I Had Black Shoes Once

                                                                Guatemala: Day 1

The day started off with a great breakfast consisting of omelettes, yogurt, some fruit, and some very needed coffee. We came to Guatemala with the intention of serving a community and provide help and man power to a construction project for an extension to an after school facility. I had black shoes coming in and by the time we left my shoes were covered in cement. I once had black shoes. We made cement from raw materials, mixed it up with shovels, filled up about a dozen buckets, and proceeded with laying the foundation of what one day will be a pharmacy for the children served by the facility. Our mission to change lives with SHPE is starting to take form, and our familia is growing strong. 

Andrew Schanne 5-5-2014

5/05/2014 Andrew Schanne

After months of waiting, we finally made it to Guatemala. This trip was something I had been excited for since March. Sunday was a long day of travelling. I woke up in the early hours of the morning to catch the flight from Detroit to Atlanta, then another flight from Atlanta to Guatemala City. One thing I will never forget about the flight is looking out the window as we flew over Guatemala City and seeing Lake                                                 

  Atlitan. The lake is surrounded by mountains and looked absolutely gorgeous. I am looking forward to seeing more of the country and experiencing a new culture.

Once we got off the plane and went through customs, we had a hour long drive to Antigua. I was amazed to see various restaurants such as Burger King and Domino’s Pizza that we have in Michigan. The summer before senior year of high school, I went to Lima and Cusco in Peru. When we arrived in Antigua, I was instantly reminded of my time in Peru. Both have Spanish style architecture and a large Christian influence, which is evident through the grand churches and the religious symbolism throughout the city. Our first day was spent simply exploring the city of Antigua and trying to experience Guatemalan culture the best we could. This included trying new foods and drinks, shopping in new places, and learning about how to protect ourselves against theft. As a result, I think I have improved at being more flexible and adjusting to change.

One of the best parts of our first day in my opinion was the time we spent as a group. I learned something new about everyone and had lots of laughs. I believe this trip is a valuable learning opportunity in regards to living and working with different people and engineers. This feeling became stronger the more I talked to my fellow travelers and discussed various ideas and goals with them. I know we will have a great time on this trip and be successful on our volunteering efforts.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the trip has in store for me. I hope to achieve my individual goals of learning to work effectively with people of different cultures, improve my communication and Spanish skills, and develop new and stronger friendships with the other people going to the trip. 

Matt Riley May 5th

First full day in the beautiful city of Antigua, Guatemala. We started the day with breakfast: eggs, fruit and bread. It is very different living in Antigua than back home. I am in a room with two others that is not connected to the main house. Our windows have bars over them, but some of the glass is not there, so many bugs can come in. There was a spider in my bed last night and I nearly had a panic attack when I saw it. After breakfast we went to the site where we would be volunteering. We are volunteering doing construction at a place for kids to come after school who do not always have the best home life. There is a problem at the building because there is water underneath of the building causing sand to erode and the building to crack. This could lead to the building falling apart. One of the project we are helping is to build a trench that will help remove the water from underneath the building when it rains. We are also helping expanding the building using cement and bricks to add on to the building. We met the man in charge today Juan. Juan is an amazing person. He told us his story (speaking only in Spanish). I understood most of what he was saying, but the people who were fluent in Spanish helped to translate.  Juan works a different job aside from working at the school. He does not get paid for the work he does for the kids. They do not get money from the government to help. He is doing this all on his own with the help of Maximo Nivel (The group we are volunteering with) and other volunteers. Truly an exemplary person. After hearing from Juan we toured the place and started on our projects. Today I helped dig the trench so piping could be put down that will help remove the water. Not being fluent in Spanish can sometimes be overwhelming. Most of the other workers speak Spanish and not very few know English. It is helpful that some people on the trip know Spanish though. I can understand some Spanish, but with lots of people and everyone talking very quickly it is difficult to understand. I was excited when one of the kids helping with the project came over and talked to me and I was able to have a short conversation with him. The work these people do is hard labor. Guatemala has lots of hills moving dirt, cement and bricks around can be somewhat tiresome. I know I am going to be sore tomorrow. Water was given to us in bags, since the water from the faucet is not safe to drink. Very different from what we are used to in the United States, something I think many people take for granted. America would be a lot different if everyone had the work ethic of these people.

After volunteering today we went to a restaurant in the city. The food was very cheap and delicious. I had this meat plate (I do not remember what it was called) that was very good. The restaurants are very different from what we are used to. There are lots of animals around including birds and lots of bugs. There was a plate with some kind of liquid on it that would trap and kill the bugs that were around. Next we came here to Maximo Nivel where I am writing this blog. We are exploring the city more after. I am excited to try more Guatemalan food and try to practice more Spanish. I hope to feel more comfortable using, well trying to use Spanish by the end of this trip. I really like the group we have on this trip. Everyone is supportive and a lot of fun. This is my first time being in a situation where I am in a town where majority of the people do not speak English. I have never been out of the United States, except for vacation. It is very different than vacation. I get to see the culture and how Guatemalans live there lives. Looking forward to the rest of the week. Will hopefully have pictures later.

Joshua Aviles 5/4/14 - 5/5/14

Sunday - May 4, 2014:

Summary of day's activities

Today, our SHPEd Abroad Group arrived in Antigua, Guatemala to begin a 6-day journey of outreach, fellowship, and the accomplishment of personal and group goals. After orientation at the Maximo Nivel HQ, we proceeded to explore some parts of Antigua, Guatemala. One famous part of Antigua that our group came by was the famous yellow-colored arch that is often featured in tourist advertisements concerning Guatemala. In addition, we came across some of the banks, food places, and other outgoing places that our group could go to in case we needed to relax, exchange USD for Guatemalan quetzals, or get something to eat. Afterwards, we arrived at the home of Olga de Molina, our Guatemalan host leader whose family would be taking care of us for the next 6 days. After going out for a few hours, we came back home and got treated to a somewhat lackluster dinner of bologna + cheese sandwiches and soup. Afterwards, we went out for a good night of fun.

Reflection for the first day

What goals do you think are most important?
The most important goals that were spelled out today were the cementing of the SHPE Familia and the acknowledgement of personal goals. Some of the personal goals spelled out were the encouragement of understanding for other members and the dispelment of personal self-consciousness and self-doubt.

What goal(s) do you think will be most difficult to accomplish, in terms of projects?
The goal that will probably be the most difficult to accomplish is the self-consciousness and self-doubt because I have always been hesitant to try out new things. However, slowly I am growing out of that shell. In addition, I need to not take things personal because that will simply make everyone's day bad.

Do you have any doubts?
Some doubts that I have about this opportunity is the willingness of team members from SHPE going to Guatemala to understand me and where I come from. Often times, I feel like people come to conclusions about the way I act about things or they do not take the time to yield patience towards others. Maintaining patience and understanding is the first step in solidifying what the SHPE Familia is.

 Famous Antigua, Guatemala street arch that iconisized the small town which was seen as part of our orientation walk today.

Ruins of an old church also seen during our orientation walk today.

Monday - May 5, 2014:
Today, we woke up to a good breakfast of eggs, bread, and fruit. Afterwards, we were driven by a Guinness International van to the work location in the higher locations of Antigua, Guatemala.  From 9:00 AM to around 11:30 AM, we worked hard on using cement made from scratch to fill in gaps between conceret blocks as well as using cement to lay bricks on top of to solidify and form foundations for a new library to be built at the village. This library would represent an expansion of the rudimentary education and literacy of the people in this village. Then, we came back to the house of Olga de Molina to change and prepare ourselves for a good lunch at Rincon...

 Picture of central park in Antigua, Guatemala from today's walk to the bank to exchange money

Alondra Lopez - May 5th

First full day in Guatemala. Waking up was not a hassle at all, which is weird since I'm usually pressing snooze about twenty times before I actually get up. Although we have early mornings I don't regret them because of the sights and the goals our group has to accomplish.

In the morning we did our volunteering at the project. The manager seemed like a great guy who was invested a lot of his time and care into giving back to his community. I really respected that and I think we should have more people that are this involved to their own community. Helping to restore the building helps the kids, and makes sure that they have a chance to learn and have big dreams. I think that our group is making a difference and that not only will our group make an impact but the people we work with are already making an impact on us. Seeing the library and the classrooms gave more of an importance to what we were doing. The children are not obligated to go to school like we are in America, so it really is important that there are places where they can learn. If there weren't the children would just not learn. I am excited to help and be a part of this.

The local cuisine is tasty and I am really enjoying spending time with the group. I am really excited to get to know Antigua better, buy gifts for family, and there are many restaurants and places to go. We are also planning to visit a lake which is also going to be fun, but mostly I am excited to look at our work on Friday and physically see the work our group has accomplished. 

Joanna- 5/5/2014

It's currently about 3pm Guatemalan time. The eight of us are at the Maximo Nivel office working on this blog. To sum up the past 36 hours...

My trip began bright and early Sunday morning at 4am. I woke up, grabbed my packed bags, and was out the door 30 minutes later. Our flight took off a couple minutes before 7am and lasted about 2.5 hours.We had a connecting flight in Atlanta, and 3 hours later we arrived in Guatemala City. Our first order of business after finding the Maximo Nivel driver was to head to the Maximo Nivel office and have our welcome orientations. As we ate banana bread and fruit with cheese and crackers, we listened to our guides, Victor and Kate, discuss our project for the week. We chose the construction project, in which we're helping to build a library and classroom for students in a particular community. After orientation, we headed back to our home stay and unpacked before dinner. Dinner consisted of sandwiches and soup and coffee. After dinner we headed out to check out the night life and returned for a good night's sleep before our first day of volunteering.

Today, we headed to the construction site at 8am after breakfast, which consisted of omlettes and fruit and bread. We were briefed at the construction site about the project and the community members contributions to the project. We learned about how the older members of the surrounding community organized themselves in order to help build and provide resources for the school children to further their education in the comunity. We also learned about how the older school children were able to help our in the projects as well. Many of the children enjoyed the projects because they served as an outlet to release some stress from their home situations and enjoy the company of one another.

Our group split up into two team to help lay brickes and mix cement to make concrete for the brick laying, along with a couple of other volunteers. It was a lot of work but I felt like I learned a lot about the building process. We volunteered from about 9am to noon, with a small "sopa" break in between. I'm really happy with the project. We have a great team supporting us though the process, and it's easy to tell that they enjoy the work that they are doing. After lunch we headed to the bank to enchange money and go out for lunch. The rest of our afternoon and evening are pretty open other than dinner at 7pm. We're hoping to have the chance to explore a little later.