunity to witness Cambiando Vivas participate in a local olympic tournament between other primary schools in the Antigua area.

Part of our group and workers in front of the Elementary Olympics stadium atop a hill

In between epic races for gold, spectators got to delight in Sarah Grady’s unique gymnastic skills. Each successful back hand spring had the crowd screaming for “otra, otra, otra.” However, the time soon came when we were back in our trucks on our way to the worksite. Before our departure, we gave the classes school supplies, such as crayons, children’s books in English and Spanish, and a much appreciated gift from Joe Powers, soccer balls! Upon arrival at the worksite, we returned to our familiar jobs of mixing cement and assebling blocks as the houses continued to take shape.

Harrison and his buddy Wilson debating the differences between concrete and cement...

During lunch, Sam Bondurant lost his undefeated wrestling record against a worker who was a wrestling competitor in the Central American Olympics (see photos below). The workers continued to add height to the scaffolding six feet above the ground (thats almost taller than Andrew Webb) as we tested our strength, repeatedely lifting sixty-pound cement buckets above our heads. Although it was quite a test of endurance, we finished the thirteen-layer walls, leaving only the floor and the ceiling unfinished.

Olinda in front of her soon-to-be new house, now 12 rows high. The kids are standing on the scaffolding inside the construction

The trip back to the Hotel Meson del Valle showed little incident, but upon return, we were met with a torrential rain that delayed our trip Spanish school and after waiting for almost an hour for the rain to clear, eventually, Mr. Searl made the call to cancel school for the day (to the delight of many students). After the rain cleared Mr. McGahan took several students who were missing yoforia out to get frozen yogurt. And later, the real festivities began. We hiked around the corner from our hotel to Personajes, a restaurant where we enjoyed great food and kareoke. Mr. McGahan started singing brown eyed girl before everyone was even seated. Everyone else joined in on the fun selecting English and Spanish songs from a list of thousands.

"Girls just want to have fun!" Well, so far so good at kareoke night.

The favorite song of the night was Sweet Caroline which was enjoyed so much it was played twice. The night ended in Dream On in which everyone took the stage to sing the last song and conclude a joyful night.

And today's challege for Sam: Henio, a former wrestling gold medalist at the Juegos Centroamericanos juniors. Down goes Bondo.

Henio, a great FH2H worker and a quick friend, with Sam after the "lucha."

Group 1 peaks out the brand new doorway. Check out Juan Jose in the background still "working."

Griselda, a neighboring in-law, and her young son Gervin check out the new construction

John taking Rosmeri to new heights, and keeping Coach Lougas happy

Eve and Henio atop the scaffolding, prepared to put down the last row of cinderblocks for the day

Group 3 working hard on the second five rows of cinder blocks

by Mitchell Tracy and Debbie Shim
Today we continued our work on the house with another 5 levels of bricks. The progress was tough and sometimes it was hard to find time to complete all the different jobs. From cement mixing to brick’laying to spending time with the family, it seemed overwhelming at first. We were pulling together as a group and starting our final layer of bricks for the day when the skies opened up. There was a torrential downpour for about 30 minutes which to some would feel like an inconvenience, but I really saw it as one of the best parts of the day. The time we spent together cramped in a small metal shack with rainwater leaking in was great. We really had time to spend just hanging out with the family together as a whole, without having to worry about the completion of our work for the day.

Group 1 having fun hidding from the rain with Jenifer and Alejandra

Having the youngest girl, Alejandra, talk to me through the teddy bear we gave her and dance on the bed with her bright pink unicorn truly made all the tough cement mixing and sunburned ears worth it. The optimism and joy that the entire family has no matter the circumstances is truly inspiring. However, when we finished our work early and got to go home before everybody else, a hot shower seemed pretty nice too. After that, half of the group went to El Frijol Feliz (the happy bean) cooking school and my half went to Spanish school. We had one-on-one sessions for 1.5 hours. That was probably the most productive hour of Spanish class I have had all year! The simplicity of just talking in Spanish with a truly native speaker about anything for over an hour really helped me with understanding how to work around complicated phrases and really be able to communicate in Spanish. Then we ventured back to try the results of a couple hours of cooking school. To be honest, I was not expecting much at all and had kind of prepared to not have that much for dinner, but boy was I wrong. The chips and salsa was honestly some of the best I have ever had, and the rest was also tasty. I was really glad to experience a very cultural meal through the corn meal mash, for lack of a better word, wrapped in banana leaves that we had as an entree. Overall, this day was pretty awesome and let me experience the culture and lives of Guatemalans up close.

Debbie with Hector, one of the Guatemalan workers and the newest member of team 3

Group 3 also had a great moment of bonding with the family during the storm today. Our family’s four girls had been very shy up to this point, especially the youngest girl, Mariela. But when Taylor gave the girls coloring books and crayons, they lit up and all of a sudden they were lively.

Taylor and the girls working on the coloring books

We spent time with the girls in their home as they colored in their new books, and as their mother worked on her beautiful weaving that she said takes about 8 days to finish.

Olinda and daughter Sonia presenting their beautiful huipiles in front of house 2

The girls were all smiling so much, and Mariela even burst into song, making up the words and the tune as she went. Though we were feeling cold and down, we could all feel the warmth of their family and how truly thankful they were. After the storm, we went back to work and finished up cinderblock-ing. Then Group 3 had the nice little experience of not having a truck to take them back to the hotel. The other two groups had already left and we ended up waiting on the side of the road munching some energy bars for about 30 minutes until our truck with boss Oscar and Joe Collins, the FH2H founder, came to pick us up. Then, on the way back to the hotel, rain started to pour again, and we were a huddling, freezing, wet group trying to shelter under Sam’s poncho. All at once it was a combination of miserable cold and quality Group bonding time. After a rejuvenating shower, my half of the group went to a cooking class. We learned how to prepare very traditional cuisine: tamales, fresh salsa, and a plaintain dessert. The tamales were so much fun to make. The base of the tamales was a corn-meal mixture. We chopped up tomatoes, tiny green tomatoes called “mil tomates” (literally translated to “a thousand tomatoes”), an onion, and red bell peppers and boiled it for a while to make a rich, red salsa.

Wrapping the tamales in banana leaves with chef Gabi at cooking class

On a boiled banana leaf, we put a large scoop of the base, made a little crater in it with a spoon, filled the crater with the salsa and a piece of pork, covered the pork and salsa over with the base, added a pair of olives, a caper, and a fresh slice of red bell pepper on top, drizzled some more salsa on top, and then folded everything up in the banana leaf. Then we had to wrap that in a fresh banana leaf, tie it up with a sliced reed-type water plant, and steam the finished product. We all noticed that each tamale looked like a little gift. Dessert was pretty amazing. We boiled plantains, mashed them up, formed balls of them with our hands, and filled them with a special chocolate sauce. The chocolate we used was Guatemalan chocolate, which had a lot of granules of sugar that you could feel crunching in your mouth, and some cinnamon. The chocolate alone was delicious, but we melted it in a pan with some black beans (seems weird, but it, too, tasted great) and filled the plantain balls with that sauce. Then we fried the balls and they were very yummy. Dinner was welcomed by the entire, hungy Guat team. After dinner we returned to the hotel and are now just chilling with our fellow Guatos. All in all, a great day.

Danielle thoroughly enjoys the tedious job of putting cement between each of the cinder blocks

A hard day's work makes everyone smile in Guatemala

2010 Guatos in Antigua's Parque Central, ready for a full day of fun

by Sarah Grady ’11 and Sarah Cordle ’12

We started the day off with a typical Guatemalan breakfast consisting of plantains, eggs, beans, and delicious cookies. After fueling up for our fun packed day, we were off for our 20 minute walk to Santa Ana -a neighboring village to Antigua- where mass and a procession would take place in honor of the patron saint of the town. The procession began at a crowded church in the square amid little kids dressed as angels and pageant queens.

The procession leaves the church with Billy, one of our teachers from Spanish school, at the front left. A true local experience for us.

After sending off the procession and its hundreds of followers to make its way through the village, we walked back to Antigua as the bells rang for a traditional Catholic mass (in Spanish) at the Iglesia San Francisco. The mass draws people from town and from the surrounding countryside. Some even bring their goats along for the walk. Aside from the obvious language difference, the service was a great experience where we were warmly welcomed by the people in the surrounding pews. Paz.

Mitchell checks in with the goats before heading into mass at San Francisco

After the, according to Sarah C, “lengthy mass,” we walked back to our hotel before splitting up for various activities. While some went to pump some iron at the local gym, the majority of us decided on a relaxing few hours at the hotel. We met up for lunch at Doña Luisa, a popular sandwich restaurant with amazing desserts. After that, it was time to go spend some dinero in the open air market in Antigua. Bargaining soon became our modus-operandi as Cammie managed to negotiate from 80 quetzales ($10) to 24 quetzales ($3). No one came home empty handed, all laden down with soccer jerseys, movies, and scarves being a clear favorite.

What do you think, should we get some sunglasses?

Smokin' hot!!!

After this taxing period of money spending, some headed back to the hotel while others preferred some basketball at a not so near by court. Andrew Webb’s slam dunk led us into a wonderful evening of a steak dinner and group movie night back at our hotel.

After a fun-filled day, Sarah C. is all smiles at the steak dinner at La Estancia

Andrew preparing to turn the corner and dunk on Daniel's brain. Check out the ruins in the background!

"In your eye, Egan" says Bill McGahan with his perfect 90s. Swish.

The morning brings a return to the worksite and to the most important task at hand: building homes.

Brrrrring. That was the sound of alarms around the hotel Meson de Valle before we embarked on our epic mountain bike journey. A breakfast of French toast and eggs got us going as we headed out for our first non-work day. The Guatemala trip involves 6 days of work on the homes and two days (the weekend) of activities. Even though we weren’t working, strenuous physical exercise was in store for the “estudiantes” of this Guatemala trip. As we lined up on a white wall in preparation for our bike ride through the villages surrounding Antigua, the Guatemaltecos who walked by began to reciprocate our foreign behavioral patterns as they took pictures of us, as if they were the tourists.

Westminster bikers lined up against the white wall, a site to see for the locals

The bike ride started innocently enough, as we made our way through San Pedro de las Huertas and Ciudad Vieja to the macadamia nut farm, where we learned the art of sustainable nut farming. Surprisingly enough, the machines used at this farm were not reliant on electricity and were instead self-sufficient. We got to observe the epitome of what we at Westminster are striving to achieve with the Green Initiative.

Carter beating the motorbike down the streets of Ciudad Vieja

Up to this point, the road had been flat, albeit full of potholes. However, Guatemala is essentially a series of hills and, the down-hills and flats stopped soon after our stop at the macadamia nut farm. In a convergence of unfortunate events, the guides informed us, “You need to be at the Coffee Plantation in 15 minutes, before it closes. It’s only like 5K’s away.” So, we split into two groups, the “wanna go fast but safe” group and the “let’s enjoy the ride in stride” group. According to Sarah and Danielle, “By the time we got around the corner, y’all weren’t there anymore.”

Traveling in the peloton with Bill "The Situation" McGahan in thelead

The lead group maintained essentially the same pace in spite of the insidious hills and cobblestone streets and made it to the coffee plantation in time for a tasty cup of Americano, medium roast.

The guys at the coffee plantation with Pancho, our guide who heads to Puerto Rico next week to compete in the Central American mountain biking championships

Our group heading through Ciudad Vieja, a town hit hard by the mudslides in March

Andrew, Jose, John, Lucas and Sam. Any bananas on the tree?



From Joe:

It’s day two of our trip in Guatemala and I’m beginning to notice two trends. First, there’s the obvious differences, the vast differences. The way everything looks, feels and smells is a big change- it’s all mind-blowing. But what’s hitting me a lot deeper than any of the contrasts is how much still the same as back home.

Lauren and Sonia are all smiles

Today, we gave the children of our family a first round of gifts: a teddy bear, affectionately renamed “Oso” and a doll. Their eyes lit up and we suddenly became like older siblings, especially Sarah Cordle who had an instant and dedicated connection with Jenifer and Alejandra. If there’s anything more exhausting than building a house, it’s playing with kids who just got new toys. No matter where you go, kids are kids, plain and simple.

Also, as we rode home from the worksite in the pick up trucks, waving at passers-by and sharing enough “holas” for everyone, we weren’t met with judging stares. Instead, everyone seems so amazingly happy to see us. I haven’t felt like an “outsider” once since I’ve been here, which is an amazing gift in comparison to distrusting stares one receives in most big-cities. Guatemala feels like it’s happy to have us, and it sure is great to be here.

From Cammie:

Today’s work was easier than yesterday’s. We were acclimated and knew more of what to expect. Our work consisted solely of stacking and cementing five rows of cinderblocks. It took longer than one would expect and by the end of the day we were tired and aching. Linda, the mother of the family that my group is building for, showed Sarah G. and I how to make tortillas. Like the stacking of cinderblocks, it was more difficult than it appeared to be. The secret was in the perfect balance of water to dough. Too much and the tortilla would emerge gooey and in pieces, too little and it would stick to your hands. Carter and I discussed the philosophy that this way of life is an art. The tortillas and the blocks aren’t merely mathematic calculations; there’s no exact formula. It takes a lot of attention and a delicate approach to yield the ideal results.

Sarah Grady and Linda working on tortillas

After leaving the site we showered quickly and rushed to Spanish school where we practiced with a partner from our group and a teacher. John and I learned vocabulary that pertained to our work here, about carpentry, building and the like. We had pizza and pasta at the restaurant next door before attending a salsa class in which we were taught some basic steps followed by a bit of a dance-off between our group and the dance teachers. We then enjoyed the rest of the night in Antigua, made perfect by a cone of mango ice cream. I look forward to our full day tomorrow, but I can´t wait to return to the house we’re building and see the family again, especially their youngest daughter, Sonia.

And from Taylor: Down at house #3, we joined Fernando and Poncho in continuing our build with five levels of cement blocks. That may sound like it wouldn’t take all day to accomplish, but we barely finished just in time to quickly shower and head off to our first day of Spanish school. We soon found out that today’s work would be very tedious when we were told to fill each small crack between each block with cement. Needless to say we were very proud when the last space between the blocks was filled.

Group 2 completes their five rows of blocks-upward!

The time spent shoveling cement flew by with the help from the four adorable little girls who gratefully watched us build their new home. The youngest of the four, Astrid Mariella, provided the music as she made a buzzing noise with her lips, and I soon joined in to create an amusing duet. After given the camera, the four girls went to town taking pictures of the things that were most important to them. The subject of their pictures ranged from group shots of the sisters to their beautiful view of the volcanoes and mountains to a toy Spiderman hanging up in their bedroom. The girls had so much fun, and I can’t wait to see them on Monday and the many pictures that they will have taken!

After Spanish school and a delicious dinner, we couldn’t resist the free Salsa lessons which were quickly followed by a dance party. The boys especially had fun when each one was beckoned to the middle of the dance floor by the woman instructor!

Joe getting jiggy with it at the Salsa lessons

We concluded our night with a walk through town, which was crowded with people enjoying the live bands and street food.

La Feria de Antigua, the town's fair, included this daredevil fire eater-wow!

Lucas and Harrison enjoying their evening in Parque Central, in front of the church

Today started with yet another excellent meal. Scrambled eggs, toast, pancakes, orange juice, coffee, fresh fruit, jams awaited us as we woke up at about 8 am. We then gathered in the lobby of our hotel and headed off in our 3 luxury pickups (ha!) at about 9am.

Today we built 5 rows of concrete blocks. Hard work, but not as hard as the first day, which included much digging. The weather was cool, in the mid 70s with a breeze, and it was overcast for most of the day, but no rain, so just perfect for home building.

A great lunch broke up the day.

Our close knit group taking a power nap after lunch

The students and the families are getting along incredibly well. Every day the Guatemalan kids await our arrival in the pickups and then take our hands and escort us to the work site. We have given them many used clothes, and they enjoy wearing them very much.

The photography project seems to be a big hit. We have given the Guatemalan kids digital camers (this is all the work of Julia Myrick) and they are spending the days not only helping us build and playing with us (and spying on us and then laughing), but also running around taking pictures of us, their families, their homes, and their various animals. It is going to be interesting to see their photos and what they reveal about how they view the world.

Our Westminster group is having a blast. The spirit that they have is tremendous. They are enthusiastically working on the homes all day, and its just tremendous (and gratifying) to be a part of.

After working on the homes we rushed back to the hotel at about 4pm, and then quickly took showers and ran to Spanish School. The school seemed to be a lot of fun. The Wildcats paired in twos up and then sat with each teacher, so each group of three (2 Westminster students and a Spanish teacher) went to a seperate sitting area to talk in Spanish. Lots of laughter filled the air. Great to hear.

As I write this blog, our group is sitting in a Italian restaurant waiting on pizza, pasta and salads, while Carter Thomas is leading a seperate sub-group with dietary needs in securing suitable grub.

Then tonight, starting at 7:30, we are off to SALSA DANCING! Daniel has secured a private dance studio and we will all be learing how to dance like the locals. No doubt there will be much more laughter.

Here I am visualizing my next move while a confused Daniel looks on

Tomorrow being Saturday, there is no work scheduled on building, but Daniel, Carter, Julia and I have a few things planned to take up the day. More on that tomorrow.

Lastly, I want to give a special shout out to Guat ´09, the trailblazers of this Guatemala experience. They had the courage to take the plunge on the Guatemala trip when it had absoulutely no track record. Guat ´09 set this program off in a great direction. In addition, several of them, including Hannah Woodward, have raised money for THIS YEAR AS WELL!! How awesome is that!!

So, all is good here in Guatemala. The students are just terrific and I am proud to be associated with them.

Bill McGahan

By: Lauren Dunlap, Eve Knapp, and Jose M Luna

Today we awoke bright and early to a breakfast of delicious, rejuvenating papaya and pineapple… and pancakes. Then we were off to the square where we met our rides, small bright colored pick-up trucks that took us to the worksite. As we enjoyed the scenic but bumpy ride there, we witnessed the local daily life, including stray dogs, bulls blocking the road, and crazy drivers.

We worked on three different sites, all in close proximity to each other. The families live in Santa Catalina Badahona, about 25 minutes outside of Antigua. The first site was the easiest location because it was flat and close to the road. Houses two and three, however, are on the side of the hill and have a really, steep slope which we had to push wheelbarrows full of sand down. Our work groups for the week are divided as follows:

• Group 1 (House 1): John Egan, Mitchell Tracy, Eve Knapp, Sarah Cordle, Joe Powers and Daniel Searl
• Group 2 (House 2): Cammie Norsworthy, Lauren Dunlap, Sarah Grady, Andrew Webb, Lucas Smith, Harrison Larkins, Bill McGahan, Carter Thomas
• Group 3 (House 3): Jose Miguel Luna, Danielle Daley, Julia Myrick, Sam Bondurant, Debbie Shim, Taylor Kaplan

John, Joe and Juan Jose working hard on the trenches for the foundation

House one, by Eve:

One of my favorite moments from our first day with the families was when I had just met the three young girls and we went out to the street to play. Communication was a little spotty at first but we ended up drawing pictures in the sand and gravel. The first thing that the middle girl, Rosemary, drew was a heart, and from then on everything seemed to flow. Sarah C. and I did everything from picking out our favorite rocks with them to singing the popular Lady Gaga song “Alejandro” for the youngest girl, Alejandra. Jennifer, the oldest, couldn’t wait to teach us her favorite song and show us her A’s in school. Playing with the kids was fun, but we definitely did some hard work, digging out and laying the entire foundation for the house. Coming home we were happy, hot, and covered with cement. I can’t wait for day 3.

A B C in street

House two, Lauren:

Our house had three children: Wilson, 11, Evelyn, 7 and Sonya, 5. Sonya enjoyed playing catch with us with a lime she found. And after lunch, when Wilson and Evelyn came home from school, we showed all of the kids how to use the digital cameras. They loved them and took pictures of Bill “the situation” McGahan dancing and everyone working on the house. Later, the mother of the family took Cammie, Sarah G. and me to her room to show us her work. She makes guipiles which are woven, colorful shirts. We could quickly tell the pride she takes in her work. She spends about 2 months on each shirt. She also showed us the ones that she had woven for her 2 daughters which they tried on for us and were obviously very special to them. The children played with their balls and took pictures in the street while watching their new house being built.

Wilson oversees our work on house 2

House tres, by Jose Miguel:

Our house was by far the hardest to build. As we said earlier, the slope to get down to the actual place where the house was being built was actually “ridiculous.” Our family was made up of a mom, a dad, and four daughters, although the dad is working near the border of Mexico just to get enough money to maintain the family. The first thing we did was wheelbarrow some sand and gravel down that slope. I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. But as my friend Sam told me, “All men have to go through labor.” 29 wheelbarrows later, we started digging the trench for the foundation. Every time we finally got it to the right depth and width, someone would decide to leave, they’d step on the wall of the trench and collapse it. Of course, we would just suck it up and start again, because as an local farmer holding a machete told us, “You are doing God’s work.” We ate lunch, a delicious sandwich of ham and cheese with Hispanic chips, cookies, apples, and juice. The after-meal show was a wrestling showdown between Sam, a varsity wrestling captain and Tomas, one of our From Houses to Homes team leaders. After an epic and entertaining battle, Sam pinned Tomas, but right away the rest of the workers piled on top of him after he won. The hardest part came when we had to mix the cement and put it in buckets and carry it up that slope. After we were done building for the day, we taught the little girls how to take pictures as part of the photography project (more to come on this in future posts).

The Wheelbarrow

Sam grappling with Tomas

Then we hit the court with some locals and played “the basketball” and soccer. After returning to the hotel and taking a much needed shower, we departed for a lovely dinner in the vicinity. For dessert, we had 20 quetzal ice-cream.

Leave a comment to tell the group hello!

We arrived in Guatemala with bags in tow and excited about our new adventures ahead. Greeted by friendly faces, we immediately know we were in good hands.

On the trip from Guatemala City to Antigua, we were all taking in our new surroundings. In Antigua we were excited to see the colorful buildings with phenomenal architectural features. We also were so happy to see our living quarters for the next ten days. Immediately we all felt at home and comfortable in our surroundings.

We can see the beautiful mountain range from our porch and sit in the hotel’s gorgeous garden. Once we got our bags in our rooms and took a second to explore the hotel, we enjoyed a fast food meal at Pollo Campero.

Then we got a chance to walk around in Antigua, and explore the flee markets and the cathedral. It was nice to see people relaxing in the Parque Central, even when people are hustling and bustling around them.

Due to a long day of travel, some of us took time to relax and enjoy the sun and each others company, while others continued to explore the town. A couple of hours later we enjoyed a great dinner at Las Palmas where some of us ate lasagna and others enjoyed quesadillas.

We are all hoping that the weather will keep up, even though it has been raining on and off all day. We are going to start building our homes tomorrow and meet the families. Personally, I am excited to be a helping hand and stretch beyond my boundaries over the next couple of days!

Leave a comment to tell the group hello!