Student Journals - Guatemala

By: Sam Metzger

Day 1 (Friday)

Our flight was a little late getting to Cincinnati so we were pressed for time for our connecting flight in Houston… we missed it! We wound up having an 8-hour layover. We walked around (several times) checking out different shops but spent most of our time in an airport restaurant hanging out and watching basketball. We finally made it to Guatemala City where Continental set us up with a hotel (Upscale). After we got settled in, a few of us hung out in the restaurant (Strikes) attached to the hotel.

Day 2 (Saturday)

I woke up around 6 and grabbed a shower (which had some convenient soap/shampoo/conditioner dispensers). I headed down to the feast of a breakfast the hotel offered and selected a few things I didn’t recognize. Breakfast was amazing and I washed it down with some watermelon juice that was quite tasty. We left the hotel en route to Pacaya volcano. When we arrived we were bombarded by kids offering walking sticks and taxis (horses for ascending the trail). After a couple hours of treacherous hiking we made it to the volcano. We set out to find some lava! After yet more hiking we finally arrived at a fissure from which lava was flowing. A couple of us pulled out some lava with a walking stick, giving us a prime souvenir to take home! It was extremely hot near the fissure which caused the soles of my shoes to melt! After the volcano we headed to our next destination Antigua. Antigua was a really unique tourist town offering a plethora of shops and restaurants. We wandered around the city for a few hours before it was time to meet for dinner. We ate at a place called Frida’s. We had the second floor all to ourselves. Next door to Frida’s was the fair trade market (Nim Po’t). There was a lot of interestingly scary items there (Jesus chair, creepy masks, demented religious pictures and a skeleton mermaid with hair playing the guitar!) After dinner and Nim Po’t a few of us headed to Café 2000 where a reggae band was jamming. We hung out for a bit then headed back to the hotel.

Day 3 (Sunday)

We ate breakfast at Café Colonial before leaving Antigua for our next stop, Mayan ruins in Tecpan. The ruins were larger than I was expecting and when we came to the rear of the ruins, we witnessed a spring equinox celebration. After the ruins we headed to our final destination Quetzaltenango (Xela). Before arriving we stopped and had some lunch at Chichoy restaurant. Several of us ordered the “Five Meats” meal. The meal was questionable and we were pretty sure it contained heart ventricles and brains! A couple of us were feeling adventurous and we split the brains… immediate regret sank in but we finished it! I also had the house pie which was amazing! We continued on for a couple more hours until we arrived at our hotel. The hotel was really nice with beautiful tile floors. We settled in before meeting the families with whom we’d be building. Our family had 4 individuals living together: Carlos and Celia, husband and wife, their daughter Carolina and Celia’s sister, Julie. Celia was also pregnant with their second child. Carlos was a carpenter that taught others the trade and Celia and Julie prepared tortillas that they sold in the market. Meeting the families was extremely emotional. We chatted with our families for a little while (by chatted I mean I listened intently, understood nothing and had someone translate for me!). After the families left we piled on a short bus for dinner. We ate at Torreta, the restaurant we’d be having the majority of our meals. When we got back to the hotel, most headed to bed, but a few of us played Jenga! Let’s just say that Jenga was epic!

Day 4 (Monday)

At breakfast we were served huge plates of fruit followed by eggs, beans and tortillas. We all piled back on the bus and headed to the first work-site which happened to be our family. After a long bumpy road we arrived. Work on our home had already commenced, so we already had the foundation. We asked Jorge the mason what he wanted us to start with and he said each room had to be filled with dirt. He pointed to a hillside (with homes not too far from the edge) across the street and told us to get it from there. We started pick axing the hillside and transporting dirt across the street via a wheel barrel. After we dumped the dirt, it had to be packed in. The tool we used for this was a tree stump with two boards nailed to the sides! Not too long after we started digging into the hillside, a man came around and told us we were taking his dirt and that we had to stop. He left and we started pick axing from another location on the hillside. After we ran out of gravel and dirt we started stealing dirt from the man again as we were directed to by Carlos’ father. Carlos’ father was participating in the sweat equity requirement for Habitat for Humanity. After stealing and moving dirt all day we finally finished! We felt very accomplished to have finished the task in one day! After we got back to the hotel we headed back out for dinner. After we came back from dinner several of us rocked some more Jenga!

Day 5 (Tuesday)

I woke up around 5:45 and a couple of us went for a little run. We headed to the restaurant for breakfast where I enjoyed some of the most amazing waffles. We headed to the worksite for day 2. Work today involved a lot of chopping block, which had to be done in order to position the blocks around the rebar. In addition to chopping block, we also had to assemble a bunch of rebar units (2 pieces of rebar attached with clips every 6-8 inches) that were going to be added for structural support. We were also fortunate to lay some block. One of Jorge’s helpers Edi demonstrated how to do a bunch of different things at the site. He spoke a little English and we had a great time joking around with him and teaching him some English while he taught us some Spanish. After work we headed back to the hotel, showered and headed to dinner. I used the remainder of the evening to work on my journal and relax.

Day 6 (Wednesday)

I woke up early and we went for another run. Siusan accompanied us to the worksite since we were without a Habitat leader. She was able to convince the mason to let us do more work on the actual house instead of little side jobs. The day consisted of moving block, which was surprisingly enjoyable and assembling more rebar units. We also filled the holes, where rebar was protruding, with concrete and filled cracks in the wall with mescula and a trowel. For the evening’s dinner we headed into Xela to change things up a bit. We had time for some exploration before dinner, so a couple of us went for a little stroll. We were allotted a two block radius of the town square (for safety) so we began our little mini adventure. We stopped in a few stores to check stuff out in addition to finding some interesting graffiti. On the way back to the meeting point we walked through a small market where they were selling food but opted not to purchase any since we were warned about buying food from street vendors (even though the food looked and smelled amazing). We met up with the rest of the group and walked to the restaurant (Cardinali). It was a small Italian restaurant that served up huge portions. I ordered a calzone which was the biggest I’d ever seen; unfortunately the taste wasn’t quite proportionate with the size.

Day 7 (Thursday)

We recruited another to join us in our running effort. Thursday went by very quickly. At the worksite we filled more holes and cracks off and on during the day. I mixed up a lot of concrete and I kept getting dirt in it. Edi came over and said to me “no tiera” (no dirt). He showed me a better way to mix it up. “No tiera” became a hit saying with Edi! We also moved the remainder of the block into the house. We were excited about that accomplishment! We were also at a point in the construction that warranted the use of scaffolding, which consisted of stacking block as high as necessary and placing boards on top! The evening was rather uneventful; we had to hand in our second journal so a few of us sat in the lounge area to finish them.

Day 8 (Friday)

I woke up early and the same group of us went out on another run. This time, however, upon arriving back to the hotel, we did some yoga. It was the final workday and I was sad to see it come to an end. The workday was shorter than usual since we had a goodbye celebration afterwards. We filled holes and cracks for most of the day. Jorge and his helpers (Edi and Rudi) took off early to get ready for the evening festivities. Edi and Rudi came back around the same time Carlos returned from work. Carlos presented each of us with a box he had made that contained our names and the family name as a little remembrance and thank you. The rest of the family returned not long after and we all piled on the bus. We stopped and picked up one of the other groups in addition to Jorge. We continued on towards the third work site (their house was nearly complete) where the party was to be held. The site was considerably higher in elevation and was situated in a foggy cloud. There wasn’t an abundance of sun; rather it was actually quite chilly. Upon arrival, Carlos and the family presented our group with some beautiful hand-made bracelets. All the groups gave presentations and gifts to the families. The families in turn conveyed their messages of thanks. It was extremely emotional because we had developed a special bond with our families. We chatted with Carlos (who made a concerted effort to speak English) and the family and spent some time playing with Carolina. It came time to depart so we all piled back on the bus. On the way back I showed Jorge, Edi and Rudi all of the pictures I had taken on the trip. They got a kick out of it and told me a little bit about some of the places we had been. When we arrived back at our house we all said our goodbyes. We had our last supper at the restaurant. We took some pictures with the armed guard outside before we left. I spent the remainder of the night packing up preparing to head back to Antigua the next morning.

Day 9 (Saturday)

We recruited another runner for our final jog. We showered and headed back to Antigua. We stopped at Chichoy again but this time for breakfast. I opted not to get the “Five Meats” again, however I had to have the house pie once more! When we got back to Antigua we had ample time before dinner, so a few of us headed out to do some shopping. We wound up wandering around the city shopping for six hours and purchased a ton of souvenirs. During our nomadic adventure I bought a “Pepe Cream” Popsicle that was one of the most horrible things I’d ever tasted and would prefer not to relive. When the group met back up we had a reflection session focusing on how the week went and things we experienced. Afterwards we headed to dinner at La Pena. The restaurant was hopping and they had a live band that was playing some great music (bongo’s anyone?). The coconut lemonade was so tasty I had to have two! After dinner a bunch of us headed out to a nightclub. We danced for a bit (Lee showed up and busted out some crazy wicked dance moves).  After awhile the club was jam packed with people so we headed to another club that had a live band. After several hours at the new club we headed back to the hotel. We hung out around the courtyard of the hotel before getting some sleep.

Day 10 (Sunday)

I woke up early and scrambled to do some last minute souvenir shopping. Found a nice little street market where they were selling all kinds of goodies. I’m not too sure but I’m pretty certain I paid twice as much as I should have! When we got back to the hotel we loaded everything on the bus and headed for the airport. We grabbed some breakfast at an airport restaurant then headed to our gate. In true Continental fashion our plane was late. So we were pressed for time in Houston (again!). When we landed it was a mad dash to our connecting gate. We ran through the entire airport and the airport staff gave us all kinds of special privileges (cutting in line!). We finally made it to the gate and the plane was delayed! Go figure! After a short layover we were finally on our way home. Upon arrival we picked up our luggage and said our goodbyes! The trip was amazing, by far the best I’ve ever been on! I can’t wait to return, perhaps a reunion tour?